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5 Ways to Reduce your Business’ Carbon Footprint

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In June, the UK became the first major economy to pass a law requiring net-zero emissions by 2050.

So, what steps can be taken to do this effectively?

No matter what size your business is, there are big and small changes that can be implemented to help the UK reaches its 2050 target.

Here are 5 ways to reduce your Business’ carbon footprint:

1. Waste Management

Zero waste is more than just a buzzword nowadays, instead, it’s become something a lot of people strive towards. Ultimately, it’s clear that cutting out waste would definitely go a long way in helping the environment, and there are a number of things that can be put in place to begin doing this. Bear in mind it’s not feasible to go completely zero waste all in one go, but businesses can gradually reduce their production of landfill rubbish by dealing with waste in a more environmentally responsible way.

Recycling is a great green initiative, but it’s only really effective when there’s a good scheme and system in place. Starting with basic paper and card rubbish, arguably the most visible of office waste, and then moving into other materials, is more effective than dealing with everything in one go. With this in place, it’s simply a question of having well labelled and visible bins.

However, reducing and reusing are ultimately the most effective steps for a business who wants to become zero waste. Plastic waste often finds itself at the forefront of discussions surrounding climate change, and for good reason. The confusion and difficulties surrounding plastic recycling means we often fail to do it, and consequently, only 9% of plastic is recycled. This is why we’re seeing more initiatives encouraging the ban (or at least the severe reduction) of single-use plastic – something businesses can easily support too. If your office has a canteen, phasing out the use of plastic cutlery and straws in favour of metal ones is a simple but effective way to reduce landfill waste. Likewise, encouraging staff to replace disposable plastic bottles with reusable ones is another small but important way of reducing your carbon footprint.

Quills Secure Data Destruction service can support your businesses recycling and waste management strategies. We can review your current arrangements and propose a tailored compliant solution to match your budget, needs and most importantly, environmental targets. Simply click here to find out more.

2. Travel & Transport

Travel and transport are the most talked-about carbon footprint contributors. Travelling for business, particularly flying, is well established to have a substantial impact on the environment. But the good news is, we live in a society with a number of great alternatives available to ensure your business isn’t hindered by distance. Of course, utilising public transport for closer trips is always a good option, but you should also consider video conferencing in place of flying long distances. Not only will this cut down emissions, but you’ll also find it cuts down your company’s travel costs.

That said, when it comes to company transport, there’s quite a lot to consider. Not only are the commutes of your employees an important factor, but it’s also worth looking at the fuel consumption related to the transportation of your company’s goods and services. Green initiatives like cycle-to-work schemes can inspire more eco-friendly methods of staff commuting. At Quills, for example, we use new vans which are all low emission and comply with ULEZ standards. We also plan our delivery routes every day to ensure the lowest cumulative mileage and maximum fuel efficiency.  For your outsourcing needs, courier services such as Gophr offer a greener choice with their optimised system of pairing vehicles to deliveries depending on the size and weight of the consignment. A programme like this ensures a large van isn’t used when a bicycle will do, and as such, provides a much eco-friendlier service.

3. Energy

It’s an inconvenient fact, but energy consumption is one of the biggest environmental impactors, particularly for business. Lighting, heating, powering appliances, web hosting – these are all fossil fuel burning activities that can be easily overlooked when it comes to accounting for a company’s carbon footprint. The solution to this doesn’t have to be a complete overhaul in office operations. As the days get darker, proper lighting becomes even more important. Simply switching to more energy-efficient lights with an automatic shutdown or dimmer option is a great solution that will have a lasting impact on your office’s carbon footprint, as well as on your energy bill.

There’s no need for your efforts to stop at lighting changes. In the future, you’ll find increasingly more companies migrating to green web hosting services, like GreenGeeks or DreamHost, who consciously make use of eco-friendly initiatives to lessen their overall environmental impact. By utilising these sorts of options for your web hosting needs, you can start to combat the CO2 emissions of your internet use.

4. Sustainable Supply Chain 

A proportion of a business’ carbon emissions is found within its supply chain. Any goods a company purchases – stationery, paper, computers, food etc – all come with a carbon footprint associated with their respective production and delivery. There is no easy way of accounting for the CO2 emissions at every step in the supply chain of every item bought for your office, but more often than not, a business can become greener simply by being eco-conscious and opting for overall more sustainable suppliers.

As a stationery and office supplies supplier, we continuously look for eco-friendly alternative products to provide for our customers. We have recently launched a new environmentally friendly promotional merchandise range which enables businesses to provide exciting and unique branded gifts such as pencils made from recycled money, pens made from CD cases and sustainable cups made from bamboo plant fibres – see the full range here.

5. Plan and Engage

The best way of ensuring the successful implementation of eco-friendly initiatives is by having a comprehensive and feasible plan in place. In order to do this, however, it’s important to know which areas are in need of the biggest improvement. The most logical starting point is to understand how substantial your business’ carbon footprint is right now. By combing through your latest energy and water bills, you should be able to gather a fair picture of your biggest areas of consumption, enabling the setting of realistic targets.

However, a business can only effectively reduce its carbon footprint if it has support from both above and below. This is why engagement is also important. After all, these recommended steps can only be successfully implemented if employees adhere to them. Introducing eco-friendly measures alongside an explanation to your staff as to why these changes are happening, will make them more likely to be effective. Likewise, actually getting your employees involved with going green through competitions or incentives will work wonders in ensuring any green initiatives are respected and followed.  It’s important to remember, there’s no need to bombard your company with hundreds of go-green schemes. When properly implemented, even small changes will result in worthwhile reductions to your business’ carbon footprint. For more environmentally friendly tips, head over to Quills eco-tips page.

If you have any questions about Quills recycling or waste management service or would like to receive a free consultation, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at hello@quillsuk.co.uk.

Your chance to win a super-sized Easter Egg!

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To get you EGG-cited for #Easter, we’ve got an EGG-cellent competition for you to get involved in!

All you have to do is snap a photo of a Quills or Rebel van on the road, post it on Facebook and we’ll enter you into our prize draw for the chance to win one super-sized Easter egg…sounds good right?

How do I participate?

1. Take a selfie with or of a Quill’s or Rebel van and post it in the comments section of our original Facebook post here

2. Follow and Like Quills Facebook page and LinkedIn 

3. Two winners will be drawn at random on 1st April 2019

You’ve got until the end of March to enter our competition so keep your eyes peeled and get snapping! 👀

 

What do I need to look out for?

Our vans are fully wrapped and can either have a Quills or Rebel Logo on the side! Here’s an example of what to look out for:

Terms & Conditions
1. Participants can submit their entry via Facebook or Twitter by uploading their photo and tagging us into the post.
2. Participants names will only be entered into the prize draw if they submit a photo and follow and Like Quill’s official Facebook page and LinkedIn.
3. Only one photo per participant is permitted.
4. The competition will run throughout March with the last entry being on 31st March at 11.59pm.
5. The winners will be drawn at random and announced via social media by 5th April 2019.
6. The prize is not transferrable and no cash alternative will be provided.
7. Delivery of the egg will go to the named person who submitted the entry and we cannot be held accountable should your egg melt after delivery!
8. Quills Group is Quills Office Supplies Ltd and our registered address is Unit 2 Spitfire Park, Croydon, Surrey, CR0 4WD.
9. Both winners will be announced via social media by 5th April 2019.
10. Entries are open to anyone form the UK&I and Quill’s employees are excluded from this competition.

How Using A Professional Shredding Service Can Benefit Your Business

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Whether it’s paper, clothing or unwanted goods, shredding is a must for securely protecting sensitive items and business data. Client confidentiality should be a top business priority within your organisation but how can it be carried out efficiently when you have so many other priorities to focus on? Take a look at our article below to find out how outsourcing your shredding requirements can help your business.

  1. Save time and money

Why paid your skilled employees to stand there and shred for hours when they could be generating revenue for your business? Internal shredding routines are extremely time-consuming and have to be maintained on a daily or weekly basis. For example, shredding a single document can take several minutes and you have to be mindful of factors such as:

–    Straightening sheets of paper

–    Removing any paper clips or staples

–    Disposing of the shredded paper

–    Cleaning up any excess paper, paperclips or staples

Furthermore, you also have to take into consideration the cost of maintaining an internal shredding routine and often enough, this is a lot more expensive than outsourcing your shredding requirements. A small selection of managing your shredding in-house include:

–    Purchasing shredders

–    Buying disposal bags

–    Utility expenses

Sound familiar? Outsourcing your shredding can save an extensive amount of money for your business. Quills, can arrange a personalised audit of your office needs and provide a quotation which includes the frequency, number of bins and what you’ll be shredding.  There are no installation charges and the bin hire and replacement bags are free too!

 

2. Reduce the legal risk

With legislation such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) all in full swing, it’s crucial that you keep client data confidential and safe during the disposal process.

Our secure shredding service is NAID AAA certified meaning that all destruction of your documents complies with the privacy protection policies outlined in the above legislation. In addition to this, we also provide a certificate of destruction so that you can be sure your data is safe in the right hands.

 

3. Maintain your businesses reputation

Reputation. One of the most important assets of a business. It’s very simple for your businesses confidential documents to get in the wrong hands and just like that, a data breach can happen and cause extreme worry and distrust.

When using a professional shredding service, all paper, media and products are collected and destroyed safely and securely. Constant monitoring, full CCTV coverage and an official certification of destruction are provided after every collection which means you can relax and focus on the more important things in your company.

 

4. Consider mobile shredding Services

If you’re considering outsourcing your shredding requirements but still have a concern about your information leaving the premises, then explore the possibility of using an on-site mobile shredding service. This ensures that all shredding is carried out on-site and gives you an opportunity to closely supervise what shredding is carried out and have absolute security.

Quills offer both on-site and off-site shredding service and can collect and shred data at your home or office. For more information, take a look at our secure data destruction brochure. 

 

5. Efficient recycling process

It’s well known that recycling has a positive impact on our environment but be careful as time and time again shredded material is often stolen with the hope of gaining access to confidential data.

Outsourced shredding services ensure that your personal information is secure at all times. All shredded goods are still recycled but without comprising confidentiality as it takes place in a locked and private building with constant surveillance and security.

To find out how Quills Secure Shredding Service can benefit your business, get in touch today and request your free quote. Alternatively, take a look at our latest brochure for some more information on our data destruction service.

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How to make meetings more productive

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Out-of-the-box thinking doesn’t happen in a box…right? In this article, we consider some different ways to help reignite the motivation for attending those weekly or monthly meetings.

Some people might say that most meetings in the workplace are often pointless and attendees feel anxious as there are always deadlines to meet and work that needs to be done. But what if the problem isn’t the actual meeting itself but more the environment and layout that it’s being held in which can sometimes be formal and uninviting…

Take a look at our tips for making meetings more inviting…

1. Only hold meetings if they’re essential

Save meetings for projects that are a necessity and for when all the team can get involved. If it can be replaced by a telephone call or an email, don’t hold it. If the meeting does need to be held, be conscious of time and try to keep it short – schedule no longer than 45 minutes per meeting so that employees recognise that you value their time and have an agenda.

2. Don’t get into a routine

If you schedule meetings for the same time every week, in the same location; eventually employee motivation and interest is going to plummet. If you want your team to find a solution to a task or you’re working on a long project, then you need to mix it up a little, try mornings and afternoons and see which time provides the best engagement and ideas. Consider carrying out some meetings outside of the office, perhaps in a coffee shop or over some lunch.

3. Is your meeting space inviting and inspiring for ideas?

If not, it might be worth considering re-decorating your meeting room and introducing some artwork to make it a more welcoming space for being creative. According to Forbes, 78% of respondents in a survey of over 800 employees working for 32 U.S companies claimed that art in the workplace helped reduce their stress.

4. Consider standing desks

Employees spend most of their working day sitting at a desk so it’s not particularly motivating to move from one rolling chair to another. It’s been mentioned time and again that sitting does you no good… yet the same is true about standing all day! What you really want to do is alternate between the two with the help of a sit-stand desk. This will ultimately help you reduce the health risks posed by both. Consider ditching the standard table and chair set up and opt for this healthier way of working. Meetings may then seem like a refreshing change of scenery.

5. Informal workspace meetings

Sometimes a formal meeting isn’t required, have you thought about introducing informal employee workspaces where ideas can be brought to life away from your desk without the need to be in a meeting room? Curious? Take a look at some ideas here or check out this brochure for inspiration.

6. Offer incentives and rewards


Competitions and mini-games can be a great way to encourage enthusiasm and attendance for meetings. After all, everyone loves a freebie. Giving away snacks and refreshments during the meeting will generate interest and depending on your budget, consider rewards for the best ideas that are brought to the table.

What is archiving and why should I be on top of it?

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There’s a lot of jargon surrounding the term ‘archiving’ and you may ask, what actually is it? In fact, it’s a term that employers and businesses shouldn’t only be aware of, but completely understand.

In summary, archiving is a vital records management process and over here at Quills, we know how valuable a well organised approach can be for your business. So, take a look at this handy guide to find out more about archiving and why you should be on top of it.

What exactly is archiving?

First things first, what is archiving? Search Data Backup defines the process of archiving as “moving data that is no longer actively used to a separate storage device for long-term retention.” It’s important to note that archived data can be made active again at any point. This is a massive benefit for businesses who can therefore retrieve any necessary information at short notice.

Why should you archive your files?

As data is continuing to grow, archiving data is becoming more important than ever. If you want to save your business time and money, then having an effective archive strategy in place is necessary.

As well as adding value to your business, archiving the right data can save your business a huge amount of time and money. In the past, a number of companies stored all their data in their ‘primary storage’ system as they were afraid that their information may get misplaced or lost whilst being archived. Some employers also didn’t understand what was involved in the process of archiving data and were therefore very hesitant to do it.

Today, it is becoming more obvious that an effective archive strategy is key for businesses who handle large amounts of data. For example, they may end up losing information as a result. With an effective strategy in place, organisations can easily search for, access and maintain data that is relevant and adds value to the business.

In addition to the above, your business can also save money on expensive primary storage. Not only will you reduce the amount of data in the primary storage, you’ll also improve the overall backup performance. Therefore, you can manage your time more efficiently and deal with the documents that you need to access on a regular basis.

So, you now know what archiving is and why you should do it; but what’s involved in the archiving process?

When you archive files, they are stored and managed within optimum conditions to minimise the risk involved in the process and also to ensure that files are always protected. Likewise, scan on demand and scan back services, as well as traditional based document storage and retrieval, scan back distribution means you can access your files wherever you are, whenever you need them – quicker, cheaper and greener access to your company data.

How can Quills help me with archiving files?

Quills can provide you with a quicker, cheaper and greener way of accessing your company information. Our dedicated account supervisors can provide you with knowledge and support throughout the entire archiving process, as well as offer nationwide coverage with same/next day delivery.

Some of our key services include:

• Workflow, EDRM, digitisation and scan back
• Storage of files and boxes
• Storage of wills, deeds and original documents
• Storage of digital media
• Consultancy including best practices, Record Management policies and retention policies
• Special projects including inventory, purging, back scanning, filing audits, filing relocation and rationalisation
• Nationwide coverage offering same day/next working day delivery

If you require any more information regarding archiving and want to know how Quills can help your business, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

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Keeping cool in the office

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So how does the heat affect the productivity in the workplace?

Take a look at this info graphic to find out.

Keep cool with our range of fans this Summer.

Quills Customer Service Manager Raises Over £1,500 for Cystic Fybrosis Trust

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Quills Customer Services Manager Catherine Kingston hit the streets of London to run her first London Marathon on Sunday 23rd April.  This was a huge milestone and personal goal for Catherine and she completed the 27 miles in 4 hours 52, 34 seconds.  Catherine ran in aid of Cystic Fibrosis Trust and has exceeded her fund raising target of £1,500.

Catherine ran for her brother David who is now 8 years post-transplant and Liam McHugh who is an avid fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust ran for his daughter Rachel.

Picture: Catherine Kingston and Liam McHugh.

For more info. on the Cystic Fibrosis Trust visit https://www.cysticfibrosis.org.uk/

Quills Employee Awards 2015

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