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Mending our ways
Mediacom has begun its off-setting programmes in earnest, aiming
to offset 2,052.40 tonnes of Carbon emissions.
500 tonnes are being offset here on UK shores through an
afforestation project on Somercombe Wood, Devon. Mediacom have invested
in the planting of 600 trees and two of our Green team recently went
down to take a look (Pics below)
The remaining projects are based in Africa all focused on energy
saving schemes which not only benefit the environment, but the local
community as well:
- Solar lamps (500 tonne offset)
- Solar ovens (500 tonne offset)
- Low energy light bulbs (552.4 tonne offset)
For further information on these projects run by CO2 Balance click here
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle update
Printers
All of the large colour printers have been set to default double
sided printing, no more tricky programming required. Printers have also
been coded to print only once swipe card is activated, therefore making
it much easier for us to use less paper and avoid accidental or
unnecessary extra printing.
We are also in the process of installing new black & white,
more energy efficient printers.
Computers
All computers have been set to go into hibernation after 20
minutes of non use. Through this we hope to reduce our PC energy
consumption by 50%.
Travel
We are really keen to keep our staff at the peak of their
physical fitness, and encourage them to walk to meetings where possible,
and also save the environment through less taxi use.
For some handy hints to help you walk your way around London,
checkout the following link
http://www.walkit.com/
Recycle
There are many ways in which we can recycle our waste and up
until now we have only provided facilities for the more conventional
recycling – paper. We have now installed further recycling facilities
around the building to help us extend our recycling outside of paper.
Water
For meetings we use our own water filtered on site, however there
is a certain amount of bottled water we also need to buy in. In keeping
with other commitments to the environment and reducing our Carbon
Footprint, we have now changed the bottled water we buy in and will be
using Belu water.
Belu is a natural mineral water from the UK, which uses wind
power and has a Carbon Neutral ethic. It is the first bottled water not
to melt the ice caps!
Where possible we will mostly use Belu’s 500ml still water, as
these bottles are bio-bottles made from corn and so can be recycled or
composted back to the soil in just 8 weeks!
Recycling
We are committed to recycling and are putting a number of actions
in place:
- Cafe and bar recycle glass
- Recycle paper if put in collection bins
- All phones are recycled
- Packaging where possible is recycled
- All of our recycling handled by Paper Round is taken to their
warehouse in Rainham, Essex. There the trucks are offloaded and
materials stored and bulked up before onward transport.
- Paper is hand sorted in the following grades:
- White paper. is sent to Germany or Holland. White paper has
the highest environmental value because it can be used by mills as a
virgin pulp substitute, reducing demand for trees throughout the
world. - Sorted office waste. This is a mixture of white envelopes,
magazines, coloured paper & white paper too badly mixed to be worth sorting. It is taken to Kent.
- Newspaper & magazines. Aylesford Newsprint in Kent convert
this back into newsprint reels which is then sold to printing works.
- Cardboard. This is baled and then made back into packaging
materials and cardboard at a number of mills in the UK, often in the North West and North East of England.
Re-using
Why use something once when you can use it twice?
- Cleaners have been instructed not to throw away plastic cups. - All water served in meetings is filtered on site & the
bottles reused.
- Stationary (pens/pencils etc) are made from recycled products.
- Folders are all reused internally. - Mediacom stationary (letterheads/comp slips etc) is made from
100% recycled fibre.
Reducing our energy consumption
Where we can we are trying to minimise our Carbon emissions
through energy efficiency and offset the remainder:
- We have fitted energy efficient lighting - long life bulbs,
sensor lighting, buying our electricity from renewable sources. - Mediacom have recently agreed a contract for 100% Renewable
Green Energy. This energy is primarily generated using wind, solar,
tidal and biomass and each unit of electricity is accredited with a
Levy Exempt Certificate (LEC) proving its source. Electricity derived
from these sources is the most environmentally friendly method of
producing energy and has minimal impact on the environment. - Buying new more efficient computers and printers when old ones
need replacing - The new IBM computers and colour printers all meet the latest
efficiency standards. - Our cars are all hired through Addison Lee, London's first
carbon neutral car firm.
Offsetting
No matter how much we save we will always have a residual carbon
footprint.
We are working with CO2 Balance to help us find suitable projects
that can offset the remainder of our emissions.
(Click here for more information on
offsetting)
UK ForestryCO2 balance run a number of afforestation projects across the
UK aimed at restoring the biodiversity of land that has previously been
farmed in a monocultural way, with little benefit to the environment.
These projects aim to bring back the natural balance of the land,
benefit the climate & environment and the local community. Kenyan Energy Efficient Project In order to be able to act quickly to the current global
environmental problems, emission reducing projects need to be
implemented on a worldwide basis. Due to the sophisticated nature of
electricals and energy provision in the western world, energy saving
projects can be quite complicated and slow to implement. One of the
quickest ways to reduce emissions globally is to help third world
countries where their energy use and energy infrastructure is some way
behind that of the western world. Energy use is far more inefficient in
third world countries, with most of it being generated by fossil fuels;
as a result their carbon emissions are extremely high. By helping third
world contries umodify their equipment, it is possible to reduce high
levels of emissions and reduce consumption of fossil fuels fairly
rapidly.
Cans
These are taken to a Local Authority facility in South East
London. Aluminium cans are taken to Novelis in Warrington where they are
melted down into ingots which are then used to make new drinks cans, and
in the production of cars, aircraft, etc.
Glass
Glass is delivered to Berryman’s in East London. Berryman’s crush
the bottles into a consistent glass cullet, removing paper and metal
contaminants. This cullet is then used in the manufacture of new green
glass bottles.
IT Equipment
Working, reasonably modern equipment is reused, normally in
Eastern Europe or developing countries. Very old or non-working
equipment is disassembled and the various components are recycled or
reused in new machines.
Toner cartridges
Cartridges are individually checked to see if they are suitable
for remanufacturing. All intact OEM cartridges, such as HP, Brother and
Canon can be remanufactured to be used a second time
Batteries
Paper Round uses G&P Batteries, the largest nation-wide
collector of waste non-lead acid batteries in the UK with a plant in
West Bromwich. The company is fully licensed to handle all types of non
lead acid batteries, both rechargeable and single-use.
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