Green Offices Project

Introduction

The Green Offices Project, which commenced in Sept 2005, is a requirement of the Council's Environmental Management Strategy. The Project raises awareness of good practice in terms of office efficiency and initiatives are carried out to influence behaviour at work to reduce environmental impact. Each Council service is represented by a Green Office Champion. Annual work plans are developed and various initiatives are promoted and implemented.

A Sustainability Week was held in June 2007, at the Council's Elmfield Offices, to promote good practice to Council staff, Councillors and residents. The next Sustainability Week will be held in the summer of 2008.

The Project is divided into three sections:

Waste & recycling

The Project aims to reduce the amount of waste that is produced at the Council's buildings and to increase the proportion of waste that is recycled. Following the introduction of a new recycling collection scheme in 2006, over 50% of the waste produced in our Council buildings now gets recycled.

A 'waste bin amnesty' regularly takes place in the Council offices to encourage staff to use their recycling bins even more.

Energy & water conservation

In partnership with USEA, we are striving to improve energy efficiency at work. Energy Awareness Training is available and various 'power downs' encourage staff to turn off electrical equipment and lights when they are not in the office.

The Council's eco-friendly Elmfield building provides energy from solar panels on the roof. All other electrictity used in Council buildings come from 100% renewable energy sources.

Staff are encouraged to adopt water saving measures at work and at home.

Monitoring of each individual Council service's power consumption, paper usage and bin usage helps us keep an eye on areas which need further improvement.

Green Travel

To encourage staff, Councillors and visitors to the Council buildings to use alternative forms of transport (rather than a car), a Green Travel Plan has been implemented.

Reducing your Carbon Footprint

If you would like find out more about the impact you have on the environment, you can calculate your 'Carbon Footprint'. Government advice on Greener Living provides useful information on what you can do to reduce it.

Volunteering & fact finding

The Council actively encourages its staff to take part in local conservation activities as well as to visit schemes or firms who have excellent environmental practises.

Recent visits include a trip to the new Ecohomes at nearby Bladon where the project takes account of the environmental impact of the development both during construction and throughout its life.

Some local conservation volunteer work is also planned for our Green Office Champions and any other staff mambers in the near future.