For adi Environmental’s Lynne Potter, being environmentally responsible is more than just a job, it’s a way of life and something that Lynne is hugely passionate about.

Having spent over 20 years working in the environmental and water sector, in today’s Responsible Business Week Guest Blog, Lynne shares her expertise and talks about how the Group strives to minimise our impact on the environment in relation to; Carbon Footprint, Water Consumption, General Waste and, Sustainable Procurement.

Being environmentally conscious and staying eco-friendly can be a big challenge to any business and at adi Group it is something we’re very aware of. The Group consists of 18 companies across a host of different engineering disciplines. With each company and division covering a different aspect of engineering this creates a range of different effects which impact on the environment, all of which need to be closely monitored and managed.

In 2013, adi Environmental achieved ISO14001 which assesses how business activity effects air, land and water and introduces standards to identify individual raw material usage such as paper, fuel, energy and water.

Achieving this accreditation has helped us to better understand and control environmental aspects across the entire adi Group of companies (as well as our clients businesses) which had led to the reduction of impacts, emissions and waste and also ensures legal compliance. It also gives us a platform to manage and review all aspects of our business that have an impact on the environment so we can benchmark and improve our performance and focus on the key issues at hand.

Part of my role on the adi CSR Committee is to ensure that the Group minimises its impact on the environment wherever possible. Our environmental commitment has already seen improved performance across all of our key areas from 2013-2016.

Our highlights include;

21.24% Paper/Cardboard Waste Reduction
20.20% Trade Waste Reduction
34% Increase in Glass and Metal Recycling
10.78% Carbon Footprint Reduction

How can you play a part in helping the environment individually and as a responsible business?

The great thing about being environmentally responsible is that although the issue is global, everyone can have a significant impact – even at a local level. It’s about thinking global, but acting at a local level which really helps make a big difference.

My top five quick and easy tips are;

Take your own shopping bags to the supermarkets
Reuse containers wherever possible (water bottles)
Use ceramic cups not paper/plastic cups at work.
Recycle as much as possible.
Educate others to raise awareness and get them on board in the workplace – every little really does help!

Tips For Businesses

On a business level I think initiatives that involve all staff is a great route into becoming more environmentally aware as a business. It means that everyone can work as a team to try and reduce consumption and conserve resources.
At adi Group we have implemented some quite simple measures that have made a huge difference.

For example, to help reduce paper wastage we now have a system on our printers that requires employees to manually print their documents at the printer, rather than just automatically rolling off. This has made a big difference to our paper wastage.

We’re also working at becoming completely paperless and again, this is paying dividends and changing the way that we operate. Recycling initiatives are another quick and easy way to see big differences as well as getting more people on board and actively contributing.

Although staying green will always be something of an uphill battle when balanced with the needs of a vibrant and growing business, we are proud to be doing our part to conserve the planet’s resources.