*NEWS*JUNK THE POLITICIANS & BE GREENER

[Anonymous]

Junk the politicians and work on being greener

 

When it comes to the environment, more harm is done in the office than at
home. But, as Sean Coughlan reports, you can do your bit to make the workplace
more eco-friendly

 

Employees don’t have to wait for political leaders to tackle the threat of
global warming. They can make their own contribution to making their workplaces
more eco-friendly.

 

That is the message from trade unions and the green movement after a
lacklustre G8 summit and backtracking this week by the government on some key
green targets.

 

If ministers are going to drag their feet, workers can play their own
practical part in reducing the damage to the environment. A report from the
Trade Union Sustainable Development Advisory Committee, called Greening the
Workplace, urges people to engage with their employers to find ways to reduce
waste and to improve standards of environmental protection.

 

Even if we’re using recycling bins and bottle banks, at work we’re still
churning out a trail of junk.

 

“People are often much more aware of recycling at home than at work, and we
want people to make the link,” says Philip Pearson, the TUC’s policy adviser on
sustainability.

 

Projections from the Department for Trade and Industry show that it is our
working lives are more likely to be producing greenhouse gases. By the end of
the decade it’s expected that 22m metric tonnes of carbon emissions will be
produced each year by people at home – but industry will be producing 31m. And
under a separate heading, power stations will be generating 38m tonnes.

 

Plans to cut emissions from homes have, according to recent reports, been
ditched, placing even more pressure on offices and factories. Proposed building
regulations on refurbished houses have been dropped altogether and regulations
for new buildings postponed until next year.

 

The TUC report urges workers to lobby their employers for more
environmentally aware working practices – and it gives examples of where unions
and management can cooperate. In terms of a white collar, office environment,
the Prospect union has been working on improving the green credentials of the
Scottish Agricultural College, set across 30 sites in Scotland.

 

The college had an annual electricity bill approaching £400,000 and churns
out large amounts of paper. And a union and management environment committee has
promoted ways of cutting energy and paper waste.

 

“On a bright summer day, you’d go into an office and all the lights would
be switched on. They’d have been on since the cleaners turned them on when it
was still dark in the morning,” says the college’s Clive Davey.

 

With an information campaign to switch off lights and not leave computers
on all night, £12,000 is saved per year. Environmental benefits are calculated
as saving the equivalent of 200 balloons, 10m in diameter, filled with carbon
dioxide from being released into the atmosphere.

 

The college sends about 10 skip loads of paper a week for recycling. Clive
Davey says that the cost of getting it taken away is the same as getting it to a
tip.

 

Office cynics might be wondering whether the green recycling box really
goes where it is intended – or whether it’s just a dustbin with a feelgood
factor.

 

But the TUC’s Philip Pearson says that it is up to people to make sure that
recycling services are legitimate. “You need to ask some serious questions about
where the material is going and what it’s being used for,” he says. “It’s no
good being cynical, the question is to find out, ask the contractor and ring up
if you’re suspicious. “There’s nothing worse than meaningless gestures where
people have a sense of engagement and find out further on down the chain that
nothing is happening.”

 

A report last month from the government-funded Envirowise campaign, says
that office paper consumption is rising by 20% per year.

 

Instead of creating the paperless office, technology means we print out
more and more. Launching a project to reduce office waste, it says that on
average each worker uses 50 sheets of A4 a day.

 

Envirowise has published advice on cutting use, such as printing on both
sides, using recycled paper, reusing scrap paper and not printing documents sent
on emails.

 

There are other items chucked out that are less easy to recycle, such as
polystyrene cups which do not degrade when buried.

 

In an attempt to mop up some of this, the drinks vending industry has
subsidised a free collection service, called Save a Cup, which will take away
bags of cups and reuse the material. But they won’t take expanded polystyrene,
which can’t be recycled.

 

A spokeswoman for Envirowise says offices can avoid the problem by using
mugs or paper cups.

 

Rather than chucking printer cartridges in the bin, a charity, ActionAid,
will collect and recycle them, with the proceeds from the reclaimed materials
going towards its aid work in developing countries.

 

The drive for a greener workplace is also about manufacturing and heavy
industry. Construction union UCATT is working on housebuilding projects which
reduce waste and lessen environmental damage.

 

At Millennium Chemicals on Humberside, transport and general union
representatives have been part of a process of removing the impact of chemical
production on riverlife. But the TUC’s Philip Pearson says it’s also about
thinking beyond what an industry produces.

 

In terms of the emissions contributing to climate change, road transport is
one of the biggest offenders. A person driving from London to Edinburgh is six
times more damaging than someone travelling by train. So rearranging travel
patterns could be a firm’s contribution.

 

The Greening the Workplace report also forecasts that thousands of jobs
will created by the drive to reduce emissions often because of pressure from
above to meet international targets.

 

The government is committed to reducing carbon emissions by the end of the
decade to 20% below the 1990 levels and a target of 20% of energy coming from
renewable sources by 2020.

 

Only about 8,000 people are working in renewable energy, which would have
to rise substantially if the power industry is going to get anywhere near these
targets.

 

Another government-backed agency, the Waste and Resources Action Programme
(Wrap), says the recycling figures show the rhetoric on going green is being
turned into reality. “Companies are becoming much more aware,” says Wrap’s Pat
Jennings.

 

Last year more than seven million tonnes of paper were recycled –
representing a 56% “recycling rate”. And this is being pushed up by companies
buying more recycled paper, which says Pat Jennings, “closes the loop”. About a
third of inkjet and toner cartridges are “remanufactured or recycled”, says
WRAP, and 40% of glass bottles. But other figures show much waste is still being
put into landfill. Last year, London alone generated more than 17m tonnes of
domestic and business rubbish, 70% which ended up in landfill.

 

What you can do

 

The trade union report Greening the Workplace says employees should set up
an environment committee with employers to find ways to cut waste and prevent
environmental damage.

 

These committees could set up recycling services or cut energy consumption
by using timers on heating or lights and ensuring that computers, printers and
photocopiers are turned off overnight.

 

There are specialist recycling services for collecting paper, plastic cups
and printer cartridges. Employers could be encouraged to buy recycled
paper.

 

Employees should press for an annual energy audit. And they should
encourage managers to select greener options such as electricity providers which
are committed to renewable power. Start-up buildings can incorporate renewable
energy, such as solar panels.

 

Transport arrangements should avoid unnecessary car journeys and should
encourage public transport, working from home or videoconferencing. Companies
should consider cleaner “biofuels”.

 

If a company’s business generates pollution, the paper suggests that unions
and employers should work together on finding ways to minimise damage and make
all staff aware of the issue.

[Author]

August 9, 2005 at 11:23 AM