Nottinghamshire County Council publishes a great magazine called Living for Tomorrow. It’s all about Notts people putting sustainable solutions into practice. The latest edition included a very inspiring article about making workspaces greener in a building where I used to work.
The Green Group at the Nottingham Council for Voluntary Service (in the Voluntary Action Centre) formed to help NCVS plan and implement ways to green up their workplace. After discovering that 20% of their energy consumption happened overnight the horrified group members decided to call on the powers of the Green Fairy to help remind staff and volunteers about saving energy. The little virtual helper ‘visits’ desks anonymously and leaves green tips and advice. She even says “thank you” when her advice has been followed.
NCVS won an award for their green fairy innovation and spent the £500 on improving an outdoor space belonging to the building. The space is now filled with plants, herbs and vegetables and is used by staff as a meeting place, eating area and place to relax.
The Green Group’s latest addition is ‘Dr Green’ who takes suggestions and answers questions about eco issues. A couple of ideas put to Dr Green have helped save heating bills (and of course energy) and implement further recycling in the central office.
NCVS have a dedicated noticeboard for green and ethical updates. They sell fairtrade drinks and organic snacks in the building vending machine and every six months have a ‘chuck away day’ where offices clear out and recycle old stationery and equipment. On top of that all NVAC tennants have been given a CD full of tips, information and a model environmental policy to help them make their offices a brighter shade of green.
Some great ideas to consider for our own offices…
October 27th, 2008 at 12:55 am
A gree tip. I think programmable thermostats are the best as they save 10% on bills. They are cheap and simple to install. Easy savings.
I found another site which gave some ways to save electricity, but looking for more good advice. Thanks
http://www.waystosaveelectricity.com
November 24th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Thanks Vicky, I was one of the founders of this initiative and it was working its way round the whole building as I left to join the Woodland Trust this summer. The NCVS Green Group continues and has resources to share with organisations to help ‘bring a little green’ into your offices, too. There is lots that can be done and a Green Fairy-type idea can be a great starting point to at least open up the discussion about saving energy. You can email the Green Fairy at greenfairy@nottinghamcvs.co.uk.
You can make a difference outside too: the Woodland Trust is a charity working hard to help people enjoy the UK’s woodlands and plant the native forests of the future. Woods and trees are so important to a healthy landscape whereever you are, and vital to life. Sadly so much is destroyed in the name of ‘progress’. If you are needing to protect local woodlands from destruction by developers – for example houses, roads, golf courses etc – you can get help at http://www.woodwatch.org.uk >> think Neighbourhood Watch, for woods!