Sustainability has made its way into everyday life for individuals and businesses alike. Corporate responsibility strategies to improve sustainability now need to surpass the original global mission to put the brakes on humanity’s impact on the natural environment, and instead go one step further to put it in reverse.

With global climate action and soaring energy prices affecting both the personal and professional lives of individuals and business across the country, the sustainable efforts being actioned by UK businesses are more important than ever.

Seeking ways to reduce energy usage and waste, in addition to lowering corporate climate impact, has now become an economic essential as well as an environmental concern.

When 86% of organisations believe there is more they could be doing to lower their environmental impact, there’s no doubt that behavioural change across the board is essential to making real changes in building management. Buildings and facilities managers are in a position to greatly improve the ways that an organisation can play its part in protecting the planet.

Eco-equipment
Buildings are bustling with equipment that makes an organisation’s mission possible, but these appliances have the potential to make or break sustainability efforts.

Excessive energy usage is a massive contributor to the waste created by premises. That’s why using equipment with technology that prioritises the improvement of sustainable practices across buildings is essential.

Their research of UK decision makers across a range of sectors backs this up, revealing that 95% say sustainability is the most important aspect for them when choosing to purchase equipment for their business. Additionally, when purchasing this equipment, 84% of businesses look for models that have a higher energy-efficiency rating.

However, one quarter of businesses are not aware of the energy-efficient products available to them, highlighting the importance of managers consulting their suppliers and distributors specifically about how this differs between equipment.

Reduce your plastic
From ‘bags for life’ to cardboard straws and refill shops, most individuals are now hyper-aware of reducing the volume of single-use plastic in their lives. Businesses have had to evolve with consumer demand, especially now the UK government’s Plastic Tax is in full force (applying to plastic packaging manufactured in, or imported into the UK, that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic).

One of the easiest ways businesses can reduce the single-use plastics in their premises is to swap the sale or provision of water in plastic bottles for more sustainable alternatives, such as installing a water filter or filtration system and serving employees and visitors using reusable bottles.

By investing in a water filtration system, buildings can serve unlimited quantities of high-quality, chilled, still and sparkling water. When you consider that British consumers use an average of 7.7bn plastic bottles of water a year, while only 57% of these are recycled, the impact of switching from serving water in single-use plastic bottles to sustainable and reusable glass bottles is overwhelming.

BRITA VIVREAU’s range of filtered water dispensers also benefit from emission-reducing technology. BRITA’s Extra C-Tap not only reduces the need for plastic bottles, it also helps decrease energy consumption overall, thanks to boiler standby and night modes by harnessing the power of a natural, carbon-neutral R290 refrigerant. Using a water dispenser not only reduces plastic across a building – or network of buildings – but can also help to lower the overall carbon footprint by eliminating the need to transport, store, and refrigerate cold water.

For more details, visit: https://www.brita.co.uk/water-dispensers

To learn more about BRITA’s sustainability credentials, visit: https://www.brita.co.uk/water-dispensers/sustainability