This week, we received the exciting news that we have achieved Carbon Charter accreditation. Our bronze-level award is a testament to our unwavering commitment to reducing the environmental impact of our business operations, inspiring us to do more for the planet.
This recognition signifies our commitment to improving our green credentials and doing whatever we can to support Suffolk County Council in its shared goal of Creating the Greenest County.
What is the Carbon Charter?
The Carbon Charter bronze accreditation is delivered by Groundwork East and overseen by the Environment Agency and Suffolk County Council. It’s an award that recognises the impact that smaller organisations can play in the national bid to reach Net Zero targets by 2050.
The Carbon Charter is specifically awarded to organisations that are monitoring and reducing their carbon emissions.
Taking action for a sustainable future
Since we relocated to our office in Hintlesham, we’ve taken significant steps towards a more sustainable future.
- We have already invested in an electric-only premise and upgraded it with heat pumps & better insulation.
- We will also be installing solar panels to generate solar energy within the next twelve months.
- Our dedicated environmental policy provides clear direction to actively minimise our own carbon emissions, giving you confidence in our commitment to sustainability.
The bronze award is our first step.
The Carbon Charter award features bronze, silver and gold accreditations. We see our bronze award as a stepping stone on our journey, and we have outlined a series of priorities that we can work towards as we move towards silver status.
What is the impact of the IT sector on the environment?
We are well aware that the IT and technology sectors have a significant impact on the environment.
On the positive side, the switch to remote working and video/audio conferencing has reduced significant travel requirements. The use of collaborative tools has also made it easier to share documents, which has reduced paper wastage and saved trees. Improved technologies have also made IT systems far more energy efficient, while environmental monitoring and innovation can only be managed through IT-led sensor networks.
However, we can’t ignore the negative aspects. There is no denying that the continuous manufacture of new devices and powering data centres are contributing significantly towards the global ICT sector’s carbon footprint. More importantly, the growing number of end-user devices is also having a considerable impact on emission levels.
Here at Lucid Systems, we take this seriously.
- We prioritise equipment updates over replacements, extending product lifecycles.
- We actively recycle hardware to minimise electronic waste.
- We’re also monitoring the efficiency of our data centres and taking steps to utilise environmentally friendly power sources and renewable energy tariffs to minimise emissions where possible.
We view our environmental impact as a continuous journey rather than a destination. There will always be something more that we can do to improve, and we will continue to reduce our emissions.
We’re celebrating our success and wanting to encourage others.
Right now, we are incredibly proud of our bronze accreditation, and we encourage other businesses throughout Suffolk to look at how they can become more sustainable. If we all take small steps together, we can make a significant difference in the ultimate goal, which is for Suffolk to become the Greenest County.
So, why not get started and see if you can become accredited with the Carbon Charter?
