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Policy

The Severn Deanery is committed to sustainable development and reducing the impact on the environment from its operations and area of responsibility.

Aims

  • Conserve finite resources such as carbon-embodied energy and products, and water
  • Minimise waste by promoting “re-using” and recycling methods
  • Set and review targets to reduce the Deanery’s environmental impact
  • Communicate and implement this policy to all Deanery employees
  • Promote individual employee responsibility for implementing this policy
  • Encourage employees to develop new ideas and initiatives to support it
  • Achieve demonstrable savings in terms financial and environmental costs
  • Provide appropriate resources to meet the commitments of this policy
  • Develop training in the Severn region to have a sustainable focus

Method

  • Increase awareness and generate Deanery-wide ownership through all levels
  • Keep it positive
  • Keep it team-focused
  • Advertise Deanery achievements/challenges – at staff meetings, on the Deanery website and on notice boards
  • Produce a monthly Green Gazette
  • Make being green easy (remove non-green alternatives)
  • Align financial benefits, green initiatives and Deanery “global focus
  • Incorporate green agenda into Deanery marketing materials
  • Include green information in induction of all new permanent members of staff
  • Work with external teams and groups to broaden knowledge base
  • Provide leadership and support to Training Programme Directors in
    developing sustainable training and practice within their programmes

Implementation

The Deanery will concentrate on working in five areas:health, energy, waste reduction, purchasing, and transport.

Health

Aim: To promote health and wellbeing to staff, trainees, and Deanery educators.

  • Include healthy themes in communication to staff through newsletters, notice boards, and on the website
  • Run programmes highlighting environmental issues
  • Consider schemes such as NHS forests
  • Use sustainability to build and develop teams
  • Arrange sustainable fundraising events to support health charities
  • Incorporate sustainability into appraisal
  • Support prorgammes in developing sustainable training

Energy

Aim: To reduce the amount of electricity used in the Deanery and to ensure energy consumed is as renewable as possible.

  • Increase employee awareness and commitment to energy saving practices at their desk e.g. by shutting down computers and other powered equipment when they are out of use - especially at the end of the working day.
  • Check the building thermostats and ensure that all heating and air conditioning is necessary.
  • Check if appliances are on “standby” unnecessarily, make employees aware and take action.
  • Encourage employees to switch off lights when rooms are not in use and sunlight is at high levels.
  • Ensure that mobile phone chargers are unplugged when they are out of use.
  • Ensure that photocopiers are on timers to be on during the day during the working week only.
  • Monitor employee work areas to ensure that they are putting energy saving practices in place.
  • Aim to reduce the carbon footprint of energy supplied to the Deanery

Waste Reduction

Aim: To reduce and recycle as much waste generated by the Deanery as possible.

  • Ensure that plastic, tins, cans, aerosols and batteries are recycled.
  • Run regular stationery “amnesties”, where staff empty their desks/working areas of unwanted office supplies, to be put back in the stationery cupboards.
  • Ensure that cupboards containing used/available stationery products (e.g. files) are sorted, clearly labelled and made known to employees, to encourage products to be reused.
  • Check bins to make sure that all products that should be recycled are being recycled!

Purchasing

Aim: To ensure that office and training resources are both manufactured in a sustainable way and are necessary for the running of the Deanery.

  • Ensure that the Deanery uses recycled and recyclable paper products wherever possible. Consider buying paper products (especially photocopier/printer paper) with the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) logo.
  • Acquire energy efficient electrical goods with A energy efficient ratings.
  • Buy light bulbs with the highest energy efficiency ratings and ensure that environmentally friendly products are purchased by any supplier to the Deanery.
  • Encourage employees to print less. Ensure that all printers print double-sided.
  • Encourage all staff to recycle waste paper and cardboard in appropriate bins.
  • Encourage employees to send e-cards instead of paper cards (free E-cards: are available atwww.jimpix.co.uk).
  • Make sure that businesses sending post to employees who have left are contacted to amend their distribution lists.
  • Ensure that taps/plumbing are not dripping and arranged to get leaks fixed.

Transport

Aim: To promote environmentally friendly forms of transport wherever
possible for Deanery employees visitors, and trainees.

  • Link meetings that are out of the local area, to avoid travelling longer distances multiple times.
  • Where practical, keep promoting the use of trains before using cars for business meetings out of the area.
  • Encourage employees to share their commute with someone else who lives locally or if they are attending the same meeting.
  • Encourage Deanery employees to locate external meetings at venues which are readily accessible to public transport.
  • Encourage visitors to use trains to come to meetings e.g. by providing them with rail information.
  • Encourage Deanery employees to use video-conferencing facilities when possible.