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The Knowledge - The Resource - Green office

Best Foot Forward
Resource accountants - they count how much energy it takes to make a computer, or how much enregy an office uses. They can suggest various measures to reduce the environmental impact.
The Future Centre, 115 Magdalen Road, Oxford, OX4 1RQ
T: 01865 250 818
F: 01865 794 586
E: mail@bestfootforward.com
W: www.bestfootforward.com
Community Recycling Network UK
The Community Recycling Network UK is a membership organisation promoting community based sustainable waste management as a practical and effective way of tackling the UK's growing waste problem.
Trelawney House, Surrey Street, Bristol, BS2 8PS
T: 0117 9420142
F: 0117 9080 225
E: info@crn.org.uk
W: www.crn.org.uk
Ecotricity
It builds new wind turbines to power your business. It will supply you with 10% new green electricity every year that you're with it. In 5 years time 50% of your electricity will come from new green electricity built just for you.
Axiom House, Station Road, Stroud, Gloucester GL5 3AP, UK
T: 08000 326 100
F: 01453 756 222
E: info@ecotricity.co.uk
W: www.ecotricity.co.uk
Energy Saving Trust
A not-for-profit organisation funded by the government and the private sector to promote the use of cleaner fuels and better insulation and heating efficiency.
21 Dartmouth Street, London SW1H 9BP, UK
T: 020 7222 0101
F: 020 7654 2460
W: www.est.org.uk
enhance
enhance facilitates the growth of small, medium and social enterprises that work with recyclable materials. The team provides free tailored business support and advice to those working, or aspiring to work, in London's recycling, reuse and remanufacturing industries.
W: www.enhancelondon.co.uk
Environment Agency - NetRegs
UK businesses lose 4.5% of their annual turnover through waste. It doesn't have to be like that, and fulfilling your environmental obligations can generate savings.

Only one third of that waste is recycled. The NetRegs website provides information on the legislation along with guidance on areas like recycling and green purchasing. There is material relevant to a number of specific trade sectors.

NetRegs is a joint project between the Environment Agency (England and Wales), the Environment and Heritage Service (Northern Ireland), and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).
W: www.netregs.gov.uk
Envirowise
Envirowise delivers a valuable government-funded programme of free, confidential advice to UK businesses. This assistance enables companies to increase profitability and reduce environmental impact.

For example, the simplest water-saving tip could save businesses £12 million. UK businesses could cut annual water consumption by up to seven billion litres by using the oldest trick in the book. By placing a brick in toilet cisterns, or preferably a full one-litre water bottle, businesses would reduce each toilet flush by around a litre and could net a share of £12 million in reduced water costs into the bargain!

Envirowise offers further advice across the board to help companies identify where waste can be minimised and cost-savings made. Its services are free of charge and are completely confidential.
T: 0800 585 794
W: www.envirowise.gov.uk
Green Card Company
All their cards are printed on recycled paper.
PO Box 556, Oxford, OX1 5ZR
T: 01865 321 302
W: www.greencardcompany.co.uk
Green Growth London
What we hope is the first of many such initiatives, this organisation helps environmental entrepreneurs, designers and manufacturers exploit opportunities in the green economy.
T: 020 7061 6372
W: greengrowthlondon.co.uk
Green Stationery Company
Rycycled paper and recycled stationery.
Studio 1, 114 Walcot Street, Bath BA1 5BG, UK
T: 01225 480 556
F: 01225 481 211
E: sales@greenstat.co.uk
W: www.greenstat.co.uk
Inspired Recycling
Provides tailored assistance for designing and making new products with recycled materials.
W: www.inspiredrecycling.co.uk
Kingston University
Kingston University is one of London's universities which has a dedicated unit for research into recycled product design.
W: www.kingston.ac.uk
London Remade
London Remade is in the business of recycling and creating environmental solutions for a sustainable capital. This is achieved through developing markets for recycled products, providing tailored support to help grow green enterprises and introducing green practices to existing businesses. London Remade acts as a leading advisor and consultant to London boroughs to improve recycling waste management. Find out more about how they support buiness, you can recycle, you can make products using recycled materials, buy recycled products and collect recyclable waste.
W: www.londonremade.com
Natural insulation
Second Nature UK Ltd have developed insulation products (Theremafleece) which is environmentally friendly wool insulation.

It has many advantages over those rolls of prickly artificial stuff. Its insulating properties are superior (temperatures can be increased by up to 4ºC in winter and reduced by up to 7°C in summer); water vapour can migrate through the structure: it is naturally fire-retarding, though it is also treated with a fire-retarding product. The manufacturing process also takes up less energy than fibre glass. The product is totally recyclable at the end of its 50-year life.
Soulands Gate, Soulby, Dacre, Penrith, Cumbria CA11 0JF
T: 01768 486 285
E: info@secondnatureuk.com
W: www.secondnatureuk.com
Recycle
How would you like a free dishwasher? Or a dining room table and chairs? Maybe you're a budding musician who could give a piano a good home, or you're desperately in need of a king sized bed? All of these things are yours for the taking, and if you can pick them up, they're yours absolutely free.

Recycle.co.uk aims to reduce the amount of household items that end up in landfills every year, by offering a venue where people can give them away for free. It's often said that one man's junk is another man's treasure, and that's certainly true at Recycle.co.uk, where you'll find all manner of furniture, white goods, computer equipment and other items available to take home for absolutely nothing.

The site is a little bit like eBay, in that people can list their unwanted items. The big difference is that at Recycle.co.uk, you don't have to bid or pay for the items you're interested in. They're all available absolutely free but you have to be quick, and as it's free to list your items on the site too, it costs nothing to both help the environment and help other people who may be looking for exactly what you're about to throw away. It's particularly useful for people looking to get rid of larger items, which can't easily be posted, and which are difficult to sell.

Items are listed by area, so it's easy to see exactly what's available in your part of the country.
W: www.recycle.co.uk
Remarkable (Pencils) Ltd
Remarkable recycles old plastic coffee cups and makes them into pens! They also make notepads and pencil cases from old tyres, and pens from used computer printers.
The Remarkable Factory, Midland Road, Worcester, WR5 1DS
T: 020 8741 1234
E: info@remarkable.co.uk
W: www.remarkable.co.uk
Retone
Supplies recycled laser, copier and inkjet cartridges.
Retone House, 60 Sherbourne Street, Manchester M8 8LR, UK
T: 0161 839 0500
F: 0161 839 0600
E: info@retone.co.uk
W: www.retone.co.uk
Spotlight on waste
Millions of pounds are being lost every year in office lighting.

The Building Design Partnership calculates that in the UK approximately 70 million square metres of office space are unnecessarily lit, representing a cost of £200-300 million pounds a year.

Barrie Wilde, consultant at BDP Lighting, author of the report, says: 'Every pound wasted on energy equates to approximately 5-6kg of unnecessary CO2 emission into the environment.'

He continued: 'The actual working area in an office represents no more than 30% of the floor area. Add to this the fact that most offices only ever have 70% of people actually at their workstation, and the true wastefulness of energy for lighting of offices becomes apparent.

'If an open plan office (currently using lighting energy at a density of 12.5 watts per square metre of floor area) switched to lighting the actual workstation locally - desk lamps or similar - and used low level 'background' lighting this would reduce to approx. 7.1 watts per square metre.

'If all offices were designed in this manner, millions of pounds would be saved, millions of tonnes of CO2 emission would be eliminated and an enormous contribution to the Kyoto Treaty could be achieved.'
T: 0161 834 8441
E: dc-cash@bdp.co.uk
W: www.bdp.co.uk
Waste Watch
The leading UK environmental charity promoting sustainable resource use. Waste Watch campaigns through policy development for all areas of society to reduce, reuse and recycle. Offers recycling advice.
56-64 Leonard Street, London, EC2A 4LT, UK
T: 020 7549 0300
F: 020 7549 0301
E: info@wastewatch.org.uk
W: www.wastewatch.org.uk

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