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Your Carbon Foot Print, any thoughts on this?
Any one been asked to explain their businesses carbon foot print yet?
I got called in to a meeting last week, and asked to explain what I was doing to reduce my carbon emissions, before I’d be considered for a contract.
Never been asked that before.
Did some homework though, found out that a couple of my suppliers have ‘green’ options if I need to change over, for Eco sensitive contracts.
I never knew that before.
Anyone else been asked something similar?
They caught me on the back foot initially, but I have satisfied the client with the option of ‘green’ friendlier products, if they are happy to pay extra for the ‘safer’ stuff. 🙂
Just curious what you guys do to overcome an enquiry like that.
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33 Replies
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I will do my utmost to check my impulse to throw such a worthless questionnaire into the bucket and will compose a reply that I think will meet with the senders approval.
Yup – it’s only a matter of time before these sorts of questionnaires become commonplace in the corporate world. It’s all b0llocks of course. Carbon footprints will all be forgotten about in 10 years time. There will be some other great issue that occupies mankind by then.
But in answer to your question Shane – this time I’ll just go along with the charade and present an earnest front demonstrating my commitment to doing my part to save the planet. Just like David Cameron riding his bike whilst being trailed by his team of security officers and other lackeys. I figure if leading politicians and big business can be so insincere – then there’s no harm in the rest of us doing the same to try and gain a commercial advantage by climbing aboard the green bandwagon 🙄
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Yep your right Phil
its just a pity that no one listen to this guy years ago everyone says hes crazy but ???????
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLi2QU3OEOQ -
ill be honest… i agree with phill on this in many ways. however, for the past 12 months i have seen more and more of this cropping up in tenders and companies favouring to work with same. i am actually in the middle of trying to decide how best to approach this for the UKSG. not to press it on them like we are all getting, just to offer alternatives to them.
anyway…
around 6 months ago i decided to move our company in this direction as much as possible without incurring much, if any, costs to us.
so much so i am in the process of altering our company image to become visually a more green friendly company. i have already been speaking with various suppliers on providing me with relevant material spec and the like… i recon over the next few months i will have everything in place. will it change how we work/ run our business? no, not really… once the image thing is in place, we simply buy some alternative products and dispose of our waste in the proper fashion etc etc etc if anything, i am trying to reinvent ourselves, give a fresh new image and using this as our gimmick may just make us appeal to more before everyone else jumps on the band wagon. -
well this is something that we never been asked… but our waste bothers us.
Currently perspex is sent to a recycling plant, which is ideal.
Everything else is binned
I like the idea of John compactor but still not made a move on that.
I also heard recently that an ink supplier is ‘taking’ old ink carts and giving you a fresh one. (not heard much more about this now)
Also heard one of the bigger material suppliers recycling the scrap dibond, but as long as it is ‘their’ brand.
Paper, magazines, card is all being recycled correctly.
Oh the other day we received 5 Sign Worlds! Amazing lol
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Just tell them you have now reduced the number of tea breaks per day from 5 to 4, resulting in a significant (20%+) saving in many key areas.
Electricity consumption and a possible increased lifespan for your kettle.
Fresh water consumption in several areas – initial use, cup & spoon washing & waste water management due the need to pee less.
Tea-bag use – therefore reducing the environmental impact during their manufacture, transport from the manufacturer & to your home & eventual disposal.
Milk consumption goes down, reducing the number of cattle that must be kept so reducing methane greenhouse gasses produced by dairy cattle.
and so on a so forth….
I do give a slight hoot about the environmental impact I make in my personal life & in waste management at work.
I won’t take more plastic bags than I require at the supermarket…but I will still drive there & back in a V8 Jag.
I compact, bale & recycle ‘clean’ cardboard (boxes), but nobody wants any of the other stuff.
I switch off the lights when I’m out of the office for a significant time period…but leave all of the PC’s on all day.
As the other threads on recycling will attest to – this is not exactly a green industry to be in…can’t exactly make signs out of hemp & jojoba powered by the sun…
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Interesting comments here friends.
Actually Rob, I’m doing a similar thing here.
I do a lot of work for environmentally clients/industries (conservation etc) so I’m going to promote that side better.
Aluminum pull ups are considered environmentally friendly because they are from a recycled product. Doesn’t dawn on anyone that they come from a smelter in the first place 🙄
The pull up material I use is as chemical free as they can get it, certainly void of any real nasty stuff from what I’m told.
Vista sign systems is considered environmental due to their recycling ability, and the manufacturing process is apparently ‘green’ as they come. Not sure how they come to that conclusion, I have to study that a bit more.
We’ve got a company here selling banner material for printing that degrades in landfill too. Not been round long enough to know the life of it though.
Alugbond is fully recyclable too, so that is another plus in the green aspect of the business.
One wholesaler is looking at taking back used perspex, but at less that $1 a kilo, the cost of fuel to pick it up makes it prohibitive.
We recycle all our cardboard of course, but the main core business revolves around ink and vinyl, and neither will be eco friendly anytime soon.
Its a start though. 😉
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I have ordered 3 new range rovers, a cooling tower for the unit, a pallette of deodorant and 400 methane producing cows for the field behind the unit.
If they make global warming as nice as the summer were having here in Cornwall I’m all for it.
Lol no eco friendly contracts won for me so Ill be down the beach in my speedboat,
:lol1: -
quote :as nice as the summer were having here in Cornwallwhat year you talking about
c hris
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LOL do you live in the same Cornwall as me?
Its rained here twice in about 10 days, and both times its been lovely and sunny after.
Bit like today really. -
got wet twice today and its raining NOW
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It rained today then was lovely, 2 secs ill check if its raining outside………… Nope its still sunny
Actually yes its raining now we must have the saltash to looe sized cloud thats evaded me for the past 2 weeks
bugger. -
Is PES fully recyclable ?
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quote Jason Xuereb:Is PES fully recyclable ?
I’d tell you if I knew what you are talking about 😳 :lol1:
PES or PET?
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i see vista is pushing the green thing too shane… i actually like the vista system. its promoted and presented well for a product. its well made, designed and not that expensive. now having said that, i havent had much call to push it but intend too now as another one on my list of green products.
i called europoint and cox today as they are about to heavily push the whole green products thing. so i have asked for sample packs…
as i said, once a little homewaork has been done and a re-look at what you buy. it neednt be a costly excercise, if at all…
only thing i really still need to do is get my head around my waste being dispossed of. few options but need to ring around.
i think im better seeing waht products i maybe using that will need disposed of in the first place? :lol1:anyone else considering it?
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Great, the recycling bandwagon.
Get an electric car, materials for batteries mined in Canada, shipped to China for manufacture (not in my back yard so that’s alright) then shipped back to Europe. Yes really green!
I’ll do my best to minimise waste and recycle materials and I’ll make the right noises but some of this green stuff is creating more emissions than they save.Anyway to answer your question Shane, no I’ve not had to deal with this yet.
In the UK every business now has to recycle at least one of it’s waste products, I think we’re even meant to keep records on it.
Anyway that’s my drunken Friday night rant over 🙂
Steve
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I agree Rob, Vista is a great product, but frightfully expensive here, and they don’t offer huge discount for qty.
I had a quote in the system for 500 units for a government dept, and the best I could get was 10% off I think. They are the dearest of their type of signs anyway, and the competitor products are heaps cheaper, so if the tendor is price based I don’t stand a chance.
Communication isn’t the best either. I’m in the world wide ambassador program with Vista, but I hear more of what goes on, in their advertising rather than within the program. Ambassador members are supposed to get to hear news before its released to the buying public, so we are up to speed before the enquiries are made.
The green thing is being heavily promoted here, primarily by one supplier who has offices in europe (not spandex) so I think they are more aware of whats going on on a worldwide basis that those insulated resellers down under, with no exposure to the european markets.
Most of our theme parks here are trying to get under the new Labor governments green audit, and get green credits, so whatever they can ‘grab’ to fall within the new guidelines, they’ll take.
Takes the hard sell out of the equation anyway.. :lol1:
I agree with your sentiment stephen.
Our government has embarked on a massive green drive which they admit will put petrol, electricity and other essential services up by double digit %’s . Australia only produces 1.5% of the total greenhouse gases, and after the new laws are introduced, with all the cost of living pain that will be associated with it, the government admit we MAY reduce Australia’s greenhouse effect less than 0.5%…
As a side effect though, the government will reap $bil’s in extra tax…. er revenue. 👿
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Hey Shane,
PES I think is the stuff JM Fabrics used.
http://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.p … 720#285720
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I see the Church of Scotland is even getting in on the act. Apparently they are now saying it is sinful to drive a 4×4 or fly abroad twice a year for business or holidays. Obviously they are trying to "save the planet" – But I thought that was supposed to be Jesus’s job
😕
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quote Phill:I see the Church of Scotland is even getting in on the act. Apparently they are now saying it is sinful to drive a 4×4 or fly abroad twice a year for business or holidays. Obviously they are trying to “save the planet” – But I thought that was supposed to be Jesus’s job
😕
Well it had to happen some time Phill.
I wonder how sinful it is to stay away from church because you would have to drive there and there is no public transport available. 👿Steve
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Not sure who watches it, but out of the few TV program’s i watch, is dragens den… 😀
Lat night in the new series i think on at least 3 occasions they knocked back investing in or criticised products for not being environmentally friendly. i know this maybe a tact impossed on them to start mentioning in replies, but it doesnt add to the fact, this isnt going to go away because we do not like it, or being told to alter our ways of doing business.also, sign directions magazine had at least 10 pages dedicated to UK suppliers now pushing the whole green concept within their products and new product ranges.
as i mentioned already. this is something i am taking up on and have been making changes. NOT because i agree with it all, i agree with this as much as i agree in many of the H&S nonsense imposed on us… however, i like to try and look on the positive side of things and one main one is that this will give us a some form of edge over our competitors when putting in tenders for work with large firms as they seem to be stipulating this more and more.
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quote :Obviously they are trying to “save the planet” – But I thought that was supposed to be Jesus’s jobYeah, Right! Like Jesus has a great track record. He can’t even stop the Churches fighting amongst themselves.
Peter
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I couldn’t agree more Rob, it just annoys me that certain things are latched onto and touted as the holy grail of green living.
I’ve always tried to minimise waste, it makes sense to make the best use of your materials.
I’ve always recycled glass, tins, paper and card.
My vehicles are bought with a view to their fuel economy, I admit I don’t drive a 100mpg wonder car, and I’ve always tried not to make unnecessary journeys.
All stuff I’ve been doing for years before all this "green" stuff came along simply because it saves me money.
It also annoys me that the government comes up with all these green schemes but you go into the supermarket and look at all the packaging that’s used, individually wrapped biscuits in plastic packet with a box around them, brought about by government legislation on hygiene.Rant over 🙂
I’m also looking at my suppliers green products but I think you have to be careful that your not getting ripped off over a product that may have been green anyway.Steve
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Don’t know if its green or not, but amari now do the 8200 range vinyl which has a water based adhesive its got about a three week guarantee which suits me because I only guarantee for one, AND its about thirty 30% cheaper than the budget 8300 range. 😀 This is my contribution though…at the ripe young age of 48 I have an allottment, now how green is that? :lol1:
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I watched that Dragons Den Robert and loved the fact they were all giving the Chinese guy a hard time over his glow in the dark Glasses only for Peter Jones to basically say he didnt care about all that and invested anyway.
I have recently signed a contract with SITA to take my rubbish away, they said the waxy paper couldnt be recycled, I was going to question it but then someone stole the small black recycle box from my house and I was told it would take up to 4 weeks to replace, so my attention was taken elsewhere!!
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Ive got ten tomato plants in pots outside and 2 bags of compost. 😮
regards
Roy
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Paul we had a guy in, not specificaly for him to colect our rubbish etc but he was from a large firm that did the whole recycling scenario…. anyway, we breifly spoke to him and the first thing he said was the backing paper was a problem! why, i dont know… but paper, crd and vinyl makes up about 70% of our waste.
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Carbon foot print? I’d like to put my carbon foot print up the r’s of the stupid people who think they can save the planet by using more energy to recycle my food waste.
Our local council now recycle food waste, they collect it in a truck that they hire for £500 per day. They also recycle garden waste, but we cant put uneaten peas or potato skins in the garden waste or we get fined…Please can someone tell me the advantages of recycling, in real terms?
If it is so good, why do we need to spend money doing it,
I hope the Chinese manage to have a net saving on their Carbon footprint for hosting the Olympics, , 😀
Peter
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I have started putting my weeding waste vinyl in a pile during the day, then at the end of the day using the heat gun I reduce it to the size of a small football. What do ya do have more mass of waste, or use the extra electricity?
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Peter, I’d just love to get you, Phill and my dad together, it’d be great to watch.
My dad works for United utilities (North west water) in the Sewage plant maintenance side and management hate him coming to the meetings because he rips them to pieces, especially when they tell him he has to go on a new course to re-learn every thing he already knows and he’s retiring in 2 years time (or maybe not if the government gets it’s way).Steve
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Don’t get me started on the green thing…I’m in a State where mining is a huge industry…Even Uranium mining is done up North.
What is my little business going to affect?
Alright, I recycle my used eco sol cartriges (get up to $10 each for the 440ml ones). We put waste inks into a chem drum to go to the tip for proper disposal. We recycle every scrap of card and paper and look after every scrap of metal so it goes back to recycle.
You know what I’m REALLY concerned about here???
Shane’ll back me up…WATER!!!
I go ape poo when one of the guys leave on a tap half running in the toilet.
Water is scarce here.
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Lee,
Who recycles your cartridges?
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Project Engraving buddy.
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quote Lee Attewell:Don’t get me started on the green thing…I’m in a State where mining is a huge industry…Even Uranium mining is done up North.
What is my little business going to affect?
Alright, I recycle my used eco sol cartriges (get up to $10 each for the 440ml ones). We put waste inks into a chem drum to go to the tip for proper disposal. We recycle every scrap of card and paper and look after every scrap of metal so it goes back to recycle.
You know what I’m REALLY concerned about here???
Shane’ll back me up…WATER!!!
I go ape poo when one of the guys leave on a tap half running in the toilet.
Water is scarce here.
:lol1: I know what you say Lee, but I’ve got an 18,000 litre tank installed at work, and two 5500 litre tanks at home, so its not the issue it was, but, now our government is considering taxing us on the water capacity we can store.
One of the councils not far from here tax farmers for the amount of water their pumps can pump from their dams. I know a guy that has a pump that hasn’t worked for a year (he can’t afford the repairs) but he still has to pay the tax, because the pump has x litre per hour capacity. That fact that it doesn’t work is irrelevant 😕
About 20 years ago, our Government outlawed rain water tanks here in Brisbane, forcing people to join up to the mains supply which the government owned. They penalized anyone that kept the old tanks ‘for a rainy day’.
Now 20 years on, we are all being told that we need rain water tanks if we want to wash our cars or water our gardens.
Of course, 20 years on, a lot that had tanks back then and had them removed are now on the pension, and don’t have the funds to put new tanks back in. 👿
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