Reduce, re-use, recycle
We’re making small changes to reduce our environmental impact
Making small changes to make a BIG difference
3Sixty Financial Solutions is part of the PRIMIS Mortgage Network. PRIMIS as part of a broader ‘Living Responsibly’ plan has identified that one of the key areas where we can all make a difference is in the environment we work in and how we manage our business. As a services business, we don’t have a huge environmental footprint compared to other businesses, but we recognise that we all have a part to play in tackling the climate crisis, so we believe we should all aim to reduce our impact wherever we can.
As part of this plan we at 3Sixty have been have been asking ourselves 3 key questions;
What do we currently do well in terms of minimising our environmental impact?
For a long while 3Sixty has largely been a paperless business. We’ve designed the business so that clients can do most of what they need to do online without the need to print. Any sensitive documents are collected by a specialised secure company shredded and recycled and staff are encouraged to only print what is necessary.
The heating for our building is largely supported by a ground source heat pump. This drastically reduces our reliance on traditional forms of heating like gas and electric.
A few members of staff are fortunate enough to be in a position where they own electric cars which they use for their short commute. Further on we will look more at EVs and the business.
We return and re-use the cardboard cup holders/carriers when we do the occasional coffee run from the local cafe
What changes can we make to reduce our environmental impact?
Unfortunately the rural location where our offices are located does not provide traditional recycling collections. Whilst on the whole, our staff do their share of domestic recycling, the waste generated at work has been a concern since we moved to our new offices. With a little bit of research and through staff volunteering, we are now able to collect our recycling throughout the week (bottles, cans, tins, cardboard, paper, stretchy plastic and crisps packets) and a staff member takes the recycling to a public facility that is on the route of their commute. This means we recycle a large amount of waste and do so without adding any additional travel miles to do so. The amount of actual waste that is now produced by 14 staff members is around half a 20L bin bag per week.
Given that a number of our staff live within a reasonable proximity of each other, amongst themselves some members of staff now car pool. As well as reducing the number of vehicles that make the daily commute, given the current economic climate, this also has a positive financial effect. It also means staff spend some time together outside of the office and occasionally enjoy a Friday pint.
We always try and celebrate birthdays for our staff. Decorations etc traditionally would be balloons and banners etc that are often single use. To improve this we invested in paper lanterns, bunting and displays that can be re-used yet still bring colour and celebration to the day. You can see examples of this at instagram.com/3sixtyfinancialsolutions.
What are other people and businesses doing that we can learn from?
This will obviously be a growing section and one that will be ongoing. Future plans include;
Signage around the office reminding staff to use the recycling facilities and to think if things like printing needs to take place
If and when possible, incentives such as company EV cars may be offered
Providing staff with re-usable coffee cups if they visit the local cafes for a caffeine fix
We’ll continue to look for inspiration and ideas. If you have any suggestions or examples that you or your business has implemented please take a look at our social posts around this topic on facebook and instagram and please share them with us.
November 2022 Update: ESG Award Winners
As a result of our efforts and contribution to make positive environmental changes within our business 3Sixty Financial Solutions were invited to Blenheim Palace to receive the “Inaugural ESG Environmental” Award. Check out our facebook post by clicking the facebook icon below