From KeepCups to clean ups, how is GingerMay reducing its carbon footprint?
At GingerMay, we are constantly looking for ways to reduce our impact on the environment. Every member of our team receives a day’s grace to volunteer for a CSR cause close to their hearts, and we support numerous charity and environmental initiatives throughout the year, including beach cleans and charity runs. This week, we took our commitment one step further with the introduction of KeepCups and 100% recycled paper.
KeepCups and recycling used coffee grounds
In an effort to reduce the waste produced by Team GingerMay, we have invested in reusable coffee cups for our team, designed and produced by KeepCup.
16 billionpaper coffee cups are disposed of every year that cannot be recycled due to their plastic coating. Single-use plastics such as these are a huge problem for our environment, adding to the mountain of waste that gets dumped in our oceans and digested by 700species, including humans.
The business owners and baristas behind KeepCupbecame increasingly concerned with the volume of packaging going to waste so decided to design their own reusable cups, created from recycled plastic in a solar powered factory based in the UK, for coffee lovers on the go.
To further reduce our agency’s impact on the environment, we are also recycling our used coffee grounds and tea bags. Most people throw coffee grounds away but they can be reused and recycled in many ways, such as fertilisinggarden plants.
Switching to 100% recycled paper
We run a paperless office, digitalising all of our files and avoiding the use of printing where possible. But for those times when it is absolutely necessary to print a document, we have transitioned to 100% recycled paper.
The process of creating paper is incredibly detrimental to our planet. From the deforestation of trees, endangering 80%of Earth’s land animals and plants that live in our forests, to the release of excessive carbon dioxide during the process of making the pulp used to produce the paper itself. The delicate balance of our ecosystems is compromised every year by an increasein paper production, which can be avoided.
Making conscious decisions
Being situated outside of London means that 20% of our locally based team can walk or cycle to work, keeping transport and consequently CO2 emissions to a minimum.
When in the office, we encourage our team to recycle as much as they can with designated bins to facilitate the process. We hope that this will help individuals to break habits out of work too by recycling in their own homes as well.
We also joined forces last summer to collect litter on the South East Coast of England, and we’re planning to replicate this initiative in 2019. We believe businesses, individuals, and communities have a responsibility to reduce their impact on the planet where they can – and we continue to make reducing our carbon footprint a key priority at GingerMay.