Blog

What Car Care Plan is doing to reduce our carbon footprint

Car Care Plan takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously and, in 2021, we introduced an annual Environmental, Social and Governance Report outlining our commitments. Our overarching goal is to promote sustainability and environmental awareness at all levels of the business, assessing our current impact and making positive changes from the top-down.

Each year, we will complete an Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) outlining the activities being undertaken to reduce our environmental impact. This has helped improve our focus on environmental matters significantly, leading to ISO14001 certification, the international standard for environmental management systems.

Proactive changes already impacting Car Care Plan’s carbon footprint

During 2021, we made several proactive changes to help reduce our carbon footprint. They include:

• • Launched e-fulfilment – an estimated 75% reduction in CO2 emissions when compared to postal fulfilment.
  • Switched to renewable energy suppliers – our energy is now from 100% renewable power generated from wind, solar or hydro.
  • Installed five EV charging points at the Jubilee House Head Office site.
  • Increased the number of hybrid vehicles in the fleet and trialled a full electric vehicle for one consultant.
  • Updated lighting in offices to LED, the most energy efficient lighting available.
  • Specifically in relation to Dent Wizard Ventures (DWV), contracted with a specialist waste management company to ensure all hazardous waste (paints, thinners etc.) are disposed of in an environmentally friendly way.

   

  The pandemic’s impact on carbon emissions

  The COVID-19 pandemic had a global impact on CO2 emissions, including at Car Care Plan, where our offices closed (or partially closed), with most staff working from home. While our offices have since reopened, the implementation of a hybrid-working model is likely to lead to reduced commuting, which will keep emissions down compared to the pre-pandemic level. Although this is offset by employees using energy whilst working from home.

  Business travel has also reduced significantly as many field-based staff members are now able to use Microsoft Teams to conduct client meetings – another carry-over from adaptive working practices put in place during the pandemic. Not only has this reduced the requirement for client visits domestically but also the number of overseas business trips – again having a significant impact on our carbon footprint.

   

  This is the first in a series of blogs looking at Car Care Plan’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) activities. Next time we will look at our social policies and practices, including diversity, community engagement, communications, and health and wellbeing.