Environment Champions take May Gurney by storm

May Gurney has launched its Environment Champions project in a bid to drastically reduce the amount of waste produced at head office in Trowse, Norwich.

The project team has set the Norwich workforce bold targets of a 10% reduction in energy consumption and a 35% reduction in landfill waste by September this year. The project was given a high-profile launch on Friday 4 May with an Energy Bus (see pic above) in the company car park and an Energy Bike (see pic below) in the staff room.

The Energy Bus is a promotional vehicle for energy efficiency and the mitigation of climate change. It runs on bio diesel and attends events where there is an opportunity to promote saving energy. The Energy Bike is an exercise bike with a difference. It enables people to power electrical appliances with their legs - the more energy an appliance uses the harder it is to pedal.

Ian Findlater, Group Business Development Director at May Gurney and Board Sponsor for the project, said: "With such ambitious goals, getting each and every staff member to contribute to the effort is vital. The launch day was designed to demonstrate to our workforce that they can each make a difference to the impact May Gurney has on the environment."

The Environment Champions team has carried out an energy and waste audit and set targets for reductions based on the results. The audit report shows that on average, each employee uses 50 sheets of paper per day - a target of 20-30 sheets has been set as part of the project.

The audit also showed that the Trowse office sends 12 tonnes of waste to landfill each year, 44% of which is paper. This annual figure could be reduced by five tonnes by making better use of existing on-site recycling facilities.