“No-one can do everything. Everyone can do something. Together we can do anything.”
Running from 7 September until the 11 September 2020, this is the twelfth annual Zero Waste Week, highlighting the importance of reusing waste materials and recycling – something that as a B-Corp agency, we’re extremely passionate about.
Founded in 2008 by Rachelle Strauss, an award winning sustainability consultant, the awareness campaign was inspired by the Boscastle Flood of 2004… an incident which left a number of villages in Cornwall decimated as a result of incredibly high rainfall over a very short period. Ultimately, the cause of this disaster was man-made climate change, further highlighting the impact humans were having on planet earth.
Today, Zero Waste Week reaches millions across the globe in 73 different countries, and has played an important role in the sustainability movement for over a decade. The annual event brings together a community of like-minded people, organisations and businesses, and helps to promote positive change on a world wide scale.
Sustainability is incredibly important to us as individuals and also as a business, so what better way to celebrate the week than by looking at what we’re doing to reduce our waste and shine a spotlight on some of our amazing clients who are doing the same.
As a B-Corp accredited agency, we believe it is important to work in a way that serves people and the planet. We’re constantly thinking about how we can reduce our waste. The whole Voice team is working on reducing its waste in a few different ways. In the office, members of the team have started using reusable water bottles rather than plastic bottles. We also make sure to reuse office equipment when possible. When purchasing items for the office, we now consider if the item has recyclable friendly packaging, small changes can help make a big difference when it comes to reducing waste!
Our client, Oltco, is a leading sustainable resin driveway company which shares our passion for safeguarding the environment. Oltco invented the innovative product ‘Recycle Bound’, a solution that uses plastic waste that is already in circulation and turns it into beautiful resin driveways, patios and surfaces! 12 months on since its launch, Oltco’s Recycle Bound product has recycled the equivalent of over 40,000,000 plastic straws.
It’s incredible to see Oltco’s commitment to the planet and helping the battle against waste. But it’s not just plastic waste which can be reused in order to have a positive impact on the environment.
Leading wet civil engineering firm, Land & Water, is going the extra mile on many of their projects to reuse dredged material and create new wetland habitats. In fact, the company is currently working to transform an area in Rainham, Essex, which eventually will become the largest wetland habitat within the M25. The scheme will see the importation of over six million tonnes of wet and dry spoil material which will form both the basis of a new landform which will cover the site to collect rainwater and fuel the wetlands passively.
Not only this, Land & Water has invested in HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) fuel, an alternative, sustainable liquid fuel made from waste material, which is powering some of their plant at the Rainham site.
Pretty impressive don’t you think?!
We’ll be working hard to continue our waste reduction at our offices in Essex and Cornwall. To find out more about Zero Waste Week, click the link below: