Bristol businesses take up the Go Green challenge!
An audience of over 300 people from across the city region attended the launch of Go Green at At-Bristol on Tuesday morning. Go Green is a key part of the 2015 European Green Capital Programme, helping businesses to play an important part in making the Bristol city region become healthier, more competitive and more sustainable.
The event outlined how Go Green will work, emphasising that it has been designed to help businesses of all sizes and types irrespective of how ‘green’ they already are. Andrew Garrad, Chair of Bristol 2015 said:
“We want to ensure that every business in the region has the chance to benefit from the awareness created by the European Green Capital award. We want to celebrate the success of our greenest companies, but also encourage many more to seize this opportunity to become greener, save money and find new customers”.
The key to the programme is how it interacts with the region’s existing network of organisations and businesses, whose achievements to date have cemented Bristol’s reputation as a sustainable city. Amy Robinson, of project partner Low Carbon South West, said:
“The strength of this scheme is that it has been designed to tie together all the great assets we already have. We didn’t want to reinvent the wheel – so Go Green works by signposting to the organisations, projects and funding bodies that are most useful to each individual participant, and we can keep it current by adding new opportunities whenever we find them”.
The Go Green online tool helps businesses create an action plan that provides them with help and guidance, and a one-stop-shop for useful resources.
“It’s like having a sustainability expert in your pocket”, says Project Manager Jessica Ferrow.
“We know that many businesses are interested in how they can become more resource efficient, reduce their environmental impacts and engage their staff in new ways, but they have limited time to implement these measures, let alone research them. This is where Go Green can help”.
In addition to the online tool and website, Go Green will be running a programme of events including seminars, workshops and behind the scenes tours of Bristol’s most sustainable buildings.
However it doesn’t just focus on saving energy.
“What’s really great about this scheme” said Nina Skubala of Business West, delivery partner for the scheme said “is that it looks at a lot of different issues that businesses have to consider, not just recycling and electricity use, but sourcing policies, travel plans, and issues like staff welfare and local biodiversity.
It allows businesses to think about a whole range of things they can do to improve, and start with the ones that matter most to them”.
The popularity of the launch event is testament to the demand that exists in the forward thinking businesses of the region who know that their future success depends on building a greener more resilient business community, fit for the changing times in which we now live.
The website is now live and businesses are encouraged to join at www.gogreenbusiness.co.uk.
Go Green is an initiative being delivered by Business West and Low Carbon South West, with funding from Bristol 2015.
