At Unicom we are aware of the impact that our every day activities have on the environment.
As such it is our intention to operate our business in an as environmentally friendly
way as we can.
Unicom has undergone a Carbon Survey in order to identify any practical energy-saving
opportunities. It was found that energy consumption exceeded 550,000 kWh equating
to a carbon footprint of approximately 250 tonnes a year.
Unicom is committed to reducing the company’s carbon footprint year on year. We
aim to reduce our carbon footprint through various means including:
- Installing timers on appliances and office equipment to ensure they are not left
switched on
- Installing low energy light bulbs where old bulbs expire
- Installing energy efficient hand dryers in order to eliminate the use of paper hand
towels which get disposed of in landfill
- Encouraging the take up of ebilling
by our customers
- Encouraging a paper free office throughout the business
- Ensuring all correspondence to customers is duplex printed
- Providing recycling opportunities throughout the office
Unicom has been able to reduce its carbon footprint from 0.93 tonnes of CO2 used
per member of staff in 2008 to 0.78 tonnes of CO2 per member of staff in 2010, a
reduction of 16%.
Our target is to consume less energy each year whilst still maintaining growth,
aiming to reduce energy usage by between 5-10% over the next 2 years.
Unicom aims to do this by:
- Avoiding unnecessary carbon expenditure.
- Improving cost effectiveness in producing a comfortable working environment.
- Protecting the environment by minimising CO2 emissions.
- Buying fuel at the most economic cost while ensuring security of supply, and ensure
that energy consumption is monitored across the site, periodically comparing energy
costs and utilisation within the organisation.
- Utilising the fuel in the most cost effective manner.
- Reducing pollution levels caused by our energy use.
- Reducing, wherever cost effective, our dependence on fossil fuels, through the
use of good design and modern controls in the any new buildings and refurbishment
programmes.
- Controlling heating temperatures and periods in each building consistent with
its pattern of use.
- Increasing awareness of energy issues among staff and encourage energy responsible
attitudes.
- Utilising low energy appliances whenever possible giving satisfactory lifecycle
payback.
- Being aware of energy use when planning new buildings, or changes in space usage.
In today’s ever more environmentally conscious society, it is important to look
at the way our businesses operate and contribute towards reducing their carbon footprint.
As the UK’s fastest growing telecoms company, Unicom is striving to reduce the resources
used to send out customer invoices each month. To that end we are actively asking
all customers to do their part in protecting the environment by signing up to e-mail
billing and online account management.
Currently 44% of all Unicom customers have signed up to ebilling – saving of 132,000
sheets of paper a month or 1.6 million sheets per annum. This equates to saving
nearly 200 trees per year.
If you are interested in e-billing, please follow this link: Go Green
For ideas and suggestions on how you can save energy at work or at home download
this Carbon Trust energy saving fact sheet.