Sarah Fraser & Associates Ltd

Reducing our Carbon Footprint

The era of the gold frequent flyer card is over… We are aiming to reduce our carbon footprint over the coming months and years. In our type of business, this is a partnership exercise between us and our clients. Some of you who work with us may notice some small changes in the short term, while other may start to notice some strategic shifts.

Travel, training and consulting options

• We’re working on the basis of travel being the option of second choice and flying being the last resort. We’re fully set up for conference calling, video conferencing (most of it at no cost) and we have a variety of online collaborative working tools (again, mostly at no cost).
• Trains and buses come before the car and this usually means some flexibility is required in timing and scheduling of trips; often bus and train fares are cheaper than using the car so save you, the client, in expenses.
• If you do require flights then we will use the carbon offsetting options where airlines enable this and will choose to fly with airlines, like British Airways, that have a policy to do this. This carbon offsetting will be billed to clients who request flights.
• Our fees will start to reflect differential pricing to encourage thoughtful choices. You may find that some things you used to pay for now become free – like some training will go online and will be available at no charge. Other services will become more expensive and these we may end up doing less of though will still be at our usual high standards.

Back in the Office

• We’d love to be in Florida during our European winter, however, instead we’ll turn the heating down a notch and wear extra woolly jumpers and socks. In the summer we’ll avoid the air conditioning and fans and enjoy shorts and t-shirts instead.
• We’re aware that the products we sell have a number of non-recyclable components so these will be reviewed. Some redesigning will be needed and as stocks run down you may notice some changes.
• A number of books and booklets will migrate to print on demand which will reduce printing and wastage of paper; you, the client, will be able then to order directly online, in the country of your choice, thus also reducing the transport miles that the packages travel
• The office audit has made sure our lightbulbs are longlife and that we recycle paper, plastics and anything compostable. The printers that can cope are shifting to recycled paper.

Venues we hire

• Although comfort of participants is important, we’re keen for fresh air rather than cryogenic air conditioning.
• Bottled water is a wasteful no-no. Unless we find ourselves running events in a land where the water out the tap is not fit to drink, we’d prefer not to encourage water to travel great distances and in containers expensive to make and dispose of.
• We’ll give preference to any venue that purchases, supports and uses local food supplies, has a policy of recycling its waste and using its energy efficiently.