Making Stand Against Violence Even More Green

Over the past 2 years we have been identifying areas of the charity that aren’t so green and eco-friendly and have tried to improve where we can. At the end of 2020, we implemented phase 1 of our approach which was to cut down on the level of paper and postage we were using as part of our workshop deliveries. The end goal was to reach absolute zero paper usage for feedback, cut the amount of paper used in leaflets and other materials by half and drastically reduce postage. In phase 1, we knew that wasn't quite achievable. We wanted to role out a really ambitious target, but we needed time to get the right software in place that was going to be needed, and also exhaust all previous stock first so we didn't have any unnecessary wastage. So phase one consisted of printing on recycled paper only. Using recycled envelopes and eco friendly bio degradable glue. We cut the number of feedback forms from 1 to each student per session per day to just 30 students per school delivery each day. That in its self halved the amount on paper we were using, and therefore reduced our postage dramatically.

Now we are ready to roll out phase 2.

One area that was still in need of improvement was our school materials and the way we gather feedback. In order to reach our ambitious target of absolute zero paper for feedback forms, we had to turn to our friend - technology. Feedback was collated via every pupil we taught via paper feedback forms. Not only was this very resource heavy, but it also meant lots of postage from us to the teachers and school for every booking. We are so pleased to announce that from the 1^st of March 2022 we became completely paper and postage free for all feedback. Massively reducing our carbon footprint in printing and postage whilst also completely eradicating our paper usage and we achieved our goal of absolute zero paper for feedback forms. Thanks to papersurvey.io we are now able to collect our feedback completely digitally. Pupils can now complete the form online and send it back to us all within 2 minutes and just a few click of a button.

The other area that needed improvement was our materials. Some of our materials were quite a few pages long. Our workshop leaflets that accompany each delivery were 4 pages long. We have spent the past 6 months with the help of our partner Ohana, refreshing these leaflets and cutting them down to just a single, double sided A5 page, literally having the amount of paper we use on these and the carbon footprint it leaves behind getting them printed and delivered. These are beginning to be rolled out now and once all old stock is used, should be in full circulation by the new School year in September.

We are so incredibly proud of how far we have come over the past 2 years reducing our impact of the environment, but we know there is more to be done and we will continue to work effectively to further reduce our impact that we have on our precious earth. Stand by for Part 3 soon.