Digital Bridge has been awarded a Silver certification from GreenBizCheck.
We achieved a score of over 80% in an assessment of a range of office policies/processes or 'actions' that reduce the negative environmental impact of running a business.
Some of these actions have been quick and simple to implement, such as installing a water filter to encourage staff to drink from reusable bottles instead of buying bottled water, switching to 'green electricity', installing living plants in the office, and unplugging mobile phone chargers when not in use. Other actions have been a bit more difficult and time-consuming to implement, such as installing power management tools for workstations and monitors, designating a monthly 'walk, cycle or public transport to work day' and ensuring that our cleaning company switched to using environmentally preferable cleaning products in our office.
GreenBizCheck made the certification process easy to follow by providing an online list of actions divided into different areas (e.g. energy efficiency, waste reduction and recycling, general environmental issues, and supply chain sustainability), with each action showing the percentage it would contribute towards different levels of certification. It was a nice surprise to learn that the pro-bono work we have been doing for two local charities with a heavy recycling focus could earn us some points towards our silver certification.
As a digital agency specialising in web-based tools for businesses, Digital Bridge was already heavily focussed on using online / environmentally friendly alternatives for processes such as invoicing, paying bills and teleconferencing. However, the office had fallen into many small bad habits that didn't seem to have much of a negative impact on the environment when assessed individually, but collectively they represented a significant room for improvement.
GreenBizCheck silver certification has not only given us cleaner consciousness in terms of environmental sustainability, but it has also translated into benefits such as streamlined office procedures and reduced energy costs.