We’re working to reduce our environmental impact
No one could fail to have become aware of the increasing global concern about the future of our planet, and in just the last few weeks the huge fires in the Amazon have been yet another warning to us all that we need to be doing our bit.
Here at CiteAb we’re determined to do what we can to reduce the impact we have on the environment, and we’ve been implementing new measures recently to this effect.
We started by carrying out an environmental check-in to evaluate what we’re currently doing in the office, and what we could and should be doing to lessen our environmental impact.
Project manager Alicia Cooper says: “We’ve made some changes to our building, our consumption habits and our processes.
“In terms of our building, we are based in one of the Grade I listed Georgian townhouses for which Bath is famous and are part of why our city is an UNESCO World Heritage site. However, these buildings are very old and not particularly efficient to run. We’re limited in the changes we can make to the fabric of the building because of its Grade listing but have draft proofed our windows and doors, which should help retain heat through the winter and reduce our need for electric heating.
“Our consumption habits are an area we have a lot more control over. We’ve switched to an organic milk supplier and are looking at arranging a milk delivery in returnable, reusable glass bottles. We’ve also switched to recycled paper toilet rolls, encouraged reusable coffee cups and bags throughout the team, and where we buy-in drinks for visitors we are choosing those in glass or cans that can be recycled easier than plastic.
“We’ve switched many of the products we’re using, such as hand soap and washing up liquid, to environmentally friendly refillable options. There is now a recycling bin in every room of the building, allowing us to recycle far more products.
“Finally we always try to conduct meetings online rather than fly around the world if possible, or when we do fly we try to meet with multiple organisations at once by using large international conferences as a way to reduce our international flights. We’re also continuing to take measures such as ensuring computers and chargers are all turned off at the end of the day and put into power saving modes when we’re doing other things.”
We’re sure there is plenty more that we could be doing here at CiteAb, and that there is a lot of innovation happening in the sector to reduce the overall impact of the life sciences. For this reason, in this years’ CiteAb Awards we plan to launch a brand new ‘environmental initiative’ category to celebrate the truly innovative and ground-breaking.
Alicia adds: “While our actions here might not seem huge in the face of a global environmental crisis, if everyone in the life sciences sector does their bit we can overall make a big change to the impact our joint actions have on the planet. We’re really excited to continue to learn and improve, and to hear what you’re all doing too.”
The CiteAb awards will launch in December so as usual keep an eye out on our blog, and start to think now about your entry to our newest category!
– Rhys and the CiteAb team
