Inspirations win Carbon Positive Awards

We are pleased to announce that we have just won the Carbon Positive Footprints Award at the Prince's May Day Summit this year.

The day consisted of working groups, presentations, case studies and talks on sustainability from companies right across the UK, including BT and Schumacher College and supported by Business in the Community, culminating in the awards ceremony.

We are really chuffed to have won this prestigious award.

Joined up thinking

We recently went to a sustainability event in Dartington, where green minded individuals and companies met to talk about and spread good environmental practice.

One thing we found, was that although the company itself had a good solid sustainable foundation, when it came to telling everyone about it, the fell at the first hurdle.

We found that most hadn't thought about the paper they printed on, had gloss laminated their brochures, used 'their local printer' and certainly not even thought about the carbon impacts of their literature.

Inspirations, gave a little 5 minute talk on how we can address this and create a much deeper credibility with their customers, simply by addressing their literature in a joined up way - a bit like they would if they were gathering ingredients together to bake an eco-friendly cake!

What many people don't realise is that the printing industry is actually the 3rd largest polluter in the world! So keeping your printed material ecofriendly, is something very worthwhile!

Recent Sustainable Supply Chain Findings:

Business still in dark over climate threat

While many corporate giants have woken up to the risks climate change poses for their business, many of those further down the supply change are blissfully unaware of how it may harm their trade.

This is the key finding of a study undertaken by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an initiative set up to encourage big business to be open about its emissions.

The CDP asked hundreds of suppliers working for major companies for their views on regulatory and physical risks and of the 634 who responded, a full third said they did not believe they faced any threat at all.

Only 58% considered climate change posed a risk to their operations.

Interestingly, the report showed that Asian suppliers expressed the highest level of concern over climate change and many are using governance and employee incentives to drive positive action.

Of the 77 responding suppliers based in Asia, 66% cite board level responsibility for climate change issues, well above the 54% global average.

In addition 39% of responding Asian companies reported the use of employee incentives, which can be a key lever for change.

As well as providing companies with a system for tracking and reporting their own emissions, the CDP also offers advice on helping them influence their suppliers in this area.

34 big name companies including Cadbury, Vodafone and Unilever use the system, requiring their major suppliers to report on their carbon footprint.

For most companies, 40% to 60% of their total carbon emissions are beyond their direct control and come from their supply chain, but by requesting those further down the chain to report - and address - their share of the impact, large businesses can have a significant impact.

-Edie 9th March 2009

Inspirations can help make this difference - call us for more information

Greenpeace Plot

We have now signed up to the Airplot to help stop the extra runway at Heathrow.

Why - visit www.greenpeace.org.uk to find out why

Green England Awards

Today we have been told that Inspirations have been nominated into the 'Most innovative product' in the Green England Awards and have made the finals.

The Green England Awards aim to showcase the commitment of companies and individuals to environmental and ethical goals. Promoting ethical choices over boundless consumerism, awards will be presented in six categories:

• Best Green Company
• Best Fair Trade Company
• Best Green Charity
• Most Innovative Green Product
• Best Customer Service
• Best Newcomer

So please ... vote for us!

Call for charities from sustainable design agency, devon

As part of our commitment to sustainable and ethical values, Inspirations (a Devon sustainable design agency) is calling for local charities to get in touch! We will shortly be launching 'Inspired Charities' where we will be asking local businesses to commission us for graphic design work, where all fees will be donated to 3 selected charities in the area.

Currently, we have Shaldon Wildlife Trust and the Teignmouth RNLI as our resident charities, but we are now looking for a third to benefit from our Inspired Charities Day.











So, if you are part of a charity and you think you could be our third, email us now with a short paragraph explaining why we should choose you.

And remember, all our work is highly professional, creative and sustainable!

Recent Carbon Trust findings

26/09/2008 - “Trillion Dollar Wake-Up Call” For Business

Companies that take decisive action to tackle their carbon footprint could significantly increase in value, new research claims.

The Carbon Trust argues that proactive, forward-thinking firms that embrace the shift to a low carbon economy could increase in value by up to 80%.

However, they also warned businesses that didn’t adapt and were unprepared could be jeopardising up to 65% of their value.

The study, carried out by analysts McKinsey and Co, focused on the following six sectors, which have a combined estimated market value of $7 trillion: aluminium; auto; beer; building materials; consumer electronics; and oil.

It found that some industries, such as the automobile industry had significant potential for both increased opportunities (60%) and risk (65%). Other industries, such as oil and gas had limited scope for increasing value due to good environmental practice (up to 7%), but still had the potential of losing up to 35% of their value if they failed to put tackling climate change at the top of their strategy.

Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said businesses must act now.

He argued:

“Climate change will cause a revolution in business and our findings should act as a trillion dollar wake-up call. Companies that prepare now and develop new strategies will reap the commercial rewards of the move to a low carbon economy.

“The financial risks of inaction are just too vast to ignore. We can see a trillion dollars of company value change, with leading, well-positioned companies gaining, and badly positioned or slow companies losing out.”

Mr Delay urged businesses to immediately incorporate climate change into their core strategy decisions, and also called on governments to create a policy framework that rewards firms who take steps to be more environmentally aware.

He said:

"We have a short window of opportunity to act, but at present business and investor actions are way out of step with the need to tackle climate change.”

Another recent study claimed the Carbon Trust had helped UK businesses save around £1 billion in energy costs and carbon emissions since it was launched in 2001.

Source: Carbon Trust, 22/09/2008