Green Impact update

Nov 20, 2018 | News

Island businesses have taken more than 300 actions to make their work greener – can you?

By Julie Jones-Evans and Michelle Hemmingfield, NUS

It’s four months since we launched Green Impact IW, our new free environmental business support and awards scheme for the Island. I’m proud to see the scheme is already helping Island businesses become more sustainable, whilst reducing operational costs and attracting new customers.

We’re delighted at the number of businesses we’ve had participating so far, who together have already taken over 300 actions to make the Island a cleaner, greener place to live, work and do businesses.

A real variety of different businesses signed up so far, from small family businesses like Love Running, to Island giants Liz Earle. The feedback we’ve had so far has been incredibly positive!

“Green Impact IW is the perfect opportunity for island business to address their environmental impacts – whatever their size. The toolkit has really helped us to think about what we are already doing, and identify areas to improve. It’s really straight forward but could be a big help to your business – and above all to the environment we all share. I’d encourage all island businesses to give it a go” – Jo Randall, Love Running

Green Impact IW is an innovative partnership between the National Union of Students which has developed the award winning Green Impact model over the last 11 years, as well as the IW Chamber of Commerce and IW Council. It’s also sponsored by several Island businesses, further demonstrating the demand for the scheme.

Thanks to this kind support, the two-year pilot is free for all businesses on the Isle of Wight!

Our Online Toolkit supports businesses to take simple, tangible actions, through which they gain points and work towards a Bronze, Silver or Gold award. None of the actions are compulsory, so you can focus on the actions which best your business. Reaching Bronze takes as little as two hours and can make a huge difference!

We designed Green Impact with business resilience in mind, so many of the actions have the added benefit of reducing costs through efficiency savings. Going green will also help attract and retain the increasing number of customers who value ethical credentials.

Businesses have until 1st May 2019 to complete the actions, after which they will be visited by a trained student auditor. We’ll be recognising everyone’s achievements at an awards ceremony.

To find out how your business can benefit, join the Island’s Green Impact community today at http://www.greenimpact.org.uk/IW/

Check out the Twitter hashtag #greenimpact to see what others from across the UK have been up to, and don’t forget to share what you’ve done too, whether it’s big or small!

Green Impact IW League table

The top 5 scoring businesses as of 2nd Nov 2018 are: