Sustainability Policy
Nest Studios Ltd is committed to promoting sustainability. Concern for the environment and promoting a broader sustainability agenda are integral to Nest Studios’s professional activities and the management of the organisation. We aim to follow and to promote good sustainability practice, to reduce the environmental impacts of all our activities and to help our clients and partners to do the same.
Principles
Our Sustainability Policy is based upon the following principles
To comply with, and exceed where practicable, all applicable legislation, regulations and codes of practice.
To integrate sustainability considerations into all our business decisions.To ensure that all staff are fully aware of our Sustainability Policy and are committed to implementing and improving it.
To minimise the impact on sustainability of all office and transportation activities.
To make clients and suppliers aware of our Sustainability Policy, and encourage them to adopt sound sustainable management practices.
To review, annually report, and to continually strive to improve our sustainability performance.
Practical steps
Travel and meetings
Walk, cycle and/or use public transport to attend meetings, site visits etc, apart from in exceptional circumstances where the alternatives are impractical and/or cost prohibitive.
Travel to mainland Europe within a 1000km radius (excluding Scandinavia) normally will be undertaken by train or “A” rated aircraft.
Include the full costs of more sustainable forms of transport in our financial proposals, rather than the least cost option which may involve travelling by car or air. Where the only practical alternative is to fly, we will include costs for full air fares rather than budget airlines in our financial proposals, and appropriate offsets.
Avoid physically travelling to meetings etc where alternatives are available and practical, such as using teleconferencing, video conferencing or web cams, and efficient timing of meetings to avoid multiple trips. These options are also often more time efficient, while not sacrificing the benefits of regular contact with clients and partners.
To reduce the need to travel to meetings and elsewhere, and facilitate regular client contact, we will provide a web cam to clients free of charge for the duration of a project where appropriate at the client request.
Reduce the need for our staff to travel by supporting alternative working arrangements, including home working etc.
Purchase of equipment and consumption of resources
Minimise our use of paper and other office consumables, for example by double-siding all paper used, and identifying opportunities to reduce waste.
As far as possible arrange for the reuse or recycling of office waste, including paper, computer supplies and redundant equipment.
Reduce the energy consumption of office equipment by purchasing energy efficient equipment and good housekeeping.
Purchase electricity from a supplier committed to renewable energy. Seek to maximise the proportion from renewable energy sources, whilst also supporting investment in new renewable energy schemes.
Purchase fair-trade and/or organic beverages.
Project Delivery
Ensure that timber used by our designated contractors and any other timber products are recycled or from well-managed, sustainable sources and are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.
Aim to use companies closely located geography to the project delivery location.
Use local hire companies or event officials for furniture, AV/IT and other services.
Avoid the use of PVC based printing materials.
Recycle carpets and other materials after the natural life span.
Use LED lighting where possible.
Use Water based paint for any wet finishes.
Working practices and advice to clients
Undertake voluntary work with the local community and / or environmental organisations and make donations to seek to offset carbon emissions from our activities.
Ensure that any associates that we employ take account of sustainability issues in their advice to clients.
Include a copy of our Sustainability Policy in all our proposals to clients.
Our Sustainability Definition and Ambition
We endorse the spirit of the ‘Brundtland’ and ‘Caring for the Earth’ definitions of sustainable development: ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’’ and ‘improving the quality of life while living within the earth’s carrying capacities’.
What this means to us is that we operate our professional activities and the management of our organisation in a way that enables all people to realise their potential and improve their quality of life while protecting and enhancing the earth’s natural capital. This aspiration is operationalised for our purposes by our sustainability objectives, targets and indicators.
We are therefore committed to continually improve the integration of sustainability into our working environment and business processes. Our aim is to play a proactive role in contributing to achieving sustainability where we have influence. We are committed to accountability and transparency in our sustainability performance.