When it comes to global warming, reducing fossil fuel dependency often come to mind as the solution to reducing our carbon footprint. And understandably so, burning fossil fuels to make electricity is the biggest source of carbon emissions in the UK.
However, with the climate emergency growing increasingly urgent as we fast approach the very final deadline of 2050, we need to explore other ways to reduce emissions. One source which is often overlooked is water.
However, there is a lack of awareness among the business community around water inefficiencies, especially among the under-served SMEs of the non-household market who often lack the resources of big businesses to improve their carbon footprint and regulate their water usage effectively. Yet it has a vital role to play in helping the UK to achieve net-zero.
The energy needed to move, treat, and use water in the UK for both residential and commercial purposes produces 6% of all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the UK.
One consideration is to reduce water usage and water waste which could not only have an environmental impact on businesses and households, but also save money too!
At Everflow, we pride ourselves on our approach to sustainability in the water retail market, becoming the UK’s first carbon neutral water supplier and committing in our Climate Pledge to achieve net zero emissions before 2040. We have reduced water usage at our head office to 28 litres per employee per day – nearly half the national average of 50 litres – with a further ambition to reduce that figure permanently to less than 25 litres. We use loggers to monitor daily consumption and detect leaks and have installed a urinal control system to limit flushes daily and reduce even further when offices are closed. We’ve also fitted flow reducers on washroom and kitchen taps, installed cistern fill delay devices on dual flush toilets, and trialled a new toilet that only uses 1.5 litres per flush rather than the average of 5-7 litres for a dual flush toilet. But we also want to bring our consumers along the journey with us. That’s why we recently launched the nation’s first free Business Water Efficiency certification scheme to encourage businesses to save water and reduce their carbon footprint. The scheme comes at a time when many businesses and their consumers are facing financial pressures and as the climate change debate intensifies with recent record temperatures experienced in Spain, Pakistan and India. The certification includes a wide range of benefits designed to help businesses reduce their water consumption and carbon emissions. Participating businesses will receive a report showing fully costed and personalised water efficiency recommendations, including calculations of how much water each business could save as well as the associated impact on water bills and carbon emissions. Findings have shown potential savings of between 30% and 70% for customers, offering businesses crucial financial support amid an ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Successful applicants will receive an award depending on the extent of each business’s response to the scheme – including investment in monitoring water usage to detect leaks quickly, retrofitting water saving technology, and looking into alternative water sources and recycling, among other measures.
Currently, the only industry alternative is Waterwise’s Water Efficiency Checkmark, available at a cost per site and exclusively for offices or ‘communities’. The independent, not-for-profit campaigning organisation has endorsed the launch of Everflow’s Business Water Efficiency certification scheme as an important step in helping more SMEs to engage with water efficiency and conservation.
The nationwide-first scheme will support businesses in better understanding how water usage affects their utility bills and emissions including advice on how to detect and fix leaks and use less water and energy. By making it easier and more affordable to save water, energy, money and carbon, the aim is also to raise awareness among the business community around water inefficiencies.
In the battle against climate change, the odds are stacked against us, and so we have to use every possible tool available – no matter how seemingly insignificant. Every little helps!
That means businesses making carbon efficiencies across the board. And not just large corporations, but also SMEs playing their part. SMEs make up the majority of employees and businesses in the country so have a huge role to play in reducing our carbon footprint. By positively influencing SMEs, we can in turn influence their employees to take action in their homes. If companies can challenge each other and encourage positive behavioural change among employees and consumers, that’s half the battle.
