Gold winners (again)

City Council scoops top environmental awards

(Date of issue: Tuesday, 26 August 2008)

Carlisle City Council’s environmental practices have resulted in the council receiving a gold seal approval.

The Cumbria Business Environment Network (CBEN) awards highlight good practice and commend local businesses that use environmentally friendly work practices. It is the first time that the City Council has achieved the gold standard and follows on from the continuing success of the council’s operational base – Bousteads Grassing that has achieved another gold award, for the sixth year running.

The Gold Award is awarded to local businesses or organisations that demonstrate continuing improvement in environmental management. The City Council was championed for introducing the following environmental practices:

• working with the Energy Saving Trust and the Carbon Trust on projects to reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change. The City Council reduced its own carbon footprint in 2007/08 by 4.5%;
• switching more than half of its sites to a 'green' electricity tariff;
• a review of their vehicle fleet with the Energy Saving Trust, to receive advice about reducing mileage, fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions;
• following green design schemes incorporating sustainable materials, environmentally friendly practices and energy-saving measures as part of its new build, refurbishment and maintenance of Council amenities. This includes installing solar thermal water heating systems (sun heats water for washing etc) in hostels and other council maintained buildings;
• reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the Bousteads Grassing depot buildings by 10% through better energy management
• fitting power saving devices to appliances and stand alone printers and encouraging staff to switch equipment off when not in use;
• introducing a target to reduce our paper consumption by 10%;
• replacing bottle water coolers with plumbed in water coolers on four sites to reduce the environmental impact associated with production and distribution of bottled water;
• improving office recycling facilities for staff and phasing out the use of disposable plastic cups by office based staff
• reducing paper use and gas consumption.

The CBEN awards are based on internationally-recognised standards and each business undergoes a ‘surveillance’ visit that assesses how they are continually striving to improve.

Cllr Ray Bloxham, Portfolio holder for Environment and Infrastructure, said:

"We are committed to making Carlisle cleaner, greener and safer. We already have put in place a series of ‘green’ actions and hope to build on these for the future. The CBEN Awards are a great stamp of approval for our environmental practices."

The CBEN awards will be presented later this year.

The CBEN award follows on from other ‘green’ distinctions awarded to City Council services. Carlisle Cemetery and Crematorium won the inaugural award for Environmental Awareness from the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management last year. The Cemetery was the first in the UK to offer a woodland burial option, in 1993. The Crematorium also accepts home-made and biodegradable coffins and shrouds. The design, management and installation of new cremators in 2007 has also improved the efficiency of gas consumption.

The Civic Trust also recently awarded Green Flags for Carlisle’s Bitts Park, Carlisle Cemetery grounds, Hammond’s Pond, Kingmoor Nature Reserve, Tullie House Gardens and Stanwix Churchyard. Green Flag Award key criteria includes environmental sustainability and conservation.