Sunday 5th June 2022 marks World Environment Day. Launched in 1974 by the United Nations, the event aims to bring awareness to our environment, how it is being impacted, and how we can all make improvements in our everyday lives.
At Electric Radiators Direct, we take our environmental responsibility seriously. Our products represent an eco-friendly alternative to carbon heating, but our awareness goes beyond just the products we sell. To bring light to World Environment Day, we’re looking at how our practices, products, and people are all doing their bit to push towards a more sustainable planet.
Our practices
Recycling
At our Thorp Arch distribution centre in Wetherby, Leeds, we recycle all cardboard, plastic, paper, wood and polystyrene across each sector of the company. We have recently invested in a new recycling baler, used to compact our waste so it can be stored for transport. This waste is then collected by a single courier, who distributes our recycling to a designated centre in Sheffield.
We are also a member of the Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, which means we dispose of all end-of-life electrical equipment in our possession responsibly with trusted service providers. As per the directive, we also offer our customers the opportunity to recycle their waste electrical products free of charge when they make a purchase with us.
Due to our recycling commitments, we have reduced the waste we send to landfill by 75% in the last two years, from 312㎥ in 2020 to 57㎥ in 2021.
Distribution
In October 2022, we are moving to a new distribution centre. This move offers us great new opportunities for growth as a business, but it’s a development we’re not taking lightly. The centre will be generated by solar electricity panels, with any excess energy put back into the national grid. This will help us play our part in reducing our reliance, as a country, on carbon-fuelled electricity. The unit will also offer electric vehicle charging points for both staff and visitors.
Eco Initiatives
Electric Radiators Direct is partnered with Ecologi, an organisation focused on developing and implementing effective climate solutions. Through their tree planting initiative, our carbon footprint as a company is offset in its entirety – including those of our colleagues.
As a result, we are carbon neutral.
Our products
We specialise in smart, efficient, and practical electric alternatives to carbon heating. Domestic heating is a huge factor at play in the UK’s carbon footprint, with an estimation that 19% of our greenhouse gas emissions come from warming and cooling where we live and work. Unfortunately, more than three-quarters of this is expected to come from domestic dwellings.
Our products are 100% efficient at point of use, transferring every watt of energy into usable heat, so nothing is wasted. When electric heating is paired with a sustainable source, through a green energy provider, it is completely carbon neutral from start to finish.
Lot 20 approved alternatives
Our electric heating products are all Ecodesign compliant, meaning they align with the EU’s Lot 20 legislation. The legislation is designed to remove inefficient electronic technology from our homes - reducing energy waste and helping us save a little money on our bills, too. Electric radiators, infrared heaters and panel heaters all must have at least a 38% efficiency rating if they have a nominal heat output above 250W.
Loaded with energy-saving functions like adaptive start, WiFi app control and open window detection, our heaters go above and beyond these efficiency requirements.
As such, all of our products are Lot 20 compliant.
Our people
Although real environmental change starts at the top - with governments and large corporations holding the key to truly revolutionising our planet - we don’t see this as a reason to be complacent. On an individual level, each employee at Electric Radiators Direct recognises the role they play in working towards a greener, more sustainable future. We have multiple employees taking advantage of our cycle to work scheme, which provides bicycles and safety equipment to employees as a tax-free benefit. The scheme offers a way of reducing individual carbon footprints all whilst keeping active in the process.
Speaking with Tasha Town, Helen Parry-Jones and Tasha Webb, who all work at our Thorp Arch hub, we discovered the small ways in which they take eco-consciousness into their everyday lives. From metal straws, to shopping second-hand, to using a hybrid vehicle, they’re in tune with how their day-to-day lives have an impact. ‘I’ve even had to order extra recycling bins!’ Helen told us.
Our people are also on the look-out for ways of developing our eco-credentials at Go Home Direct. We recently spoke with Richard Prendergast, our Warehouse Manager at Thorp Arch.
‘I’m interested in creating a way in which products with minor, cosmetic defects can be distributed to the wider team. A staff pallet full of products in good but not perfect working order would be ideal – it would prevent such products going to waste, whilst allowing colleagues to benefit from electric heating in their own homes.’
Working together towards a greener future
From our comprehensive recycling scheme, to our energy-efficient products, to the small wins our colleagues implement every day - we’re committed to leaving the world in a better place than we found it. Whilst we have firm principles in place to make sure our planetary impact is as minimal as possible, we are constantly renewing and evaluating our environmental practices, as we believe working towards a greener future is an ongoing process that should be fine-tuned continually.
Sources:
https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CCC-2018-Progress-Report-to-Parliament.pdf