Many would say that this industry is a culprit in enhancing climate change, and yes, vehicles are emitters of pollutants. Because we can’t yet change that, with battery technology and solar power vehicle options not yet cost effective enough to replace fleets. We therefore need to find other ways to decrease our carbon footprint:
Going paperless:
- We encourage on-line inventory lists – download, complete & mail
- Send us photo’s via WahtsApp or e-mail, and we’ll do it for you
- Delivery notes are electronic, as are all other records, invoices, etc.We don’t print anything unnecessarily – under 10 pages/month
Re-using / recycling:
- Recycling of boxes and packing materials - we collect and re-use
- By using unprinted newssheet, instead of bubble-wrap, we not only able to re-use, but add fewer chemicals to the environment
- We even re-use the aerothene which is most suitable to wrap appliances and antiques, preferring this option to bubble-wrap which is a single-use product.
Reducing our carbon footprint:
- Keeping vehicles running well and regularly servicing them, makes them more efficient and lowers emissions
- Route planning and saving fuel and time on the road is essential for us
- The use of our home-office reduces unnecessary travel
- We buy local, being aware of hidden transportation costs, even if products are more expensive, less environmental impact is worth it
- No use of overhead lighting in the warehouse is permitted, and unnecessary, we rely on natural lighting which is plentiful
Saving fuel:
- By reducing our electricity usage to only serving alarm systems, we rely on batteries instead of a fuel-guzzling generator, and no longer use a geyser
- We calculate fuel usage to provide an optimal solution to every move, saving the customer money in the process
- Where access restrictions are in place, we would rather use a smaller truck for two short, local loads, than a large truck using more fuel plus a shuttle vehicle, which must run many short-distance trips
- Because we don’t charge for distance on moves within a 20km radius, you can be sure that we use as little fuel as possible
Greening our environment:
- An initiative to plant open ground at our warehouse with vegetables allows us to replenish oxygen, and also provide additional support to our people
- As a family, we started a ‘home farm’, and want to expand this for the health and well-being of our teams, who will have free access to the food produced
- We prohibit the storage of chemicals which are flammable, and use only sanitizer under controlled conditions
As much as our industry is regarded a ‘polluter’, we really strive to take care of our environmental future. Please let us know if you have any ideas on how we can improve on our environmental responsibility strategy, we really value your input and thoughts in this regard.