Ethical and Green

Next week the Sunday Times will reveal it’s Best Green Companies.  We’ll be bringing you information about the top companies after they have published their results.  For the moment we’ll look at what it takes to have been included in the short listings.  The team here at Ethical and Green are really pleased that a national newspaper like the Sunday Times is dedicating time and space to green issues.  They are also showing that big companies are taking green issues seriously.

Firstly a businesses environmental management policies, environmental training and internal consultation, energy consumption, waste products and recycling were assessed.  Scores from this section accounted for 70% of the final ranking.

Secondly an employee survey was sent out to get their perspective on how their company was doing.  Responses counted for 30% of the final score.  The survey was a rating scale ranging from ’strongly agree’ to ’strongly disagree’ and included statements such as ‘my boss encourages me to think about energy saving‘ and ‘my workplace is too warm when the weather is cold.’  The survey was devised in conjunction with Bureau Veritas, an international firm of environmental consultants and Munro Global, a data analysis company.

Unfortunately only 88 companies registered for the competition as some where unable to provide the data required.  Also the company did not look at the greenest businesses in the country but how committed a company and it’s employees are to making a difference with the environment. If it were solely a list of the greenest companies, the top would be those focussing on renewable energy and so on therefore making the results somewhat unfair.

It will be very interesting to see which companies have made it on to the list.  We’ll also be looking at innovative ways companies are going green and of there are any tips we can take into our households.  It will also be interesting to see the impact this list will have on businesses not included or who did not enter the competition.  Will more companies apply for next year?  Will the environment and climate change come higher up on companies agenda as a result of such publicity?  Only time will tell….

So, stop by next week for the analysis of The Sunday Times Best Green Companies.