Over the last few years climate change has become an issue no one can afford to ignore. Our world is struggling to sustain the lifestyle we all have, and something needs to change if we are to reverse some of the damage currently being done. And while some of that responsibility lies with the individual, it is often businesses that are making the biggest impact. But it doesn’t have to stay that way.
Across the country, businesses of all shapes and sizes are making the commitment to do their part in combating climate change. And Purple Lime are very proud to be one of those businesses. In fact, we have joined the SME Climate Hub and made the commitment to becoming even greener accountants – and today we wanted to share with you exactly what that means.
What does green accountancy mean?
Despite the name, green accountancy doesn’t have anything to do with accountancy, or the colour green. Instead, it is all about the attitude of business owners in general, but, in this instance, accounting firms in particular. The accountancy industry as a whole can be slow to adapt to new changes, but at Purple Lime we have proven time and time again that being flexible and receptive to change is what makes a truly exceptional accountant. That is why we are proud to be ‘green’ accountants – committing to create a more eco-friendly business model for the present and the future. Green accountancy is not about wide, sweeping changes – it is about the little, day to day changes accounting firms can make to their own practices and the industry as a whole to ensure we are having as little impact on the world as possible. So, while some of the things we commit to do as part of our journey to green accountancy might relate to our services as accountants, most of them are about the way we run our business – and how we think as we move forward.
The SME Climate Hub
As part of our journey towards becoming more environmentally conscious, Purple Lime have joined the SME Climate Hub. This organisation may have only been launched in September 2020, but already they have brought together thousands of business owners under one banner – the commitment to creating a healthier world by minimizing their carbon emissions and fight climate change.
Their ultimate goal is to help the UK meet their goal of net carbon zero by 2030, and the hub contributed by calling on all SMEs to do their part in the effort. The SME Climate Hub has already been recognised by the United Nations Race to Zero campaign and have joined governments, businesses and other large organisations who all share the same goal. We are very proud to be a part of the SME Climate Hub at Purple Lime, not only because they have an incredibly noble goal, but because they provide so much support and resources to businesses looking to get on board. We will be using these resources to build a thorough and robust environmental policy and utilising these well-developed tools to put them in place. We very much see it as an extension to our existing way of doing business – putting our clients and their world at the heart of ours.
Purple Lime’s environmental commitments
Over the last few years, we have seen evidence that even the smallest change can have a big impact when it comes to the environment. Just look at how much air pollution levels dropped during the first lockdown when barely anyone was using their cars! That is why creating a strong environmental policy for our business is one of our main priorities right now. And while that is the big change we are making; we have also been making a lot of smaller changes in an attempt to reduce our carbon footprint as a business. Some of our commitments to creating a more eco-friendly accountancy firm include:
- Continuously assessing which data platforms we use and where our data is being held, so that we can hold those data centres to account for their environmental policies.
- Keeping up our ‘cycle to work’ scheme for all employees.
- Remaining paperless as a business and encouraging our network to do the same.
- Switching out all lightbulbs on business premises to more energy efficient bulbs.
- Implementing water saving measures.
- Updating our old computer equipment to be more environmentally efficient and recycling redundant equipment.
- Taking measures to make our offices as energy efficient as possible.
- Implementing a company-wide recycling policy.
- Avoiding single-use plastics.
- Reducing travel emissions by holding meetings online and hybrid working from home and in the office.
- Encouraging our staff to buy electric vehicles which can be charged in the charging points at our offices to support this.
- Planting more trees through our work with our partner charity, Protect Earth.
And the good news is, that list is only the start! As we delve more and more into our impact on the environment, plus the support and resources offered by the SME Climate Hub, we will be able to make even more changes that benefit our customers and our world, wrapping them all up in a robust environmental policy that we hope can become a template for the modern accountancy firm.
At Purple Lime one of our biggest values is being proactive. In the past that has just referred to our approach to our clients and keeping in front of their accounting needs. But as things like climate change become more and more of a concern, we want to turn that proactive approach to our environmental policies as well. Joining the SME Climate Hub is just one small step on that eco-friendly journey, and we hope you will support us as we continue to forge the path. If you have any questions about our existing policies, or suggestions for ways we could improve, we would love to hear them. Please get in touch by emailing hello@purplelime.uk.com, or calling us on 01249 263 333.