Sustainability: A view from our clients
Sustainability is one of the core values of Parliament Hill. As part or our sustainability journey we reach out to all our key stakeholder groups, so that we can better understand their practices and where we can adapt our own practices. Every year we carry out a survey of our clients to see if our sustainability goals are aligned, and to get an idea of next steps we can take.
As part of this, we decided to share examples of what our clients are up to in their own sustainability journeys:
Calvin Smith – Product Development Manager at Royal Pharmaceutical Society
Where are you on your sustainability journey?
We have taken steps to reduce our carbon footprint:
- - Installed smart meters and environment control measures
- - Divested in fossil fuel companies in our investment portfolio
- - Issued a climate declaration to promote greener pharmacy
What successes have you had on your journey?
We have had widespread praise in the pharmacy industry for taking these steps and have worked with other organisations to promote this as widely as possible.
Have you faced any challenges so far?
Widespread change of supply chain operations to reduce the carbon footprint of the profession overall is very difficult.
What are the next steps on your journey?
Continue to promote our work in this area and to establish pharmacy guidelines and standards for pharmacies.
You can read more on the Royal Pharmaceutical Society sustainability practices here: https://www.rpharms.com/about-us/sustainability
Pam Swain – Chief Executive at British Association of Dental Nurses
We encourage people to travel by train wherever possible, but there is resistance. We are trying to cut down on letters sent out and increase use of email, e-newsletters etc. We stopped sending a hard copy Journal to all members in 2020 – it is now digital although hard copies can be purchased on subscription.
Our biggest challenge is membership cards – we send one to each new or renewed member and they are plastic. We haven’t been able to source recyclable plastic ones yet. I would do away with them – they serve no actual purpose – but members like to have a card to put in their wallets, and paper ones get tatty quickly.
We will be doing a survey later in the year to find out how members feel about cards, letters, e- communications, etc so will let you know results.
Antonia Chitty – Head of Communications at Association of British Dispensing Opticians
Where are you on your sustainability journey?
We are just completing our carbon footprint for the second year. We have sustainability champions for every department working on positive changes, and a campaign for all members packed with resources to help them – see here.
What successes have you had on your journey?
Great member engagement, two national events – with growing involvement from overseas members too. We now have the reputation for leading the way in the sector and are asked to speak at many events on the subject. We have also brought together all regulatory and membership bodies for the sector
Have you faced any challenges so far?Lack of staff time, plus this is a new area of work that didn’t have a budget before
What are the next steps on your journey?We have a third SEE Summit in the pipeline with Dr Nick Watts, lead on sustainability for NHS England, as the keynote speaker.
If you would like to know more about what sustainability means to Parliament Hill then please do visit our dedicated sustainability page here