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Today Goes Green
by Jenny Scott and Chris Howard.
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As a programme we at Today like to think of ourselves as being fairly environmentally aware: we cover many green stories and try to keep the politicians focused on the need for environmental issues. So we thought we should test ourselves in real terms: we've just been audited to see how green we really are. And it turns out we're not at all. Our office is a
disaster and we scored just one out of ten in a test by the Environment Agency. Our economics reporter Jenny Scott looked at what needs to be done.
The Today programme's office is a small cluster of around 25 desks in a vast open plan space. And it's incredibly cluttered...there's a computer and a small television on every desk, a couple of fax machines...a photocopier and mountains of paper.
Simon Pearson from the Environmental Agency took a guided tour to conduct a "green" audit, testing how environmentally friendly our work practices are.
He wasn't entirely impressed.
"The first thing is you have a large photocopier that is surrounded by paper," he said. "Initially you could change your supplier to recycled paper. But that's not all: looking at this whole area you have coffee machines, hundreds of small sachets of tea and coffee, there are plastic cups, polystyrene cups - all of this will probably only be used once and put in the bin. You would be better off with a hot water heater on the wall, with just tea and coffee. And then there's the electricity: looking around now, of about 30 desks only 7 are occupied right now. So that's a computer, a monitor screen and a TV as a minimum on on every desk."
So how do we do?
"Oh dear!" said Mr Pearson. "I'm afraid, if I'm being honest, one out of ten. Maybe two, if I'm being generous."
Plenty to do then. But any success will depend on the commitment of the staff: there are about forty of us and going green is going to put us out. we'll have to change the way we work - use less paper, think before simply throwing things away, from paper to packaging, to newspapers: everything.
But is it all cost-effective? If turning green means going into the red, then it's an exercise that's unlikely to make it past the 大象传媒 accountants. Hammersmith council's head of recycling, Rod Brown, says the financial advantages could be the best part of the project.
"We offer a discount on collecting recycling from businesses over general refuse so should save money by recycling." he says. "Also the cost of disposal of refuse will increase so recycling should become ever more cost effective."
To make the project work, Today has been set some homework by the environment agency, five challenges it must meet by the next visit in three months' time. Staff must turn off computers overnight, junk the polystyrene cups and reduce paper consumption by a third. It's also got to convert that paper to recycled...and perhaps hardest of all, become champions for environmental issues for the rest of the 大象传媒. Today's Editor, Rod Liddle,
isn't entirely convinced.
"I'm a a bit sceptical at the moment," he admits. "I'm sceptical a) as to
whether we can achieve these targets and I'm also sceptical as to whether those targets mean anything in terms of the broader economy and the broader environment, as to whether they will contribute towards the betterment of the globe. That's what we hope, I just don't know if it'll happen"
But Simon Pearson at the environment agency says it will, not just in financially, but in green terms too.
"Every tonne of recycled paper used instead of virgin paper saves 17 trees. Now I've estimated that you use about 3 tonnes of paper a year - so that would mean a saving of about 50 trees. And a monitor left on overnight uses enough energy to laser-print 800 A4 pages."
And he estimates that the programme should make financial savings of at least 拢2000 a year.
The Environment Agency will be back in 3 months to see how we've done. In the meantime we have some work to do...
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The Today office |
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The Environment Agency's Simon Pearson |
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Simon Pearson leafs through Today's huge daily pile of newspapers |
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Today's paper mountain |
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Jenny Scott at Hammersmith Council's recycling site |
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Hammersmith council's head of recycling, Rod Brown
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