Definition

Our accepted definition of sustainable development is:

"Achieving economic growth, environmental protection and social progress all at the same time”

Pledge

Dec Marketing is aware of the social, economic and environmental impact of our marketing and event production work and to this end will make every effort to:

• Comply with, and exceed where practicable, all applicable legislation, regulations and codes of sustainability good practice. (e.g. BS8901 for the events industry).
• Integrate sustainability considerations into all our business decisions.
• Ensure that all staff and freelancers are fully aware of our Sustainability Policy and are committed to implementing and improving it.
• Minimise the impact on sustainability of all office and transportation activities.
• Recommend viable sustainable sourcing options to our clients.
• Help clients maximise energy efficiency when producing business events and marketing campaigns.
• Make clients and suppliers aware of our Sustainability Policy, and encourage them to adopt sound sustainable management practices.
• Review, annually report, and continually strive to improve our sustainability performance.

Practical Application

Travel and meetings

• Walk, cycle and/or use public transport to attend meetings, site visits etc, apart from in exceptional circumstances where the alternatives are impractical and/or cost prohibitive.
• Travel to mainland Europe within a 1000km radius normally should be undertaken by train.
• Include the full costs of more sustainable forms of transport in our financial proposals, rather than the least cost option which may involve travelling by car or air.
• Where the only practical alternative is to fly, we will include costs for full air fares rather than budget airlines in our financial proposals.
• Avoid physically travelling to meetings etc where alternatives are available and practical, such as using teleconferencing, video conferencing or web cams, and efficient timing of meetings to avoid multiple trips.
• Reduce the need for our staff to travel by supporting alternative working arrangements, including home working etc.
• Whenever possible use staff / crew members that are most local to the location site to minimise travel and cost.

Office equipment and consumption of office resources

• Minimise our use of paper and other office consumables, for example by double-siding all paper used, and identifying opportunities to reduce waste.
• Shift printed communications (invoices, orders, brochures etc) to digital documents.
• As far as possible, arrange for the reuse or recycling of office waste, including paper, computer supplies and redundant equipment.
• Reduce the energy consumption of office equipment by purchasing energy efficient equipment and good housekeeping.
• Purchase electricity from a supplier committed to renewable energy.
• Use low energy light bulbs where possible and encourage employees to turn off equipment and lighting, and turn down thermostats when leaving for extended periods of time
• Ensure that timber furniture, and any other timber products, are recycled or from well-managed, sustainable sources and are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.
• Purchase fair-trade and/or organic food and beverages for office / staff consumption

We have published a set of Environmental Best Practices for Event Organisers.
Please contact us for details.