Environmental Statement
In Kind Direct recognises that good environmental management is an essential part of overall good practice for a national charity. We are champions of product giving, working closely with global companies, manufacturers, and retailers and central to our work is a commitment to find a good home for all donated products. We stop them going to waste, extend their life, and ensure they have social impact through our UK charity network.
In Kind Direct works towards best practice for environmental standards in all areas of our operation. We focus on continual improvement and aim to set ambitious targets for reducing our environmental impact. We will involve staff and partners as much as possible in implementing this policy internally, achieving a reduction in waste and carbon emissions, and sharing our progress. We will do this by making our policy publicly available, as well as to all staff and volunteers.
Impact
Our direct impact on the environment primarily relates to:
- Our energy, material and water use at our premises, and travel by staff.
- Our logistics operations including environmental performance in relation to energy, material and water usage at the warehouse, and transport emissions.
We can also indirectly impact the environment by:
- Helping companies to reduce their negative environmental impact by providing a positive alternative to landfill and supporting a culture of best practice around waste
- Encouraging and supporting our UK network of charity partners to act in an environmentally responsible way
- Advocating a reduce, reuse, recycle approach to products
- Supporting the trial and distribution of “green” products and having a clear ethical donation policy for accepting donated products and services
Action
In Kind Direct is committed to supporting a just transition to net zero and reducing the environmental impact of our operations and service delivery. We commit to monitoring our carbon emissions and resource usage, starting by establishing our baseline impact by 2022. This includes our contribution to the relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This will enable us to set meaningful reduction targets. We will also establish a decision-making framework which supports staff to assess actions and services that have a positive environmental impact, but which may require more resource to implement, as well as the impact of new projects.
We commit to taking practical steps to reduce our resource usage and carbon emissions, as well as finding innovative solutions to operational challenges. This may include decisions between the most cost-effective and the “greenest” options, which will require budget consideration.
We commit to:
- Going digital and work towards a paperless office
- Minimising our energy and water usage, considering green energy tariffs
- Maintaining recycling facilities and reducing the use of single-use plastic wherever possible
- Working with corporate partners to reduce the volume of non-recyclable packaging we receive, and reusing recyclable materials in our service delivery for outbound orders
- Using ethical consumables including Fairtrade tea, coffee, and sugar; FSC certified paper; and responsibly sourced cleaning materials where possible
- Reducing our impact through events by prioritising digital, printing fewer materials, opting for meat-free options and avoiding plastic packaging
- Providing our impact reports as digital by default. When printing is necessary, always using recyclable materials e.g. uncoated paper, recyclable bindings
- Working with our logistics suppliers to minimise carbon emissions in our supply chain e.g. through back loading and efficient use of space
- Supporting our landlords to improve premises’ environmental performance
- Sharing and learning alongside our sector peers and corporate partners, to be confident in acting on environmental and sustainability issues
- Working towards using the most sustainable providers feasible, including asking questions of current and prospective suppliers regarding their own practices and approach to their environmental footprint.
View our full Environmental Policy. For any questions, please contact Charlotte, our Partnerships & Impact Director.
Last updated January 2022.