Communications with a consience

How we help clients become sustainable

We design green websites as standard, by offsetting the carbon used in developing and hosting our clients' websites, from the fuel we use to travel to meetings, the tea & coffee we drink during brainstorming sessions, to the ongoing hosting of our clients' sites on a day-to-day basis. This carbon offsetting is free for the client - we use the energy so we pay the costs.

This means that our clients can

• run a website which has little or no impact on the environment
• increase their customer base and geographical reach for little capital investment
• reduce paper waste by delivering information and services online

We encourage our clients to improve their communications by harnessing the power of the Internet, whether it's using Facebook groups to communicate with members and volunteers, distributing information to staff via a corporate intranet or delivering the latest news updates to fans using Twitter. 

What we're doing to be a socially responsible organisation

We practice what we preach.

We try to keep our printing and paper usage low, but when we have to print, we use 100% recycled paper, then recycle it again when we're finished. But we also realise that there's more to being sustainable than carbon offsetting and planting trees. 

As a modern, tech-savvy business, we prefer to use electronic systems instead of paper-based ones, including electronic invoicing, online banking, videoconferencing and instant messaging. We use PCs with energy-efficient processors connected to intelligent power sockets which turn off peripherals when the PCs are turned off.

We use Open Source Software which is free to use, modify and share, making it ethical, efficient, cost-effective and supported by a huge worldwide network of programmers. We often work with developers to improve the software we use and release our own developments back into the community.

We even use recycled buildings. We're based in a converted cotton mill located on a main public transport route out of Manchester with regular bus and rail services (and tram links as part of the multi-million pound development of Manchester's transport system), and just off the M60 ring road, so we're accessible from the whole of the UK. We have a carpooling scheme in place, which is currently used by 75% of our staff.

We use ethical suppliers where possible, for example

• The Ethical Superstore for office supplies such as recycled paper and Fairtrade tea and coffee
• ngo.media for press releases and copywriting
• marc the printers for business cards, printed on recycled paper using soya-based inks- no toner and no solvents
• The Co-operative Food for groceries
• The Co-operative Bank for business and personal banking

In fact, we're members of The Co-operative and donate 100% of our membership profits back into the Community Fund. We also encourage staff to get involved in charity work to learn more about our clients and their audiences.

We also support independent, locally-based businesses and social enterprises and are continually looking to build relationships and strengthen our commitment to be socially responsible.

If you like what we're doing or want to support our cause, contact us to see if there are any opportunities to work together.