Grey commits to green initiatives

Grey London is committing to a sustainable green policy that aims to cut its carbon emissions by 10% in the next year.

The Green Matters policy will encompass a commitment to offset all of the company’s carbon emissions. For every tonne of the gas produced, Grey will purchase a “carbon credit” from an environmentally efficient project somewhere else in the world.

A Green Matters handbook depicts the agency’s contribution to combatting climate change last year with the revelation that it burned enough carbon on air travel to fill the Sydney Opera House 12 times.

The agency, which employs 216 people, will now place recycling bins next to every desk, utilise video conferencing for meetings instead of air travel and ensure that lights and computers switch off automatically after a certain time.

Deputy chairman Nicola Mendelsohn, who is spearheading the initiative, says Grey spent six months devising the strategy after it brought in the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management to assess its carbon output. It found that 52% of its emissions were a result of business travel and 44% was released from its premises.

“It’s simply good business practice in 2007 to undertake green measures and it’s something we passionately believe in,” says Mendelsohn. Grey will audit its progress next year to see how effective the measures have proved.