12 November 2009
From consolidating courier provision to increasing use of both electronic mailings and vehicles, there are many ways to cut emissions and costs in the post and delivery function.
Send a green message
Businesses that choose to ignore green issues do so at a cost both to the environment and their profit lines. Employees, customers, regulators and investors now expect a business to possess good environmental credentials. Going green can bring significant benefits in the form of cost savings and competitive edge.
One obvious issue to address is how to control costs and reduce the size of your carbon footprint on mail services. Despite huge advances in communications many millions of letters and packages are still sent across the globe on a daily basis. The courier industry is also heavily reliant on traditional road transport solutions for transporting mail.
So what measures can you take to minimise the carbon footprint of your mail requirement and green-up your courier function?
1 Gather data
Companies must first find out what sort of mail is going by courier. Try to obtain detailed itemised electronic invoicing from your courier suppliers, which will allow comprehensive analysis of mail movements.
It is also useful to be able to identify departmental and individual behaviour by date, cost, choice of delivery speed and method, destination, distance covered and CO2 emission. This information will help to give you a complete picture of the services used within your organisation. This process will later become your tracking system to continuously assess any progress made in reducing your carbon emissions.
2 Evaluate needs
Once you have the data in front of you it is possible to analyse the results and see where changes can be made. For instance, if documents are being sent sameday or overnight, could they afford to arrive slightly later in a bulk delivery? It may be more cost-effective and more efficient to employ a dedicated city-to-city vehicle, rather than using a general overnight postal service.
Looking at import, international, overnight and sameday courier services overall will also ensure that carbon output is not simply moved from one service to another.
Several methods can be considered for cutting emissions. Sending fewer items is the obvious solution, and cost considerations have already resulted in many companies using electronic mailing wherever possible.
Significant cost and carbon cuts can be achieved by matching needs more carefully with available services. A specialist mailroom provider or a well-trained employee in the postroom or at reception is key to this process. This specialist is able to identify mail assignments that can be combined or transported using alternative methods such as electric or pedal-powered vehicles.
3 Identify services
When choosing a courier, opt for one that offers electronic invoicing, which allows for critical analysis of mail services and potential savings. Many courier services are SMEs operating with very small profit margins, which means they are often restricted in the investment they can make in sustainable alternative transport. But services offered are highly tuned to market demand, which can bring about change. Courier companies are increasingly aware of their role in carbon-cutting exercises. Carbon offsetting is a popular approach, but not as effective as reducing carbon output. Various providers focus on specific areas: one, for example, offers a bicycle-only service and its couriers travel by train with their bike between city centres. Shop around and find a courier partner that is able and willing to help you find the optimum solution to suit your requirements. Bear in mind that sometimes courier consolidation may give the best result.
4 Monitor progress
Make sure you receive monthly reports about your courier usage and use these to formulate best practice. It will allow you to see where there are environmentally inefficient gaps in your courier function. If you have large volumes of mail moving between two London postcodes, for instance, consider partnering with courier companies that offer pushbike and electric vehicle services to deliver these items. It’s good for both your company’s environmental responsibilities and the city’s air quality.
5 Communicate
Business activities govern the type of mail services employed and naturally mailroom specialists alone cannot change end-user behaviour. Without proper awareness of the available options, employees may not choose the most efficient method of delivery. Let your staff know how, where and why their actions are making a positive difference and motivate them to think green via intranet, company newsletters, email and other corporate literature.
Courier usage data forms a vital element in creating a staff awareness programme, but the message has to come from the top. With a high-level overview senior management can set green targets or alter the business approach. This management involvement should continue throughout the carbon reduction programme because it will encourage more employees to jump on the (electric) green bandwagon.
Max Luff is environmental compliance co-ordinator at Swiss Post Solutions
Key actions
• Analyse your courier function.
• Target areas to go green – analyse where improvements can be made.
• Match your need with available services – make sure you have the infrastructure and specialists in place to make those changes.
• Shop around for a courier – pick one that suits your requirements or mix and match to get the right combination.
• Regularly assess progress – keep on top of evolving data and see where and how you are saving costs and going greener.
• Motivate staff to think green – show them how new initiatives are making a difference.
• Communicate the green message from the top – management has to promote the green message to make it filter into the culture.
www.thegreenorganisation.info
www.sustainabilityinfm.org.uk
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