Given the climate emergency and the impact that commercial and industrial activities have on climate change, our contacts rightly expect us to have a point of view.

On the eve of Earth Day 2023, we thought we’d share the story behind the headline of our sustainability infographic. Sadly, we feel that the need to act is acknowledged yet not understood by many businesses. So, maybe you can take some ideas from our approach. There’s certainly more work to do, but hopefully, you’ll be assured that we’re walking the talk.

We believe that even the smallest of stones can create positive ripples. We advocate sustainable business in all its connotations; profitable, consistent growth that stems from a responsible mindset, particularly in respect of our climate emergency.

You can improve the sustainability of your organisation through our services. Our recommendations and product ranges will support the sustainability of your purchasing, examples include;

• We use a range of tactics to make your mailings more sustainable.
• With our help you can promote your sustainable use of paper with internationally recognised Love Paper® branding.
• Boost your brand profile with our curated range of Sustainable Corporate Gifts. It blends our knowledge of promotional products that create a return on investment for our clients, with our research into the most sustainable items that the promotional product market has to offer.

The story behind the infographic

In 2009, Systematic became accredited to the international environmental standard, ISO 14001. We have achieved reductions in our carbon footprint year-on-year. We’re committed to reducing our emissions, which can be a long process that requires innovation and investment! We think that’s the responsible way we can tackle the climate emergency without relying on carbon offsetting, paying others to mitigate CO2 to compensate for your own emissions. This tactic can’t be a substitute for reducing carbon emissions directly.

In September 2022 we installed a 50 panel, MCS Accredited, 23kWp solar photovoltaic array at Systematic HQ. If we need to buy electricity, it’s renewable. We’ve eliminated our need for mains gas, with the installation of a highly efficient infrared heating system across our site in November.

We were an early adopter of electric vans, and now have a fully electric fleet. A few changes needed to be embraced along the way, yet the pain of adjusting our habits is more than offset by the pride that we have in this claim. And the boxes that we pack for our vans use recyclable and often recycled materials, the details go as far as our paper packaging tape.

We take care when deciding which organisations to work with. Our partners help us ensure that no waste goes to landfill and that the print projects we progress for our clients are on responsibly sourced FSC paper.

We’re working on credible carbon neutral claims

What gets measured gets managed, and we’re are aiming to be carbon neutral in 2025. We want to do that with the highest integrity and in a way that stands up to independent scrutiny. We’ll be quantifying, reducing and offsetting our greenhouse gas contribution against the framework of PAS 2060. Developed by the British Standards Institution in 2010, it is an internationally recognised standard for carbon neutrality. We’re defining the scope of that claim and progressing our journey of continual improvement.

Let’s all rally behind the Earth Day 2023 theme ‘Invest In Our Planet’. We’re stronger together.