Our Sustainability Journey: Update
It’s been a while since our last sustainability update in March and we certainly have been busy. We have been working hard to meet our sustainability goals and here is what we’ve been up to the last few months:
Support for Transaid
In April, we took part in Transaid’s 2.5 challenge to commemorate their 25th anniversary in 2023. As a small team, we challenged ourselves to walk 2.5 million steps throughout the month of April. We surpassed our goal and raised £275 for Transaid who are working hard “to transform lives through safe, available and sustainable transport.” You can read all about the challenge and how we got on here.
This upcoming festive season, we will also be supporting Transaid’s 2023 Christmas Appeal in an effort to help them reach their fundraising target of £35,000.
Trees for Life
We enjoyed a busy summer and as a result our grove with Trees for Life is bigger than we could have ever imagined.
Our goal was to plant plant 500 trees this year and so far we have planted 635. For every hire made through INTX since 2022, we have made a donation to Trees for Life and our grove currently has over 1000 trees.
We are so proud of ourselves and of the work that Trees for Life have been doing to rewild the Scottish Highlands by restoring the globally unique Caledonian Forest, which once covered much of Scotland.
Their focus extends beyond just trees and they are dedicated to restoring the full range of wildlife and animals that originated in the area. Over the past 20 months of our partnership, it has been amazing to see the results of the donations of ours and other like minded individuals.
Global Goals Week
In September, during Global Goals Week we had the opportunity to attend 2030hub’s From Sustainable to Regerative Tourism event. The biggest takeaway for us was how important continuing the discussions on sustainability is and to consider sustainability in all the things that we do. It was great to see businesses all over Liverpool unite to learn more about the global goals and how as a city we can ensure there is positive progress.
During the week, we also took the chance to make some changes within our office space to show our commitment to sustainability and do what we could with what we had:
- We switched to cleaning products that are paraben and SLS free.
- We committed to no longer using single use plastics in the office and our team have quickly taken on this commitment and initiative by having refillable water bottles.
- We have encouraged our team members to take advantage of our bike to work scheme.
- We have started a monthly sustainability newsletter where our sustainability officer shares all things sustainability related with the team.
Reaccreditations
Good Business Charter
In June, we achieved renewal of our Good Business Charter accreditation which recognises us for responsible business behaviour and our commitment to enforcing the 10 key components of the charter:
- Real Living Wage
- Fairer Hours and Contracts
- Employee Well-being
- Employee Representation
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
- Environmental Responsibility
- Pay Fair Tax
- Commitment to Customers
- Ethical Sourcing
- Prompt Payment to Suppliers
Our accreditation is a result of our commitment to the highest ethical standards designed to not only benefit our clients but also our team members and those we conduct business with.
Green Tourism
In August we went through our yearly assessment with Green Tourism and maintained our Bronze award and saw an increase of over 20% in our score. We received some fantastic feedback on our community and communications goals and also established an updated action plan for our next assessment.
We know we have a long way to go still and have some exciting projects underway that will help us meet our goals. We’ll be sharing those soon and are dedicated to finishing the year with the same passion and commitment to sustainability that we’ve demonstrated so far.