Small Business, Big Impact
When it comes to social responsibility, sometimes it’s the little things that can make the most difference. Especially if it’s a consistent change that supports a long-term goal. We encourage every individual, family and business – large or small – to consider your impact and make little changes where you can!
It can be hard to know where to start, and we like to lead by example, so here are the little things we do everyday at Aintree Group that contribute to a cause wider than just keeping our office running.
1. Using environmentally friendly toilet paper, tissues and paper towel
With 25 people (and growing) in our office everyday, we churn through quite a bit of toilet paper, tissues and paper towel. So it’s nice to know that those products are coming from, and putting funds back into, an ethical source.
“Who Gives A Crap” is definitely a bit of fun, in the best way possible. They make products with environmentally friendly materials (and funny notes and slogans), and donate 50% of profits to help build toilets for people in need. Roughly 40% of the world’s population don’t have access to a toilet, and they’re working to change that with a bit of humour – and lot of toilet paper.
So if you ever see a big cardboard box in our reception with “Who Gives A Crap?” plastered along the side – you know it’s for a good cause!
Find out more about Who Gives A Crap.
2. We’re a “paperless office”
We have been a paperless office for a very long time, in the sense that we favour electronic communication, systems and processes to minimise paper useage in our everyday operations. Tools such as Docusign and Quotient were the frontrunners for us in our quest for paperless processes, andwe’ve since moved to FuseSign to continue sending important documents for signing electronically.
Over the years, the number of available cloud-based tools have only increased, and the possibilities without paper are endless in this day and age!
The environmental savings just from using electronic document signing software alone is enormous:
Part of long-term social responsibility is knowing the limits of what is realistic and sustainable for your office. For instance, even as a “paperless office”, there are unavoidable instances where documents need to be printed. So, we always use recycled printing paper for those!
3. Personal care products with purpose
Most people have come across Thank You’s products before. The dark bottles have become quite recognisable across many homes and businesses in recent years.
Thank You is a not-for-profit organisation that makes a range of products such as hand wash, lotion, sanitiser, bottled water, baby products, soaps and scrubs. 100% of the profits are used to fund projects that help get safe water, toilets, hygiene training, safe births and healthcare to empower people in need.
We use Thank You products in our office bathrooms and kitchen. They’re affordable and good quality, and contribute more to the world that just clean hands.
Find out more about Thank You.
4. Recycling (properly)!
We use Eco-Bins in our office, which use colour-coded labelled bins to separate different kinds of recyclable products. Separating these products as we dispose of them decreases greenhouse gases and the amount of waste going into landfills.
They also use 50% less electricity and water to produce, and create very little waste during the production process.
To find out about our community involvement, click here.
To learn how to practice social responsibility in your own business, read our “Guide to Giving Back” here.