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TIO spreading the green message:

Organic vegetable producer This is Organics (TIO) based in Forres, Moray, have taken big steps towards reducing their carbon footprint by creating an ’environmentally friendly’ workforce supporting TIO’s own commitment to reducing energy use. The company dedicated the first week of November to hold the ‘Big Switch Off’ week aimed at making all 60 employee’s aware of their own personal and domestic energy use.

TIO’s EcoWarrior Sophie Hogg said: “Although The Big Switch Off was a week of fun and engaging activities it has a serious underlying message that ‘being green’ is not just for the eco activist and politicians, but every single person has a responsibility towards creating a sustainable future”.

During the summer TIO took on civil engineering student Kenny MacFadyen through the Environmental Placement Programme, to assess their carbon footprint. A major benefit of the study has been the creation of group called the “EcoWarriors” who will progress energy saving projects within each department, helping the company to achieve their carbon reduction objectives and improve efficiency.

TIO’s Eco Warrior Sophie Hogg said: “Although The Big Switch Off is a week of fun and engaging activities it has a serious underlying message that ‘being green’ is not just for the eco activist and politicians, but every single person has a responsibility towards creating a sustainable future”.

All staff were able to take part in events held throughout the week which included: a quiz based on energy consumption with prizes provided by Mcleod Organics and ‘one on one’ assessments of their own home and lifestyle use of energy by Energy Sense, UK; a simulator assessment of driving technique with equipment provided and analyzed by the Energy Savings Trust, which has prompted three members of staff to ‘car-share’ their journey from Inverness to Forres.

Ann who works in the Forres office stated; “The events were fun but really useful and got the message across, it has given me the catalyst to find out more about my own energy use and hopefully with simple changes I can reduce energy use and even my electric bills”!

Sophie Hogg said: “During the week we assessed our own energy use and we are delighted to announce that after much number crunching we saved 1.8 tonnes of CO2 emissions equal to 11 double decker buses and 4250 kilowatt hours of electricity. As a company we are committed to saving energy and aim to reduce energy consumption by 20% by 2013. Now our staff are more aware of energy use we can work as an informed team to achieve our targets together”.