To survive, let alone prosper, in business today needs an iron determination to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Reducing your carbon footprint may seem a long way from the day-to-day challenge of running your business efficiently and profitably but is it? It could be the quickest way to improve your bottom line. The simplest way to reduce your carbon footprint is to save energy – and, therefore, money. However, we know how difficult it is to spare the time to tackle problems that are not core to your business.

So WasteCare is offering existing customers a free service, EcoCare, to calculate your carbon footprint and identify easy costsaving opportunities. In return, the only payment we will require from you is a (small) share of the easy savings identified. You can decide up front what ‘easy’ means: savings made without any capital investment; savings producing a payback within 10 years or, most likely, somewhere in between. Every business has its own financial model, which is why EcoCare leaves it to you to identify.

Our qualified adviser will visit your site to carry out a comprehensive survey. For a medium-sized enterprise employing 100- 200 people, this should take only two to three hours. We will identify where energy is being wasted and focus on the key areas where savings can be made. These could include heating, cooling, lighting, equipment efficiency and management. Our report will estimate your carbon footprint and highlight those savings that can be made according to your own criteria.

If significant potential savings are identified outside these criteria, but where financial support may be obtainable, they will also be reported. Energy costs are at a record high and are likely to rise further, so reducing your energy consumption and fuel bills will also cut your carbon footprint. We appreciate that telling you to reduce the temperature of your office or to switch off computers at night could be insulting your intelligence, but the impact of a few novel ideas might surprise you.

For example, a new technology can reduce your total electricity bill by at least 10% at a stroke; or how about a simple process which can cut equipment operating costs by 30% or more – and which has a pay-back time of less than a year!