As a responsible business we are committed to minimising our impact on the environment. pinkconnect takes all reasonable steps to minimise any detrimental effect its operations may have, and to promote good environmental practice. At pinkconnect, we are pleased to do our part for the environment:

• We plant a tree for every new customer we take on
• We are working on reducing and measuring the reduction of our CO2 emissions
• We offer paperless billing
• We have a waste management and recycling policy
• We use Audio Conferencing as an alternative to travel when we can
• We support flexible working practices so our staff reduce their travel impact
• We source our paper and print materials from a "green" supplier, which means that the paper is printed on Forest Stewardship accredited paper stock

We regularly review our business practices and performance to identify how we can improve our energy efficiency, minimise packaging and reduce air emissions, waste disposal, water usage and the impacts of our travel.

pinkconnect - one of the greenest providers in the UK...

As one of the UK's greenest providers of voice services and applications, pinkconnect recognises the need to set an example to the industry. We take our responsibilities very seriously and are totally committed to being not just the most efficient low cost service provider, but also the greenest.

That's why we've taken a multi pronged approach to being green; we've implemented solutions that enable users of our products and services to reduce their carbon footprint through our GreenMinutes product, we've applied 'green' practices to everything we do as a company and we ensure that we are supporting Green third parties such as the Woodland Trust and Catlin Arctic Survey.

GreenMinutes

We made a commitment to reducing carbon footprint across our network back in 2006 through investment in the efficiency of our network and assets. Now we are the first UK service provider to have a net zero carbon footprint for all calls that are carried across our network, making us a 'green minutes' provider. A first in the UK telecoms market, as from 1st January 2009 all minutes carried across the pinkconnect network are Carbon Neutral, helping businesses, and public and voluntary sectors reduce their carbon footprint.

Each year, pinkconnect's carbon footprint is independently assessed by a company called Greenstone Carbon Management who looks at electricity bills and volumes for the amount of energy used in transporting minutes across the pinkconnect network. Working with The Carbon Neutral Company to offset this carbon footprint, we purchase carbon credits - every 1 tonne of CO2 is 'neutralised' by 1 tonne which is saved somewhere else in the world by a climate friendly project that would not have happened without carbon credit investment. Projects that our carbon credits are being used on include the Sichuan Province Hydro Power Project in China and a Wind Power Project in India, similar to the Jamnagar Project (starts late 2009).

pinkconnect suppliers' commitment to reducing carbon emissions began in 2006 with the early adoption of IP based soft-switching in our core network, marking the first major initiative of its kind in the UK and reducing energy consumption per minute by 30% within the first year. Soft-switching has allowed us to move from a power-hungry hardware infrastructure to a more software driven environment which uses far less power. Continued investment in this technology has enabled us to reduce the mean power consumption per minute carried each year, even as call traffic has increased over the same time.

Annual power consumption against call minutes per month across pinkconnect network:

Now the combination of much lower annual power consumption with our carbon offset programme means that channel partners and their customers are using the greenest network in the UK.

• Buy into an environmentally friendly solution
• Ideal solution for organisations who are required to meet key green objectives
• No greener way of making calls in the UK

Green policies

As a company we have also been reducing our carbon footprint through our internal procedures and practices which include:

• Substantial use of web conferencing
• Significant use of audio conferencing. pinkconnect and their suppliers use 1,750,000 minutes a year on audio conferencing alone, saving 80,000 miles of travel per year
• Use of recycled paper on all printed collateral and stationery
• Waste recycling points across all sites
• An electronic invoicing policy being introduced in June 2009 will mean that we no longer produce paper invoices for our customers; instead invoices are available online only, through the pinkconnect Portal, making a saving of over 2500 printed pages and envelopes a month.

How Cyclescheme works

You sign up with Cyclescheme; you're given access to their online system. Employees visit one of over 1,700 participating bike shops to select the bike and equipment that they want; they will be given a paper quote. They use Cyclescheme's online tool and apply for their chosen package by entering the details online and requesting a secure certificate. Once an employee has requested a secure certificate, we confirm eligibility and approve the request. Cyclescheme will send the employee an invoice for the bike package, and a hire agreement is sent to the employee to sign. As soon as the bike is paid for, the secure certificate is sent to the employee. The employee contacts their chosen bike shop to arrange collection. The balance of the bike is deducted via salary sacrifice. At the end of the hire period, the employee pays a Market Value payment to make the bike theirs.

Supporting Green third parties

At pinkconnect we ensure that we are supporting organisations that pursue our planets environmental well-being. These include:

• The Woodland Trust - We have adopted The Woodland Trust as the official charity of pinkconnect, which aims to prevent the loss of ancient woodland and to increase new native woodland

• Catlin Arctic Survey - pinkconnect is supporting the Catlin Artic Survey by donating Communicator, its Mitel-based Managed IP Telephony solution, together with its Assured IP services to the Catlin Arctic Survey UK Operations Centre. The Catlin Arctic Survey combines a pioneering feat of human endurance with scientific discovery by providing an accurate mapping the Arctic Ocean's sea ice cover

10 reasons why your energy efficiency plans failed

Research by the Carbon Trust points to UK industry wasting £7 million a day due to poor energy efficiency. The problem is not large scale industry, but staff behaviour and energy awareness.

pinkconnect is committed to helping UK businesses cut energy consumption and reduce their environmental impact. Here are the top 10 reasons why so many businesses fail to cut consumption.

1. You focused on machinery and equipment not people.
2. Your expert energy survey focused on premises.
3. You had no defined goal to cut carbon or energy consumption.
4. You didn't know where to look for savings.
5. You didn't know how to find for savings.
6. You didn't know when to search for savings.
7. You didn't choose the right kind of people to support you.
8. Staff were not actively involved in your energy saving plans.
9. You didn't communicate frequently what you wanted staff to do.
10. You didn't feedback to staff on how much you were saving and when.
11. You ran out of effort trying to get it off the ground.

For help cutting your energy consumption and reducing carbon emissions, why not give us a call to see if we can help? Contact James Pink at pinkconnect on 0800 040 7027, fax your electricity bill to 0845 450 0079, or ask for a quote.