The results of the world’s largest four day work week trial, which took place in the UK from June 2022 to December 2022, have come back with overwhelming sway toward the shorter week. Targeted at increasing employee wellbeing whilst simultaneously improving productivity, of the 61 companies that took part, 38 are extending the trial and 18 have made it permanent. Along with nearly every company reporting an increase in productivity in staff, there were also notable benefits to companies’ carbon footprints. By cutting out unnecessary meetings and travel, whilst increasing staff’s free time to engage in their own sustainable activities such as volunteering for environmental organisations, head researchers at the pilot project argue that a four day work week is key to achieving carbon emissions reductions the world needs. As employees take more of an active stance in the companies that they choose to work for, organisations that truly care about their environmental impact and make strides to ensure their staff are educated on the effects of their everyday decisions, are becoming more and more attractive to employees today when looking for work. In light of this, one of Britain’s leading sustainability and money saving platforms, SaveMoneyCutCarbon, has launched a 12 month programme called EcoWise, aimed at encouraging staff to learn, employ practical changes in their home and workplace, and reap rewards – all while providing quantifiable data for firms to report on their ESG strategies. For employees to be fully engaged, it is imperative that they feel their voices are being heard, their values being taken into consideration, and their work making a positive difference. A landmark report from SaveMoneyCutCarbon found that 34% of Brits agreed that they would be more loyal to their workplace if they provided them more detailed information on how to be greener at work and at home.
What is EcoWise? SaveMoneyCutCarbon’s carbon literacy programme is a 12 month course for employees consisting of carbon literacy assessments, access to education, rewards for employees who make the most of the programme, and quantifiable data on the progress of companies ESG strategies. Different to other programmes, EcoWise doesn’t just provide advice and information, but the actual tools and technologies to make theses changes – from eco friendly daily consumables to full home retrofit. They also offer customer support and financing to remove all barriers.
How EcoWise works
The platform is designed to assess the carbon literacy of your staff at the start and end to measure improvement over time.
It also provides access to weekly easy to read articles, guides, and other content designed to encourage behaviour change through the ‘Sustainability as a Service’ (SaaS) platform – combining advice, education, and tools plus end to end delivery of building decarbonisation projects. A key part of every service on offer is access to impact statements, which measure the impact of the changes you, your customers, your supply chain, and your employees make. This data can then be used to enhance your ESG reporting.
EcoWise rewards employees for learning how to be more sustainable, cutting their energy bills and saving money. Each time an employee reads an article and completes a quiz they receive ‘Planet Points’ which can be used to purchase thousands of eco friendly items from the SaveMoneyCutCarbon online shop.
Data from your employees’ impact statements can be aggregated and anonymised for your ESG reporting. As a key part of every service offered is access to impact statements, which measure the impact of the changes you, your customers, your supply chain, and your employees make.
One planet, one partner
Regardless of the size of your organisation, building a ESG plan and making these changes can be a minefield. SaveMoneyCutCarbon serves to provide direct account management, delivering roadmap planning, financing, product supply, installation, engagement programmes, measurement tracking and more to support your ESG goals across all stakeholders.