Are we on the way to Armageddon? What Earth Overshoot Day means for mankind.

Last week you might have spotted a few articles on Earth Overshoot Day, or noticed the hashtag #movethedate trending on Twitter. So what’s it all about? Well it’s not quite Armageddon, but brace yourself for some hard-hitting statistics

Earth Overshoot Day is the day that our global population consumes more ecological resources and services than nature can regenerate. This year it fell on August 2nd, a whole week earlier than last year.  

Before the 1970s, the Earth was able to renew all of its resources spent by humans every year. But this year we have already used up our allowance for water, soil, clean air and other resources on Earth for the whole of 2017. In just 7 months, we have emitted more carbon than forests and oceans can absorb in a year, caught more fish than can be naturally replenished, felled more trees than forests can sequester and consumed more water than the Earth was able to produce in a year. We are consuming our nature at a rate 1.7 times faster than natural ecosystems can regenerate. Ouch. 

What can we do about it?

There’s no need to run for the hills just yet. As usual, we’re here to remind you that there are plenty of innovative ways to reduce your impact on the planet. 

Step 1: Understand your impact

You can calculate your own personal Earth Overshoot day by using the Global Footprint Network’s handy Ecological Footprint Calculator which will tell you exactly how your lifestyle impacts the planet. We find with all our Jump programmes that by giving employees a thorough understanding of the ecological impact of their daily lifestyle choices, such as travel and energy use, we achieve lasting sustainable behaviour change. At Swansea University, for example, we have seen nearly 60,000 sustainable miles travelled to work, since their sustainability and wellbeing programme began.

Step 2: Plan and implement your lifestyle changes

Once you’ve calculated your ecological footprint, you can plan some simple, everyday actions you can take to reduce your impact. Our RBS Jump programme includes easy-to-do, energy-saving actions, such as making a last one out the office checklist, which contributed to an average reduction in energy use of 5% across all locations involved in the programme. 

Step 3: Make some noise

Once you’ve got some easy and effective daily actions you can take, make sure to make some noise about it and inspire people to do the same. We use our Jump Twitter and Facebook to keep members of our scheme engaged, by feeding back to them exactly how their actions are making a difference. So don’t be shy, start sharing! Connect with us on social media and we’ll be sure to share your story. 

Step 4: Infiltrate your workplace

Get your office involved and let your colleagues know you care! Our Jump workplace sustainability and wellbeing engagement programme is not only good for the planet, it’s good for your office: there is now increasing evidence that a desire for sustainability drives employee engagement and satisfaction, compared to only a 2% overlap with performance pay and job satisfaction. 100% of participants in our JUMP pilot at Bournemouth University said they would take part in Jump again and 49% believed they had improved their sustainable behaviours at work. So what are you waiting for?

For more information about our Jump sustainability and wellbeing programmes or to request a case study, head to our website.B

The community reuse revolution – A look at the community organisations helping us save money and prevent waste.

A new house mate joined our flat last month, and among the belongings he brought with him was a Phillips sound system from the 70s. It had been his grandad’s, his dad’s and now it belongs to him – and it still works perfectly.

It got me thinking about the saying, ‘they don’t make ‘em like they used to!’ and maybe there’s some truth in that. Nowadays we only keep a mobile phone for 2 years until we discard it for an upgrade, we give up easily when a device runs slow or gets damaged and the average person buys 3 new gadgets every year.Is it really that surprising that electronic items are becoming the fastest growing waste stream in the UK? Over 1 million tonnes of our gadgets get binned every year. The problem with wasting electronic items is that they contain valuable metals as well as plastics and other materials. These can be recovered through the recycling process but only about 30% of our unwanted electricals get recycled. What’s even more important than recycling your unwanted electronics is reusing them, whether that means repairing a broken item to give it a new lease of life or sharing a working item you no longer need with others. A number of projects in London alone have inspired us to join our community in the reuse revolution. Keep reading to hear about some of our favourites! 

The Restart Project 

The Restart Project is a London Based charity working to prevent electronic waste by hosting events up and down the UK where they help people restart their gadgets. So far they’ve helped prevent 5284kg of electronic waste. By working with communities, schools and companies to provide hands-on learning events, the Restart Project aims to do more than just fix your broken electronics for you – their aim is to change our relationship with electronics for good, by challenging our throw-away economy and valuing our electronics longer. The ‘Restart Code’ includes some simple steps we can all take to help fix our relationship with electronics. For example – ‘when we have a problem we will not panic, we’ll check the warranty, get help and do what we can to repair our electronic device. When we solve our problem, we will share that knowledge!’ Head to their website to join 3520 people already signed up to live this way. Want to get involved? Check out one of the free ‘Restart Parties’ where you’ll be joined by skilled volunteers who can help you learn to fix your slow or broken devices.

The Library of Things 

Name two things a lot of Londoners wish they had more of… …space and money! A lot of people without the money to buy expensive tools or the space to store them could benefit from a local place where they can borrow items for a low price. That’s exactly what a Library of Things is for – it’s a place where you can borrow and share all sorts of things, like tools, kitchenware, gardening equipment and camping kit. And we think it’s a fantastic alternative to wasting money and valuable resources on brand new items that people in your community already own. The Library of Things does even more than it says on the tin, because they run 1-to-1 sessions and workshops to teach you how to use the tools you borrow and promote community engagement by hosting regular open nights. The one we know and love is located in West Norwood, South London, so check it out if you’re ever around. They promise to keep borrowing prices low, make you feel welcome and share tips on how to use things. In return, make sure you love and care for the items you’ve borrowed and bring them back on time. 

Local Green Points 

Here at Local Green Points we’re experts at engaging with communities to encourage residents to reduce, reuse and recycle. Our approach is innovative – combining web and app platforms, communications campaigns and face to face engagement to connect with our target audience. We find rewards and incentives key to promoting ongoing behaviour change, so we reward members of our campaigns with points for every positive step they take – whether it’s preventing food waste, recycling more, using a Bring bank or reducing contamination. Residents work together to earn the most points and win prizes for their local community. In the last month we’ve been in Warwickshire, Norfolk, and West London handing out prizes to some real recycling champions and great local causes. When it comes to electronics, we’re working with residents of 13 boroughs to encourage them to fix them up, donate them, reuse them or recycle them!

Struggling to get your staff in the saddle? Cycle Solutions has all the answers.

Encouraging your employees to cycle to work is a great way to keep staff healthy and productive while working towards your sustainability and wellbeing targets. And while your staff may be keen to give it a go, without a little guidance it’s likely they’ll be unsure where to start and fall into cycling misconceptions like ‘it’s too expensive to buy a bike’.

At Jump, we’re experts in engaging employees in a range of sustainable behaviours in the workplace, including sustainable travel, energy saving and health and wellbeing. We’re here to reassure you that cycling to work can be easy, especially with excellent suppliers of the Cycle to Work Scheme, Cycle Solutions. Joining a Cycle to Work scheme could help you and your colleagues to crush excuses not to ride to work.

Why cycle?Save cash

The average 7 mile commute by car costs over £350 a year in petrol alone. In London, commuters using the tube spend a minimum of £1,320 a year on tube fares, and that’s if they live in zones 1-2. For many of us, cycling is a considerably cheaper option. 

Mental Health & Wellbeing

Getting your heart rate up for just one 30 minute session of exercise a day can play a huge role in boosting your mood and tackling depression. As well as feeling better in yourself, cycling to work could also increase your productivity. Studies have shown that employees who exercise before or after work have improved concentration, sharper memory, faster learning, enhanced creativity and lower stress levels. 

Burn calories

Riding a bike can help you achieve a healthier lifestyle. By getting your heart rate up 5 times a week you are 50% less likely to suffer from a stroke, heart disease or type 2 diabetes. Plus, cycling to work 5 days a week burns 4,089 calories per week, so if you’re someone who struggles to fit in exercise around a hectic lifestyle, cycling to work is a great way to get exercise done. Time to say goodbye to overpriced gyms and spend more of your summer outside enjoying the weather! 

Cut Carbon

Cycling produces zero emissions! In just 6 months the Jump pilot at Bournemouth University helped staff to avoid 7 tonnes of CO2 emissions by encouraging members to travel to work using sustainable methods or transport rather than driving a car.As a cyclist, the only fuel you’ll need to buy is food – aka the perfect excuse for a second breakfast. Bicycles also require only a fraction of the materials and energy required to make a car, which is good news for employers as well, because more bikes = less need for parking spaces.

On your bike! – how to get started

Cycle Solutions provides a Cycle to Work scheme that is completely free for employers to set up and offers an excellent way to engage and incentivise employees in sustainability and wellbeing. Through the scheme employees can cover the cost of a tax-free bike through a salary sacrifice, saving on average 39% of the costs. They can then plan their routes and monitor their performance with a ride mapper app and start reaping the benefits of huge savings and a healthier lifestyle. A win-win for everyone! 

Visit the Cycle Solutions website for more information.

RBS shortlisted for prestigious Business Green Leaders Award

This month we’re proud to announce that our Jump scheme at RBS has been shortlisted for a BusinessGreen Leaders Award, in the Employee Engagement Campaign of the Year category. Following a successful pilot and roll out of Jump across 1,700 workplace locations in the UK and Ireland, RBS have been recognised for their use of Jump as a platform to engage employees in sustainable work place culture.

The Jump behaviour change programme at RBS uses custom made, online modules to inform staff and reward them for implementing sustainable behaviours. Modules cover topics such as water saving, energy saving and sustainable travel. Since implementation at RBS, Jump has led to a 5% average electricity reduction at pilot locations, 500,000 disposable cups being saved and RBS expects to save £3million in 2017 in energy alone.  

The BusinessGreen awards ceremony celebrates the considerable progress UK green businesses have made in improving their sustainability policies and use of clean technologies and RBS’s selection is fantastic evidence of Jump’s success and impact on improving sustainability in the workplace. We look forward to the awards ceremony on the 28th June this year.

Read more about the BusinessGreen Leaders Awards here

EAUC Annual Conference

We are pleased to be exhibiting at this year’s EAUC Annual Conference, showcasing our work with Swansea University, Bournemouth University, Brunel University, East Kent College and University of Chichester.  

This year’s conference theme is Global Goals: Local Action and will recognise the critical role universities and colleges across the planet have to play in finding and implementing a solution to climate change and realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on a local level within their communities. 

Across the universities we work with, we turn the benefits of protecting the environment into cost savings associated with reductions in electricity, waste and water use. We also engage staff and students in activities that improve their wellbeing which reduces numbers of sick days and increases productivity. Through our programmes, universities also get to make a positive impact on local community projects and charities with the donations we make available. 

Make sure you catch our Managing Director, Graham Simmonds, at the Swansea University talk at 1:45pm on 29th March talking about one of our flagship engagement programmes – ‘Swell’. We’ll be exhibiting on the 29th and 30th and we’ll be happy to chat to you about how our award-winning programme can help your university or college save energy, water and waste and improve wellbeing. 

RBS UK & Ireland roll out Jump

After a successful pilot which led to a 5% average electricity reduction at pilot locations and 500,000 disposable cups being saved, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have scaled up their Jump programme to cover all 1,700 locations in UK and Ireland to maximise impact.

The Jump behaviour change programme will be encouraging employees to engage in energy saving, sustainable travel, waste reduction and other in-house sustainability actions with winning teams and individuals being rewarded for their efforts every two months, with vouchers for outlets such as iTunes and Marks & Spencer (M&S).

RBS sustainable workplace culture manager Mike Lynch said: “Colleagues can earn points for their team for simple actions like switching off electrical equipment, reporting leaks, travelling sustainably and encouraging others to get involved. RBS is committed to reducing the environmental impact of serving customers and Jump brings all our target areas together under one cohesive programme.”

Employees engaged in over 2,500 activities during the pilot, with 80% of in-scope colleagues signed up so it’s no wonder RBS is banking on saving £3m from energy alone through the new programme.  

Check out our Press page to see how this is being reported in the media. B

Jump launches at Bournemouth University

Just under two weeks ago, Bournemouth University became the fourth UK University to launch our award-winning programme – Jump. The exciting new pilot has been designed to help to boost campus sustainability and employee wellbeing.Thanks to Jump, employees at Bournemouth University can now win prizes for taking small, simple steps at work to reduce their environmental footprints and improve their own wellbeing.

The prizes include: 

• One of 6 prizes for the top performing individuals every month (from a choice of a £10 M&S voucher, £10 One4all voucher, one month gym pass, bus pass or loan bike).• One of 15 raffle prizes every month (from a choice of a reusable cup, reusable bottle or £3 Chartwell’s voucher). 

• £100 for the top team to donate to their favourite local charity from a shortlistThese are the charities to choose from: •

Children’s Foundation • Bournemouth Foodbank • RSPCA• Bournemouth Hospital Charity

• An opportunity to run your own fundraising event for a charity of your choice The employees who have signed up to the programme compete in their teams to earn Green Points for a whole range of actions under a number of different themes to keep things interesting.  

Here are the 5 themes: 

• Sustainable travel • Resources • Energy saving • Health & Wellbeing • Positive actions

Jump shortlisted for 6 awards in 2017

It’s been a fantastic year for our Jump programmes – with high engagement and successful results including an 8% average energy reduction across all client schemes and an average of 307,590 miles travelled sustainably. We are delighted with the positive results that our programmes have achieved so far, proving their success in creating sustainable behaviour change. And with these high impact results, our programmes have been receiving recognition across the country, with 6 of our Jump clients shortlisted for awards in 2017. These include the BIFM Awards, the Better Society Awards, the Employee Benefits Awards, the Guardian University Awards, the Sustain Wales Awards and Edie’s Sustainability Leader’s Awards.  

Earlier this year, RBS won the prestigious ‘Bank of the Year’ in the Better Society Awards 2017, and Michael Lynch, Head of Sustainable Workplace Culture at RBS said: “We are delighted to have won this award and be recognised for our innovative Jump programme which is making significant savings in costs, energy and other resources by engaging colleagues in simple, positive steps.”

At the 2017 Sustain Wales Awards, our programme at Swansea University (Swansea SWell) received a High Commendation for its work in sustainability engagement. The university has seen some impressive results from the programme, including 23,000 kg of CO2 saved from employees travelling sustainably, a 19% reduction in carbon intensity, over 105,000 miles travelled sustainably and over 45,000 positive actions logged.  

Our Jump programmes provide a sustainability and wellbeing engagement platform for employers to motivate their employees to take part in activities such as saving energy, travelling sustainably, increasing exercise and investing time in wellbeing activities. Through motivation, ongoing communications campaigns and rewards to reinforce behaviour change, Jump has the functionality to help employers save energy, reduce carbon emissions and create an environment for employees to feel happier, healthier and more fulfilled in the workplace.

For more information or to request a case study, email [email protected]

More local authorities adopt our community points model.

Jump’s ‘Community Points’ model for incentivising and engaging residents in waste and recycling is being increasingly adopted by local authorities.

Torbay Council was the first local authority to adopt our Community Points model for their Torbay Green Points scheme, which was launched to all 66,000 Torbay households in July 2015. Since then, Peterborough City Council, St. Helen’s Council and the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham have all opted to use our Community Points approach for their recycling rewards schemes. These will soon be joined by the Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk who are set to launch their new scheme with us later this year.

Our Community Points Model uses competition, gamification and a sense of community to motivate, engage and encourage residents in to carry out positive waste behaviours. Research into the psychology behind lasting behaviour change shows that a strong sense of community identity and of being seen to do good by those around you can be highly motivating – perhaps for some people more so than a monetary reward! Thus a key step in the development of a Community Points model scheme is to involve residents in deciding how communities are divided and named, ensuring they identify closely with their community for the duration of the scheme.

A dynamic leader board shows participants how their community is performing at any time and there are also rewards for top performing individuals. We find this combination of personal and community rewards to be ideal for motivating waste and recycling behaviours. Using a community approach also allows us to focus heavily on supporting local charities and community projects, an element which has long been part of our schemes and proves ever-popular with residents.

RBS innovation gateway

Successful Gateway innovation, Jump, launched at RBS Trinity Quay this week, spurring employees to come out in force and pledge their commitment to ‘go green’ for Bristol.

Jump programme, one of the successful innovations chosen in the RBS Bristol Go Green Innovation Challenge, is an engagement and rewards programme which combines communication, rewards and the smart use of technology to achieve maximum employee engagement.

The Jumpteam were on hand at Trinity Quay on Monday to launch the programme and encourage employees to sign up and pledge their commitment to sustainability in the workplace. We’re delighted to reveal that over 600 employees have now signed up, that’s over 50% of all the staff in the office!

Staff were offered a KeepCup or re-usable water bottles on signing up to the programme to reduce disposable cup waste. And the restaurant at Trinity Quay is also getting behind the initiative offering a discount on all hot drinks when employees use their KeepCups.

Jump will engage employees around key themes throughout 2016: energy, paper, water, waste and travel. The energy theme will launch on March 1st and will encourage employees to reduce energy use throughout Trinity Quay.

Across all themes, the Jump platform will provide a central place for employees to track progress, collect points for making positive changes and submit their own suggestions for engaging colleagues on sustainable issues.

The Jump programme will be accessible to many more RBS employees shortly as it is scheduled to go live in 6 more RBS buildings across the UK next week.

Jump in.

Employee engagement is more relevant than ever. With millennials choosing their workplace based largely on corporate social responsibility and employee turnover on the rise, the importance of employee engagement cannot be overstated.

Research clearly shows that when employee engagement is high, organisations prosper. Higher levels of employee engagement correspond with better performance and productivity, more customer satisfaction and lower rates of absence through sickness, therefore having an engaged workforce is essential for growth and survival.

While most executives do see a clear need to increase employee engagement, many have yet to develop ways to measure and tackle this goal. Our Jump program makes it easy for companies to improve levels of employee engagement and therefore, their business.

JOIN the movement towards Employee Engagement! Take the first step and not only will you see your company productivity soar, but your employees will thank you. A highly engaged workforce can increase innovation, productivity, and bottom-line performance while reducing costs related to hiring and retention in highly competitive talent markets.

UPGRADE your environment. Create an environment for well-being to thrive, as an organization filled with healthy, balanced and fulfilled employees is a productive workplace. Incorporating a culture of employee engagement can not only help employees connect with one another, but it can also help create new innovations and ideas.

MOTIVATE your employees to take part in daily sustainability and well-being tasks to earn points for their team and themselves. Not only will they earn rewards for their efforts, they can feel good about being a part of something bigger! When you develop and support effective teams, you enhance the power and feeling of satisfaction of individuals working on the team. Employees need to feel that their organisation is equally invested in them. 

PRACTICE what you preach. Get involved yourself, make time to participate in wellness activities and create sustainability events for your staff. Giving employees a sense of shared values and purpose by creating a relationship with them is important. Senior leadership should continuously demonstrate that employees have an impact on their work environment and are an asset to the company.

Connecting engagement to business performance requires considerable effort and top management focus but there is enormous opportunity for companies that get it right.

In today’s fast-paced business landscape employee engagement is truly one of the most beneficial investments a company can make.

Recycling rewards with a local focus

Love Peterborough, Love Your Community, a joint project between Peterborough City Council, Amey and Jump (Local Green Points) launched just over a week ago and already hundreds of residents have signed up to take part. The scheme reaches 35,000 homes in the seven wards of Eye, Thorney, Stanground, Hampton, East,Walton, Paston and North Bretton, which have been identified as having lower than average recycling rates. Residents who have joined the scheme have a chance to earn rewards for themselves as well as rewards for their local community.

Individual rewards will take the form of vouchers for local leisure and shopping centres, as well as for composting starter packs, garden gift vouchers and electrical items. Love Peterborough, Love Your Community also focuses on rewarding communities for improving their recycling rates, with residents of the communities that recycle the most able to vote for which local charity projects they’d like to receive a share of £3,000.

The scheme encourages residents of Peterborough to take actions that not only result in less waste being produced, but that are also good for their communities – such as donating to charity shops, donating and buying items from WEEE reuse facilities and reporting flytipping.

To find out if their household is eligible to be part of the scheme, residents should send their address is using the contact form

For more information, and to sign up for the scheme, please visit www.lovepeterborough.com