Photo Caption
Andrea Marshall collects the first of Aster’s green awards from Dick Strawbridge presenter of the BBC’s 'It’s Not Easy Being Green' and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s Gary Mantle at the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s Green Awards
Aster Group has won four environmental awards ahead of major names such as Marks and Spencer, Astra Zeneca and The Guardian during the past month.
‘Continually Improving our Environmental Sustainability’ is one of Aster’s business objectives and the awards recognise our first steps towards environmental sustainability, including the measurement and reporting of our impact on the environment across all aspects of our business.
Andrea Marshall, Group Sustainability Manager, said:
“We have really tried hard to push the boundaries on what we were measuring and how we presented that information, at the same time following international best practice. In fact we are believed to be the first housing association to follow the international best practice standard the ‘Greenhouse Gas Protocol’ for reporting carbon footprints and the Global Reporting Initiative.”
The awards cover different aspects of Aster ‘being green’ and are:
· The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust Green Awards - Green Shoots category,
· Green Business Awards (Green Globes), a prestigious industry backed award for the Reporting and Accounting Category,
· A Green Apple Award, a national award for environmental best practice,
· Green Awards for Creativity in Sustainability for the production of the Best Green Corporate Social Responsibility Report.
We were also one of the three finalists in the UK Green Business Council Sustainability Award as the Most Sustainable Housing Provider of the Year.
In each instance the judges have been impressed by the level of commitment made by a not-for-profit organisation and the depth and quality of the information published in Aster’s first Sustainability Review. The creativity and accessibility of the report was praised as well as the use of seeded paper for the cover that can be planted after it has been read to produce a bed of wild flowers.
The 100% re-cycled document (printed by environmentally friendly printers) was described as ‘a great report and a significant step forward for the housing association sector.”
The award-winning Sustainability Review is available for download by clicking here.
