Green fundraising: Five tips to reduce your environmental impact

The weather is heating up across the UK. It’s a stark reminder that climate change is a very real problem.

The World Health Organisation anticipates that from 2030, 250,000 people will die each year due to the effects of climate change.

And the Climate Clock shows there are just seven years before the damage becomes irreversible.

With this in mind, here are five ways you can make your fundraising more eco-friendly.

1. Include it in your mission

Your cause may not directly relate to the environment, but your environmental impact matters.

Let’s say you support children’s mental health. Knowing that by the time those children grow up, they will be at serious risk of health problems and an increasingly uninhabitable planet can’t be good for their mental well-being.

Maybe you fund research for a specific health condition.

If hospitals are overloaded with climate change-related health emergencies, there will be longer waiting times and fewer beds available for the people you help.

2. Review your purchases

Every purchase you make, from volunteer t-shirts and printer paper to laptops and light bulbs, is an opportunity to make a small but meaningful change.

Before parting with your cash, ask yourself if it’s an essential purchase.

There’s a reason the word ‘reduce’ exists in the phrase ‘reduce, reuse, recycle. It’s the easiest way to reduce our environmental impact.

If the purchase is necessary, ask your supplier if the product is sustainably made and recyclable.

If possible, buy from a local supplier, to reduce emissions from shipping.

You may not be able to tick all the boxes, but, to quote Tesco, ‘every little helps’.

3. Look at your waste

Are you creating waste by buying more than you need? Or are you throwing things away when they could be reused or recycled?

A quick audit of your bins can be very revealing.

These days, most charities recycle paper and card as standard, but plastic, organic waste, glass, batteries, printer cartridges, and coffee cups often get overlooked.

Here are four key reasons to recycle:

• Preserves precious natural resources

  Recycling items rather than using raw materials to make new things preserves the planet’s natural resources, which, in the face of population growth and growing demand, won’t last forever.

• Saves energy

  Recycling uses less energy than extracting, processing, and transporting raw materials to make new products.

• Less harm to the environment

  Think about how raw materials are extracted, and the harm these activities do to the earth. Mining, quarrying, logging, and fracking contribute to air and water pollution and destroy animal’s habitats.

• Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill

  Recycling reduces the amount of waste we send to landfill. This is important as waste rots in landfill, leaching toxins into the groundwater and soil. As it decomposes, it gives off greenhouse gases like methane, which contribute to global warming.

4. Check your energy supplier

Not all energy suppliers are created equal when it comes to sustainability.

Some still use fossil fuels, while others have committed to 100% renewable energy.

Sure, the power of a charity is in its people, but electricity helps too. So why not make it environmentally friendly?

Check out this list of 100% renewable energy providers in the UK and consider making the switch.

Want to find yourself a sustainability specialist? We can help. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to find out how.