This piece isn’t about the BIG sustainability stuff, the initiatives which tend to grab the attention, the headlines, win accreditations, awards, pitches and tenders.

There’s quite a bit being written about those already.

Today I thought I’d give a shout-out to the small stuff, usually too small to even get a mention, yet the result of hundreds of everyday decisions within every operational business.

Why? Because the key word there is ‘hundreds’. And together, they’re really not that small.

At AMS, like many other companies, the big sustainability stuff is large enough to sink your teeth into, to set objectives around, make tangible progress and keep everyone engaged.

We’re reducing energy consumption (and switching to renewable energy), we’re reducing business travel, we’re reducing waste and increasing recycling. In August this year we became ISO14001 accredited, and we’re about to publish the first set of figures for our Annual Carbon Emissions, then a Carbon Reduction Plan.

But we’ve also been turning our attention to the small stuff, understanding that everything has an impact and a carbon consequence. The formation of the AMS Green Team has provided the ideal forum for (little) sustainable ideas to be hatched, and what’s very noticeable is how this has filtered down throughout the whole of AMS.

We’ve all become more curious – questioning the little things we buy and sharing ideas for more sustainable alternatives. Nowadays in the office we’re not only using eco soaps and detergents, we’re also drinking coffee via pods which would have gone straight to landfill (thanks to Wonky Coffee) and using recycled and unbleached tissues and toilet paper (thanks to Naked Sprout.)

We’ve a long way to go, with a lot more great little ideas to come – but if this is reflective of every other workplace, and we’re all collectively ‘sweating the small stuff’, it’ll be a BIG BIG win for the planet. And that’s definitely worth a mention.

Oliver Preston

AMS Green Team Leader