Staff at Saffery Trust reduced their car journeys by over 1,300 miles over summer thanks to the launch of a green initiative.
The private client firm introduced the ’10 in 10 Challenge’, encouraging staff to swap 10 car journeys for greener alternative transport over 10 weeks. 30 staff took part in the challenge, swapping car journeys for active travel, carpooling, taking the bus or working from home.
The Challenge was launched by Saffery Trust’s Green Team as part of the firm’s efforts to reduce its collective carbon footprint.
Trust Manager and Saffery Trust ‘Green Team’ volunteer, Claire Tersigni (pictured), said the idea for the challenge stemmed from the firm’s participation in the island’s Better Journey Day initiative.
She explained: “We have been taking part in Better Journey Day since February, where staff are encouraged to use green modes of transport for their commute on the first Friday of every month. We had seen good engagement from the team, however also found that there were occasions where Better Journey Day fell on a date where some staff members needed their cars for other commitments.
“The Green Team discussed this issue, and we came up with the idea for the 10 in 10 Challenge to allow staff the freedom to pick which days they took part. Our hope was that this flexibility would allow more people to take part, and we are thrilled that it proved to be a success.”
The firm’s Geneva office also undertook their own green challenge over the same 10-week period in solidarity with the Guernsey office.
Geneva Senior Trust Officer, Katherine Edwards, arranged a ‘Waste-free Wednesday’ Challenge. She said: “We were excited to hear Guernsey’s idea for the 10 in 10 Challenge, however many of our staff work remotely, or regularly use active travel for their commute to the office already. We wanted to do something to help educate the team on other ways they can reduce their impact on the environment.
“For the Waste-free Wednesday Challenge, staff were encouraged to swap everyday items for eco-friendly alternatives. For example, using beeswax paper instead of plastic sandwich bags or swapping shampoo bottles for shampoo bars. We had fantastic participation from the team, with many of them committing to make the changes permanent.”
Saffery Trust Managing Director, Nick Batiste, said the engagement from staff in Guernsey and Geneva reflected the firm’s commitment to reducing the impact of climate change: “As a responsible business, limiting our negative impact on the environment is one of the priorities across all our offices. The innovation shown by the Guernsey and Geneva teams in launching challenges to maximise staff engagement in this area is hugely encouraging and everyone who took part in the challenges should be very proud of their efforts. I look forward to seeing more green initiatives from Saffery Trust going forward.”
