Boat of Garten Community Hall Board Paper for Approval
o Environmental and Sustainability Policy (revised)
o Remit of environmental issues group
Following discussion at the Board meeting on January 29th, the environmental issues group presents for approval a revised Environmental and Sustainability Policy and the proposed Remit of the Group. Each is laid out below in full.
Environmental and Sustainability Policy
The Hall strives to prevent pollution and minimise its environmental impact through operating, maintaining and managing the hall to the highest environmental standards, and aiming to minimise its carbon footprint. The Company is committed to environmental improvement and has set the following objectives for itself and its users:
1. Reduce our consumption of resources, by using and buying only what we need, using green energy, sustainable wood and other carbon fixing materials wherever possible, seeking longevity in the purchase of assets, and promoting reduced resource consumption in the local community;
2. Dispose of our waste responsibly, by promoting the re-use, recycling and composting of waste, and the repair of items that would otherwise be discarded; 3. Protect the environment, by actively working to eliminate the use of single-use plastic, using locally sourced, natural or recycled materials, taking good care of the hall and surrounding areas, and promoting local landscaping, biodiversity and rewilding projects;
4. Engage with other local groups and individuals to promote environmental initiatives, by acting as a community hub.
We will engage with all users of the Hall to ensure that they understand and comply with these objectives, which will be a condition of using the Hall.
We will work with external environmental organisations and appropriate individuals to enable us to meet these objectives. This will be documented in the Environmental Action Plan, which will set out all the actions required to achieve these objectives. The plan will be reviewed and approved by the Board annually, with any necessary capital or revenue funding being earmarked as part of the annual budget.
Remit of the environmental issues group
The overarching remit of the group is to support the Boat of Garten Community Hall in its aspiration to become carbon neutral.
Carbon neutral means eliminating carbon dioxide emissions altogether (or at least balancing carbon emissions with carbon removal e.g. through carbon offsetting).
The group envisages carrying out its work in two ways:
• Advisory – gathering information and recommending action to the Board; • Enabling – helping directors, staff, user groups and others in the community to make changes that will reduce carbon footprint and positively benefit the environment.
A significant part of the group’s early work will involve gathering information that helps us to understand the Hall’s current carbon footprint and establishing methods of assessing and measuring our progress towards having a neutral effect on the climate.
The group’s members will include current directors, staff, members and others in the local community. Meetings will be informal and organised as members see fit. The group will update the Board regularly on its activity and review overall progress and priorities annually.
The group will not have direct access to funds but will be expected to influence how Hall directors and staff manage operational budgets and to make recommendations on capital investment.
The group will prepare an annual environmental action plan for the Board to approve and an annual director’s statement for inclusion in the Hall’s annual report. The group may also support the Hall to secure new sources of funding.
The group will pay particular attention to communications and engagement, making sure that information about our purpose and activity is widely shared, encouraging widespread participation and looking for opportunities to work alongside local partners on joint projects to help the wider community become carbon neutral.
The group will also take time to look beyond our local community to find out what others are doing to respond to the climate crisis and to meet carbon neutral goals. We will bring this learning to the Board and local partners.
Group Name
We’d like to give the group a shorter, more memorable name and propose to use the name BoG Zero
Provisional Workplan
The group has begun to identify the work that could be undertaken during the year ahead and attach our provisional workplan in Appendix 1. We propose to bring for approval to the next Board meeting a detailed Environmental Action Plan for the financial year 2020/21.
Helen Geddes, Briony Jones, Martin Jones, Heather Sim,
March 2020
