AIMS Environmental Policy

AIMS recognises that global heating is one of the most serious and important issues facing society. This policy sets out our commitment to understanding, monitoring and reducing our environmental impact.

1. Commitment to being an environmentally responsible charity

   AIMS recognises its responsibility to minimise its environmental footprint in the areas the organisation has control and influence over. AIMS commits to continuous improvement in our actions to monitor and limit our environmental impact whilst remaining effective in achieving our charitable aims.

2. Legal Obligation

   We seek to comply with relevant environmental legislation as a minimum level of performance and strive to better our practices to minimise waste, energy and carbon footprints whilst achieving the charity's objectives.

3. Persons Responsible

   AIMS’ Trustees are accountable for the implementation of this policy. The AIMS Management Team is responsible for its implementation across the organisation.

4. Meetings

   Our Volunteers, Trustees and staff members are based in different areas around the UK (and in a few cases overseas.) It is our intention that the majority of our meetings will be held online, with occasional face-to-face meetings where the advantages of this can be justified. In particular, it may be more appropriate for groups of Volunteers within a local area to meet in person.
   We seek to use venues with good links to public transport and that allow us to do our own catering.

5. Travel

   We strongly encourage travel by public transport (or car share if necessary). Airfares are only reimbursed under exceptional circumstances. All travel must be approved by the Management Team. Any request for reimbursement for car or air travel rather than use of public transport must show why this is the more appropriate option.

6. Communications

   We use electronic communications such as email, Google Chat and Google Meet as far as possible and seek to minimise the use of post.

7. Catering

   We provide our own shared catering wherever possible. We encourage Volunteers to bring vegetarian food and any catering organised externally by AIMS will be vegetarian by default. We encourage attendees to minimise the use of single use plastics and we will provide reusable or recyclable crockery and cutlery at events where AIMS organises its own catering.

8. Purchasing and booking policy

   Where there is a choice of acceptable suppliers or venues, AIMS will favour the use of those who are actively working to reduce their environmental impact as long as this meets our needs and does not incur excessive cost to the charity.
   As part of the purchasing process we will request to view the environmental policy of all suppliers who are larger than micro businesses (less than 10 staff). We will share our own environmental policy when making agreements with external suppliers.

9. Reducing our carbon footprint by taking care about our working methods

   We encourage our Trustees, Volunteers and staff to minimise the printing of documents. We recognise the impact of energy used during the course of volunteers’ work for AIMS. We are currently reviewing how best to capture and monitor this data without being onerous to Volunteers. We aspire for the Management Team and Trustees to report on their energy usage annually.

10. Publishing

    A key AIMS activity is to publish books and the Journal. The Journal is published online and every new AIMS publication is available as an eBook. We will seek over time to encourage awareness and use of eBooks in preference to hard copies.

11. Action and Monitoring

    AIMS’ environmental policy and strategy is underpinned by an action plan developed in partnership with Team Leads, the Management Team and Trustees.
    We believe that environmental responsibility is #everyone’s business and encourage it amongst all of our staff, contractors, Volunteers and Trustees. All Volunteers, Trustees and staff members are clearly informed about their responsibility to be aware of, and have a sufficient understanding of the issues covered in this policy, which will be included in our Volunteers Handbook and orientation training.
    The Management team and Team Leads will be jointly responsible for developing an action plan to deliver these objectives.
    Trustees will review progress against this action plan as a standing agenda item and include a section on Environmental Impact in the Trustees Annual Report. This may include:

    • Number of meetings in-person

    • Travel for the year including car mileage and any air travel

    • Paper purchased and consumed by AIMS (% of which is recycled paper)

    • Number of meetings at which vegetarian meals are provided

    Team Leads will regularly review areas of environmental impact over which they have control and influence as standing items on their quarterly agenda with suggestions to be incorporated into the Action Plan on at least an annual basis. Team Leads will report to Trustees on their team’s progress against the action plan in their quarterly reports.

Appendix

AIMS Environmental Action Plan