Carbon Emissions Policy

Joseph Manning is proud to announce that as a company we will be Carbon Neutral in 3 years, therefore by 31st March 2010.

We are committed to achieving this aim. It is too easy to try and opt out of this subject by claiming it is too expensive, or that there are special reasons why we cannot do anything about the way we work, but too many people take this view and we will not follow their path.

However we will achieve this without passing on the costs to our customers. We will do this by properly managing our work in future and by staged reductions in emissions starting from today. We will seek advice and help, and take advice and help, to achieve this because where we go all other leisure attractions will be able to follow. Our first step was to make this commitment, and below here is the programme that we intend to take. I make no apology for the length of the full piece but the summary at the start of the article will give the outline and I urge you to read the full item because I will welcome your comments to me at joseph@mannings-org.com

"If we take on this challenge we can be responsible for the introduction of innovations equal to those of our forerunners who were pioneers in bringing great entertainment to the public. Our challenge is to match their brilliance with that of our own and take our full part in this necessary fight against Global Warning. We will lead in this in our industry and I hope others will follow, then we can learn from each other and really make a difference."

Old Macdonalds Farm has already taken great strides in introducing environmentally friendly policies and practices as all vehicles used on the farm are electric powered and therefore carbon free. Now Joseph wants to drastically improve the recycling on the farm. In May he will be meeting with leaders of Brentwood Council to arrange regular recycling collections at the farm and a system where all visitors to the farm will be encouraged to separate recyclable materials from others as they use the farm. "This" says Joseph " will educate the children, and their parents too, in good practices that they can use for the rest of their lives. I also hope that we can set up a model scheme in partnership with Brentwood that will be an example for all other companies, and certainly all other visitor attractions, to copy."

Programme:

April 1st 2007 - Launch of policy and start date for emission reduction.
April 2nd - Implementation of administrative practices to reduce waste.
April 3rd - Commitment that new purchases of equipment shall take account of environmental concerns and renovation work shall also reduce power needs.
April 4th - Allowing access to the farm for environmental education.
April 18th - Finish of Environmental Audit, available for inspection.
April 24th - Start of work with local authorities to reduce waste in dealings with them.
May 10th - In partnership with Brentwood Council, introduction of recycling facilities at farm.
May 10th - Assessment of potential sale of recyclable products at farm and campaign to reduce packaging.
May 18th - Start of Gold Standard Offset practices.
May 22nd - Major publicity launch of scheme.
June 18th - Implementation of Sustainable Development BSI Standard 8900.
August - Introduction of innovate new power sources at the farm.
January 2008 - Commencement of pilot scheme of adaptation to Bio Fuels.
Summer - Subject to success of pilot, adaptation of generators to Bio Fuels.
Winter - Subject to success of pilot, adaptation of transport fleet.
Spring 2009 - 12 month programme passed on to all contractors to adapt their equipment to Bio Fuels.
March 31st 2010 - Full achievement of Carbon Neutral operation.

Full Statement

The first stage was to undertake a full environmental audit of all our functions and to commence a programme to offset the carbon emissions. We completed this audit on April 18th and in May will announce our first stage for offsetting emissions caused since the policy start date of April 1st. Greenpeace have offered to advise us on achieving the Gold Standard for Carbon offsets and we look forward to receiving their help on this with a target of May 18th to commence the offsetting. We have already begun to look at the environmental impact of our work, and list the outline findings below, because offsetting is not enough, we want to make an actual reduction over the three years to achieve this.

We must look to adapt all vehicles and generators needed to produce power on the farm so that they use Bio Diesel instead of normal diesel, subject to confirmation that Bio Diesel is environmentally sustainable. We have already made a start by purchasing electric driven vehicles to use on site. We can look at energy saving lighting on site and find imaginative ways of decorating our farm without using scarce resources.

However there are other functions that must be considered, such as administration in the office and generation of paper is part of this. We wish to work with local authorities to find ways in which they can check safety certification without the need to churn out reams of pointless papers. We must recycle more through our offices and our homes as should everyone, and find ways of saving energy by not using "standby" on electrical equipment. We must cut down on unnecessary car journeys to meetings and review our personal car fleet.

Then there is refuse collected on site. Visitor attractions generate considerable detritus from their operations, and whilst we are careful in collecting such rubbish and removing it from the beautiful site in which we work, we are not as careful as we could be in separating recyclable materials from general rubbish. We should also take care that all refreshments sold are in recyclable containers and that there are plenty of receptacles around for such materials to be placed in by the public.

We must look at use of water in the farm, because water is a scarce resource too. We must ensure that we are not needlessly wasteful in our work.

Finally, and with most exciting potential, is that we are looking to innovate with environmental methods of power generation at the farm, not only for practical reasons but also for educational purposes, and also offer any and all organisations, local or national, space at our farm to promote environmental concern. We will work with them to adapt the fun games at our farm so that they educate whilst they amuse.

The timetable is tight, but we will deliver. We shall also seek to insist on a fair trade purchase policy for our own company and for all our suppliers and sub contractors. We shall seek to purchase goods required locally to cut back on transport involved in their supply and also to encourage local economies. Similarly we shall seek to employ local people at our events for casual functions and other events. We shall also seek to ensure that the profits of the event are shared in an equitable way as this will be advantageous to all.

This cannot be done overnight, because we are aware that neither the public or our corporate clients are willing to pay more because the Farm is more environmentally sound; they will admire our aims and then take their business to cheaper alternatives! That is why this is a three year programme. However our carbon footprint within the analysis will take into account the emissions from all the functions, and will be part of our Carbon Neutral target.

Bio Fuels are a comparatively new innovation and we shall experiment with their use to establish how our equipment can be adapted to use them. We cannot have circumstances where we are powering up our attractions to find that the fuel system fails, leaving our customers dangling albeit in an environmentally friendly way. We will work with other bodies, statutory and voluntary, to introduce bio fuels and our target for this is 2008 for our own equipment, by Spring 2010 for all equipment used by operators at our events. If this can be brought forward, it will. However we will take the best possible advice to ensure that Bio fuels are not in fact damaging the environment too by causing destruction of woodland in tropical countries, and the replacement of local indigenous trees by Palm Tree planting replacing jungle woodlands.

We also want to work with others to turn the standard for Sustainable Development, an ambitious and worthwhile document, into a working and easily understandable series of steps for those participating in our activities to implement. At present this needs an English Translation from BSI-ese!

This is a very ambitious programme, and whilst implementing this we will be continuing to provide great value entertainment for everyone at our public activities and private functions. We would welcome ideas and comments on this, by email joseph@mannings-org.com. This is a new task for us. With your help we can achieve this. By 18th April we will have our first staged implementation programme and on 22nd May 2007 we will hold a major launch of the scheme.