Environmental and Sustainability Policy

It is essential that sustainable development and environmental management are at the core of all activities at Across the Pond. Across the Pond endeavours to be a major contributor to society’s efforts to achieve sustainability through: 

  • the environment in which its staff work 

  • the skills and knowledge that they acquire and put in to practice and 

  • its own strategies and operations.

Definitions 

Sustainability: 

Meeting the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, sustainable development must address environmental, economic and social factors and the interrelationships between them. 

Environment: 

Surrounding conditions, influences or forces, by which living forms are influenced and modified in their growth and development. 

Objectives 

The objectives of this policy are to: 

  • ensure that all environmental risks are assessed, managed and controlled 

  • promote and adopt best practice within Across the Pond and its business 

  • maintain and develop Across the Pond in a sustainable manner 

  • keep the staff informed & inspired on matters of the environment 

  • develop managers and staff by providing training and information on environmental management and sustainability where needed

Policy Statement 

  1. Across the Pond will manage and control its environmental risks in a sustainable manner by complying with relevant legislation and adopting, where appropriate, best practice. 

  2. Across the Pond will also endeavour to integrate the principles of sustainability into its strategies, policies and procedures. 

  3. In accordance with the policy statement Across the Pond will: 

    1. Control its environmental risks

    2. Meet the requirements of environmental legislation and commit to a process of continual environmental improvement

    3. Promote and adopt best practice

    4. Establish environmental controls to set targets and indicators, measure environmental performance and report progress. 

    5. Promote and adopt sustainable initiatives. 

    6. Maintain and develop Across the Pond in a sustainable manner

    7. Develop a sustainable procurement policy to ensure social, ethical and environmental scrutiny of products and services whilst achieving best value. 

    8. Maximise energy efficiency, use of renewable resources and use of low carbon technology. 

    9. Minimise waste generation and facilitate repair, reuse and recycling over disposal of wastes. 

    10. Promote sustainable travel to and from Across the Pond. 

    11. Work with external authorities and bodies to 

      • Develop good working relationships with all relevant external authorities. 

      • Develop links with appropriate environmental bodies and associations. 

      • Report any incidents as required. 

    12. Development of managers and staff:

      • Provide appropriate training and/or information to staff as required. 

Current activities in support of our Environmental and Sustainability Mission

Across the Pond is continuing its commitment to the environment, which is very important to us as an organisation and is also valued by the people we employ and others we engage with. We’re committed to the reduction of our carbon footprint and minimising our impact as a company on the environment. 

Environmental measures include: 

  • Becoming a supporter of the Ad Association’s AdNetZero - the UK advertising industries’ collective response to the climate crisis. Together, the industry is committed to become net carbon neutral by 2030. 

  • Pledge to be net carbon negative by EOY 2021. 

  • AdGreen environmental training for London Creative and Production teams. 

  • Becoming a supporter and advocate of Green The Bid. We will utilise GTB best practices on all US production shoots. 

  • Ensure we have energy efficient lighting systems with PIR sensors installed in London, San Fran and Singapore offices.

  • Ensure all ATP offices are designed to use the optimum amount of natural daylight to reduce energy consumption. 

  • Q3 2021 - Roll out supplier questionnaires to better understand our main suppliers' approach to sustainability & DEI. Maximise our use of environmentally aware suppliers - requesting suppliers for information regarding their DEI and sustainability practices. 

  • Recycling of all plastics and paper waste. 

  • Mandatory compost bins in the San Francisco office. 

  • Recycling of printers and fax toners. 

  • Shredding and recycling all our paper waste. 

  • Ensure monitors are automatically switched off when not used. Automatic sleep set on shared machines. Staff encouraged to use energy efficient settings on all laptops and desktop machines. 

  • Q3 2021 Calculating operational emissions of all offices, staff travel and staff WFH set-ups. 

  • Pledge to offset unavoidable emissions. 

  • Review server room temperature. Increased from 19 degrees to 21 degrees. Allowing us to save an estimated 10%-14% on energy consumption, whilst maintaining same server operational performance. 

  • Installed low-flow faucets, taps, toilets, showerheads where possible. 

  • No meat-based products to be supplied to ATP staff.

  • Local caterers to provide catering on ATP sets only. 

  • Created electrical and hazardous waste policy to ensure such unavoidable items are disposed of responsibly & with minimum impact to the environment. 

  • Conduct client requests for information and surveys as required. 

  • Encourage staff to conduct meetings virtually when appropriate. 

  • Encourage staff to utilise stairs rather than lifts and elevators where possible.