Pledge to make your business more eco-friendly

Sign the pledge

By signing the pledge, you accept environmental responsibility and commit to becoming an eco-business by working towards all of the relevant criteria.

To make a pledge:

  1. Read the pledge criteria.
  2. Email to ask us to add your name to the list of businesses that have made the pledge.
  3. We may carry out checks and change your pledge status if we feel you're not trying to make your business more eco-friendly.

Email eco-business@rochdale.gov.uk to make a pledge

Pledge criteria

The pledge criteria lists some ideas for making your business more eco-friendly. You don't need to do everything listed on the pledge criteria, you only need to consider the ideas and try to do the ones you can.

Energy efficiency

  • Turn electrical equipment off: energy conservation is one of the most important things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. Leaving your electricals on standby needlessly uses up energy – hit the off switch and you could see huge improvements, most noticeably in your energy bills. Always switch lights and equipment off that is not needed, day or night.
  • Use eco-friendly technology and suppliers: make sure the technology you have got is as energy-efficient as possible. This way, you’re using much less energy for the time that the product is on, saving money, and reducing your energy output. Look for an energy supplier who uses a high percentage of renewable energy such as wind, power or solar.
  • Use LED light bulbs: not only do LED light bulbs last longer than conventional bulbs, they’re far more efficient. Replace your bulbs with LED alternatives.
  • Encourage staff to walk or cycle to work, or car share: can you provide a safe place for staff to leave bikes or changing facilities? How about a monthly walk, cycle or car share to work day?

Reduce environmental impact

  • Consider local suppliers or home delivery: providing home delivery reduces the number of cars that are on the road visiting you. Using local suppliers supports local businesses and reduces the distance travelled and is better for the environment.
  • Use eco-friendly cleaning products: a lot of cleaning products have many harmful chemicals in them that aren’t environmentally friendly to create or dispose of. Green cleaning products use more natural and organic methods of cleaning which are far less harmful. Consider using and selling environmentally friendly products.

Waste reduction

  • Reduce food waste: waste not, want not. Did you know that 7.3 million tonnes of food is wasted in the UK every year? This isn’t just a huge waste of food and money, it adds to the amount of CO2 being created in landfills and adds to your waste collection costs. If you are a food business, contact your waste contractor to see if they offer separate food waste collections.
  • Reduce general waste and packaging: packaging can be reduced to what is necessary, this will also help save your business money. Reduce general waste generated by your business and also your customers by using minimal packaging and stick to materials that can be recycled. Speak to your waste collection contractor and ask what happens to your waste and how you can recycle more.
  • Promote recycling: encourage your customers to recycle and not to use single-use consumables. Encourage your customers to take a minute to find out what can be reused or recycled.

Plastic minimalisation

  • Cut-out plastic: plastic seems to have found its way into every single aspect of our lives. However, reducing it isn’t as difficult as you might think – encourage the use of canvas shopping bags, have paper straws, non-plastic food containers, sell loose product. Could you offer free water bottle refills? Visit Refill to sign up

Catering initiatives

  • Plant-based or sustainable food options: introducing plant-based options into your diet is not only healthier for you, but kinder to the environment. Also, food that is grown and produced locally is a more sustainable option for our environment. If you are a food business, please think about alternative plant-based food options for your customers to choose from. Consider alternative sustainable food suppliers.