­Earlier this year the staff at Maritime Apartments in Barrow in Furness got together to design their Sustainability Agenda.

“Our impact on our surroundings has always been important to us, whether that’s social, economical or environmental. We just wanted to step up our game and look at how we can now positively impact on global sustainability”

A jump start

First the team looked at ways in which they were already contributing to the net zero agenda:

• Biomass Heating in all 315 apartments
• LED bulbs in all 315 apartments
• Sustainable Gardens
• Conscious Paper Reduction
• Digital ways of working
• Power saving procedures

What’s possible?

It was time to take it to the next level.. So they started with the question, ‘what’s possible?’.

• Identify high use electricity equipment in the office and use more efficiently or switch methods / hardware.
• Reuse office stationary
• Go paperless
• Speak to council regarding glass recycling
• Recycling education for all residents
• Regular Litter Picks
• Provide reusable food and drink containers for our staff and residents to eliminate packaging.
• Use eco products in cleaning stores
• Replace small bathroom products with fixed refill system.
• Plant a bee and butterfly garden
• Capture rain water for the gardens
• Look into transport impact
• Annual fundraiser – green agenda
• Partner with local businesses to learn from each other
• Choose eco friendly suppliers

Quick Changes

Plans are in motion to plant a butterfly garden this month, and switch out all the plastic bottles and cleaning products with an eco friendly refill system by the end of this year.

Sally, Account Manager at Maritime Apartments says: “I am looking forward to participating in the local community events we have coming up and seeing where the future takes us with all the exciting plans we have at Maritime apartments.”

Plastic Amnesty

Maritime have started their ‘Plastic Amnesty’ where after use of current stock the plastic is collected in a large container where they can really see just how much plastic waste is produced as a business. This includes drinking bottles, cleaning products, and other packaging.

The aim is to minimise the plastic use to less then 10% of the current use and replace with a much more sustainable alternative. This means changing company procedure and re training staff however Maritime feel this is the only way forward not only for them but for all sustainable businesses now. 

“As a local business it’s important we take advantage of our size and implement quick changes where possible, something like our plastic amnesty would be difficult in a corporation but we can start this today as a team and see it through, if everyone did this now we would be in a much better position globally by 2035, were just doing our bit right now because we can” says Lauren – Office Manager 

Maritime Apartments is aware that this is a challenge however they are set on being the first Net Zero accommodation supplier in Barrow in Furness and leading the way in terms of sustainability. “We have chosen to plant a tree for every person that stays at Maritime for the rest of the year. We understand that our plans wil take time to have a real impact on our carbon footprint so in the meantime we are prepared to offset our emissions as part of our loyalty scheme, therefore anyone who books and stays with us in Barrow this year will trigger us to plant a tree via the One Tree Planted scheme”.

for more info on Maritime’s Net Zero plans contact the team on 01229319000