E.ON UK engage with environmental issues & energy efficiency

E.ON UK is one of the UK’s leading integrated power and gas companies, part of the E.ON group, the world's largest investor-owned power and gas company.

We started working with E.ON UK in 2007 to engage staff around issues of energy efficiency.

We invited employees from across the business to become Environment Champions.

What did we do to engage E.ON UK employees?

Environment Champions is a tried and tested Global Action Plan initiative used to engage employees on environmental issues. It connects individuals within a business that are passionate about saving the environment and want to do something to help.

The programme is a 3 stage process that empowers employees to create environmental change within the workplace. It involves detailed audits before and after and help and support throughout.

We give Environment Champions the tools to engage colleagues around the key goals of:

reducing energy usage
reducing waste
increasing recycling

Employee engagement saves money and carbon

Environment Champions at E.ON UK reduced electricity usage, saving £22,800 and 140.5 tonnes of CO2-

enough to fill 6.2 million balloons. The reduction in paper saved £17,000.

Where Environment Champions were in operation, offices achieved a 37% increase in the recycling rate, and at industrial sites there was a 22% reduction in waste sent to be recycled.

There was also a 39% reduction in the total amount of waste generated per employee; and the industrial site consumption of electricity per employee decreased by 35%.

Communicating to inspire behaviour change

During 2007 we worked with 300 E.ON UK Environment Champion volunteers to measure, communicate and influence throughout the business by:

Making environmental guidance clear and simple to steer colleagues to change habits and minimise their impact on the environment
Measurement of unnecessary energy use, resource consumption and waste generation
Encouraging colleagues to reduce environmentally damaging actions at work and home, through innovative communications