CSR goes to a garden party

In a few weeks' time, Prince Charles will open some of his private gardens for 'A Garden Party with a Difference' . The aim of the garden party runs from 8-19 September and aims to point people towards sustainable living.

B&Q, which is quiet about but committed to, its extensive CSR programme, is one of a series of corporate partners of the event. The company is building a series of art installations demonstrating how visitors can be more sustainable.

The installations cover off 'top tips' that people can take to live greener lives, including turning down heating, using water efficient showers, insulating your home and reusing goods.

B&Q has made a series of quite specific CSR commitments and is fast becoming a recognised sustainable responsible brand. The company has no retirement age and a quarter of its workforce is over 50. The company also has a series of 'One Planet Living' grants which give money to community-based projects for long-term sustainability projects addressing issues such as nature conservation and saving energy.

As part of the environment element of its CSR programme, the company has set itself an ambitious target of reducing waste to landfill by 90% and has come up with some innovative ways of doing this. B&Q now use reusable 'Carrierpacs' to transport kitchen work surfaces. This saves packaging being used once and discarded. The system has been proved to better protect the product, and has also saved B&Q money.

Other partners to the 'Garden Party with a Difference' will be showcasing their own CSR credentials and inviting others to do likewise. Coinciding with the event will be a summit 'Smarter business for a sustainable future' running over nine days.

It will cover a different topic every day and hopes to bring together business leaders with those from the public sector to hammer out some practical solutions. Topics to be covered include: Cities - which will discuss how to involve whole cities in becoming sustainable but also 'liveable'; Energy - covering the development of a sustainable energy infrastructure, as well as energy security; Transport - which will address improving operational efficiency but reducing environmental impact and Supply Chains - including reducing inefficiencies in a global supply chain.

The 'Garden Party with a Difference' forms part of a broader CSR initiative launched by the Prince of Wales earlier this year called Start. This aims to help people across the UK lead more sustainable lives and to show what a more energy efficient, cleaner and healthier future could look like. It will be interesting to see the outcomes of the business summit and how they contribute to a more sustainable future for the UK.

Photo credit: Sean O'Hara