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Climate Week runs from 21st to 27th March this year.
The event is designed to highlight the practical steps being taken in workplaces and communities across the UK, to improve sustainability.
So what better opportunity to tell you how we work with sustainability in mind!
The library uses a lot of paper resources and electrical equipment, but there are a number of simple things we do to reduce waste;
• We print double sided when ever possible.
• We turn off electrical equipment and lights overnight.
• We use recycled materials were possible.
• We recycle as much of our waste as we can, including printer cartridges, plastic packaging and computer equipment. In fact the rubbish bins for non-recyclables are hard to spot!
Very occasionally we withdraw duplicate items and outdated stock, but rather than sending these books and journals straight for recycling, we try to find them a new home by donating to charity, offering material to other institutions and by having staff sales.
We also like to encourage sustainability among our suppliers. We buy many of our books through NHBS, who are a British company with a very strong environmental policy. Our book orders require packing and shipping, but NHBS use recycled cardboard boxes and reused packaging whenever possible. They too donate unwanted stock to charity.
The things we do, and the decisions we make, have a cumulative effect and we will continue to work with the rest of the museum and our suppliers to reduce waste, recycle and reuse materials.
Angela Thresher
NHM Library
