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Aug/Sept 2010 www.esb.ie/em 
Sustainability
Glam up your garden
Gerry Daly provides some helpful tips
Life, page 36
Congratulations!
Sustainability award winners announced
CONGRATULATIONS to all of the winners in the inaugural Sustainability Awards Scheme. The awards were presented by Chief Executive Padraig McManus and Sustainability Executive Director John Campion at a Head Office function on Friday June 25th.
There was an outstanding response to the scheme, with more than 200 high-quality entries received in the competition. Once again, the level of staff enthusiasm and support for the sustainability agenda and the high levels of innovation among ESB staff members was overwhelming.
The judges had a challenging task choosing 18 winners from all the entries. Winners were announced during our recent Sustainability Week.
To help select the winners, we used the expertise of broadcaster and environmentalist Duncan Stewart and of Richard Browne from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. This new judging panel chose the top tour award winners, including the overall winner, from the 18 individual award winners.-
Each of the winners received a beautiful piece of specially-commissioned bog oak.
1st Place Overall
– ESB Networks, Dunmanway
2nd Place
– National Customer Contact Centre, Wilton, Cork
3rd Place
– Moneypoint Sustainability Group
4th Place
– Fergus Keane, ESB Energy International
Smarter travel workplaces programme launched
AT THE launch of the Smarter Travel Workplaces Programme in Head Office on Thursday June 17th, the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey TD, called on businesses to address the issue of carbon emissions by improving the way employees travel to work,
At the launch of the Smarter Travel Workplaces Programme, run by the National Transport Authority, the Minister was speaking to an audience of key business leaders. In Ireland more than 57% of workers travel to work by car, that is roughly 1.1 million people driving to and from work every day, most of whom are making driver-only car journeys.
The launch of the Smarter Travel Workplaces Program was hosted jointly by the Department of Transport, the National Transport Authority and Business in the Community Ireland and ESB were invited to use the launch to discuss its greener travel-to-work initiatives.
After signing a partnership agreement with the National Transport Authority in 2009, ESB has developed Workplace Travel Plans in a number of locations to develop more sustainable ways of business travel and commuting.
Cheque this
500th cycle-to-work grant awarded
ESB RECENTLY issued its 500th grant payment under the Cycle-to-Work Scheme. The scheme is proving extremely popular with staff across the company and, at the time of writing, more than 500 bikes have been purchased with the help of ESB funding and as the weather improves more and more people are taking up cycling as a means of sustainable commuting.
Under the scheme, an employer may provide an employee with a bicycle and/or cycle safety equipment without the employee being liable for benefit-in-kind taxation. To qualify, the bicycle must be used by the employee for travelling to and from work or between workplaces. For staff members, the scheme means an effective saving of at least 41 per cent on the cost of a new bicycle for a top-rate taxpayer.
PHR Upgrade delivered
Energy solutions, page 13
Discussion board now up and running
GREAT PROGRESS has been made towards achieving our target of reducing our internal carbon footprint by 30% by 2012. By the end of 2009, we achieved an 11% reduction against our 2006 baseline figure – a saving of 5,000 tonnes of CO2 and over €2 million.
This great progress was built on the tremendous involvement and enthusiasm from many people right across the company. We know from Fergus Keane's blog on the Sustainability Intranet site that there is a huge amount of knowledge and interest in ESB on matters relating to sustainability and the environment. To build on this, we are delighted to announce that we have introduced a Sustainability Discussion Board to share views, comment, experience, etc, in an informal yet structured way.
The site has been up and running for a few weeks and even at this stage has generated a lot of contributions and discussion points. Check it out yourself by logging on to http://esbmoss/sc/sust/discussion/default.aspx.
Green opportunities for business in the Docklands
Age Action Ireland
Energy Solutions, page 09
