Our Sustainable Mission: The Road to Becoming a Certified B Corp™
From my earliest days, the seeds of environmental consciousness were sown. Early exposure to the ecological principles of the Woodcraft Folk shaped my worldview and sparked curiosity and passion. Fast-forward, and after a degree in Environmental Studies and some time working with Friends of the Earth, where I campaigned against environmental injustices and promoted sustainable practices, my passion became a commitment to making a difference.
That didn’t change even when I transitioned into the IT sector; I carry a deep-seated concern for the environmental impact of our increasingly digital world.
The reality is that the realm of technology poses significant challenges, particularly in terms of energy consumption and waste. Large data centres, crucial to the backbone of our digital infrastructure, are consuming vast amounts of energy and contributing significantly to global warming through their heat output.
The revelation that device production has the largest environmental impact spurred me to action. This isn’t just about making technology efficient; it’s about rethinking how technology integrates with our environmental goals.
It’s always important to remember that small changes can add up to a big change. So, my challenge as the founder and CEO of ITGUYS was how to embrace the desire to address the environmental issues that my business is a part of.
What can we do, and how can we do it?
Collectively, as a team at ITGUYS, we immediately made some changes, including:
- providing free recycling for our clients’ e-waste
- using a zero-emissions logistics company for all deliveries
- Removing all single-use plastics from the business and plan phase out all plastics
- Carbon footprint calculated and plan to reduce each year.
These changes are great, but committing to ensure we are doing our best is how we keep evolving and holding ourselves accountable, which is how significant lasting change happens.
Certified B Corporations™, or B Corps™, are companies verified by B Lab™ to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. We’ve decided to acquire our certification, which requires us to make considerable strides in our goals.
To achieve certification, a company must:
- Demonstrate high social and environmental performance by achieving a B Impact Assessment score of 80 or above and passing our risk review.
- Make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, and achieve benefit corporation status if available in their jurisdiction.
- Exhibit transparency by allowing information about their performance measured against B Lab’s standards to be publicly available on their B Corp™ profile on B Lab’s website.
We are proud to say that we are a Certified B Corporation™ and join some of the few IT Outsourcing Companies in London to do so. I wish everyone were following this lead to help combat the world challenges we face. Still, we want to lead the charge on this and become evangelists in sustainable IT solutions, ensuring that our operations contribute positively to the planet and our community.
What does that mean for you?
We believe it’s about aligning missions and visions. If your organisation is committed to considering sustainability and the planet as part of its overall approach don’t let that mission stop at your IT. Instead, we want to partner with organisations like yours to ensure that mission is delivered across every corner of your charity or business so we can ensure more organisations are taking the positive steps to change how they deliver their IT.
Our drive is to ensure that people are free from IT hassles and headaches. With IT GUYS, you can be confident that you have the IT strategy and tools in place to proactively support your business growth free from the worry of technology. All delivered by a company dedicated to helping organisations with the same values and respect for our planet!
