Learning Without Landfill was launched in January 2017 – have you heard about their pledge? Concerned by the high levels of waste created at large events their goal is to engage with the veterinary community to find ways to address the environmental impact conferences have.
They believe we CAN have Learning Without Landfill #LWLpledge – and we do too!
I wanted to share how ONCORE are dedicated to ‘learning without landfill’!
We have a head start!
Obviously being a provider of 100% online courses, we are already off to a good head start! All of our materials are easily viewed on the VLE, and are available to download by participants, so there is no need to print out. We provide a PDF version of course presentations so that they can be printed to annotate with notes, but we put 3 slides per sheet to reduce printing needs.
Online resources
Most of our supporting resources such as those on the reading list – are online articles and papers – so no need to print. Documents for practice are provided as Word documents, so that they can be downloaded and adapted to the participant’s needs, and saved on the work computers. Booking confirmations, registrations and invoices are ALL done electronically – we will send paper versions if particularly requested, but do discourage it!
Keeping customers up to date using digital methods
Evaluations are done online via our website. Keeping our customers up to date with our courses is all done via email, using email software, via our newsletter and on facebook and our website. I have just had a set of flyers printed out – the 2nd batch in the 6 years I have been running the business, and I envisage they will last a good while!
Paperless office
I also run a paperless office – everything I do is completed electronically. The only paperwork I have is my notebook which I use to list my weekly tasks lists, and I use a whiteboard to note my daily jobs. My printer cartridges dry up because I use the printer so infrequently!
I know paper isn’t the biggest culprit, but it all adds up. We don’t use any plastic in our day-to-day work, or in creating and delivering courses.
Freebies?
We don’t currently give out any freebies, as we don’t have the resources to provide these – but when we do, we will ensure that they are what people want, and don’t create waste. The prize we gave out at Christmas was a hand-knitted dog scarf, made by my mum out of recycled wool from her knitting group!
Proud to be behind #LWL
Every little counts, and I think it’s absolutely vital that businesses consider the impact they have on the environment, however great or small. We are proud to support #learningwithoutlandfill
