A thousand Bristol firms are being challenged to ‘go green’ in the largest project of its kind ever staged in the city.
Under the high-profile Go Green scheme, launched this week, businesses will play a pivotal role in making Bristol healthier, more competitive and more sustainable. 
But they will also benefit by gaining expert advice on how they can lower their energy usage, reduce waste and have fitter, healthier and more motivated staff.
A unique Go Green online tool will helps businesses create an action plan that provides them with help and guidance – a one-stop-shop for useful resources, or as Amy Robinson, project partner at Low Carbon South West, told the launch: “It’s like having a sustainability expert in your pocket.”
Go Green is a key part of the 2015 European Green Capital Programme and one that organisers believe could have a lasting legacy in creating more sustainable and competitive businesses.
More than 300 guests from 200-plus organisations attended the launch, which was opened by the Lord Mayor of Bristol, Councillor Alastair Watson.
The event outlined how Go Green will work, emphasising that it has been designed to help businesses of all sizes and types irrespective of how ‘green’ they already are.
Andrew Garrad, Chair of Bristol 2015 said: “We want to ensure that every business in the region has the chance to benefit from the awareness created by the European Green Capital award. We want to celebrate the success of our greenest companies, but also encourage many more to seize this opportunity to become greener, save money and find new customers.”
The key to the programme is how it interacts with the region’s existing network of organisations and businesses, whose achievements to date have cemented Bristol’s reputation as a sustainable city.
Amy Robinson added: “We want to talk to a minimum of a thousand businesses.
“The strength of this scheme is that it has been designed to tie together all the great assets we already have. We didn’t want to reinvent the wheel – so Go Green works by signposting to the organisations, projects and funding bodies that are most useful to each individual participant, and we can keep it current by adding new opportunities whenever we find them”.
In addition to the online tool and website, Go Green will be running a programme of events including seminars, workshops and behind the scenes tours of Bristol’s most sustainable buildings. However it doesn’t just focus on saving energy. “What’s really great about this scheme” said Nina Skubala of Business West, delivery partner for the scheme said “is that it looks at a lot of different issues that businesses have to consider, not just recycling and electricity use, but sourcing policies, travel plans, and issues like staff welfare and local biodiversity. It allows businesses to think about a whole range of things they can do to improve, and start with the ones that matter most to them”.
The website is now live and businesses can join at www.gogreenbusiness.co.uk.
Go Green is an initiative being delivered by Business West and Low Carbon South West, with funding from Bristol 2015.
