Environment

Improving our local environment and addressing wider global issues through a range of initiatives, events and projects.

Climate Change Race Day

This popular event held at Newcastle Racetrack raises vital funds for the Local Environment Action Fund (LEAF), managed by the Community Foundation.  Every year, the carbon cost of staging this event is offset by an equivalent carbon saving through a series of local domestic energy efficiency schemes.

Our donations have enabled LEAF to support a wide range of projects that include local ‘plot to plate’ projects, renewable energy schemes, awareness raising on the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle message’, responsible water use and energy efficiency schemes.  These local projects will prove valuable well into the future, demonstrating practical and replicable models of inspiring people from all sections of communities in the North East of England, to take local action on global environmental issues.

Smart electric drive

As part of a 100 car exclusive UK pilot, we have a fleet of three electric smart cars in Newcastle. Perfect for city runs, these zero-emission vehicles deliver internal mail across our three main sites, deliver our people to regional meetings and events, and collect guests and visitors where public transport is not an option.

Eaga Partner Julie Paddon said: ‘They took a while to get used to – mainly as they are so smooth and quiet – but we love driving the electric vehicles, safe in the knowledge that we are not contributing to the city’s pollution, whilst giving out a clear message about Eaga’s commitment to the environment. These cars certainly turn heads and hopefully make people stop and think about choices they make when considering getting from A to B.’

Sustainable Communities through ICT

We have supported UK charity Computer Aid International with donations of laptops, base units, monitors and other ICT equipment since 2007, totalling well over 1000 donations to 20 organisations during this time. During 2008/9 we made 615 donations that were either fully recycled within the EU with zero percent going to landfill, or refurbished for use in educational, health and community organisations throughout the developing world. The refurbished units donated included 354 monitors, 54 laptops and 97 base units, with these donations going to seven organisations in Africa and South America.

Computer Aid is a UK-registered charity that aims to bridge the digital divide between rich and poor countries through the provision of high quality refurbished computers and their application in education and poverty reduction. We decided to work closely with Computer Aid as the impact that we can have in the developing world doesn’t simply stop there. We recognised the added value that they bring by specialising in developing partnerships with overseas organisations that provide training and technical support to recipient organisations. Working in this way ensures that recipient communities make the best use of the equipment they are given so that every computer shipped provides at least 6,000 hours of computer access. This equates to the training of 60 local children to a vocational level in IT literacy.

In order to meet our demanding IT and information security standards at Eaga, all data storing units undergo a rigorous data-wiping and full testing procedure, ensuring that we continue to act in the very best interests of our customers and stakeholders, whilst supporting developing communities with our donations.

Selam Orphanage, Ethiopia

Forty four of Eaga’s recycled PCs were donated to the Ethiopian Knowledge & Technology Transfer Society (EKKTS), for onward distribution to Schools, Teachers’ Training Institutions, Colleges and Universities, Technical Vocational Training Centres, Youth Resource Centres, Public Libraries, Community Development Organisations, blind students and like-minded local and international NGOs throughout Ethiopia. The image shows young students from the orphanage taking their first lesson on refurbished Eaga PCs.

[Image credit: An IT lesson on an Eaga donated PCs in Selam Orphanage, Ethiopia] 

Contact

Tel: 0191 247 3800

Email: sr@eaga.com