Sustainability 2050 Plan

For a domiciliary care provider the picture is different from most businesses. Our largest single source of emissions is carer travel between visits. After that come office energy, the goods we buy (uniforms, PPE, supplies) and the waste we generate.

Our baseline year is 2025/26. We measure our footprint in three parts, following the standard approach:

• Direct emissions: fuel used in any vehicles we own or lease.
• Energy we buy: electricity and gas for our office.
• Everything else: staff travel in their own cars, what we purchase, waste and disposal, and our suppliers' own footprints.

Working back from 2050, we have set the following milestones:

• By 2027: measure and publish our full carbon footprint annually against the 2025/26 baseline.
• By 2030: reduce emissions per care visit by at least a third, mainly through smarter rota planning and lower-emission travel.
• By 2035: office on a 100% renewable electricity tariff, and every vehicle we own or lease zero emission.
• By 2040: net zero for direct emissions and the energy we buy.
• By 2050: net zero across everything, including our supply chain, with any remaining emissions genuinely offset.

Because travel is our biggest impact, it is where we focus most:

• Local rounds. We build carers' rounds around the streets they live near, so visits are grouped geographically and journeys between them are short. This is better for the environment and better for the people we support, because carers arrive on time.
• Walking and public transport. In the denser parts of Barking, Ilford and Dagenham many rounds can be walked or done by bus and train, and we plan for that where it works.
• Lower-emission driving. Where a car is needed we encourage fuel-efficient and electric vehicles, and we will review supporting staff to make the switch as the plan progresses.
• Fewer wasted journeys. Digital rota and visit records mean less travel to and from the office and less paper.

• LED lighting and equipment switched off when not in use.
• Heating set sensibly and controlled, not left running.
• Moving to a renewable electricity tariff at the next opportunity.
• Digital first: care plans, rotas, records and this website reduce printing and post.

Personal protective equipment is essential to safe care and we will never compromise on it. Within that, we:

• Buy PPE and consumables in the right quantities to avoid over-ordering and expiry.
• Dispose of clinical and non-clinical waste correctly and separately.
• Recycle office waste, and choose reusable over single use where infection control allows.
• Ask suppliers about recycled content and take-back schemes.

• Prefer local and UK suppliers to cut transport emissions and support the local economy.
• Ask uniform, PPE and stationery suppliers about the environmental standards of what they sell.
• Favour suppliers with their own credible net zero commitments.
• Buy durable equipment that lasts rather than the cheapest that will be replaced.

Sustainability is also about people. Recruiting locally, offering stable work close to home, and supporting people to stay independent in their own communities are all part of a service that lasts. We share simple energy-saving advice with the people we support where it helps them stay warm and well at lower cost.

Staff are encouraged to suggest improvements. Most of the practical ideas in this plan came from carers who do the rounds.

Responsibility for this plan sits with the Registered Manager and Nominated Individual. Progress is reviewed at least once a year and this page is updated to show what has been achieved and what has not, so it stays a plan and not a brochure.

Next review: [date].