Our Commitment to Net Zero

As a bunch of people who spend a lot of time in the outdoors and with a business that helps others to create adventures in nature, we are acutely aware of the pressures on the environment and the threats to our world from climate change. We’re also aware that, whilst cycling has a ‘green’ image, our activities as a business and the cycling industry as a whole has an negative impact and that we need to act proactively to be part of the solution.

We’re therefore excited to announce that we are fast tracking our action to become Net Zero.

Our Pledge

We have pledged our commitment to the following:

• For us to achieve Net Zero in line with the Science Based targets set out by the UNFCCC to achieve Net Zero no later than 2050 and to target a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030. Silverfish aim to achieve Net Zero by no later than 2040 and in 2023 will achieve a 40% reduction in emissions from actions already taken following a carbon review (see below).
• To set realistic short term and long-term targets that are designed to achieve our Net Zero Commitments.
• To report the total Greenhouse Gas emissions of our business regularly and for our performance to be part of the annual reporting back to the UNFCCC.

You can find out more about our pledge here.

We’re excited to be taking these steps but we’re only in the early stages and, realistically, this isn’t something that will happen overnight. However, we feel passionately that anything that can be done should be done as quickly as we can so even with some small changes we can make some big steps forward very quickly to reduce our carbon footprint.

We will use this page to provide regular updates on progress, good and bad, and to share our experiences in order that everyone can share and learn together as we move forwards on this crucially important mission.

February 2024 Update

We can’t believe it’s 5 months since we posted an update on our Net Zero Journey! Time has flown by and here are a few of the things we have been doing:

• Changing supplies in our Goods Out warehouse; our tape is paper, we recycle/re-use many of our boxes and use sustainable packaging enabling us to reduce plastic waste both for ourselves and our customers.
• Reviewing our aspects and impacts to sustainability of the business to seek further clarity on next steps.
• Finalising our Sustainability Charter which can be found here.

Also, as a tyre and inner tube distributor, we recognize the inevitability of rubber waste, whether it's from tyres reaching the end of their lifespan or inner tubes accumulating too many punctures. At Silverfish, our commitment to sustainability goes beyond mere acknowledgment. We've joined forces with Velorim.co.uk to ensure that none of our end-of-life rubber contributes to landfill waste, embodying our dedication to responsible recycling practices.

During this time we have also been focusing our minds on our next steps and will be looking at the below as we move forward in 2024.

• Carry out our staff commuting survey.
• Increase both the education and knowledge of sustainability for our Green Team and all employees.
• Build on our current action plan for Scope 1 and 2 to target the identified impacts we have as a business.
• Scope 3 action plan.

June 2023 Update

Working with SWMAS and their Make it Net Zero programme we have carried out a review of our carbon footprint, using verified methodology and tools.

Following the sharing of data around our energy consumption and business mileage (Scope 1 and 2 in the journey), we received a report giving us our current carbon footprint along with some suggested short and long-term goals to assist us in our Journey towards Net Zero.

Enlisting the enthusiasm and commitment of our colleagues we have set up a working group – our ‘Green Team’ - to work through the many suggested actions and ideas generated by ourselves and from our consultants. The list of tasks we have already started working on since receiving the report in May include:

• Creating a sustainability charter/Net Zero policy.
• Procuring new energy contracts to switch all sites to 100% renewable electric and green gas.
• Exploring the potential of investment in renewable technologies such as Solar PV.
• We are already using LED lighting, but we are getting quotes for switch-off room sensors.
• Investigating greener travel to work options for staff.
• Looking at driver technology for our company van fleet to encourage more efficient driving.
• Initiating IT energy saving tasks such as automatic laptop/screen switch off and reducing our data storage, which requires loads of energy for cooling and operation.
• Moving us all to a search engine (ECOSIA) that plants trees – check it out, it’s good.
• Planning a staff commuting survey.
• Conducting heat loss surveys of all premises.

August 2023 Update

It’s been a busy couple of months at Silverfish HQ, but during this time, we have completed a few things on our continuing journey to Net Zero.

• Launched a Cycle to Work scheme which has already been utilised by several employees.
• Finalised new energy contracts so that we are now completely green/renewable.
• Obtained quotes for solar PV and sensor lighting to aid our budget planning for 2024.
• Increased the controlled temperature from 18c to 22c in our server room to use the least energy possible to maintain the servers in tip top condition; each 1-degree change is a 3-4% saving in energy!
• Carried out initial heat loss surveys on all premises and one of the actions coming out for that is that we are looking into the possibility of repurposing our used oil at the Fox Service Centre to heat our drying room which is a must in the winter (and summer to be fair) to dry all those riding clothes!
• Planted nearly 100 trees using the Ecosia search engine.
• Reviewed our fleet renewal now in plenty of time to get the greenest possible, viable option for when we renew in Summer 2024.
• Changed our toilet roll supplier...

We will share further updates on this work in the coming months. In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email us at sales@silverfish-uk.com.

What we promise is we will go as fast as we can and bring along as many people and partners as we can.
 

The Silverfish Team