Welcome to another Home Loving Case Study. We’ll be publishing these regularly to share the love about our products, the business, our clients, suppliers and much more.
What goes on behind the scenes is just as important when you want to run a truly environmentally friendly business. It’s for this reason that Home Loving spent lots of time checking out potential suppliers so we could ensure when you buy our products, you know you’re getting genuinely low-impact goods.
This time, we’re chatting to Steve Gayler, who runs the web development arm of the business and is the man responsible for all Home Loving’s digital services.
Tell us about the background of OI Digital, Steve.
“We’ve been running for just over 10 years now and we’ve always strived to be low on our carbon footprint. It’s not always easy, as I think Tina and the team have discovered through their journey, but we’re so pleased we’ve managed to make even a small amount of progress over the years. We’re finding more ways we can be environmentally friendly and pass on these credentials to our clients too.”
So, how is OI Digital a ‘green’ business?
“Well, we’re based at a rural business park which is powered by a large bank of solar panels so all our energy is self-generated. Recently, we’re delighted to have found a data centre we can partner with which has fantastic green credentials so we’ve moved our clients there. They are based in Hemel Hempstead which is geographically nearby us too. Home Loving is one of the clients using their servers which was a deliberate decision on our part, knowing how important this was to their values.
If people reading this wanted to find out whether their own website host is green, they can visit https://greenerwebfoundation.org and check them out. If they are green, you can also apply for a badge for your own website to show you’re playing your part in protecting the environment.”
You do more than just website development though, don’t you? How does the ‘green’ agenda fit in with the rest of your business?
“Yes, we also provide photocopiers, printers and stationery to businesses. Again, we’ve always had an eye on the climate and environment so we have green options available to all our clients. We also talk to them about the way they use their machines and let them know how to be efficient and minimise waste. Our stationery range has lots of recycled and green ranges which we promote whenever we can. “
Well, it’s nice to see another business making small changes where they can. You know our motto on that, Steve?
“If we all make small changes, big changes happen.”