The AEP is committed to minimising its environmental impact

The Association of Educational Psychologists is committed to minimising the impact of its activities on the environment, and to continually making improvements to its environmental performance.

An AGM motion, passed in 2019 reinforced the Association's commitment to making proactive steps to reducing our carbon footprint and function more efficiently.

The key points of our strategy to achieve this are to:

• Minimise waste by evaluating operations and ensuring they are as efficient as possible.
• Minimise toxic emissions through the selection and use of its source of power requirements.
• Actively promote recycling both internally and amongst its customers and suppliers.
• Source products that minimise the environmental impact of both production and distribution.
• Acknowledge the impact of plastic pollution and working with conference and meeting providers to reduce consumption of single-use plastics.
• Educate and train employees in environmental issues and the environmental effects of their activities.
• A commitment to communicate our business' environmental aims and objectives to all staff, members, customers, and other external stakeholders.
• Comply with relevant environmental legislation as a minimum level of performance.

Actions taken thus far:

• Discussions with all staff to embrace the commitment, and to consider how to minimise emissions in all areas of AEP work internally and externally. Green Policy is now in the staff handbook.
• Invested in teleconferencing equipment in the Durham office, with London to follow once office work resumes.
• Mailings to members are being stopped, with items posted only where legally required to do so.
• Review of IT equipment - phasing out of desk top computers in favour of laptops for staff; these have a far lower carbon footprint and power usage.
• Meetings are now being carried out virtually: Local Reps, Annual conferences, JPLG, editorial board & all committee meetings.
• Implemented plant-based menus for conferences and meetings.
• Had an energy efficiency audit of the office in Durham carried out and further actions will be taken upon a return to the office. A process is being embedded into our working practices to ensure that we continue to look at how we can continue to reduce our carbon footprint.