Our Story

 The ambition of Eden District Council is to reach Net Zero by 2030. To reach this objective the sustainability team and the economic development department decided to launch a scheme that will help businesses in Eden to reduce their carbon footprint but also raise awareness on the impact of their activities on the environment.

We contacted CBEN, a local environmental consultancy, to further develop the idea and to establish a working partnership. The early days was mostly setting up procedure, paperwork, and a budget. Once this was tied up, Eden District Council and CBEN launched the Greening Eden Business Project.

The project is a way to engage with local businesses, bring opportunities to them to receive guidance and support, or for businesses to rethink and redevelop their activities in relation with our climate emergency context.

The hope is that businesses will be become more aware of their impact on the environment and will implement change that will benefit their own business, their customers but also the entire region.

The Challenge

The project presented several challenges in the early stages of the process, setting up a Grant Panel in particular was tricky and caused a few teething problems given the time it took to set up. Looking back we should of done this at an earlier stage as it would’ve freed up time for other areas of the project.

The size of the panel meant that it was tricky maintaining a clear message of their expectations. This would’ve been alleviated had we taken external guidance from someone with deeper experience. However despite the slight troubles, the project has run relatively smoothly and are currently on track to meet our wider goal of reaching Net Zero by 2030.

Our Solution

The project works on a partnership with Eden District Council and CBEN. CBEN undertakes audits for businesses who apply and provide a report of their findings to improve business operations.

Local businesses get in touch with us and then CBEN head out to visit the different sites to estimate their carbon footprint and find solutions to decrease their emissions.

Subsequently, the business can apply for a grant up to £10,000 on a 50% ratio to retrofit or change their operational systems to reduce their carbon footprint. More than 30 businesses have applied to the scheme so far and continues to grow in popularity.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CLICK HERE.