In this section we will restrict ourselves to a brief overview of the subject of staff and ecological sustainability. In order for the Bank to realise its aims and objectives in respect of ecological sustainability it is reliant on its staff for co-operation.

In this last instance, it is staff who will switch off computers when they are not in use in order to save energy, and staff who will make the effort to recycle paper in the office. Our greenhouse gas emissions and recycling activities when calculated per employee generally compare favourably with other businesses in the UK, but are still below what we consider to be desirable. More recently, staff at our Salford sites established a 'Green Genie' energy efficiency and recycling project. This has been so successful, with staff using their imagination to come up with exciting new ways to 'Go Green', that the Bank intends to support the roll-out of this initiative across the whole Bank during 1998.

One environmental scheme that was specifically designed for staff is the 'Interest-free loans for Purchase of Public Transport Season Tickets'. Last year more than 213 staff utilised the scheme, taking out loans totalling more than £300,000 between them. As we report in the section on Suppliers we currently have no data on staff transport patterns to and from work, but will endeavour to measure this in our next Partnership Report.

These and other environmental initiatives are regularly reported to staff in the Bank's staff newsletter, "Banknotes", which has for a number of years contained at least one page on environmental matters. More recently, the staff newsletter has been used to communicate the science behind our Ecological Mission Statement. For example, we are currently in the midst of explaining the four rules of ecological sustainability, with examples of business impact on nature and progress made by the Bank.

The Bank's Ecology Unit is also engaged in providing training and seminars around the Bank on the Ecological Mission Statement and related matters. For example, in 1996/7, prior to the launch of the preferential banking package for ecologically-sound businesses, every one of the Bank's Corporate Business Centres took part in a half-day training exercise.