British Motor Museum accredited silver by ECOsmart

The British Motor Museum has become the first museum to be accredited with ‘Silver’ status by Greengage ECOsmart, the programme that recognises and supports eco-friendly hotels and conference venues that meet certified standards of sustainability. The Silver status means that the museum has demonstrated an eco-friendly approach in five areas: Energy & Water Conservation, Waste Management & Recycling, Rooms & Facilities, Food & Beverage and Corporate & Social Responsibility.

The Museum is continuously looking for ways to improve its environmental performance and provide greener ways to do business and host events, including using solar panels, a building management system to optimise the heating and air conditioning and using LED lighting. The centre has also achieved zero waste to landfill and aims to source all consumable products from local suppliers.

In 2019, the museum aimed to eliminate 80% of its single use plastic, replacing bottled water with cans in the café, reducing plastic usage by 1.21 tons in the first 12 months, whilst it’s own bottling plant supplies still and sparkling filtered water in recyclable glass bottles. The partnership with fair trade coffee supplier Paddy & Scotts, who also run a community wellbeing initiative in Kenya, has resulted in the Museum’s coffee sales contributing to the equivalent of 1688 school meals at the Ruiga School in Kenya.

Jeff Coope, Managing Director at the British Motor Museum said, “The Museum is delighted to have been awarded silver status for its eco-focused actions which we take seriously and are working hard towards a more sustainable future. We are developing a team of sustainability champions for this very purpose and green targets will form an integral part of our strategy for 2022 - 2026. Now more than ever we must actively seek to run our business in greener ways, this accreditation adds credibility to our sustainability initiatives so far. It must be a team effort and we look forward to working closely with both clients and suppliers to make better choices to benefit future generations.”

Andrew Perolls, CEO of Greengage Business Solutions said, “We are pleased to have awarded the British Motor Museum silver status following their accreditation process. The ECOsmart award symbol reassures meeting organisers that the Museum has been assessed and has taken a range of eco-friendly steps to demonstrate their commitment to environmental sustainability”.

For more information on the changes the museum the museum has made to improve it’s environmental performance you can visit: https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/conferences/blog/greener-conferences