For the sake of convenience we have grouped together carbon and water under the umbrella of resources - but this is not to play down the significance of each. We recognize that both carbon and water reduction are hugely important. Climate change is a reality and water shortages or floods are becoming daily news stories. As a business that creates CO2 and uses water we realize that we have a part to play.

We are committed to a 10% reduction per kWh per sq ft compared to our 2009 baseline. We aim to achieve this by the end of 2012.

When we first started this project we discovered our carbon footprint was 16,687 tonnes CO2e. That's the equivalent of one person taking over 13,975 return flights from London to New York all in one year!^* that's a lot of carbon and we want to reduce it. As a result, carbon reduction and management are key elements of our sustainability strategy.

Currently the sustainability department is working on the following strategy:

 
 
 

Bench marking
Last year we installed AMR's (smart meters) across our estate. These are now really helping us to understand the peaks and troughs of energy usage in our shops. We are now working on a good old fashioned competition and league table between our managers to discourage energy wastage.

Equipment changes
Energy Audits have revealed the key pieces of equipment that use lots of energy. Our new shops are already fitted with more efficient equipment and technology to help us to reduce our carbon footprint such as more efficient lighting with controls, AC and refrigeration. We have also researched ways to update our older shops to improve their efficiency to higher standards.

Behavioural change
We have gathered ideas and good practice from different levels of the company to create an energy awareness guide for our shops, so they can follow and understand energy efficient practice.

In 2009 we won the Bronze Award for Carbon Reduction in the London Mayor's Green500 award ceremony, and in 2010 we did one better by receiving the Platinum Award. Good news, but there's much more to do...

Pret is also part of The Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRCES) - this is the UK's mandatory climate change and energy efficiency programme. As a result we have worked hard to submit all the relevant energy and carbon usage information which eventually will be used in a UK wide league table to assess performance.

We are committed to a 10% reduction per sq ft compared to our 2010 baseline. We aim to achieve this by the end of 2012.

Currently we are working hard to understand our water usage across the estate to establish our baseline. We are working with an organisation called Waterscan to achieve this.

Recently we saved in excess of 140,000 litres of water by simply installing water hippos in our staff and customer toilets. These clever little devices reduce the amount of water used when the toilet is flushed. Amazing. If you want a water hippo just call your water authority, they usually supply them for free. Easy.

We are also ensuring that all our new shops are fitted with the latest water saving equipment such as aerated taps, timers on urinals and water efficient dish washers.