Earth Day 2023 and Oakland Care’s initiatives to help protect our planet
Earth Day 2023 and Oakland Care’s initiatives to help protect our planet
What is Earth Day?
Earth Day is a globally recognised annual event that aims to raise awareness and appreciation for the environment and our planet. It is celebrated every year on April 22nd, and in 2023, it will mark the 53rd anniversary of the first Earth Day in 1970.
Since then, Earth Day has grown into a global movement, with people and organisations in over 190 countries coming together to celebrate and advocate for environmental protection. In recent years, Earth Day has become an important platform for raising awareness about climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and other environmental issues. The event provides an opportunity for individuals, organisations, and governments to take action and make a difference in their communities and beyond. This can involve everything from participating in clean-up campaigns and planting trees to advocating for policy changes and reducing one’s carbon footprint.
Oakland Care – A Carbon Neutral Care Home Group
Doing the right thing for the environment is a priority at Oakland Care every day. We have a Sustainability Committee which is led by Joanne Balmer (BEM), our CEO and leaders and team members from across the company. While always environmentally conscious, our journey to becoming carbon neutral was kickstarted in 2020. After holding discussions with team members, residents, and their loved ones, we understood the pressing desire for Oakland Care to do more than simply have green practices. Instead, we wanted to explore our own carbon footprint, understand our emissions, and see what steps we could take to reduce Oakland Care’s environmental impact. We also knew that we were soon to embark on a period of growth, and we wanted to build-in a water-tight approach to sustainability within our new care homes.
In 2021, Oakland Care became the first UK care home group to be certified as carbon neutral. We also achieved this for a second year in 2022.
Green World Environment Award
We have been recognised for our industry-leading environmental and sustainability credentials by winning a Green World Environment Award. We received this award from the world-renowned Green Organisation who promote environmental best practices around the globe. We won the Green Organisation’s global campaign to find the world’s greenest countries, companies, and communities. A huge achievement, this title carries even more significance with Oakland Care becoming the first and only care home provider to have ever achieved the accolade in the world.
Biodiversity
Our residents are becoming more interested in how their gardens and outdoor space can be used to deliver sustainable projects that can help nature’s recovery. Our Maplewood Court care home has recently started construction of Oakland Care’s largest Wildlife Garden, which we cannot wait to update you on as it progresses.
We also give back to our communities by giving our time to local biodiversity projects and initiatives such as woodland tree planting. Oakland Care is also a corporate member of The Woodland Trust and we help them to plant and protect trees, bringing the benefits of tress to people, wildlife and the planet.
ESG Champion at Power Fifty Awards
Joanne Balmer BEM, our CEO was honoured for her unwavering commitment to the care sector after being named as the ESG Champion at Health Investor’s Power Fifty Awards.
The Health Investor Power Fifty is one of the most established nights in the health and social care calendar. For over a decade, this prestigious award ceremony has brought together leading individuals from across the industry in celebration of their effective and inspiring successes. The awards are highly sought after, with members of the care sector submitting nominations to recognise the industry’s most influential leaders across six key areas.
On this occasion, Joanne Balmer was named the inaugural winner of the newly introduced ESG Champion award, honouring an individual who has demonstrated exemplary commitment to deliver positive change on environmental, social and governance issues in the sector.
Procurement & Reducing Waste
Oakland Care have a responsibility to source, use and dispose of waste sustainably, so we have implemented high sustainability requirements through our tendering process with suppliers to ensure that the supplies we procure are produced and delivered with a lower level of environmental impact.
We have already achieved the Level 3 ‘Greenmark’ accreditation, which demonstrates our focus on sustainability through all operational areas of our business.
Follow us on social media to keep up to date with the activities and initiatives our individual care homes regularly take part in to help towards protecting our planet.
Learn more about our sustainability initiatives