Green accolade recognises Daventry council’s environmental efforts

DDC received the award for its recycling rate within its offices, carbon reduction initiatives, and innovative projects which aim to engage both its staff and the wider public.

The council runs regular initiatives encouraging its workforce to save energy and recycle more including supplying staff with reusable water bottles and removing plastic cups from all water coolers, while the staff pool car scheme features an all-electric Nissan Leaf and a hybrid electric Kia Niro.

Wider environmental projects including the Big Poppy Plant and a subsidised home composting offer also helped put DDC in the top 5 per cent of iiE members across the region.

Councillor Jo Gilford, the environment portfolio holder at Daventry District Council, said: "This is the fourth year that we have received this national recognition for our ongoing commitment to environmental improvement and initiatives to support communities in making greener choices.

"We are very pleased as a council to have this work recognised by iiE once again."

DDC’s Great Green Star was announced at the annual awards run by iiE, an environmental accreditation and membership scheme which supports organisations that wish to reduce their impact on the environment.

There are bronze, silver and green awards on offer, with extra accolades such as the Great Green Star presented to organisations that go beyond the standards expected.

April Sotomayor, a sustainability consultant at iiE, said: "Daventry District Council was awarded the Great Green Star Award because the organisation went over and above our top-level green criteria and achieved an extremely high environmental audit score.

"The score was boosted by exceptional staff engagement, and a huge impact on local communities through fuel poverty work to reduce carbon emissions and promote energy efficiency."