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Groups green initiative, Flagship has found simple ways to make a big difference and is committed to reducing its environmental impact.

This National Earth Day is an opportunity to reflect on how our behaviours impact the planet and the changes that we can all make in our everyday lives.

Megan Gonsalves, Energy and Sustainability Manager at Flagship said: “Every single person has a role to play in protecting the environment. Ultimately our homes and our families are essential starting points for protecting the earth and the oceans.

“40% of UK emissions come from households which means our homes have an important part to play in combating climate change. Becoming environmentally conscious means changing our daily behaviors at every level; thinking about recycling, how we use energy, and how we use water in our homes.”

In June 2019, the UK passed legislation requiring the Government to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. To meet the UK’s climate change targets, Flagship must ensure all of its homes are an EPC band C by 2030 and are carbon net zero by 2050.

Megan continued: “The most effective way to reduce our carbon emissions and save our customers money, is to improve the energy efficiency of our homes. Our focus over the past few years has been improving our least energy efficient homes through a fabric first approach.

“Since March 2020 we have installed a series of energy efficiency measures in our homes. These include more than 2500 loft and cavity wall insulation measures, 43 external wall insulation measures, 38 underfloor insulation measures and 400 renewable heating systems.”

Groups repairs and maintenance specialists, has been working hard to offset Flagship's carbon emissions and improve green spaces within local communities. Since November 2019, RFT has planted 350 trees, including 30 native Elm trees, 200 shrubs and hedge row plants and 30 square metres of wildflowers.

Flagship has been rethinking its ways of working and changes have been made in all areas of the Group to ensure processes are environmentally friendly and sustainable.

Laura Loome, Workplace Coordinator at Flagship said: “We are constantly looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint and try to reduce, reuse and recycle where possible. We have recycling schemes throughout our offices, we ensure our suppliers are sustainably sourced and bulk buy items to reduce the number of vehicles delivering to us.

“We hope to introduce more car charging points for electric and hybrid vehicles and have recently begun researching the use of grey water systems, which will help us save more drinking water in the future.”

By introducing more energy efficient ways of living for customers and greener ways of working for staff, Flagship hopes to significantly reduce its carbon footprint and help the Government achieve its goal of being carbon neutral by 2050.