Middlesbrough Council

Middlesbrough Council in the north of England has adopted the One Planet Living model, developed by BioRegional and WWF, to provide a new sustainability framework for council activities.

The council says that: “To help ensure that all aspects of improving quality of life are addressed sustainably, the One Planet Living framework has been adopted. This approach addresses economic, social and environmental issues in an integrated way, by using ten One Planet principles. The aim of the One Planet programme is for Middlesbrough to develop into a happier, healthier town where residents can live within their ‘fair share’ of the Earth’s resources.”

One Planet Learning

Friends Centre is an adult education centre in Brighton and Hove and has been of the Brighton and Hove community since 1945.

Friends Centre has moved to Brighton Junction, a new community space within the One Brighton eco development in the New England Quarter. One Brighton is a One Planet Community, built according to the ten One Planet Living principles.

To celebrate the move, and inspired by the One Planet Living framework, Friends Centre has launched One Planet Learning – courses and workshops designed to raise environmental awareness and encourage sustainable living.

Bristol Zoo Gardens

Bristol Zoo Gardens is committed to sustainability, and is committed to championining conservation through mass mobilisation. It aims to enable others to engage with sustainability through examples of its design, construction, infrastructure, landscaping and maintenance.

Bristol Zoo Gardens is in the the process of publishing an environmental sustainability manifesto which will promote the principles of One Planet Living, and which aims to inspire other good Zoos and visitor attractions to improve the sustainability of their organisations, as well as promoting sustainable living to the Zoo’s visitors.

Ireland West 2020

Ireland West 2020: a bright green future is a vision of a vibrant and sustainable Ireland West, benefiting from world class clusters in ICT, medical devices, renewable energy and smartocean innovation.

Ireland West 2020 was submitted under Your Country, Your Call, a national competition designed to find two major proposals that will transform the Irish economy economy by creating jobs and opportunity. Ireland West 2020 succeeded in making a short-list of 40 from the 9,000 entries to the competition.

Ireland West 2020 put forward the idea that working from a sustainability framework, it would be possible to unlock the potential of the region, and that the One Planet Living initiative provided a basis for such a framework.

London Borough of Sutton

One Planet Sutton is a major initiative that will enable local people, business and council services within the London Borough of Sutton to live and work within their fair share of the earth’s resources. One Planet Sutton is the UK’s first endorsed One Planet Region.

Sutton Council has developed a One Planet Action Plan that sets targets for council operations and a series of interventions that will enable Sutton residents and businesses to achieve one planet living by 2025. The targets include for all council buildings to be zero carbon by 2017 and the whole borough “enabled” to be zero carbon by 2025.

Herbert Smith

Herbert Smith is an international legal practice with a 1,300-lawyer network across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Herbet Smith used the One Planet Living framework to measure its environmental impact, and the results highlighted the huge impact of international travel and significant impact of food. A workshop with staff was a lively way to turn the problems into actions to reduce environmental impact. The main actions were resolving the international working culture by optimising and reducing travel, creating the management systems needed to get the One Planet Action Plan working, and introducing a sustainable procurement policy.

B&Q

B&Q is the UK’s largest home improvement retailer, and as an endorsed One Planet Company, the One Planet Living principles are embedded into B&Q’s governance structure. Sustainability is one of B&Q’s seven key business plans and progress is reported to the Board of Directors. Managers across the company have sustainability targets relating to their day to day responsibilities.

B&Q has already made impressive progress: Based on reporting in 2008, the company made an absolute saving of 6% CO2 (19,000 tonnes) compared to emissions in 2006. This was achieved even with an increase in turnover and without any off setting or green energy tariffs. Further achievements include smart water metering which has reduced water consumption by 13.6 million litres per annum, and a 48% reduction in waste to landfill.

Happy Planet Index

The Happy Planet Index, published by NEF,  reveals the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered. The index combines environmental impact with human well-being to measure the environmental efficiency with which, country by country, people live long and happy lives.

The One Planet Living concept underpins the Happy Planet Index. As nef’s global manifesto for a happier planet states: “Globally we need to live within our environmental means. One-planet living should become an official target of government policy with a pathway and timetable to achieve it.”

Swindon Borough Council

Swindon Borough Council is committed to a sustainable future and in June 2009, hosted a special conference devoted to One Planet Living.

On its One Planet Swindon web page, the council states that “One Planet Living provides a framework that can help us to live within our fair share of the earth’s resources in a sustainable way.”

Eco Concierge

Eco Concierge is  a hands on, lifestyle management service for people who want to be greener but don’t have the time or know-how to make the change. The service helps members with everything from shopping, to sorting out travel arrangements, to making their home more energy efficient.

Eco Concierge apply the One Planet Living framework to the services they provide:  “The One Planet Living principles were developed to help people live within environment limits and feel fulfilled in their lives. We will work with you to introduce a flavour of each of these ten principles – from low carbon to health and happiness – into your current plans.”