Have you heard the one about the green cherry...?

How green is Yellow Cherry? Not at all, we are perfectly ripe thank you very much!

That isn’t strictly true, we are proud to be green(ish) and striving to get greener all the time. Much like our tree-grown namesake, we love the environment and we want to do as much as we can to play our part in helping protect it.

It is the big question nowadays, isn’t it. How green is our company? Are we as environmentally friendly as we could be? Is our carbon footprint just a little yin?

So, what are we doing to be able to say we are eco-friendly? Well, read on for some examples…

Firstly, we have done away with paper records where possible. Instead, focusing on a digital-based system to manage the business. Less Paper = More Cherry Trees! (and a much tider office, woo!) Although difficult at times to be completely paperless, we have adopted cloud based storage systems like dropbox (others are available of course…) instead of filling big bulky filing cabinets with paper folders and duplicating electronic records.

Of course, the other benefit of shifting to a digital-based system is that we can search and retrieve information in a split second, instead of having to trawl through folders and pages and pages for possibly out-dated information. Or go through filiing cabinets with ridiculous filing systems. (I mean, where does MacDonald go, next to Mcdonald? I can never get a straight answer but now I dont need one!) So, ultimately, we can get things done a lot faster and are able to assist many more clients.

This also means we don’t need to use the printer as much, so this saves massively on not only the ink costs, but on the electricity needed to run it too.

And there’s more! We have also made sure all our servers run on green energy. No fossil fuels are consumed for the electrical needs of our systems at any point so our clients can rest assured that their websites are clean and enviromentally friendly! Saving the planet one carbon footprint at a time.

But thats not all. Under our SEO pacakge, we aim to make every client’s site run as fast as possible. What does this have to do with the environment I hear you ask? Well, not only does this ensure the most pleasant browsing experience, it also means the computer is consuming less electricity to load the website. It might seem like a trivial thing, but it all adds up to big savings over time! As they say, one small step for Yellow Cherries, one giant leap for Green cherries…

How do we make the sites run as fast and efficiently as possible? We do this by a number of methods, such as:

Using High-Performance servers to deliver the information quickly
Compressing the size of webpages to be as minimal as possible to save on Bandwidth and Network costs
Using advanced caching systems to reduce the load on client’s servers so they aren’t using as much electricity

However, we aren’t perfect and we are always looking for more ways to further improve YC’s green commitments.

Other areas we are looking to improve include:

Reducing the use of the kettle by coordinating tea-breaks between staff. ( This could result in boxing matches so therefore less heating would be needed…)
Banning the use of the printer unless its absolutely needed (Like a swear jar for the printer really)
Turning off inactive computers when staff are off or at the end of the day
Turning off the lights in rooms that are empty over the course of the day and trying to use the natural light from outside. ( I have suggested moving the office to Spain to help increase the natural light situation…yet to be agreed.)
Changing the lighting system in the office to LED lights
Cycle to work scheme.
Having plants in the office which creates a calm and pretty environment, while absorbing toxins (printer, I am looking at you!) from the air.

Not sure if your website is eco-friendly? Head over to the Green Web Check to find out.

If you have any ideas on how we could further greenify ourselves, or you just want to chat more about what Yellow/Green Cherry can do for you, get in touch today!