Environmental Statement

Our environmental statement

PCQ is doing what it can for the environment.   From the moment you open the door you will get a fresh fair trade coffee aroma to light from LED low energy bulbs powered by green energy.  Just a little of what we are doing:

carpollution

REMOTE SUPPORT: Less travel, cost, turnaround and less environmental impact!

To reduce our CO2 emissions and carbon footprint our always aim to fix IT problems by “Remote Support”. Over 85% of all problems can now be fixed by remote support regardless of Windows, Apple, type or age by a quick phone call and one of our trained experts.  It is now considered old fashioned or unprofessional to suggest  a call-out in the first instance. Not only is this a massive benefit to the environment but you save on your repair cost without any need of waiting for appointments.  Win win 🙂

GREEN POWER: We use GREEN electricity at our shop provided by “Good Energy”. This 100% green importantly does not contain “nuclear” in its portfolio. Be warned as most sold green energy is mostly made of nuclear which we don’t consider to be green at all. So all our in house machines / Servers / Workshop repairs are all using green sources.

HARDWARE LIFE CYCLE: Manufacturing and shipping of IT goods has a huge impact on the environment.  For that reason PCQ always has two principles of consideration:

  • Priority to repair rather than replace – extend the life of any equipment
  • New hardware must be of a good specification to have a useful lifespan (PCQ has not sold many product lines we deemed to have a short use)

All hardware waste is processed by authorised handlers – ICO data regulation followed for any data drives.

PACKAGING: PCQ pays to ensure all packaging is recycled properly by licenced handlers.  Packaging is important, as a damaged product would have far more environmental impact to the packaging it was shipped with.  We recycle cardboard, plastics and even polystyrene.  PCQ offers to take away all packaging during installations and are also happy to accept any packaging during sales in store (Unless we are concerned about the product arriving home without it!) – We prefer to know all packaging is dealt with correctly.

Recycling all toners/Ink cartridges: Most places offering these services are just interested in the money, not us! We take in all cartridges of all types even if they cannot be sold for re-manufacture as we want to ensure at the very least the plastics are recycled and not sent to landfill.  Most units however are reconditioned and put back into use.

PAPER SOURCES: We sell a range of paper made with pulp from well-managed forests independently certified according to the rules of FSC® (to read more about FSC® click the logo).

 

We like to make the right choice easy and convenient so we mostly only stock FSC printing paper. Did you know if you want ethical printing paper it is often more environmentally friendly not to have recycled paper.  FSC papers are from well-managed sources and will have less embodied chemicals and energy.  We even sell mixed FSC and recycled.

Carbon
Neutral
Hosting

CARBON NEUTRAL HOSTING: Our shared Manchester data centre is certified carbon neutral.  Yes PCQ’s website you are looking at now is ethical in terms of our carbon footprint.  Want to raise the bar of your website for best performance, support and environmental impact we can host your site 100% carbon neutral under BSI PAS 2060 verified by The Voluntary Carbon Standard.

BATTERIES: PCQ accepts batteries for recycling.  From your standard AAA to laptop battery packs.  As we sell them, we feel we should make sure we take them back.  Make sure always to dispose of your batteries responsibly to avoid unnecessary damage to our environment.

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE: “Reducing Plastic Waste, from Source to Sea” – PCQ is proud to be part of a community project to help highlight and tackle plastic pollution.  We are working in a collective to suggest ideas, make changes and even help out with litter picking! 

PCQ’s head office is located in Llanidloes in the heart of stunning Mid-Wales.  Llanidloes is the first town on the river Severn, Britain’s longest river. Being one of the first places plastic waste can get into the water course, its an excellent place to start tackling the waste that reaches the sea. 

To find out more and to get involved please visit the Message in a Bottle facebook page – Click the logo