Feedback from the e-forum on environmental issues
We asked the e-forum members to give their opinion on our environmental policy. While building societies like the Coventry might not have the same environmental impact as other industries, clearly we still have a part to play. For instance, should we do more to reduce our use of resources such as paper and manage our energy consumption? Is this the sort of thing that members think is important?
Overall, the responses we got from the e-forum were supportive and practical:
- The majority of respondents stated that they would look upon the Coventry more favourably if we worked to reduce our environmental impact.
- Furthermore, a significant number of members told us they would be happy to receive some or all of their communications from us in electronic format rather than paper.
- Fewer members agreed strongly with the statement that being environmentally sound is important even if it costs more (although the responses to this point were still mainly positive) and these were reflected in some of the open responses later on.
When we looked at the open responses from members there were some common themes, and we've picked out some samples to demonstrate these:
- "I'm concerned about electronic statements being no use for ID or tax purposes - I need hard copies for these purposes."
- "OK with electronic communications as long as I can opt-in or opt-out."
- "What happens to my electronic copies if my computer fails?"
- "If saving paper and energy saves money, I'm all for it - environment or no environment."
- "It's good for the Coventry to state that they're keen to protect the environment, but have they any targets for this?"
What we're going to do as a result of this feedback
The main purpose of the e-forum is to provide us with feedback that we can use to develop our approach. Your answers are helping us to do just that.
We will make sure that members can always obtain hard copies of documents for specific purposes on request - even if they have elected to receive items electronically. Hopefully this should help those members concerned about needing paper copies for ID or taxation purposes, or those who are worried about what would happen should their computer fail.
We're currently making our plans for 2009 and beyond, and as part of this we're going to set ourselves specific targets for energy usage and waste reduction. These are going to be linked to our ongoing aim to remain one of the UK's most cost-efficient financial organisations. So it's not just good for the environment - it's good for you too! We'll be sure to share these targets (and our progress against them) with you, our members.
