Water Saving Week – A perfect excuse to reflect on a vital issue

The fact that UK businesses are using on average 30% more water than they need to highlights the importance of promoting water efficiency  - and the role that retailers have to play in that. And Water Saving Week provides the perfect excuse.

By using water wisely businesses can lower their water and energy bills, as well as reduce their impact on the environment. You only need to remember the extreme weather conditions the country experienced last year to appreciate that water is a precious resource that we need to protect – which can be done effectively simply by using less of it.

I’m proud that as a business we have long recognised the importance of water efficiency and worked hard with our customers to help them reduce the amount of water they use. To date we’ve helped our customers save the equivalent of nearly half a billion bathtubs of water (38 billion litres), which is no mean feat! We were also the first retailer to partner with Waterwise, which is doing some fantastic work to promote the importance of water efficiency. This has included setting up the Retailer Leadership Group, which I Co-Chair, to provide a forum for retailers to come together to honestly and openly share ideas and best practice.

Reflecting on the past year I think it’s fair to say there has been growing momentum around this issue – with the industry, political stakeholders, the media and customers all acknowledging the role water efficiency can play in helping to address environmental challenges, as well as helping to deliver financial benefits too. And whilst we still have a long way to go, this is a welcomed development. If every individual can do their bit to reduce their water use, with support from their retailer, then this will have a significant positive impact.

Water efficiency will always be a priority for us and we are fully committed to building on the success we’ve had to date by helping our customers to use water wisely. If you haven’t yet considered how you can reduce your water then please use Water Saving Week as the catalyst to drive change in your business – and remember that often very simple steps can make a big difference!

Jo Dow, Chief Executive, Business Stream