Girl Behind The Lens recognises that it has a responsibility to the environment beyond legal and regulatory requirements. I am committed to reducing the environmental impact and continually improving my environmental performance as an integral part of my business strategy and operating methods.

Amy, Owner and Photographer, is responsible for ensuring that this environmental policy is implemented.

I endeavour to:

• Comply with all relevant regulatory requirements.
• Continually improve and monitor environmental performance.
• Continually improve and reduce environmental impacts.
• Incorporate environmental factors into business decisions.

My ethos as a business is to be a sustainable one wherever possible. I have been making a conscious effort to reduce the use of single use plastic in my business, striving to use plastic free packaging and continually seek alternatives.

I use paper tape for all my parcels packaged back to clients and utilise reused packing materials from client to client and box to box. A lot of my work also tends to be digital, in using the camera and computer for editing, so there’s never any unnecessary paper used! All shot lists, and briefs, are to be viewed online and shared with clients via digital moodboards or Pinterest, for example. This is the same for all invoices which are created and sent electronically, avoiding the need to print and post.

Electrical Equipment is switched off when not in use and any new equipment is purchased with energy efficiency and consumption as a key purchase point. Old cameras and photographic equipment, when completely worn out for professional use, is offered to local education for training purposes, or fully recycled.

Informative marketing materials, and my business cards, are printed wherever possible using vegan friendly, fully biodegradable and recyclable inks on FSC certified stock. They are printed with local printing companies to reduce carbon emissions and support the local community.

Better still, as a business I make changes, big and small, to reduce my environmental impact day to day. I actively use Ecosia, an online search engine that uses the profit they make from searches to plant trees where they are needed most. With over 92 million trees planted, they donate 80% or more of profits to organisations that focus on reforestation. Even when working from my studio, I am helping (in a tiny way) to plant trees across the world.

Alongside this, I am proud to be working with One Tree Planted to plant a tree after every single photoshoot I undertake, and am seeking to make this more local in order to plant trees close to where I work.

Well, that’s rather a lot to be proud of! Like any business owner, I am constantly looking for new ways to improve my sustainability credentials, and hope to be able to add to this policy in the near future.