The Environment and Logistics

You could say, they’re like chalk and cheese. Which is true: the environment and logistics do not go hand-in-hand easily. But environmentally-conscious organisations can make them go together. Those who do not are nothing more than greenwashing, and are choosing the easy option of not dedicating more care and attention to the environment. If you are looking for the credibility of Oakleigh Manor in regards to our green credentials, look no further. Well, a little further: please read on…

A comprehensive way to show Oakleigh Manor’s care for the environment on a day-to-day basis is to show how we are minimising our environmental impact from a logistical perspective. We are going to do this using a model created in 1995 by Wu and Dunn, two academics who included the model in an article they wrote for the International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management. The model shows a typical logistics system, which works from raw materials acquisition, all the way through to after-sales service, as well as the inputted resources and pollutants produced at each stage.

We can look at this model from the perspective of a typical Oakleigh Manor project. At the stage of raw materials acquisition, we make sure these resources, when applicable, are from renewable sources. With inbound logistics for the job, we insist on paperless communication, to minimise our negative impact on deforestation due to the paper and pulp industry. In the transformation stage between inbound and outbound logistics, this is all done in an office, again using paperless communication, where efficient lighting systems are used, including timer lighting. We even encourage car-pooling and alternative travel amongst our colleagues!

Our outbound logistics, so for example, the removal of waste from a project, involve using the most efficient vehicles available to transport this waste to our headquarters, where it is separated. Green waste is re-composted, inert waste is put back into the ground without altering the water table or creating a chemical imbalance, and any hardcore waste is crushed and re-used at another stage of the construction of another project. We do this with our waste carriers licence, as required by law. The next stage on the model is marketing; we are heavily focused on new media marketing; this is almost entirely carried out via the Internet, so use no paper in that respect. However, with physical marketing, such as leaflet campaigns, we ensure that the material printed on is from renewable resources, not only minimising our the environmental impact of our inputted resources, but also keeping our carbon footprint down. Finally, our after-sales service is done using non-wasteful means; again this involves paperless communication, and the use of efficient vehicles.

After this, “reverse logistics” is used, where total waste in the system is reduced. Like many things in our crazy world, a trial and error method is implemented. For the next project, we find other ways we can also minimise our environmental impact and keeping our carbon footprint down; we even ensure that the suppliers we deal with shares the same environmental values as we do, to stay true to our environmental and waste policy. To read more about that, please visit the Oakleigh Manor website: https://oakleighmanor.com. It isn’t often a model used from an academic journal is used for a blog post; it is more at home in a university essay! However, I used the model whilst at university myself, and it is a key way to show Oakleigh Manor’s dedication to the environment.