Our green policy: an environmentally-focused company in Andalucia, southern Spain.

As a company, Andalucia.com, the company behind Andalucia Green, aims to be as green as its intrinsic page colour. We strive to be ecologically friendly in every area of our business.

The simple fact that Andalucia.com is an internet company means we save in so many areas. Our product does not require paper. We do not pollute the environment with chemicals during a manufacturing process. We don’t even need fuel to transport our end product to its destination. We are entirely “virtual”.

At Andalucia.com the word green actually begins with the letter R – three Rs, in fact: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

We have recently Reduced our electricity bills by 10 percent thanks to a team effort that ensures minimum use of air conditioning, lighting and also that computers are turned off when not in use – even at lunchtime. We also use ecological light bulbs wherever possible and ensure we are using the minimum number of computer servers thanks to the head of our information technology department who is constantly reviewing the stored content. We make it possible to reduce our water consumption thanks to water saving toilets with an eco-flush option. We reduce our paper consumption through paper-less invoicing, printing on both sides of each sheet whenever possible and reminding the recipients of our e-mails to think about the environment before printing. We have reduced the amount of plastic for recycling by eliminating plastic cups from our water machine. We also work to reduce carbon monoxide emissions by allowing our editor and journalists to work remotely.

At Andalucia.com we were intrigued to find that Re-using an impeccably maintained 1970s furniture in our reception area was not only an environmentally sustainable move, but also a funky addition to our decor. We have reused office desks, tables and chairs by factoring in as many pieces from our former headquarters as possible. We are committed to reusing paper, envelopes, folders and other office materials whenever possible.

Recycling is also important at Andalucia.com where we separate our rubbish to recycle paper, plastic, tins and even computers and office furniture.

In addition to taking actions to reduce, reuse and recycle, we are also looking closely at the impact we have on the environment in such areas as transportation. Currently 36% of our full-time employees walk to work and 7% take the bus. Of those who work full time at our office, 64% live within 2 kilometres from work, 18% live within 5 kilometres and the remaining 18% are located within 30 kilometres. As mentioned, we do have contributors to the site who work remotely and we are always looking for new ways to encourage more environmentally sustainable transportation and working arrangements.

We, at Andalucia.com, understand that in spite of all of our efforts we will still have some degree of impact on the environment. Therefore, we are looking to further contribute to a greener world by researching NGO’s that work with the environment in order to contribute to good causes that are heading in the direction we want to see the world go.