Charity begins at home

In a trip to a certain international charity HQ today I was surprised to find what a traditional office set up they have.

 

They are based in London and have a massive, typical, office building to themselves. Admittedly it isn’t one of those posh glass new builds, but I would guess the running costs of the building alone is equal to the output of a fair few donations or charity shops.

 

The thing that got me thinking most was the paper towels in the loos and the disposable paper cups in the kitchen. Now the charity is one focused on humanitarian efforts, not environmental, so I guess it shouldn’t purplex me that much. I guess I just have an expectation that charities will lead by example right down to the  small details, such as providing glasses and hand dryers to reduce waste.

 

The building was fully air-conditioned too, which no doubt costs a bundle (although in the middle of summer, in the middle of London, perhaps I shouldn’t be too harsh on them for this). Still, I don’t know why more offices can’t be designed to have windows that open rather than having expensive air-con.

 

London in general seems to be very non-environmentally friendly (transport system aside). Perhaps I need to scratch beyond he surface, but the largest concentration of people in the UK seems to be the most wasteful, consumer focused and disposable attitude of all.