The Living Wage is a voluntary, higher rate of base pay. It provides a benchmark for responsible employers who choose to pay their employees a rate that meets the cost of living throughout the UK and London. It is higher than the government’s National Minimum Wage rates because it is calculated according to the cost of living.
The real Living Wage is the only UK wage rate based on the actual cost of living and it is voluntarily paid by businesses who believe their staff deserve a wage which meets their everyday needs.
Katherine Chapman, Director, Living Wage Foundation said, “Futures Supplies are one of thousands of small businesses, as well as household names such as Burberry, Barclays, Everton Football Club and many more responsible employers who voluntarily go further than the government minimum to make sure all their staff earn enough to live on. These businesses recognise that paying the real Living Wage is the mark of a responsible employer.
At Futures Supplies we believe not only is it more socially responsible to invest in our employees by paying them the real London Living Wage, we believe it also contributes to ensuring our staff are happy, motivated and deliver the best possible service to our valued customers.
With as many as 1 in 6 individuals earning below ‘The Real Living Wage’ and inflation intensifying the squeeze on low-income families, we were delighted to attend the recent round table breakfast event at The Globe Theatre. co- hosted by Cleanology and The Living Wage Foundation, it was both thought provoking and engaging.
We were delighted to share our thoughts and experiences with a group of like-minded business colleagues who whole heartedly agree that paying people ‘The Real Living Wage’ makes both business and crucially community sense.
Lets spread the word and continue to work together to spread this important message.
As a headline sponsor, Futures Supplies Managing Director, Marc Kemp and Office Manager, Andrew Hills were delighted to support Cleanology ’s third annual charity evening at The Globe, in support of The Hygiene Bank.
Raising over £30,000 for the charity in cash and product donations, it is fast becoming one of the cleaning industry’s biggest annual flagship events.
The Hygiene Bank believe that basic hygiene is not a privilege and their vision is that one day everyone living in the UK will have access to essential hygiene products. With a mission to bring communities, businesses and thought leaders together they hope to tackle hygiene poverty providing access to products and being a voice for change.
We would like to extend our thanks to Dominic and the fabulous team at Cleanology for all their hard work in pulling off such a successful event. We look forward to continuing our support of this worthy cause.
Our Managing Director, Marc Kemp was delighted to be invited to visit the beehives at the Bee Urban site in Kennington Park by Hive Cleaning who we have been in collaboration with, though their sponsorship program, to support this worthy project.
Bee Urban is a social enterprise that aims to work with communities to improve the environment for the benefit of us all. Focusing on responsible urban beekeeping, horticulture and community growing. It’s not just about bees, people are vital to Bee Urban.
Community engagement and volunteering is important to the project, providing opportunities to contribute to the locality, be creative and reduce social isolation.
Our friends at Hive Cleaning are a B Corp certified, ethical office cleaning company who are committed to making a positive impact on the environment. As part of their efforts, Hive Cleaning have pledged to sponsor a beehive for every new cleaning contract they are awarded.
Futures Supplies are delighted to sponsor this worthy project as of one of our key sustainability initiatives.
Scientific consensus states that carbon emissions must be reduced to avoid catastrophic climate change. Businesses have an important and essential role to play in meeting reduction targets. By reducing CO² emissions and carbon offsetting, businesses like ours are able to play their part in the climate change battle.
Futures Supplies is delighted to have partnered with Carbon Neutral Britain to ensure it continues to maintain its Carbon Neutral for the 16th successive year. This accreditation positions us as an industry leader with one of the strongest and most credible approaches to climate change.
Since 2006 we have demonstrated our commitment to reducing our CO² emissions in accordance with leading edge quality assurance standards including independent certification to BS EN ISO 14001.
We are proud to be taking a net zero position on emissions by measuring the carbon dioxide (CO²) emissions associated with our business, reducing them at source, and then offsetting any unavoidable emissions by purchasing carbon credits.
To ‘balance out’ our emissions, we use our carbon credits to support projects throughout the world. We are currently supporting the Carbon Neutral Britain Climate Fund™.
Projects selected within the Carbon Neutral Britain Climate Fund™ are based on their direct and indirect impact around the world – not just in offsetting, but also in supporting education, employment and clean water, as well as having net positive impact on the local wildlife and ecology.
As a result of this reduction process coupled with offsetting the unavoidable emissions associated with our business, our carbon footprint is reduced to net zero.
It’s never been so important to keep places hygienically clean by killing bacteria and viruses, including the Coronavirus, while also reducing pollutants and the huge amounts of waste plastic in our oceans and landfill.
When combined with the fact that long-term use of cleaning chemicals can have a serious impact on your health, this means we need to think differently about how cleaning can reduce our impact on the planet. Quite literally, we need to clean up our act.
Here, we explain what makes Toucan Eco sustainable. But before we do this, let’s understand the basics.
What is Toucan Eco?
Toucan Eco puts the power of electrolysed water at your fingertips. No chemicals, no single-use plastic bottles. Just a proven, effective way to wipe out germs without harming the environment.
Using a process of electrolysis, it transforms tap water and table salt – both natural and sustainable resources – into a disinfectant cleaner that kills more than 99.99% of germs and replaces 80% of chemical cleaners and the single use plastic bottles they’re supplied in.
It’s completely safe to use as it’s based on the same infection fighting hypochlorous acid that our own immune systems produce, which makes it non-toxic and hypoallergenic.
So, let’s run through the key points that put the ‘eco’ in Toucan Eco.
Toucan Eco Espray
Toucan Eco Worktop
Toucan Eco Active Plus
Does it reduce single-use plastic waste?
Yes, it does, and that’s why it’s great for supporting single-use plastic reduction initiatives.
You no longer need to buy 80% or more of your chemical cleaners, which are most commonly supplied in single-use plastic bottles. Plus, concentrated chemical bottles are mostly made from virgin plastic too, and many of these can’t be recycled as they contain toxic ingredients. With around 30% of all plastic being recycled in the UK, according to the British Plastics Initiative, the majority will still end up in landfill.
By switching to Toucan Eco, for every typical one litre plastic bottle you’re saving over two litres of water, 4 million joules of energy, and a quarter of a litre of oil. And, for every ton of plastic, you’re saving about three tons of CO2.
Does it reduce chemical use and their side effects?
It’s well known that chemicals can be harmful to the environment. For example, some aerosols damage the ozone layer and cleaning chemicals carry health warnings as they can cause allergic reactions such as coughing and skin irritation or dermatitis.
Recent studies have found that regular exposure to cleaning products may significantly affect lung function and suggest that the chemicals in cleaning products irritate the mucous membranes that line the airways of the lungs, causing long-term damage. In a long-term study, the effects were also found to be more severe among women than men.
Toucan Eco doesn’t contain any of these synthetic ingredients – so no phthalates, ammonia, additives, or fragrances. 99.99% of the solution is water, and the pH (a measure of acidity and alkalinity) of the solution is around a gentle 7.8 to 8.5. This means it’s mildly alkaline but not aggressive like common bleach, which has a pH of 10 and above. As it’s safe, you don’t need protective clothing.
Can it contribute to making our buildings green?
The World Green Building Council talks about how we can make our buildings greener through a combination of factors such as minimising energy use with renewable and low carbon technologies, reducing water consumption, minimising waste, maximising reuse, and recycling anything left – of which Toucan Eco can contribute effectively to achieving.
We can also promote health and wellbeing with improved air quality, while avoiding chemicals that create harmful or toxic emissions.
Can Toucan Eco contribute to WELL or BREEAM-rated buildings?
The simple answer is yes. We spend over 90% of our lives in and around buildings. And these buildings can trap pollutants – such as spray cleaners and VOCs – in the air which then circulates within the building. If there’s little or no ventilation these pollutants will remain within the building for some time.
So, the more we can do to remove the use of airborne pollutants – replacing synthetic chemical cleaners with systems such as Toucan Eco – the better the air quality and the healthier the environment.
As well as pollution, Toucan Eco also neatly aligns with BREEAM’s and WELL’s focus on sustainability in a building’s energy use, waste, transportation, carbon emissions, and healthy attributes.
Does Toucan Eco reduce transportation?
Yes, as the solution is made on demand where it’s used there’s no need to transport the solution from place of manufacture to place of use. And once on-site, as it only uses water and salt, the carbon footprint of generating the combined the solution is minimal.
And while electrolysing, the models do not generate any hazardous gases, and the amount of electricity used to generate a litre of the solution is around 10th of that used to boil a kettle so energy consumption if very low.
Is the solution safe to dispose of?
Yes, it’s safe to pour down drains and reverts to slightly salty water. Or you can pour it into the device and reactivate.
Summing up the parts
Toucan Eco has minimal environmental impact and reduces the use of harmful chemicals and the single-use plastic bottles they are supplied in. There’s also the reduction in energy, oil and carbon needed to make the solution when compared with synthetic chemicals. This means it helps to reduce your carbon footprint and supports plastic waste initiatives.
It doesn’t harm building air quality that cleaners, or customers, work in, live in, or visit, and there’s no need for protective equipment as the solution is non-toxic, and hypoallergenic.
It’s not tested on animals and is vegan-friendly. Once used, the solution reverts to slightly salty water, and can be safely disposed of without any environmental impact.
That’s why it’s revolutionary in the way that it is eco-friendly – and another step towards reducing the amount of toxic chemicals through concentrates, tablet form or alternative ingredients which can still be harmful.
Toucan Eco eSpray
Lets you make a powerful, safe and eco-friendly disinfectant cleaner from just water, ordinary salt and electricity that kills more than 99.99% of germs, including the coronavirus.
Toucan Eco Worktop
Designed for cleaning in the home and smaller workplaces.
It makes one litre of eco-friendly antibacterial multi-surface cleaner in around five minutes.
Toucan Eco Active
Suitable for small to medium-sized facilities, and produces 10 litres of solution in around 15 minutes.
Toucan Eco Active Plus
Suitable for medium sized facilities and one activation, which takes around 40 minutes, produces 20 litres of antibacterial cleaner.
Commercial cleaning has been hugely impacted by Covid-19, with an increase in the use of processes and products that have a detrimental environmental impact by contributing to single use plastic waste, increasing carbon emissions and chemical waste.
But there is a more sustainable way to clean at a commercial scale…
Hive Cleaning, a commercial cleaning company based in London, is one such business that is on a mission to clean sustainably and aims to be the first carbon neutral cleaning company in the industry.
Join us for a new installment of our lunchtime webinar series, hosted by Steve Courtney from Robert Scott. Steve will be joined by Louis Beaumont, managing director at Hive Cleaning and Marc Kemp from cleaning distributor, Futures Supplies.
The panel will discuss the changes faced by cleaning companies, and how innovation and sustainable technology can reduce your carbon footprint and support business development as more companies examine the sustainability of their supply chains.
As Cleaning and Hygiene Suppliers Association Accredited Distributor, Futures Supplies are committed to trading ethically and maintaining standards in the industry and throughout its supply chain.
We are delighted that the Cleaning & Hygiene Suppliers Association has launched an Accreditation Scheme for the Manufacturers of Cleaning Chemicals alongside its already recognised Manufacturing Standards Accreditation Schemes for Soft Tissue, Plastic Refuse Sacks and Industrial Cotton Mops and its Distributor Accreditation Scheme.
This means the CHSA has achieved its strategic ambition of accrediting all members. The combination of the Association’s rigorous Code of Practice and its Accreditation Schemes guarantees its members trade ethically and work hard to maintain standards in the industry.
The existing Chemical Manufacturing members of the CHSA have passed the Scheme audit and are now Accredited. The members of the Scheme as it launches are (in alphabetic order): Bio-Productions, Chemex International, Diversey UK, Eastern Valley Chemicals, Easy Cleaning Solutions, Evans Vanodine International, GoJo Industries, Greyland, Holchem Laboratories, Kitchenmaster NI, Mirius, P&G Professional, Prochem Europe, PVA Hygiene, SC Johnson Professional and Selden Research.
All members of the Scheme have signed a commitment to maintain the highest standards and trade ethically. They have successfully passed an audit, conducted by the CHSA’s Independent Inspector, against that commitment. This includes is a determination on the part of Scheme members to support and facilitate the recycling of the plastic containers holding the cleaning chemicals, initially by including the recycling emblem on the packaging.
The Schemes mean buyers of cleaning and hygiene products can be certain they are trading with an ethical company and that ‘what’s on the box is what’s in the box’. Through its Accreditation Schemes and Code of Practice, the CHSA maintains standards in the industry.
We understand that the Government has put the UK into lockdown and as such want to reassure you and provide an update on what this would mean to our customers.
Futures Supplies team fall under the Government’s definition of ‘key worker’ status as we are directly involved in the distribution of hygiene products.
As such our employees will not be affected by the lockdown and our deliveries and supply chain, who also have key status, will continue to supply you with your hygiene products.
We endeavour, despite these unprecedented times, to remain focused to service our loyal customers and provide the very best customer experience that we can in these difficult circumstances.
