Case study: Sunbeam Studios

Sunbeam Studios is one of the world’s most sustainable studios, guided by their 8 R’s; Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Rehome, Recycle, Replace, Rot, Respect. Since 2005 they have been exclusively using renewable energy, with sustainability at the heart of all company decisions.

As an example, for 11 years they have only stocked their studios with Belu Water, who give 100% of their profits to Water Aid. In 2018 Sunbeam Studios stopped offering individual water bottles all together, in favour of reusable water cooler bottles. This has eliminated around 3,446 bottles, saving around 744kg of CO2 in the first year.

Their last full sustainability audit, conducted for the year 2018[1], found that the company:

• Saved 15,313 kg Co2 by using renewable energy
• Did not sell or provide anything that contains palm oil
• Did not sell anything in plastic that we could get in other packaging
• Refused plastic or film that is not recyclable in much of their packaging
• Purchased 11,500 organic, non-chemically bleached tea bags

Starting in 2016, Sunbeam Studios began Meat Free Mondays (also offering Meat Free Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays) eliminating around 589 kg of CO2 emissions.

A few of their 2019 noteworthy figures include:

• Recycled 26 LaserJet ink cartridges
• Recycled 15.6 tonnes of waste
• Reduced carbon emissions by 5,400 kg
• Carbon neutralised 57 tonnes of CO2 with the help of Mossy Earth via their Christmas giving
• Moved waste on the river saving an average of 4 lorry movements and saved 52 HGV miles per year, conserving 22 kg of CO2
• Gave their used cooking oil (around 110 litres) to Olleco, who convert it into renewable energy at their biodiesel plant

In reward of their efforts, Sunbeam won the Business Culture Award for 2019-2020 for Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives, largely because of their sustainability initiatives and the impact that it has on the culture and team building.

[1] The 2019 sustainability audit was halted by the COVID-19 lockdown. They will be announcing new initiatives by the end of the year.