FAQs

It is a Sustainability Audit scheme designed to make the funeral sector more aware of the environment and as a result operate in a more sustainable manner.

It does this through supporting businesses in the private and public sectors as they embark of their environmental journeys.

No, the Greener Globe Funeral Standard does not have members. It is the first and only environmental awards scheme which supports funeral directors, their suppliers and crematoria to transition to more sustainable ways of working, reduce costs and demonstrate to clients the progress being made

• The Bronze Award requires the business to have already adopted an environmental policy or adopt our own ‘Trusted Environmental Policy’.   
• Having demonstrated your commitment to the environment you are now able to move on to the next step, completing the sustainability questionnaire online.
  The Audit has approximately 50 questions for funeral directors and 58 quetions for the trusted suppliers and 80 for crematoria,which looks at the different areas of your business 
• By completing our online audit, you will achieve Silver or even Gold or Platinum Awards, depending on your score.
• Achieving up to 60% of the available marks results in the company receiving the Silver Award.
• Achieving 61% - 80% of the available marks results in the company receiving the Gold Award.
• Achieving more than 80% of the available marks results in the company receiving the Platinum Award.

An environmental policy is a commitment by a business to minimise harms to the environment. It sets out how and in what areas the business will reduce its impact on the environment.

Having an environmental policy, which must be clearly supported by senior management and articulated throughout the workforce, highlights a business’ commitment to sustainability.

Becoming sustainable, in simple terms, is about being able to meet the needs of the present without compromising the future. Using just enough and not being wasteful. Most  businesses will understand that being sustainable, in these terms, is a good thing, as it can reduce energy costs, improve efficiency, lower their business’ carbon footprint, engage staff and enhance their reputation.

Working in a business every day can make it difficult to identify areas of good practice and where improvements can be made. This is where the SAQ comes in. It takes a closer look at every part of your business, allowing you to identify opportunities to make it more sustainable.

No, the process itself isn’t complicated, however, checking how the business is operating is something that often gets forgotten about amidst the day-to-day challenges. The SAQ is completed online, with questions covering all areas of the business in order to identify the items that may have the most environmental impact. Areas covered include both generic and sector specific environmental impacts, taking in parts of the business which are easily overlooked. Identifying problems also creates opportunities for improvement.

The Awards are based on each property from which your business operates.  Our awards consider the environmental impact of each property together with the environmental aspect scores for the operational functions of your business. Funeral Directors, Suppliers and Crematoria each have their own unique audit, designed specifically to cover each aspect of their business  The cost for initial registration of each primary address is £495 and thereafter £425 for annual renewal.

Some Funeral Directors and Suppliers will have primary/head office addresses, on which the awards will be based, along with small ‘Branch Offices’ to enable arrangements/sales to be made locally. In these cases, there is only a small administration fee of £52 to issue your additional premises with an award. This award will mirror the award for your primary premises, which must be attained first. Good News! You will not need to complete the Sustainability Audit for each one of these smaller premises.

Your Greener Globe Funeral Standard Account  is on annual basis and commences when your application and payment is made.  When you have shown your commitment to embrace our Trusted Environmental Policy, or equivalent.you will automatically gain your Bronze Achievement Award.. We recognise that businesses are very busy, therefore there is no time limit within the 12 months in submitting the Environmental Audit. Once this is received, and all answers have been given with required evidence to satisfy our auditors you will earn your next award. Your award will remain until your renewal date.

No, there’s no need to go through the full process every year. You simply need to renew your commitment to our Trusted Environmental Policy or equivalent. And when you submitted your Sustainability Audit, you will have received your bespoke environmental improvement plan from us.  All you need to do, is update this, showing the Improvements you have made together with your new documentary evidence.

We recognise how busy everyone is and for that reason our Environmental Sustainability Audit and gathering your supportive evidence can be completed online and there is no strict time limit.  It does not have to be all done in one go, the information you have entered can be saved ready for when you next log on.  Like with most things we do, it is fair to say that the more time and effort you put into completing the Audit, the more benefits you will gain.

Once you have completed our Environmental Sustainability Audit and our assessors are satisfied, with your answers and documentary evidence, not only will you be issued with your appropriate Achievement Award, you will be issued with your own bespoke Improvement Plan to help you on your journey. It is also fair to say that once you have addressed our questions and gathered the supporting information you will have all your ducks in a row should you wish to take the next step and pursue the ISO14001.

Our unique Wesh Slate Awards are sent to our elite Gold and Platinum Award Holders free of charge.  Each slate award is individually engraved and depicts the Greener Globe Logo, the name of the Awardee and the level of the Award.  For funeral directors/suppliers who have registered a smaller additional premises,which automatically receives the same level of award as their primary premises, additional engraved slates can be purchased if required.  Bronze and Silver Award holders may also purchase Slate Awards.  The cost of each Welsh Slate Award to equal £132 to include engraving and postage.

Here are a couple of easy suggestions on how to evidence your staff are aware of your environmental policy:

• You could put your policy on a wall at your premises and then take a photograph of it on your phone.  Then upload onto your GGFS submission
• You could hold a meeting and show in the minutes that the environmental policy has been adopted, naming those present at the meeting
• You could send an email to all your staff, confirming the adoption of your policy, and then upload to your GGFS submission, showing the names it had gone to.
• If only a small business, you could ask all employees to sign a document, to say they had read and understood the policy

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