ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY
2023-25
 

Introduction

This is the environmental strategy of Viikki-speksi ry, which outlines Viikki-speksi ry’s long-term goals for the association’s environmentally responsible activities. Environmental responsibility refers to an individual or community’s effort to act in the best possible way from an environmental perspective, according to the individual or community’s own competence and the opportunities offered by the operating environment. Our environmental strategy follows HYY’s environmental guidelines for organizations[1]. Viikki-speksi ry is committed to adhering to the goals stated in this environmental strategy in its operations.

Environmental manager

Viikki-speksi ry always elects an environmental officer at the change of board of directors, who monitors the implementation of the environmental strategy. The environmental officer prepares an environmental strategy for a period of two years, which is approved by the board of directors of Viikki-speksi ry. The environmental officer advises the association's members when necessary and offers support in making sustainable choices.

Mission

Viikki-speksi minimizes its environmental impact and encourages its members to make more environmentally friendly choices. You can be confident that the activities organized by Viikki-speksi have minimized their environmental impact. We avoid directly burdening nature with our choices and reduce our carbon footprint.

Vision

Viikki-speksi wants to be an organization that operates in the best possible way from an environmental perspective and thus reduces its environmental burden. Viikki-speksi shares its knowledge and expertise on environmental issues in all its activities. We want to inspire our members and stakeholders to make environmentally friendly choices.

Set of values

Our environmental strategy emphasizes sustainable consumption and activities aimed at minimizing consumption. In our operations, we strive to make choices that have the least possible impact on nature and the climate. By choosing environmentally friendly practices, we often also choose a responsible and ethical way of operating, which is one of the most important values of Viikki-speks.

Description of the operating environment

Viikki-speksi ry is a student association whose activities focus on the implementation of an annual musical production. Viikki-speksi's activities can be thought of as being divided into two parts: 1. Activities organised by the association, such as information evenings, events according to the annual calendar and board meetings, and 2. production activities, such as training, name announcement ceremony and performances. When talking about the association, this strategy also refers to production.

The association's environmental burden primarily consists of:

• Membership movement to events organized by the association
• Production logistics, such as the movement of production members and
transporting materials
• Catering and other purchases for association events
• Materials purchased for production use
• and other activities of the association and its members
within the scope of the activity.

The association's membership has grown steadily in recent years, which will increase the association's environmental impact. Therefore, more attention is being paid to compliance with the environmental strategy and the membership is actively informed about it.

Production

Viikki-speksi ry produces a musical production annually. The environmental load of the production consists of organizing and participating in rehearsals and performances. The members travel to rehearsals, there are refreshments at the events, and materials are purchased for the performance.

Facilities and events

Viikki-speksi's primary training and gathering place is the Pupu cluster (Mechelininkatu 3 D, later Pupu). Viikki-speksi uses a lot of the facilities provided by HYY in its activities, but also other places where it trains and gathers. In the future, the association will publish the Environmentally Responsible Participant's Guidelines in connection with events, which remind participants of how to act as environmentally friendly as possible at events.

The use of the facilities and the organization of events are essentially related to waste reduction and recycling, travel to the venue, decoration, and catering, which will be discussed in more detail below.

Food and catering

The use of animal products is not permitted at events, unless there is a specific reason for this, such as avoiding waste. The food served is domestic and responsibly sourced. We reduce food waste by recycling surplus food from events and activities.

Waste reduction and sorting

We strive to minimize the waste generated at events. We do not usually use disposable containers, but rather rent them or members bring their own. Metal, glass, cardboard, paper, biowaste, electrical and electronic waste, and hazardous waste are recycled at events whenever possible. If recycling is not possible at the event location, we take the waste generated to external recycling points whenever possible.

We leave the space in a cleaner condition than it was before. The visit of the Speks people will also not be visible afterwards, for example, in the form of cigarette butts lying around outside.

Energy consumption and emissions

Pupu is located in the center of Helsinki with good transport connections, which makes it easy to get to Pupu by public transport. There are almost no parking spaces in the vicinity of Pupu, which encourages event participants to make even more use of public transport. In the future, we will actively encourage association members to arrive by public transport, bike or walk.

The association meets actively and organizes many different events. The use of the premises creates an environmental burden, for example, from heating and cleaning. There are a limited number of premises suitable for the association's activities, so it is difficult for it to intervene in the room temperature of the premises it uses and whether the electricity used in the premises is sustainably produced. However, when comparing two premises, the one that is more environmentally friendly is primarily chosen.

When choosing a venue, attention is paid to ensuring that the venue is committed to reducing its own emissions and has some kind of environmental strategy. However, when choosing a venue, the main emphasis is on ensuring that it is suitable for Viikki-speks in other respects. The focus is on the environmental friendliness of the venue if two venues have similar characteristics.

Procurement

The products required for production are primarily purchased second-hand and on loan. We also reuse as much as possible materials accumulated from previous years.

However, new materials must also be purchased for production every year. For example, cosmetic products used in make-up are often such that, for hygiene reasons, it is not safe to use products that have been opened for a year. When the need for new materials has been identified and considered, they are primarily purchased from companies' waste materials. If a product must be purchased new, it is primarily purchased from domestic environmentally friendly and sustainable
from suppliers.

In future, more attention will be paid to the recyclability of materials in procurement. The largest purchases are made annually by the staging team, which builds the framework for the performance. Props are made in such a way that they can be reused, sold or recycled completely. Large purchases are also made by the board, which produces events for the association and purchases, for example, overall badges and shirts.

Environmental advocacy and communication

Viikki-speksi ry strives to operate in an environmentally friendly manner and shares its knowledge and expertise with all its stakeholders. The parties sponsoring the production are being selected more carefully. Viikki-speksi ensures that the companies it gives visibility to bear their environmental responsibility.

Viikki-speksi annually donates the proceeds from its hand program to an association that carries out environmentally responsible activities. For many years, this has been the Nature Foundation.

Updating the environmental strategy and monitoring its implementation

The environmental strategy is updated every five years.

The implementation of the environmental strategy is monitored by the environmental manager, who reports to the board on the implementation of the strategy and any challenges related to it. The environmental manager aims to increase the environmental awareness of the members and ensures that the content of the environmental strategy is communicated to the persons responsible for production in particular. In this way, we aim to ensure that environmental issues are taken into account in all our operations.

Reference list

https://blogs.helsinki.fi/hyy-ymp/oppaat/ymparistovaliokunnan-sitsiopas/

https://blogs.helsinki.fi/hyy-ymp/files/2021/02/FIN_Ymparistoohjeistus_taitettu.pdf