By Sam Reynolds, quality and sustainability manager, In Kind Direct
Sustainability isn’t just for the corporate world! It’s becoming a vital part of how charities can deliver long-term impact. But where do you start when time, budget and capacity are already stretched? At In Kind Direct, we’ve been learning as we go, exploring our environmental impact and making changes where we can. Our journey has been far from perfect, but we’d love to share with you what we’ve learnt along the way.
Start with the simple — it really does make a difference
When it comes to sustainability, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale of the challenge. But we quickly learnt that practical, low-cost changes can have a meaningful impact.
We are a UK charity distributing the products donated by quality brands and companies that every person, home and local organisation needs and so one of the key areas we focus on is logistics.
We began therefore by looking at our warehouse operations. One of our first major steps was cutting out single-use plastic wherever possible. One of our more successful initiatives is that we now shred the cardboard we receive our donated products in and repurpose it as packing filler. A simple change that saved us from using 2,777m² of bubble wrap last year alone (the size of 10 tennis courts!).
Shout about your achievements, no matter how small they seem
You may be further along than you realise. Many charities already embed sustainable practices through reuse, resource sharing, or waste reduction, even if they’re not labelling it as ‘sustainability’. By sharing what we’re doing, whether it’s a pilot project, a change in process, or even just a lesson learnt, we not only aim to inspire others, but also hold ourselves to account. It creates visibility, builds momentum, and encourages us to keep going.
Use your networks to share ideas, data, and best practice
Unlike the corporate world, we’re not trying to outpace each other, we’re working towards shared goals. Sustainability is one area where collaboration lifts the whole sector. When one organisation finds a better way to reduce waste, cut emissions, or embed climate justice, others can learn and benefit too. We’ve found huge value in informal chats, visiting charities in our network to see sustainability in action, shared resources, and honest conversations with peers – it’s often where the best practical insights emerge!
Whatever your size or starting point, we’d always recommend calculating your emissions for the previous year as a first step. This will help you establish a baseline, identify where your biggest impacts lie, and set realistic, measurable targets for reduction. It doesn’t need to be perfect, just consistent and honest.
A few practical tips for getting started
- Use the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Scope 1, 2 and 3 framework as your guide. It’s the most widely used standard and allows for comparison across organisations. It also helps you understand where your emissions sit — from things you control directly to those further along your supply chain. Positive Planet has a helpful explainer that breaks down Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions in clear, accessible terms
- Start with your Scope 1 and 2 emissions. These cover direct emissions from gas use (Scope 1) and indirect emissions from purchased electricity (Scope 2). You can usually find this data on your energy bills or from your energy provider
- Scope 3 emissions (your supply chain and other indirect impacts) are more complex, and that’s okay. Begin with a spend-based approach, just from the categories you can manage. Categorise your organisation’s spending from the previous year and apply standard emissions factors to each category (there are many online tools to help with this, such as two fantastic tools from the SME Climate Hub, dependant on the size of your organisation). It’s fine if it’s not perfect, but it gives you a working estimate and a starting point for improvement
- Be transparent about assumptions and limitations. It’s better to publish a reasonable estimate with clear caveats than to avoid the exercise altogether
- Use available tools to simplify the process. There are free and low-cost tools designed for charities and SMEs, including emissions calculators and Excel-based templates
- Don’t let perfection get in the way of progress. Calculating your emissions for the first time is about direction, not precision. Once you’ve got your baseline, you can refine your methods in future years
To help us stay focused and accountable at In Kind Direct, we developed a simple environmental metric that we now track monthly as part of our KPIs. Rather than trying to measure everything at once, we chose a few higher-emission areas that we could reliably monitor: energy use, incoming and outgoing transport emissions from our warehouse, waste, and business travel.
We calculate the combined emissions from these sources and track them per 1,000 product orders we despatch. This allows us to monitor our environmental impact in relation to the growth in product volumes we are distributing, and ensures sustainability stays part of our operational decision-making, not just an annual report.
Looking ahead
Our latest Impact Report, just released, marks a milestone for us as it’s the first time we’ve embedded environmental sustainability into impact reporting. From carbon footprint estimates to how we support circular economy principles, we’re beginning to paint a bigger picture of what responsible impact looks like.
We’re still learning. But we’re more confident than ever that sustainability strengthens, rather than complicates, our mission.
You don’t have to do everything at once. But every step you take helps build a stronger, more resilient sector, and a healthier planet. If you’re just starting out or feel stuck, know that even a small pivot can open new opportunities.