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Principles and Policies

Firstly, Ecobee is a co-operative. A co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.

Co-operatives are based on the values of:

  • self-help
  • self-responsibility
  • democracy
  • equality
  • equity
  • solidarity

In the tradition of their founders, co-operative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.


Moreover Ecobee has set out a series of policies governing several key aspects of our principles:

Environmental

Our environmental policy is built on the "3 R's" : Reduce - Reuse - Recylce.

Reduce: We aim to reduce our usage of finite consumable resources by :

  • using renewable electricity for our office
  • using recycled envelopes, paper and card
  • minimising printing
  • minimising appliance usage
  • regularly reviewing new methods of reducing energy consumption

Reuse: Items no longer of use to our organisation are donated to those that can make use of them. This includes computers, printers, telephones and furniture. Items which don't immediately find a home are advertised on Manchester Freecylce.

Recycle: Wherever possible we:

  • recycle our recyclable waste
  • compost our compostable waste
  • use recyclable (and recycled) materials

Social

We are interested in pursuing social projects on both a local and global scale. Ecobee Ltd. is a "not-for-profit" organisation limited by guarantee. This means that any profits are invested back into the company or donated to charitable organisations. Having this policy in place prevents external financial interests having an influence in our activites.

When the company makes any profit we will seek to support charities and the broad range of organisations which make up the social enterprise sector, such as co-operatives and community initiatives.

Employment

We recognise the importance of equal opportunities when applying to work with or for Ecobee. As such we will not unfairly discriminate on any grounds, and explicitly will not discriminate on the basis of:

  • age
  • gender
  • race
  • marital status
  • disability
  • sexuality
  • religion

Human Rights

While working at Ecobee we seek to support the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations in 1948.

The UHDR commits all members of the UN to 'the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights' and is the basis for legally binding international human rights treaties. Human rights advocates worldwide invoke its principles and Amnesty International campaigns for its adoption by business as well as governments.

In line with the UDHR we will not do business with:

  • any government or business which fails to uphold basic human rights within its sphere of influence
  • any business whose links to an oppressive regime are a continuing cause for concern

All our policies are reviewed and ammended regularly. If you have any comments or questions, please let us know.