Buying pre-loved items is becoming increasingly popular, spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and a better awareness of its environmental benefits.

So, you’ve had a lightbulb bulb moment on how you think you can improve sustainability in your organisation. It might be a new idea, or a way to enhance an existing reuse project.

There has been an upsurge in discarding hospital textile and fabric-covered chairs and soft furnishings, with many health organisations opting to use wipeable furniture that more easily meets infection control policies and procedures.

A newsletter is a brilliant way to build trust with the right people, get them involved with your reuse project, and spread the word.

Whether you want staff to adopt reuse and sustainability practices, improve the image of your department, demonstrate procurement value, or shout about your reuse achievements, cultivating an authentic connection using a regular, well-produced newsletter can help you communicate your key messages to the right people. 

Below we explain how to get started with a newsletter, and how it can help reach your behaviour change, culture change, and influence targets.

As a free download at the end you'll get:

• 16 top tips. Don't make the mistakes we did.
• Newsletter strategy plan. Understand where you are going and how to get there.
• Newsletter action plan. Each time you do a newsletter use this action plan to help.

Why bother?

You're probably trying to bring change within your organisation, encourage reuse, and share details of your project successes, and how to get involved. You want to make things better, improve processes, and make your organisation more sustainable.

To do that you need to communicate your objectives in a palatable, persuasive way on a regular basis to as many relevant people as possible. 

People are positively influenced by other people that they know and trust. We have talked about this in the past.

A newsletter is a brilliant way to target your reuse messages and calls to action to those that matter, and cut through the noise of other news from your organisation. If you do it right, it'll require minimum time input for maximum impact.  

The University of Glasgow is on track to hit a million pounds in financial savings as it enters its eighth year using the Warp It redistribution system.

The university has recorded total savings of £929,740 and has stopped at least 3,959 items from going to landfill since it joined Warp It in 2014. Now it has set a target to reach one million pounds by the end of 2022.

The Warp It redistribution system has seen a surge in membership renewals during the last three months, highlighting the ongoing value of reuse and sustainability for many organisations.

Over 30 organisations, including local authorities, NHS Trusts, colleges, and universities in the UK and abroad, have renewed their commitment to ensure office furniture, fixtures and fittings, equipment, uniforms, and many other items are rehomed rather than sent to landfill.

You work hard and achieve great reuse results. But do the right people know about it? Do you stand out in the crowd?

A professionally-crafted and well-executed promotional campaign will do wonders for the success of your reuse project. 

Laboratories often produce vast amounts of waste, due to frequent personnel turnover, lab moves, and changing research needs.