Domiciliary care has an environmental footprint that's easy to overlook — from fleet vehicles covering thousands of miles each week to the PPE and single-use supplies that are part of safe care delivery. Here's how Warren Homecare is tackling it.
Why Sustainability Matters in Home Care
When people think about the environmental impact of the care sector, hospitals and care homes tend to come to mind first. But domiciliary care agencies like Warren Homecare have a significant footprint too. Our carers travel to clients' homes across Suffolk, Bristol and Wiltshire every day — that's thousands of vehicle miles each week. Add in the PPE, single-use gloves and aprons required for safe infection control, the electricity powering our offices, and the paper that care planning has traditionally consumed, and the numbers add up.
We believe that providing quality home care and protecting the environment aren't competing priorities. The same principles that drive good care — being thoughtful, reducing waste, planning efficiently — also drive good environmental practice. That's why we've committed to reaching Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050, in line with the UK government's legally binding target under the Climate Change Act 2008.
What Net Zero Means for a Care Agency
Net Zero means reducing our greenhouse gas emissions as close to zero as possible, and offsetting any remaining emissions through verified carbon removal projects. For a domiciliary care agency, the biggest sources of emissions fall into three categories: direct emissions from our fleet vehicles and office heating (Scope 1), indirect emissions from the electricity we purchase (Scope 2), and wider supply chain emissions including staff commuting, purchased goods and waste disposal (Scope 3).
We're measuring our baseline emissions across all three scopes so that we can set meaningful reduction targets and track our progress year on year. Transparency matters — we'll report on our progress publicly.
Our 3-Phase Decarbonisation Strategy
We've structured our approach into three phases. In the short term (2024–2030), we're focusing on the changes we can make right now: transitioning to paperless care planning through our digital care management system, conducting energy audits of all our offices, switching to renewable electricity tariffs, implementing green procurement policies, reducing single-use plastics where safe alternatives exist, and promoting carpooling and cycle-to-work schemes for our staff.
In the medium term (2030–2040), we'll begin transitioning our fleet to hybrid and electric vehicles, improving building insulation and installing smart thermostats and LED lighting across our premises, and working with local authorities and suppliers to decarbonise our supply chain. Our target is a minimum 50% reduction in operational emissions by 2040.
In the long term (2040–2050), we're aiming for full conversion of our fleet to zero-emission electric vehicles, renewable energy generation on our own premises through solar panels, and offsetting any remaining unavoidable emissions through verified UK-based carbon offset schemes such as woodland planting and peatland restoration.
What We're Doing Right Now
Sustainability commitments are only meaningful if they translate into action. Here's what's already underway at Warren Homecare: our care planning, scheduling and record-keeping are now digital — reducing paper consumption significantly across all three of our offices in Mildenhall, Bristol and Chippenham. We've moved to renewable electricity tariffs for our office premises. Our procurement policy now favours suppliers with demonstrable environmental credentials. And we're actively reviewing our PPE supply chain to identify safe, reusable alternatives where infection control standards allow.
We've also begun educating our care staff on energy conservation and sustainable travel choices. Small changes — like combining travel routes more efficiently, switching off lights in clients' homes when leaving a room, and reducing engine idling — add up across a team that delivers hundreds of care visits every week.
How This Benefits Our Communities
Our offices are in Suffolk, Bristol and Wiltshire — and these are the communities that benefit most directly from our sustainability efforts. Fewer vehicle emissions mean cleaner air in the towns and villages where our clients and carers live. Reduced waste means less pressure on local waste services. And by supporting UK-based carbon offset projects like woodland planting, we're contributing to environmental improvements in the areas we serve.
Our approach aligns with Suffolk County Council's Environment Strategy, the NHS Greener Plan, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals — particularly SDG 13 (Climate Action). We see ourselves as part of a wider effort across the care sector and the communities we operate in.
Read Our Full Plan
This blog post is a summary of our commitment and approach. For the full details — including our emissions scope breakdown, phased targets, key objectives and stakeholder engagement strategy — visit our dedicated Climate Change Initiative page.
Sustainability isn't a one-off project — it's a permanent part of how we operate. We'll continue to update our approach as technology improves, regulations evolve and new opportunities emerge. If you have questions about our environmental commitments, we'd love to hear from you.
View our Climate Change Initiative