Sustainable business experts Envirowise are encouraging businesses to put carbon reduction higher on their management agenda by adopting cleaner design principles.

The call comes as measures to cut the nation's collective CO2 emissions are being ramped-up in the UK via the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme, which opens for registrations on 1st April.

Free, practical advice is being made available to help companies become more carbon literate through more effective use of cleaner design, which can help to significantly reduce both raw material and energy use.

A live webinar is being held on the 17th February at 10.00am featuring talks from Envirowise eco-design specialists. The session - which is open to Nottingham businesses of all sizes and sectors - will focus on carbon as a measure of a company's environmental performance. Live demonstrations from case study companies including Canon and Paladone Products will demonstrate how they made changes themselves and harnessed the benefits of 'clean' design.

Envirowise Regional Manager for East Midlands, Richard Thompson, says: "With carbon issues now consistently in the news headlines, businesses are increasingly sitting-up and taking notice by analysing their own impact and taking steps to minimise this. However, many have still not yet considered cleaner design as a tool in their armoury.

"This is also a very sustainable way for businesses to get up-to-date. For example, by attending this webinar online instead of driving to a London-based event a local business could be saving as much as 77kg of CO2."

The Envirowise webinar is being supported by a video series of interactive design stories illustrating how UK businesses have used eco-design to reduce the environmental impact of products and packaging. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited talk about the PlayStation 3, 3M demonstrate their protective packaging, Vivid Imaginations Limited discuss how Envirowise helped reduce their packaging and ICI Paints AkzoNobel introduce their new range of eco-paints.

"Feedback we have had from businesses suggests that senior management are still reluctant to put the topic of cleaner design on the boardroom agenda," continues Richard. "So to help designers and manufacturers in particular secure the support they need from their management team, we have created a suite of compelling video case studies that can be used as part of presentations or proposals.

"We would also encourage teams to involve senior management in our live Webinar which will demonstrate how to incorporate eco design into a company's everyday work ethic as part of a wider low carbon strategy. We know from experience that companies could save up to £1,000 per employee per year by taking formal action to reduce waste."

Chris Wiggins, European Business Development Manager at 3M, who contributed an interactive design story to the Envirowise website, says: "We have been using Envirowise's Pack-in tool quite extensively, which is very useful for comparing the current footprint of packaging with what we are offering. We actually steer a number of our multinational clients to the Envirowise website, whether they're UK based or not."

To view the Interactive Design Stories or register for the Webinar on 17th February please visit www.envirowise.gov.uk/webinar or call the Envirowise Advice Line free on 0800 585794.