Climate risk Our environmental impact
Linked to climate change is our commitment as a company to reducing our environmental footprint. We’re only ever going to have one planet and we believe we should all be doing our best to preserve it.
We’re committed to being carbon neutral by 2012 but our main focus right now is on reducing CO² emissions. We want to change behaviour, rather than just excuse it - which is why we’ll use carbon credits only when we’ve reduced our footprint as far as possible.
We have identified the major environmental impacts of our business as paper use, air travel, fleet fuel consumption and electricity consumption. We have set targets every year since 2003 to reduce consumption of these resources. (See our progress on the graph below).
Since 2003 we have implemented a range of initiatives to assist us in meeting our targets, including:
- moving to Green Star rated premises (Auckland and Hamilton);
- combining printer, copier and fax functions into single machines to reduce electricity consumption and allow two-sided printing creating more online forms that don't need to be printed;
- getting energy efficient computers and monitors;
- introducing re-usable envelopes for some of our customer documentation and reducing the weight of the paper we print on;
- using recycled paper in our office printers;
- using vegetable-based inks and sourcing our print papers from sustainable forests and environmentally-accredited manufacturers;
- installing nationwide paper recycling and in our major sites we recycle organics, plastic, glass, tin and printer toner cartridges;
- introducing Toyota Prius and Honda Civic hybrid cars to our vehicle fleet;
- installing video conferencing facilities across all our major business centres;
- electing Green Cabs as a preferred taxi provider
- establishing an intranet staff car pooling notice board
- reducing our evening lighting use through day-time cleaning of premises
- buying Meridian Energy carboNZero electricity;
- using environmentally-friendly cleaning products and toilet tissues.
We have also set up an internal volunteer network of staff to support and encourage change and innovation around our sustainability programme. Made up of approximately 80 staff members, being part of the ‘Susty Champs’ gives our people an opportunity to actively participate in change.
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