Enviro-Mark News Issue 5, July 2009
In this issue:
Editorial
Kristin Flanagan
Hi, I’m Kristin Flanagan, the new Membership Manager at Enviro-Mark®NZ. Our Business Manager, Charlie Bartlett, is currently abroad, so penning this editorial is a good opportunity to introduce myself.
Prior to joining Enviro-Mark I was the Membership Development Consultant at the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce, an organisation with over 3000 members, and I have previously worked in the printing industry. In my new role at Enviro-Mark, I am excited to be working with you, our members, ensuring you can maximise the benefits of taking part and continuing on your Enviro-Mark journeys.
It’s been a busy few weeks so far, getting up-to-speed with our Enviro-Mark programme. I’ve learnt a lot about the achievements of our most successful Enviro-Mark members and enjoyed meeting (and learning alongside) some of you at the recent Bronze, Silver, Gold workshop in Wellington.
My observations so far:
Firstly, the members who progress most rapidly through the five steps of our programme have high-level support for an environmental management system (EMS).
Secondly, many of our successful members haven’t employed experienced environmental professionals – instead they have tasked key members of their team to drive their environmental improvements and provided them with training and opportunities to up-skill using the Enviro-Mark programme and our training workshops.
Thirdly, success drives momentum. Swift initial progress has helped demonstrate the benefits of an EMS to their staff. Even those who are less environmentally-aware can support and take pride in their organisation’s environmental progress.
Finally, our most successful members have a real focus on promoting their impressive environmental credentials. Differentiating your business from your competition is always important – but particularly so in a recession. If you can’t give your customers a compelling reason to buy from you, they will make their purchasing decisions based on price, which is always a difficult way for any business to compete. Standing out from the crowd – and letting your customers know that you are ‘doing the right stuff’ – has never been more important.
In summary, developing a successful EMS needs the visible commitment and support of senior management. This support legitimises the time and effort put in by those driving your EMS; the people who don’t need to be experts but who do need to be trained. It pays to put the effort in early to get runs on the board, and to bring about changes in workplace practices. And you need to market your environmental credentials. Even in an economic downturn, customers want to ‘do the right thing’.
If you are in Wellington please call in and meet me and the team while we are manning the Enviro-Mark stand at the Bizzone Business Expo being held at the TSB Bank Arena from the 22-24 July 2009. And if you are in Christchurch, look out for us at the Convention Centre 5-7 August 2009.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any feedback. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and ideas about how we could improve our processes or programme for you, and to hearing about how the Enviro-Mark programme has helped you and your organisation to reach your EMS goals.
Kristin Flanagan
Enviro-Mark Membership Manager
Enviro-Mark at Bizzone Business Expos
If you’re based in Wellington or Christchurch visit the What’s Happening section of our website for free double tickets (worth $20) to the upcoming Bizzone Business Expos (Wellington 22-24 July and Christchurch 5-7 August).
Kim Kelleher, one of our environmental consultants, will be delivering a presentation as part of the seminar series running at the events, and you can visit our booth to meet us or talk about environmental management. Make sure you fill in an entry form for our prize draw when you call in. You could win one of 6 packs of ecostore products being given away at each expo. ecostore is an Enviro-Mark member, as is its manufacturing division Eco Tech, profiled in this edition of our newsletter.
Our Enviro-Mark booth at the Auckland Bizzone event (27-29 May) proved very popular. Business Manager, Charlie Bartlett (pictured on left), says it was great to catch up with so many of our members and especially to hear how Enviro-Mark was helping them to save money, reduce their environmental footprint and differentiate their businesses in a competitive market.
The winners of the ecostore prize draws at the Auckland event were: Jackie Kairau, Grant Hally (RSM Prince), Dana Stewart (Real N Raw), Anne Pekkala (Bizannbrands), Anis Millwala (Ellipse Spa) and Barbara Pollard.
PrintNZ Partnership
A heightened focus on environmental management by the print and packaging sector has led to a partnership between its industry group, PrintNZ and Enviro-Mark.
“Many of our most successful Enviro-Mark members are printing companies,” says Business Manager, Charlie Bartlett. “One member, Soar Print in Auckland, is saving about $150,000 a year through reductions in resource use and waste. Many print company managers are concerned about health, safety and environmental legal compliance, which Enviro-Mark covers, and they want to grow their business by capitalising on the increasing customer demand for more environmentally responsible printing.”
The partnership will see Enviro-Mark working with PrintNZ to promote the programme to its 700 members.
PrintNZ Membership Co-ordinator, Glenda Keegan, says she is looking forward to promoting Enviro-Mark. “We are not environmental consultants, however we know the printing industry and will be bringing our knowledge together with Landcare Research to assist our members.
“I’m excited about the opportunity of assisting our members. It is such a great programme – it contributes to the bottom line, it’s the right thing to do, gives them a point of difference with regards to others in the industry, and provides a fantastic process.”
Members Update
On the subject of printing companies successfully using Enviro-Mark: congratulations to Craigs Design & Print (Invercargill) for winning a Highly Commended Award at the recent Southland Environment Awards.
Production Manager Brent Hollingworth, (pictured, left, with Tony Phillips who manages the EMS programme) says that having Enviro-Mark Gold certification meant a lot to the judges. “The sweetest part of all is that we achieved this award because of all staff being proactive in the EMS. All it took was a bit of encouragement and giving them ownership, and we certainly saw their attitudes changing over time.”
It was also pleasing to see OfficeMax’s status as the first office products company to achieve Enviro-Mark Diamond certification recognised recently in The Press newspaper.
We would like to welcome some new Enviro-Mark members: Hotchilly Ltd, Wellington Institute of Technology, Xpress Printing Limited and Tru-Test Limited.
Congratulations to these members who have recently been certified:
| OfficeMax | Diamond |
| Orangebox Limited | Gold |
| Stevenson Engineering Ltd | Gold |
| APN Tauranga | Gold |
| Creative Abilities & Associates Ltd | Gold |
| Solution Dynamics Ltd | Gold |
| VT/RNZN Fleet Support Organisation (Alliance) | Gold |
| Stevenson Resources Ltd - Huntly Quarry | Gold |
| Bakels Edible Oils (NZ) Ltd | Gold |
| Civic Contractors Limited | Gold |
| Phonak NZ Ltd | Gold |
| Stevenson Resources Ltd - Drury Quarry | Gold |
| Webstar | Bronze |
Seminar and workshop update
We will have two Enviro-Mark workshops in Christchurch on 19/20 August: the first day will provide an introduction to EMS and will cover the Enviro-Mark Bronze, Silver and Gold certification levels. The second day will focus on the Platinum and Diamond certification levels. There will also be a drop-in session on 20 August, which is a chance to discuss your EMS issues and get some free advice.
The same format of workshops and drop-in sessions will be held in Auckland on 23-24 September and Hamilton on 14-15 October.
Member Profile: Eco Tech Solutions
With a 60% reduction in waste sent to landfill and significant resource savings, Eco Tech Solutions (ecostore’s manufacturing division) is benefiting from a comprehensive Environmental Management System (EMS). General Manager Tony Morpeth discussed the progress with Enviro-Mark Business Manager, Charlie Bartlett.
Why did Eco Tech Solutions decide to focus on its Environmental Management plan?
As ecostore’s manufacturing division, it was important to transparently reflect ecostore’s environmental position. The ‘eco’ space is a very confusing area. A lot of companies pass themselves off as ‘eco’ to the extent that it has been termed in the industry as ‘green-washing’. This is where the Enviro-Mark certification comes in. When consumers see the Enviro-Mark logo they can now make a conscious decision to purchase products knowing that they are supporting a company that truly has people’s health, the environment, and social responsibility at the forefront. The Enviro-Mark Platinum certification removes the confusion for the consumer and adds value to the ecostore brand.
How did you go about that?
We researched all the options available both domestically & internationally. We saw that the Enviro-Mark certification would provide us with everything we were looking for. Their five-step programme provides the platform for us to build off. The conclusion, being Diamond certified, and achieving an ISO 14001:2004 certification would provide international recognition and evidence to global consumers of ecostore’s commitment to robust environmental systems.
You’ve achieved Enviro-Mark Platinum certification now. Tell us about some of the improvements you have made along the way.
We now separate all our rubbish into their various streams: steel, plastic, cardboard which has led to a 60% reduction in waste going to landfill. We schedule all our production so that the primary driver is to minimise our energy use and reduce our water consumption. An example of how we have taken our EMS to the smallest level: we wash & sanitise all our own toilet handtowels, factory cleaning cloths & overalls internally. Re-using all our cleaning cloths over and over is better for the environment. We use environmentally-friendly cleaning detergents – made by us - in the process.
Any other benefits apart from cost savings?
A large number of our staff have told me that through what they have seen at work, they have improved their own recycling habits at home. They are also mentioning how they are influencing their friends’ recycling habits. In short our EMS programme is spreading beyond our own four walls into the wider community, which is fantastic to be a part of.
What are the environmental challenges of operating a manufacturing facility?
To be the leader in their field ecostore has committed to a very progressive research and development programme. ecostore is expanding domestically and internationally, and continually developing new products. For us as their manufacturing facility it is very important we continually review our processes and procedures to ensure our EMS is keeping pace. We need to be very dynamic, as does our EMS.
What challenges to implementing an EMS have you encountered along the way?
As one example: when we were attempting to track where stormwater goes from our car park. We had to communicate with government departments and local councils. This turned what we thought would be a simple process into a rabbit warren! The ‘system’ sometimes doesn’t make it easy to be good. We got there in the end.
What has been the key to your success?
The most important thing was that we knew exactly what we were heading into. We had 100% commitment from our Board members and management. We resourced ourselves appropriately, both financially and with staff dedicated to this process. We also know this is a journey, one of continual improvement, and we are committed to being the best we can be.