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Saving money, and the planet
Last month I was among a lucky group of
community and business leaders who heard in
Christchurch how we can help save the earth and
also save money. The Redesigning Resources conference here was
a far cry from the normal run-of-the-mill talkfest
where ideas are in huge supply and actual
achievements are rare. This conference was more
of a “donefest”, where
people and groups who
made a commitment to
sustainable change two
years ago reported
back on how they were
going and what they
had done. The Christchurch City
Council was one of
eight pilot groups that
had made the earlier
commitment to move
toward a more
sustainable way of
doing things. In coming months I will talk about some of these
achievements in more detail. The other pilot groups were Orion, The
Warehouse, Untouched World, the Recovered
Materials Foundation, the Shire of Yarra Ranges
(Australia), Macpac, and Landcare Research. Importantly, the Canterbury Employers
Chamber of Commerce was a co-host of the
event. The Chamber’s role was evidence that
Christchurch business leaders are taking a positive
leadership role toward developing a more
sustainable way of doing business
It showed that at this stage of the new century
the best way forward toward building a more
sustainable way of life for us all looks likely to
come from a loose alliance of business, the
community and local and central government. It is, I believe, a hugely important point. While householders have a major role to play in
reducing household waste, the reality still is that
the major producers in this area remain
businesses of various shapes and sizes. Some
businesses are not only showing tangible support
Of equal importance
for us all, I think,
for real sustainable development, they are taking
major lead roles in showing us how it can be
done. They are also often showing that, along the way,
major savings can be made. One of the guest speakers, via video
conferencing from the United States, was Ray
Anderson, the head of Interface USA. Interface is
the world’s top
commercial flooring
manufacturer. Ray started his business
empire in the normal way
until he discovered the
huge ecological and
environmental costs of
doing business that way. He has since embarked on
a mission to make
Interface a sustainable
corporation by leading a
global effort to pioneer
and achieve sustainable
development. His company has customers in 110 countries. It has manufacturing plants on four continents. This massive organisation has been making huge
efforts to move away from ecologically damaging
ways of working and into more earth-friendly
ways of doing business. And, while it has still got a long way to go,
Interface has already stacked up savings of over
US$100 million a year by cutting down on waste
and other polluting ways. Ray Anderson has helped pioneer a way of
improving profit while improving the global
ecosystem. He has a complete and overwhelming
commitment to both saving and improving the
health of our planet. As you may have guessed by now he was a
hugely inspiring and motivating speaker. Even more surprising to those who like to
cherish their prejudices was the presence of the
regional president of BP for South Asia and
Australasia, Greg Bourne
Greg told us how BP has broken ranks with
some in the oil industry and not only agreed
publicly that global warming is an issue but also
gone on to an action plan that aims to help
reduce the problem. This includes such tangible actions as turning
increasing numbers of their petrol stations over to
solar power generation and a huge research and
development programme for solar and alternative
fuel development. Several of their newer stations in Christchurch
are already solar-powered, saving hundreds of tons
of various non-renewable resources each year. It was inspiring to see a major executive of a
leading fossil fuel company show such a strong
corporate commitment toward steering their
company in a more sustainable direction. Possibly it was earlier examples such as this that
prompted Untouched World founder and head
Peri Drysdale to say of the first Redesigning
Resources conference that it had led to a huge
shift in her thinking about sustainability.
It had moved her from regarding the issue as
“this is someone else’s problem” to “this is my
problem’’. Of equal importance for us all, I think, this
conference has also given us the strong lesson that
the problem is not beyond us if we work together
to develop workable solutions. Finally, perhaps the most important message of
all from the conference was that it pays to leave
your prejudices at the door if you really want to
help build a more sustainable world. |