Awards get meritorious response

The Target Zero merit awards have been well received by Christchurch’s business community and look set to become a regular feature on the Christchurch City Council’s calendar.

The awards recognise continuous development by businesses toward sustainability, and have been presented to 13 Christchurch-based companies.

City Council resource efficiency senior advisor Jim Watt says the awards are for businesses doing environmental things well.

“The awards are for recognition and give companies the encouragement to go even further,” he says.

One recipient of a Target Zero merit award was Fulton-Hogan. Services manager Dave Warman says the awards are a worthwhile exercise but are not the reason the company has gone down the environmental path.

“It wasn’t the awards that sent us down this trail, and in fact some of the things we have done like waste management and energy conservation had been passed to higher levels before the awards and implemented in other parts of the organisation,” he says.

“We certainly, however, get self-satisfaction out of getting this award though.”

No over-all excellence accolade was presented at the award ceremony.

The reasoning for this, Mr Watt says, “is because there are so many companies doing good things that need recognition too.”

Mr Warman agrees and says, “I don’t think there should be an overall excellence award. If there was, it would probably go to the biggest company with the most money and that is not what it is about.

“If it became very competitive we would probably just do our own thing. The awards had to start somewhere and I think it was done the right way.”

More than 20 companies were visited in the judging process and those who missed out on awards will certainly have the chance to impress judges next year.

“In fact it may even be sooner than next year. We don’t see why we can’t do this every six months,” Mr Watt says.

Merit award recipients: Amcor Cartons, Antarctica NZ, Canterbury Carton Company, Christchurch Engine Centre, Christchurch Polytech Institute of Technology, Fulton Hogan Canterbury, Ngai Tahu Fisheries – Lobster Plant, Orana Wildlife Trust, PMP Print, Telecom NZ, Viscount Plastics, Wickliffe Limited and YHA.