Business Action

Conservation Volunteers works with businesses that take climate change seriously and are working at reducing their own emissions.  Together we can develop programs that reach out to the whole community and support Action for Climate Change.

Great examples of Business Action include:

1. BHP Mitsubishi Alliance is supporting an Action for Climate Change tree planting program and school based education campaign around their facility at Dysart, QLD.
2. Vodafone Australia is offering all customers loyalty reward points which customers can use to support Action for Climate Change.
3. Carbon Planet can help you with measuring, managing and minimising your business carbon emissions.  Have your organisation's greenhouse gas emissions audited under an international standard and consider a comprehensive carbon management plan. 

 

                           

         

If you would like to discuss how your business can support take Business Action please contact one of the representatives below –

Phil Harrison	0404 828 901
Ian Smith	0404 828 905
Martin Pepperell	021 966 159 (New Zealand)

Reduce your Business Carbon Emissions

Action for Climate Change supports the following list of actions businesses can easily undertake for little or no cost and significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emisisons www.climatechange.gov.su/greenhousefriendly/index

The actions are listed in priority order - addressing the areas where businesses generate the majority of their greenhouse gas emissions.

Flying & Travel

• Avoid business related air travel where possible and use video conferencing or telephone
• If flying is unavoidable, select flights that are carbon neutral - emissions are offset by Greenhouse Friendly approved abatement activities.
• Visit Carbon Planet's comprehensive flight emissions calculator  
• Cars are a high source of greenhouse gases, so provide incentives and other encouragement for employees to leave their cars at home and use alternative transport, for example walking, cycling and public transport
• Car pooling is a simple way for individuals to save money and conserve energy along the way
• Plan ahead and combine trips, check the routing
• Review your company car fleet for efficiency.  The Green Vehicle Guide helps individuals by rating new Australian vehicles based on greenhouse and air pollution emissions.  By choosing a greener vehicle, you can make a real difference.  www.greenvehicleguide.gov.au
• Provide driver training conducted with a focus on awareness of fuel efficiency and safety issues
• Maintain vehicles properly with regular servicing

Energy

• Switch to green energy suppliers www.greenelectricitywatch.org.au
• Turn off lights and unused electrical appliances at the wall, for example computers, photocopiers, printers, faxes etc. - many appliances use electricity even when they're not doing anything
• Invest in energy efficient electrical appliances and equipment
• Lighting represents around 25% of emissions from the commercial sector, energy savings can be easily made by replacing inefficient incandescent lights with more cost effective and energy efficient alternatives including compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) which use only 20% of the electricity to produce the same amount of light
• Utilise Greenhouse Friendly products and services - businesses which have certified their products and services as Greenhouse Friendly are investing in greenhouse gas reduction initiatives to provide Australian consumers with greenhouse-neutral products and services  www.climatechange.gov.au/greenhousefriendly

Heating and Cooling

Don't overheat or overcool your office.  A difference of one degree can reduce energy consumption and greenhouse pollution by up to 10%.

• Set the temperature as low for heating and as high as you can for cooling
• Only heat or cool rooms being used
• Make sure heating or cooling does not come on unnecessarily in an empty building
• Encourage employees to dress for the weather
• Ensure the office is well insulated and drafts are blocked
• Keep the thermostat away from draughts or hot and cold spots as these will all affect the temperature and automatically increase operation costs
• Maintain equipment properly and regular servicing

Refrigeration

The fridge uses a lot of energy and the older your fridge is, the higher the probability that it will be a big polluter.  Simple actions you can make that will save you up to half a tonne of greenhouse gases include:

• Set the thermostat correctly.  Fresh food compartments should be set at around 4C to 5C and freezers should be set between -15C and -18C
• When taking things out of the fridge/freezer open the door as little as possible
• Keep the fridges and freezers in a cool, well ventilated spot, away from the oven and sun

Rubbish - reduce, reuse, recycle

• Use recycled paper (including toilet paper) and vegetable-based inks for printing
• Move any communications, billing, expense systems from paper-based to online - consider the environment before printing
• Utilise double-sided printing where possible and re-use paper as scrap paper before recycling it
• Ensure printer cartridges are recycled
• Introduce recycling facilities at convenient points throughout the office
• Purchase products with reusable packaging and avoid products that are excessively packaged