Turning good intentions into practical results
Quick climate wins for small businesses
We all have a role to play when it comes to combating climate change in New Zealand. Businesses currently make up around 40% of the country’s energy-related emissions, and while large industrial businesses play a big part in this, there are plenty of ways for smaller businesses that use less energy, to cut down their carbon footprints too.
Emissions reduction is often thought about as something that adds cost, and therefore needs to be balanced against other day-to-day requirements and margins. However, businesses that prioritise being climate-friendly are in fact finding that reducing energy use leads to cost savings, and other benefits.
Where you focus will depend on what kind of business you are. Generally speaking, a business might look at how they transport people or goods, their energy use on-site or in the office, or how sustainability is built into product design. In every case, the first step to running a more profitable climate-friendly business looks the same – it’s about setting the foundations, coming up with a plan and working out your current impact.
Pic’s Peanut Butter is one company that has been focused on sustainability as a way of life since its very beginning. Owner and founder Bruce ‘Pic’ Picot says taking climate action is easier than most people think.
“Purpose is probably the biggest thing, I’d say, and we all have a massive responsibility to make the least impression on the planet as we can,” he reveals.
Pic’s Peanut Butter is now led by Bruce’s stepdaughter, newly minted CEO, Aimee McCammon. McCammon adds that there are two things which go awfully well with turning purpose into practical results.
“Measuring. And always being on the lookout for things we’re not doing right, or that we could do better.”
Pic’s works with environmental consultancy Ekos to measure emissions and follows an emissions reduction plan to help them stay on track. The plan enables Pic’s to continuously make progress on the sustainability front without negatively impacting other business priorities.
Many of the measures and changes made have helped save money. Some of these actions may seem to be ‘common sense’ and relatively small, but the cumulative impact over time adds up. For example, says McCammon, “Reducing water and power wastage saves money. Turning off computers and lights before leaving the building is both simple and effective, and costs nothing while helping the bottom line.”
Larger actions, like switching away from fossil fuels, can have a more obvious impact but require some investment. For example, solar panels on the roof of the Pic’s Peanut Butter premises – an investment of several hundred thousand dollars – reduce the annual power bill by 30 percent, with some sunny Nelson summer days delivering nearly 60 percent of the electricity consumed on that day.
The focus on all things great and small has delivered meaningful results. Water usage is down by 17.5 percent, waste by 34 percent and carbon emissions have dropped 13 percent.
These types of achievements are important to customers, according to recent research by EECA (the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority) which showed that 81 percent of New Zealand consumers want businesses to do more to reduce their environmental impact.
Picot agrees, saying “It’s a matter of faith, to some extent, and we do hope customers appreciate the efforts we make and see it as another good reason for supporting us. But even outside that, being a good corporate citizen is important. We want to reduce our footprint, but we also want to support our community and make Nelson a better place to live.”
Pic’s sustainability efforts are also very important to its own employees, and the culture plays a role in attracting and retaining staff.
“We have an army of young people in the office, and they speak the language, they love the measurement stuff and the toolboxes, they have grown up with a glut of waste and they are determined to hold themselves and others accountable,” says McCammon with pride.
Consciousness and purpose all come down to an approach where every opportunity for improvement is considered, evaluated and if practical, embraced. “Wherever and whenever there is a way to reduce our impact, we take it,” says Picot. “And we look to our employees, our partners and our supply chains for ideas and solutions; if, for example, a carbon-neutral freight company comes along or introduces electric trucks and it fits with us, we’d go for it like a shot.”
It’s an open-minded approach in which everyone is along for a journey – for sustainability, stresses McCammon, is not a destination – infused with the good sense of doing the right thing.
The challenge is a big one by any measure, but when everyone tackles sustainability in bite sized chunks, the combined results are enormous.
Take action
1. Go to Gen Less for help getting started. The business section includes helpful information, tools and stories to inspire and enable positive climate action.
2. Measure your business’s carbon footprint using the Climate Action Toolbox – a free tool for New Zealand businesses.
3. Create an action plan, and track your progress.
Find out more at Genless.govt.nz/for-business