Green exercise will also trim fat
Until recently I hadn’t heard of Hinewai Reserve, and nor, I suspect, have a lot of people. No surprises, perhaps, because it’s a small block of land on Banks Peninsula, and known mostly to trampers and botanists.
In pre-human times it was covered in forest, though that was cleared after Europeans arrived.
But what up till 1987 was a 109-hectare block of farmland and gorse is now 1230ha of regenerating native bush that is home to bellbirds, tomtits, kereru and tui. And it’s criss-crossed by tracks that allow tourists and scientists from around the world to study the flora and fauna and undertake research projects.
So what’s so great about Hinewai Reserve that can’t be found in many parts of New Zealand? Not a lot, except it’s a great example of how we can enhance the environment by turning grass and gorse back into trees and birds.
And through the trust that runs it, it’s also where Business Central and the Wellington Chamber of Commerce put money to buy carbon credits to offset our carbon emissions.
In short, Hinewai isn’t about just biodiversity, erosion control, water quality and native birds – it’s also about sequestering carbon to help combat climate change.
Our organisation was awarded carboNZero certification in September after an audit judged us to be managing and reducing our emissions, and neutralising unavoidable emissions.
The audit was instigated by several factors: first, because as part of the Resilient Wellington group and our links with the Sustainable Business Council, we have an obligation to practice what we preach on sustainability; second, because many of our members are now putting more emphasis on sustainability and our job is to support them; and, probably most importantly, because it seemed the logical and right thing to do.
An audit company examined what we spent where and with
A bonus from the audit was that we also identified where we could make cost savings.
whom, and talked to key staff. It looked at our ‘‘paperless office’’, how much waste went to landfill, the size of our car, how often we flew to meetings, the carbon rating of the taxi firm we used, our electricity usage g … everything.
Besides awarding certification, it identified what we could reduce: air travel, electricity usage, mileage, and waste.
We expect that over the coming year we will reduce significantly our footprint of 49 tonnes of CO2. Our investment in Hinewai Reserve will help to ensure that.
A bonus from the audit was that we also identified where we could make cost savings.
What about other Wellington businesses? As the Sustainable Business Council points out, companies of all sizes are expected to be part of the solution, and being carbon zero is a big part of that.
There are many benefits, as highlighted in the council’s 2016 Business Case for Sustainability, including:
Customers and suppliers demanding better understanding of where goods and services are from and how they are made;
Sustainability helps attract, retain and engage staff; and
Sustainable credentials can lead to better access to domestic contracts and overseas markets. On the other hand, the risks of doing nothing are growing. Among them: Consumers could switch to more sustainable brands; it’s harder to attract investments and compete in bids and tenders if there is a lack of sustainability ‘‘cred’’; inefficient resource use could lead to missed cost savings.
I can personally recommend the carboNZero exercise. The small cost is far outweighed by the longterm rewards – and knowing you are doing the right thing by the environment.
John Milford is the chief executive of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce.