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SIGnals Issue Ten

November 2007, INFO 234

Welcome to this issue of SIGnals, the Ministry for the Environment's e-newsletter linking you to information about the world of sustainable business.

SIGnals contains updates, tools, resources and case studies focused on helping industry compete and grow sustainably.

If you have any questions, comments, or want to have your name added or removed from the mailing list email signals@mfe.govt.nz or phone (04) 439 7400.

We hope you enjoy the read!

In this issue...

The Business of Sustainable Design

The Designers Institute of New Zealand (DINZ) national conference on sustainable design could be a tipping point for sustainable design in New Zealand.  On Friday October the 5th,over 200 designers, businesses and others attended the conference to get a better understanding of sustainable design and what it means for designers.

Alasdair Fuad-Luke, sustainable design consultant, facilitator, lecturer and writer, provided attendees with an excellent overview of sustainability and its implications for designers. 

Sustainable design has two main elements.  The first element is ‘eco design’ which looks at the environmental impacts of products and services and considers how improvements can me made through redesign.  Eco design includes things such as reducing the amount of waste produced or energy used in production, or considering if the product can be designed so that it can be dismantled and recycled after use. 

The second element is ‘sustainable design’.  Sustainable design is about understanding why the product or service is being created and how it will be used.  Once this is understood a new product or service is created to meet the required need.  The new product or service considers the whole life cycle and the environmental, social and cultural impacts of the development of the product or service.

Very thought provoking presentations by David Trubridge and Martin Hill compelled the audience to consider the implications of sustainability and their responsibility as designers.  Both David and Martin emphasised the importance of designing for sustainability and the challenges they themselves face. 

The audience was also exposed to a number of agencies and businesses who are already working in the sustainable design field.  This included organisations like the Green Business Council, Sustainable Business Network, Environmental Choice and the Ministry for the Environment.  Companies who presented what they have achieved included Methven, Formway, Design Mobel and Interface Carpets.

The question now is whether designers will accept the challenge to incorporate sustainability into their thinking.  Sustainable design is a great opportunity, a chance to be creative and challenge existing standards and conformities.  Sustainable design is about something new.

The Ministry for the Environment and DINZ with other sustainable design experts and support organisations will now discuss how to support designers in embracing the sustainability challenge and brining sustainable design to life.

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And the award goes to…

Recognising government leadership at the Govt3 awards

The Govt3 Awards, which recognise good sustainable practice in government, were presented by the Prime Minister on 10 October at Parliament.

Trophies for winning and highly commended entries recognised achievements in eight categories ranging from transport and office consumables to staff participation and leadership.

“The Govt3 programme is all about the government walking the talk on sustainability, and it has been a trailblazer for the Prime Minister’s package of sustainability initiatives announced in February. These awards demonstrate that the government is truly leading the way towards a sustainable New Zealand,” said David Parker, Acting Minister for the Environment.

Past award-winner, the Inland Revenue Department, was again successful, winning the Recycling/Waste Minimisation award for reducing waste sent to landfill over the last year by 76,000 kg. It also won the large-agency award for Engaging Staff in Govt3.

The Ministry for Science, Research and Technology (MoRST) won the small-agency staff engagement award for its innovative approach. MoRST was also successful in the Leadership in Govt3 category for the work of its ’Govt3 Ninjas’ in initiating a recycling system and a new energy policy.

Another big winner was the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC). Their success in achieving sustainable procurement outcomes took top honours in the Sustainable Procurement Practice category. They also won the Leadership in Govt3 award for large agencies for their systematic approach across many areas of sustainability.

The Ministry for the Environment and Victoria University were nominees for the first time, with the Ministry taking home the award for Office Consumables and Equipment. New Zealand Police was another first-time winner for the new Manukau Police Station, which was built using sustainable design principles.

Other winners were Housing New Zealand and the Department of Corrections. Antarctica New Zealand was one of 10 highly commended nominees for leadership on sustainability at Scott Base.

These achievements were made possible not only by the hard work of the Govt3 representatives in each of the agencies, but also by the businesses that supplied the greener products and services.  Examples include the waste contractors who collect recycling and composting waste, the manufacturers of sustainable paper and other office consumables, the architects and engineers that incorporated sustainable features into building design, and the companies that manufacture the energy efficient fixtures and fittings that reduce the impact on the environment.

Fifty agencies are now members of the Govt3 programme, which started in 2003.

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2007 NZI National Sustainable Businesses Awards

Design Mobel is New Zealand’s Sustainable Business of the Year, after winning the top award at the 2007 NZI National Sustainable Business Awards. Design Mobel are designers and manufacturers of contemporary flexible slat beds, mattresses and bedroom furniture. Contact Energy, BeesOnline, YHA Wellington City, Starfish, Fumes TV were also winners in their individual award categories.

The NZI National Sustainable Business Awards, held at Auckland’s War Memorial Museum, celebrated those businesses making outstanding progress towards sustainability with Prime Minister Helen Clark on hand to congratulate winners.   

The Prime Minister announced at the Awards a $750,000 grant for the Sustainable Business Network (SBN). The extra funding for the Network comes from the government’s new Business Partnerships for Sustainability initiative and runs over three years. 

“The Government’s preference is to build on existing sustainable business support programmes. The Sustainable Business Network provides such programmes. It is a member-based forum, where businesses can learn about new ideas and share experiences,” the Prime Minister said.

“The Network’s track record in delivering practical advice on sustainability to business is excellent. About 600 businesses have signed up with it already, and its flagship programme, the Get Sustainable Challenge, is thriving.”

Entries for the 2007 Awards were received from over 150 entrants representing a wide range of business sizes operating in diverse industries from all over New Zealand. To qualify, each of the finalists completed SBN’s Get Sustainable Challenge, subsequently entered the SBN awards and won the category awards in their region.

SBN’s Get Sustainable Challenge begins with an assessment of business practices, commitment to sustainability, how the business uses and produces resources, future planning, business systems and relationships. SBN represents more than 600 businesses, from SMEs, consultants, research and academic staff, through to large businesses and corporations.

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Formway Furniture win Sustainable Design Award

Formway Furniture won the Sustainable Product Design Award at the 2007 Best Design Awards held on the 5th October at the Aotea Centre in Auckland.  The Best Design Awards are held annually by the Designers Institute of New Zealand (DINZ) and are the major awards celebrating graphic, spatial and product design best practice in the domestic design community.

Formway won the Sustainable Product Design Award because they demonstrated that stylish, smart product design can go hand in hand with sustainable principles.  Formway’s ‘Met Adapt’ office furniture range is made from materials which have less impact on the environment and are recyclable. Its designers also considered the amount of energy used in production, and the disposal of the product at the end of its life.

Formway placed sustainability on a level footing with other design considerations, resulting in a new product with sustainability at its core.  Formway has used sustainability to drive innovation in processes, materials and business models resulting in a truly sustainable product. 

New Zealand’s first eco-coffin, designed by Holdsworth Design, also won an award. The coffin uses a minimum of materials which are bio-degradable and non-toxic. The eco-coffin demonstrates how consumers are changing and demanding more sustainable products.  The development of this eco-coffin, and many other sustainable products, is giving consumers more environmentally friendly options which will makes it easier to make sustainable choices.

The Sustainable Product Design Award is in its second year and recognises, celebrates and encourages the significant efforts being made in the area of sustainable product design.  There has been an increase in entrants within this category this year, plus sustainability and the environment were mentioned by a number of applicants across all product categories.  This is the second year, the Ministry for the Environment has supported the Best Design Awards, and in particular, the Sustainable Product Design Award.

For more information, please visit www.bestawards.co.nz

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Recycling in Public Places initiative

As part of the government’s sustainability programme, the Ministry for the Environment, in partnership with local government, will start the roll out of recycling collection facilities in public places throughout New Zealand.  With more than 80 per cent of Kiwis now recycling from their homes, the intention of the initiative is to give New Zealanders an opportunity to continue their good practice by providing recycling facilities in high foot traffic public places.

The Ministry will be working with four councils throughout New Zealand on a pilot of the recycling initiative.  These councils will be announced by the Government later this month.  Publicity, education and data collection will all be used to assess the information from the pilot. The roll out to more council will continue over the next two years with Ministry support and is expected that councils will have plans in place to continue the programme past 2010.

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eDay diverts e-junk from landfills

Nearly 300 tonnes of old computer equipment and mobile phones will be recycled or re-used thanks to New Zealand’s first national eDay.

More than 26,000 computer items were dropped off at 12 locations around the country on 29 and 30 September. Most of this would otherwise have ended up in landfills.

National eDay organiser Laurence Zwimpfer, of Computer Access New Zealand (CANZ), said the response was ‘phenomenal,’ adding: “I think we’ve helped raise New Zealand’s awareness of the dangers of dumping electronic waste in landfills.”

E-waste contains toxic materials such as lead and mercury, and world-wide it is the fastest-growing form of waste being sent to landfills. This poses a potential toxic hazard for people, animals and the environment.

The old computers and mobile phones will either be refurbished and re-used or disassembled and the recyclable materials extracted, such as copper, some plastics, and steel.

eDay 2007 was supported nationally by CANZ, the Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry of Education, 2020 Communications Trust, Divers Group, Remarkit, TES-AMM, and Dell. It followed a successful Wellington-only pilot supported by Dell in 2006.

Mr Zwimpfer said the organisers were keen to support additional communities who want to get involved next year, and a number of regions had already expressed interest.

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Emissions Trading Scheme

The recently announced emissions trading scheme aims to help reduce emissions, encourage and support global action on climate change, and put New Zealand on the path to sustainability.

Government proposes to introduce an emissions trading scheme after consultation showed that businesses preferred this to other greenhouse gas reduction alternatives.

New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions are expected to rise significantly if nothing is done.

New Zealand’s forestry sector (the first sector to join the scheme) will receive incentives to plant trees equivalent to around $300 million over five years under the proposed scheme, with others joining in phased stages, allowing time to work out the sector-specific details.

It is proposed that foresters will begin monitoring and reporting emissions from 1 January 2008 until December 2009. The transport sector intends to join the scheme on 1 January 2009, followed by stationary energy (coal, gas and geothermal) and heavy industry on 1 January 2010. The agriculture and waste sectors come into the scheme 1 January 2013.

Businesses will take part in the several ways: some will be required to buy and give up emission units to cover their own emissions obligations; some trade exposed firms will be given free units to compensate for increase costs, which they can on-sell; and some will facilitate the trading process by acting as brokers, market advisors or developing electronic trading platforms.

For more information, including the document The Framework for a New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme and a series of trading fact sheets, visit www.climatechange.govt.nz.

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Links to Sustainable Business projects and tools

Simply Sustainable: a web toolkit for sustainable business practice

Simply Sustainable provides practical tools, resources, guides and case studies to enable sustainable business practice.

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Get Sustainable Challenge - Sustainable Business Network

The Sustainable Business Network runs the Get Sustainable Challenge, supported by the Ministry for the Environment. The Challenge assesses participating business and helps improve sustainable business practice through the use of dedicated resources and workshops.

Participating businesses may also enter into the annual Get Sustainable Challenge Awards which recognise efforts in sustainability.

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Envirosmart programme

EnviroSmart® helps New Zealand businesses improve their environmental performance and resource efficiency.

Envirosmart offers many benefits to participating businesses, and an -extensive package combining on-site and off-site assistance.

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Links to additional Ministry for the Environment projects and tools

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