Being environmentally responsible is a critical component of our wider commitment to sustainability – for our business, our customers, and the wider community.
We are a voluntary member of Govt3 which helps government agencies improve the eco-efficiency of their buying practices, assess the main impacts of their operations on the environment, and report on the environmental performance of their operations.
We also belong to the Sustainable Business Network and are represented on the Board of the New Zealand Green Building Council.
We encourage our people and business partners to understand the value of an environmentally responsible approach to our business and our future as we work towards sustainable development being part of our decision-making and the way we do things.
Our energy strategy helps us track and better understand how we use energy and what it's costing us, so we can improve energy efficiency. Our Post Properties team undertakes regular energy audits of Post sites, enabling us to identify and implement energy saving opportunities.
Our new mail centres incorporate sustainable design features that reduce our imprint on the local environment – including rain water harvesting to replenish toilet cistern water and double glazing.
We aim to be careful with what we buy, and how we use and dispose of things – from big projects to everyday items like paper. For example, we've incorporated sustainable design and recycling of rubbish into our new mail centres and our nationwide cleaning contract specifies that our supplier uses environmentally-friendly cleaning products.
We have a national recycling centre where unwanted or broken goods (anything from desks to filing cabinets to postie bikes!) are recycled, or better still, refurbished and re-used elsewhere in the business.
And we've cut costs and the amount of paper we use by putting in multi-functional devices across the business which default to printing and copying double-sided.
Giving our customers the flexibility to make environmentally-friendly choices when dealing with us is an important part of reducing our environmental impact and an area we aim to grow significantly over time.
CourierPost now offers its business customers green courier bags using toughened card and we've been looking closely at types of packaging we use such as bubble wrap so that while we keep items strong enough for their purpose we can keep improving their composition.
Our Postshops also offer customers a range of recyclable writing paper and envelopes through the Write On range.
The New Zealand Post Group is a huge consumer of a wide range of goods and services. We take an end-to-end view when considering products and services and increasingly choose to work with suppliers who align with our commitment to environmentally and socially responsible practices.
Our procurement contracts are being revised to promote our view of a responsible supply chain and outline our expectations of those we partner with.
We're a business on the move with lots of vehicles travelling across - and above - the country. Our aim is to ensure our transportation network operates as efficiently as possible and we measure and publicly report on our carbon footprint. This is an area in which we want to get better and we are currently looking at how we can strengthen our measures when we report next year.
We undertake extensive planning and modelling of transportation - including considering mail clearance times and how our mail centre network is configured - to determine how best to move mail and courier items across the country, with the dual purpose of reducing fuel consumption and meeting our customers' needs.
And our people are encouraged to video and audio conference to minimise our indirect use of fuel through business air travel.
Making sense of corporate social responsibility
In 2007 New Zealand Post asked PricewaterhouseCoopers to help us consider our options in responding to climate change.
As a result of this, New Zealand Post has decided to focus on the development of a robust carbon management strategy rather than look prematurely on offsetting alone.
Read the Making Sense of Corporate Social Responsibility findings (.pdf - 94kb).
The New Zealand Post Group is proud to be a platinum sponsor of the 4th Australia-New Zealand Climate Change conference to be held in Auckland 18-20 August 2008. We know that business has a big role to play in tackling climate change and as one of New Zealand's largest employers, with operations in both New Zealand and Australia, we recognise that we can play a part in combating the change.
The conference represents a unique opportunity for an interchange of ideas between New Zealand and Australian business leaders and policy makers. With emissions regulation a reality in both countries and rapid development in drivers for voluntary action, this year's event is expected to be well attended and is viewed as the preeminent conference on climate change for business in this region.
The conference started in Auckland in 2004 with subsequent events held in Adelaide in 2006 and Brisbane in 2007. For more information about the conference go to www.climateandbusiness.com