For years we’ve been receiving, paying and then filing the power, waste, fuel and water bills without further thought. Those days are over. Power bills are set to triple by 2020, landfill costs have tripled and will almost double again by 2014. Water and fuel bills are on the rise. It just so happens that these costs are also the major environmental impacts of any business.
So how much can we save by reducing the bills? We achieved the following at Jimmy Possum:
“Ian helped us set goals and targets, benchmark our environmental impact, set up key environmental actions and educate all staff. Ian’s mentoring and leadership set us on a journey which has seen us achieve significant energy savings across the business. Indeed, we reduced the energy bills at our stores by an average of 15%. In one store this equated to a saving of $16k over a 12 month period.”
- David Hughes, Manager, Sustainability Program, Jimmy Possum Furniture
These savings don’t just happen if you work with us at Live Ecological either! VECCI’s ‘Grow Me the Money’ program has found that small business participants save $6,600 annually. This is no surprise: an urn running 24 hours a day can cost upwards of $3000 a year to run - a $50 timer that switches it off overnight can therefore save $1500 a year. Potential savings are everywhere, simply because we haven’t looked for them before. With careful planning, reducing these costs pays for the longer journey to a sustainable business.
The time is ripe to leap onto the path to sustainability, save money and reduce waste and pollution. And the other benefits? Want more you ask? With the fast-approaching green economy and the awareness of customers on the rise, you can increase market share; help create history; improve workplace culture; increase productivity; avoid fines; lead your industry; improve your products or services; win awards; and feel good.
Globally, organisations are re-imagining
themselves to exist healthily within
the natural systems and cycles on the
planet. The possibilities are endless and
wonderful - for business, for society and
for ecology.
A weblink ... Ray Anderson, CEO of Interface on the business case for sustainability
A book ... Paul Hawken, The Ecology of Commerce, the seminal business/ sustainability book for the past 20 years.