The new second hand Sift Board Table
When Sift moved to its new premises in Christchurch a couple of months ago we were determined to fit out the office with as much second hand office furniture as possible. Our Trustee member and keen bargain hunter Arthur Williamson mentioned that a great glass board table was up for auction at Bryan Andrews Auctioneers so we checked it out and thought it would be perfect as our new board table. The next day Linda won the auction and the table was set up in our new offices. It is a steel, brass, glass beast of table but exactly what we were looking for and at a great price.
We discovered that the board table used to reside at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Warren and Mahoney Architects bought the table in 1990 for the fit out of the PricewaterhouseCoopers building and then the black leather chairs were imported especially from Western Australia (they will come up nicely with some tlc).
While discovering the background of the glass board table and chairs we also discovered that PricewaterhouseCoopers has a commitment to the environment, sustainability and the communities they impact on. Good to know that the table has come from a good place!
So here’s a bit of info on the sustainable business practices of PwC:
- They are committed to ethical business practices and were a founding member of the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development (they are also a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development).
- They are one of the key sponsors for Sustainable 60 (an award series that recognises sustainable business practice excellent) and are also involved with the Sustainable Business Network.
- Internally, they have a team called PwCGreen, who are responsible for driving internal efforts to reduce PwC’s carbon footprint (which they have fully measured over the past two years using the appropriate protocols), including recycling, eco-friendly sensor lighting, turning off signage lighting where possible, paper waste reduction, video-conferencing as an alternative to air travel and other sustainable business practices.
- For clients PwC has a climate change team dedicated to advising businesses on a range of services relating to climate change including greenhouse gas data management, reporting and verification, benchmarking and accounting for carbon credits.
- The leader of their climate change team was a member of the New Zealand Government’s Leadership Forum on climate change.
- PwC also financially supports a number of charities (chosen by staff) with the PwC Foundation and offer staff a paid day of volunteer leave for the charity of their choice.
You can find more information on PricewaterhouseCoopers here.
CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi S Adam Werbach’s book Strategy for Sustainability (Harvard Business Press) is the first off our library shelf to be read this week. The last paragraph of the back flap caught my eye “The sustainability movement is just beginning – and you have the chance to reinvent everything. The question is: what will you do?”. That is everything that Sift is all about. It is time for change. In order to improve the health of the earth and ensure our survival we need to start living sustainably. We are consuming too many resources and wasting a high percentage of them. Reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink…and collaborate.
