sustainable future » Sift Blog
Posts Tagged ‘sustainable future’
Monday, March 8th, 2010 by Admin
 WasteMinz CEO Marion Short Marion Short is the CEO of the Waste Management Institute of New Zealand (WasteMinz). WasteMinz are an incorporated not-for-profit organisation that seeks to bring all the different interest groups together to “enable the achievement of an environmentally and economically sustainable waste minimisation strategy for New Zealand.” You can read more about what they do here. Below are Marion’s answers to our Green Collar Job questions.
1. What do you do to live more sustainably (with a low impact) in your life?
We do all the usual good things at home and also try to buy well – a sort of smart shopping philosophy: buy quality (and environmentally friendly products) so that they last longer and also items that have less packaging.
2. How do you live more sustainably at work?
At WasteMINZ we live and breathe our environmental policy in everything we do. Plus I also try to work from home during peak travel times so I can be both more effective and minimise the time I spend driving my car and adding to Auckland’s traffic congestion. The time saving for me is slightly over an hour a day (unbelievable)!
3. What do you think is the biggest environmental issue we need to deal with in Christchurch/New Zealand?
I still believe there is a lack of understanding and action in regards to living in a more environmentally manner. This requires a significant attitude shift by individuals, communities and industry. We need to encourage people to make that change now and preserve our beautiful country and the value of New Zealand as a brand.
4. What makes you smile?
I smile and laugh alot – I guess I enjoy the little things and am an optimist by nature. I love taking my dog for a walk – he is always so thrilled. I love sitting down to a big family dinner – my husband is one of six boys and family is really important to us. I love the huge hugs from my boys who are both over 6 foot tall. And I love results – when you look around and you say – wow that is done – great job!
5. What is your biggest pet peeve?
People throwing rubbish out of their cars, or just leaving it behind – what is up with that!
6. What is your favourite colour and why?
I love orange – I think because it is so bright and happy – you can’t feel miserable wearing orange.
7. Do you have a favourite place in the world? Describe why?
My favourite place is with my family and closest friends, enjoying their company, great New Zealand food and a glass of fantastic New Zealand wine (either a chardonnay or a pinot noir). Hopefully it is a sunny day (I live in Auckland – so that doesn’t always happen) and we have a nice shady spot to sit and tell each other all our news.
8. What’s your connection to the Sustainable Initiatives Fund Trust?
Sift are members of WasteMINZ and we share linkages in a network focused on great good outcomes!
9. Do you remember your favourite teacher and why they were your favourite?
My favourite and first teacher was my Dad and to this day he remains my favourite teacher. Growing up we had a saying ‘it can’t be that hard’ which was always said as we plunged into difficult and exciting projects and journeys. I think I was only 8 years old when Dad let me paint the VW combi van that he restored – so I always felt he had so much faith in my abilities to give something a go and not completely bugger it up. I hope I am teaching my children that lesson.
10. What do you want to leave behind?
I want to leave happy memories, I want to have made a difference in people’s lives and I want my children to grow up happy, healthy and strong contributors to a positive and more improved society/world.
11. What do you think the future will bring?
I believe that collaborative operating models are the way of the future. That in order to achieve the best results it requires multiple stakeholders working together on greater good (or at least common good) outcomes.
That in the future. closer attention and value will be placed on the importance of relationships, and that we will move away from having a short term focus to being focused on longer term sustainable strategic outcomes.
I want to have faith and believe that we will get it together and make the changes necessary for a sustainable world.
I want to believe that people will recognise that being environmentally sustainable is the only way, not just a green choice.
12. Who is someone you really admire and why?
I admire many people for many different reasons. It is possible to admire someone for what they have achieved but not necessarily for who they are.
The group of people that I admire the most are the ones that make an effort to ‘pay it forward’. These people give something of themselves without expecting anything in return, in order to make a positive difference in the lives of the people around them.
A challenge – what can you do to ‘pay it forward’?
13. What is happening outside your window right now?
Sunny Auckland day – and I feel like everything is right in the world – but of course I haven’t hit the traffic yet!
14. What is your favourite breakfast?
Coffee
15. What is the best piece of advice you can give us?
Sit down and think about who are your stakeholders – then think of them in terms of high and low interest and high and low power.
Those that have both high interest and high power are really important to what you are trying to achieve. Likewise those with low interest but high power need to be actively managed and kept informed, otherwise they could be potential roadblocks.
Are you communicating with your stakeholders? How often and how? Are there other communication tools that you could use, or leverage off your stakeholders communications tools (remember we are all part of a big network – you just need to use it).
Are the relationships working? Could they work better?
Do you have a communications strategy?
Do you know what your key messages are and your key points of differentiation?
People are so often scared of communication – and for no real reason.
Communication is such a powerful tool. Reach out and start improving your communication with your stakeholders today.
That’s two challenges (pay it forward and improving your communication) – good luck.
Tags: environment, Green Collar Job, Marion Short, new zealand, sustainable future, waste, WasteMinz
Posted in Green Collar Jobs Q&A, Waste Management | No Comments »
Sunday, March 7th, 2010 by Admin
 Source: Flickr Ed's Photostream 11 Butterfly The Sustainable Initiatives Fund Trust is a catalyst for change. We know (roughly) how much waste is generated, how much goes to landfill, what the negative environmental impacts are of that waste (leachate, toxins, global warming from methane emissions etc) and the amount of work and cultural behaviour change that is required to reduce how much waste is generated and sometimes that can be rather overwhelming and depressing. But, everyday we are reminded of those individuals, businesses and community groups who are doing good work and we are uplifted everyday by those we are helping to make the numbers better and improve the health of our environment – one step at a time, one day at a time.
Sometimes it can take a few years from the start of the relationship to the final outcome of the project. And that final outcome may just be the first step in many steps to creating a sustainable and commercially viable process that can help to significantly reduce the amount of waste that goes to Canterbury’s landfills.
It is about having a long term goal for our future – a sustainable Canterbury future where any waste generated is reused, recovered or recycled on shore first and where landfill and sending it offshore is the last resort (for all waste streams). But it will take time, patience, innovative ideas, advancement in technology, sound investment, collaboration (public and private partnerships), commitment, affecting cultural behaviour change, walking the talk, leading and being the catalyst for change. That is what SIFT is about – being a positive force for good as a social lender.
We have profiled a few businesses that are leading in waste management on our blog in the past and you can see some of the good and impactful work that we have done here. We have a number of super exciting projects on the go at the moment that will make a difference to Canterbury’s waste and will let you all know in due course about what they are and what good they will do.
If you are looking for funding for a project that will reduce the amount of waste going to Canterbury’s landfill or have a new idea that we could help with you can apply here.
You can check out our Flickr photos here too.
And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Tags: business, canterbury, community, consumption, diverting waste from landfill, environment, environmental sustainability, funding, landfill, public private partnerships, recycle, recycling, SIFT, sustainable, sustainable future, waste
Posted in SIFT, SIFT Projects, Sustainability in Action, Waste Management | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 by Admin
 Source - Flickr From youmakemehappywhenskiesaregrey For Christchurch, in 2008/2009, nearly a quarter of all waste sent to landfill was kitchen waste. This is one of the waste streams that can be reduced the fastest and that each household and business in Canterbury can directly impact. Not only does wasted food impact the space in our landfills but also impact on global warming with the methane emitted as it breaks down (not to mention all the emissions from the production, manufacturing and transportation of the food that isn’t eaten before it gets to the consumer).
Reduce your food waste by firstly recognising what, when and how you are buying (maybe buying less more often will mean less spolied food), by planning your meals and using leftovers and then what is left over can go into a compost bin or EM Bokashi system breaking down and then providing much needed nutrients for your garden (or potted plants).
Or if you are a business in the food service, hospitality or produce industry look at how you can reduce the amount of unsold food that is wasted. Can it be reduced in price on or just before the use by date or can you set up a business composting system or give the food away to a community garden’s compost?
There are some great ideas for creative uses for kitchen scraps from Re-Nest.
Or check out the wonderful UK site Love Food Hate Waste for some excellent practical actions that you can do today.
Love to hear your ideas on how business can help to reduce food waste.
Tags: business, canterbury, community, diverting waste from landfill, environmental sustainability, food waste, sustainable future, sustainable living, waste, Waste Management
Posted in Sustainability in Action, World Environment Day 2009 | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 by Admin
 Green is Life from Flickr: Neirolf (very busy...) There is a new generation of employees who want to work for companies and organisations that align to their values: sustainable business practices, conscious strategies, positive environmental impact, reduction in carbon emissions and resource use, community and social responsibility practices, meaningful work, flexible, nimble and open to change, innovative and no greenwash. (Coined Generation M by Umair Haque).
Do these types of organisations/employers exist in Canterbury? Can employees green their employers or will they have to move and where to? Where are the truly good organisations that are going to lead Canterbury and New Zealand into a future where the way we live will be completely different to the past few decades? A paradigm shift needs to occur in order for us to reduce our emissions, reduce our waste and live more sustainably but who are the organisations that can help us create the new future? SIFT is definitely one of them.
We would love to know where and who these employers and organisations are? Email us or leave a comment of the organisations you are proud to work for or proud to know and why. Is your employer green and environmental focussed or someone who thinks they are green but aren’t?
Tags: climate change, consumption, environmental sustainability, Green Collar Jobs, SIFT, sustainable employment, sustainable future
Posted in Business & Sustainability | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 by Admin
 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.
Sift wants to help those who have the new business solutions (whether product or process) that will move our communities into a better way of living and start reducing our impact on the environment. This is just the beginning. Sustainability needs to become a way of life – so it becomes just social norm.
Adam Werbach’s book is all about continuing to grow and prosper as an company/organisation while acting sustainably. Create “North Star goals” that are linked to global trends, engage the public (collaborate with the community – this is where the great ideas are), be transparent, leverage networks – get savvy with problem solving, build better products and create a healthy future for the next generations. Including sustainability into your business is both good for the Earth, your community and your business. It’s win-win. A bit of a no brainer, really. Go beyond green to truly sustainable business practices. It’s not about changing lightbulbs its about integrating sustainability (social, economic, environmental and cultural) into long term business strategies (adapting to climate change is going to be long term).
I have only read the introduction but I think this is going to be a useful book for Sift and its partners.
Adam Werbach’s Strategy for Sustainability Website and Blog.
If you have any other great books that you think we would like to read let us know.
Tags: Adam Werbach, climate change, cultural, economy, environment, recycle, reduce, rethink, reuse, SIFT, social, strategy for sustainability, sustainable future
Posted in Sustainability Resources, Sustainability in Action | No Comments »
Thursday, February 26th, 2009 by Admin
This week’s focus on the Government’s Job Summit has seen a flurry of related activity with a major announcement from ASB Bank that it is establishing a billion dollar jobs fund which will offer below market rate loans to businesses who can show the loans will create employment or prevent people losing their jobs.
In commenting on the ASB move, Prime Minister John Key stated:
I anticipate the Summit will produce other innovative ideas that can help and create employment.
We wonder whether the concept of Green Jobs will feature to any degree in the Jobs Summit discussions and outcomes despite the Green Party laying out a game plan for Green Job creation as part of its Green New Deal.
A trawl through a selection of ‘green jobs’ websites suggests that elsewhere in the world, the coming together of the current global economic crunch the growing awareness of the fragility of our environment is seeing an increasing employment focus on ‘Green Jobs.”
In places as far apart as Germany, Silicon Valley and New Jersey, we see Governments, Foundations and Corporations recognising the win-win opportunity we currently have to create a more resilient and sustainable economy via Green Job agendas.
In New Zealand, the Green New Deal being promoted by the Green Party is a recipe to ensure the jobs we create make New Zealand less vulnerable to threats posed by overseas economic development, climate change, the end of cheap oil and other resource scarcity.
Some of the major recommendations the Greens have made to the Job Summit fit well with SIFT’s commitment to the ‘triple bottom line’ of sustainable economy, through
- Sustainable Economy
- Sustainable Environment
- Sustainable Employment
The Greens advocate investing in the job-rich building industry via new, warm housing and the retro-fitting of up to 90,000 existing houses to make them warm and energy efficient.
Jobs in the roading and public transport sector also provide employment and environment wins as forestry jobs via waste wood to energy and carbon storage while also helping our commercial forestry operations. Add in encouragement for businesses that address waste minimisation opportunities and we start to see a real commitment to employment and a sustainable future with our economic and environmental destiny increasingly in our hands.
What are your thoughts?
Tags: Green Collar Jobs, sustainable employment, sustainable future
Posted in News on Sustainability | 1 Comment »
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