Being green at ADG is easy. Just take a look at our corporate colours. We can’t help but have a soft spot for the colour.
But being truly green – truly sustainable in every sense of the word – is something we are just as passionate about.
We make it a part of everything we do, as a company, as employees and as people.
But what is Sustainability?
When sustainability first started being talked about in work places many years ago, discussions were all about recycling and energy efficiency.
That’s important. But sustainability goes beyond that. It covers economic, environmental and social factors.
So what does the team here at ADG do, to be sustainable?
Environmentally, we love to do our bit. In our office and homes, we recycle everything we can get our hands on – printer cartridges, paper, plastic, food and garden waste and much more. We use as little water as required and keep lights and air conditioning off in rooms not being used. Staff participate in environmental and community events that help our environment, and some even ride bikes to work – the push bike kind. In some of our homes we have gone 100% GreenPower, and in the office we choose to purchase 20% GreenPower Accredited Renewable Energy. We also send e-cards at Christmas and donate the savings to ACT for Kids, instead of posting cards and killing trees.
Economically, we sell our products responsibly, support local suppliers when purchasing, use responsible advertising, and treat suppliers well by paying them on time. We never outsource to people or suppliers that we know mistreat their workers.
Socially, ADG supports good labor practices, human resource management, training and equal opportunity. Staff enjoy a great work/life balance with flexible hours that work around our family commitments, along with the flexibility to work from alternate work locations when required. And we love to get out into the community, supporting local schooling, sporting and community projects.
We are putting out a challenge to all the businesses we work with, on every level, to embrace ‘sustainability’ in every way possible.
We’re even going one step further.
In late March this year, we applied for and won a Queensland Government Business and Industry Transformation Incentive (BITI) Scheme grant to expand our newly badged R4i BuildPoint technology. This grant will enable us to develop a Carbon Emissions Reporting Module, to help businesses – especially manufacturers – to measure and report on their carbon emissions.
The phrase “What they don’t know, won’t hurt them” certainly doesn’t apply to businesses. Their business could be having a substantial and negative impact on our environment. But measuring - and being aware of - their impact could go a long way to making a positive difference.
