Sustainable Business Network

Sustainable business ambassadors

• Ark Resources

  Ark Resources became a certified Carbon Neutral organisation under Climate Active (their carbon footprint is just over 15 tonnes).

  They have also become Climate Active registered consultants for Organisations, Precincts, Events, Products and Services and accredited NABERS assessors.

  Ark resources purchases 100 per cent Green Power for their office electricity (which prevents approximately 5 tonnes of carbon emissions).

  Other sustainability initiatives include:

  • signatories to Cityswitch and Better Futures Australia.
  • taken the Victorian Governments TAKE2 climate change pledge
  • declared a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency.

  They are also in the process of becoming a certified B-Corp.

• Baenziger Coles

  Beenziger Coles became carbon negative in 2021 by offsetting their emissions, but their real achievement has been the gradual reduction of their carbon footprint over the last 10 years. This has resulted in an incredibly low footprint of 23 tonnes of C0² across the emissions boundaries set out by Climate Active.

  They are also in the process to become a certified B-Corp and will also pursue Climate Active certification.

  They are investing in carbon abatement programs within indigenous communities in the Northern Territory.

  The installation of a new heating system has significantly reduced their energy consumption over the last six months, with an average reduction of 52 per cent.

• Clarendon Partners

  After the first COVID-19 lockdown, Clarendon Partners noticed they were spending more on power than previously. They contacted the City of Port Phillip Sustainability team for guidance on getting a solar system installed.

  Under the guidance of Council and their partner, the Yarra Energy Foundation, Clarendon Partners had a 7kW, 3 phase solar system installed, and obtained an energy export permit. Now on sunny weekends they are net exporters of energy!

  A great advantage of having a solar system is the ease of monitoring their energy use via an app. They can align their energy consumption with the times their panels are working for them. For example, they now use equipment like dishwashers and shredders during the day rather than in the evening.

  They also opted to go for a greener, more renewable energy supplier via Powershop. The decision also aligned with their objective to reduce their climate footprint.

• Globe International

  Over the past 18 months, Globe International whose headquarters are located in Port Melbourne, has introduced these sustainability initiatives:

  • Upgraded lighting in their offices and warehouse areas from inefficient halogen and T8 fluoro lamps to energy efficient LEDs (which also led to considerable lighting improvement)
  • Actioned a site energy audit and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) efficiency study and recommendations to reduce energy use and improve comfort onsite
  • Installed a 256 kW solar PV system on the roof in July 2020
  • Implemented a worm farm for organic waste onsite from the office and warehouse kitchens
  • Installed an onsite cardboard crushing machine to improve cardboard recycling rates
  • Introduced office bins for e-waste, soft plastics, polystyrene, metal and donated goods recycling
  • Ran a Keep Cup campaign and reduced take away coffee cup waste and introduced the Globe Keep Cup product
  • Participated in the first shoe recycling trial with partners ASGA SOS shoe recycling. Over twenty tonnes (60891 pairs) of shoes have been collected by the scheme in the first 6 months of operation
  • Partnered with Redcycle for soft plastic recycling.

  In August 2020, they revamped their clothing range to remove ‘fast fashion’ and bring in a 'Low Velocity' clothing program. It represents a commitment to long term change with a complete and timeless range, rather than a one-off sustainable 'capsule' or product. More sustainable fibres are also part of the range. All factories have been audited to ensure good human practices are in place, with no child or slave labour and fair wages are paid.

  Their original energy efficiency rating (NABERS) of just 3 Stars has now improved to 4.5 Stars with just two months of solar PV. Over the past year the combined energy savings are 69,994 kWh, and they have imported 10,961 kWh into the grid in just two months of the solar being installed onsite. The 256 kW solar PV system on the Globe HQ site will offset 366 tonnes of carbon in the first year, generate over 342MWh of clean electricity, and cover approximately 80 per cent of the site's electricity use.

  Find out more:

  • Globe’s sustainability commitment
  • ASGA Shoe recycling program

• Reho Travel

  Reho Travel is a carbon neutral travel management company with an office on St Kilda road.

  Acknowledging the difficulty a travel business has in avoiding a negative environmental impact, Reho Travel has looked at all the ways they can reduce their impact as a business, as well as help clients to reduce the impact of their travel.

  Read Reho's full story.

• The Palais Theatre

  The Palais Theatre worked with BioPak to adopt compostable custom designed cups made of plant materials. They have removed most of the chemical-based plastics previously housed in the venue. Over 20,000 units of these compostable cups have moved through the theatre since they were introduced in 2020.

  Over the next 12 months, they’ll introduce specific compostable bins to ensure the end to end process is complete.

  Although this change has eliminated most of the single use plastic moving through the venue, the Palais Theatre is continuing to explore ways to eradicate single use plastic entirely. For example, they are talking with stock suppliers to ensure any PET bottles are made from recyclable plastics.

  In late 2020, they secured a grant of $19,120, through the Australian Government’s Energy Efficient Communities Program to install an energy monitoring system at the venue. Previously, they were only able to see the total energy use of their venue without being able to pinpoint where exactly their energy use was coming from.

  Now they can assess, on a micro level, the areas of energy use throughout their venue. In 2020, they were able to reduce energy use by 25 per cent before this technology was introduced and they are confident this added technology will help them find ways to reduce their energy use even further.

  The Palais Theatre hopes to invest in a feasibility study to move the venue to solar power in the near future.