Product design for sustainability
We are looking to create products where the products created fulfil human needs in their creation, use and then re-birth as new products. The products should have utility and not use toxic materials in their creation, use and re-use at the end of their product life.
When you can prevent environmental problems by going back to the products design and designing the problems out of the product or service you are going right to the very source of the problem.
With well over 1,000 products we have begun to embark on the substantial task of redesigning those products. All new products are the result of this design process.
Regrettably, our observation is that not all innovations of product design can be taken to market due to a lack of demand for the additional value built into the product and the extreme focus on price as a value measure for some product classifications.
Regardless of our commitment to sustainability often there are “whole system” problems where we are constrained, meaning we can only go as far as our market will allow us to lead it forward.
A systematic means for improving environmental performance
As a matter of choice we are using the ecomapping and ISO Easy tools to assist us to improve on our environmental management. The outcome of this process can be seen in the environmental report attached below.
Our business is currently operating with an environmental management system to the ISO 14001 standard which we will have certified during 2008.
Ecomapping assists us to establish our environmental impacts which includes our CO2 emissions and then to work on reducing them. Eco-efficiency is an integral part of this process.
As the first company in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere to power their large format digital printing machines with their very own solar power it is part of our desire to taking responsibility for our needs. This investment makes us less reliant on the grid supply and has allowed us to reduce our green house gas emissions through the investment.
As an organisation we wish to reduce our CO2 emissions. To this end the ecomapping tool is of great value in establishing that impact. Armed with this knowledge a program of reduction to those emissions can be embarked upon. This program can include not only the primary CO2 emissions but also the embedded CO2 which exists in all procurement of materials and supplies.
We consider CO2 neutrality to be an ultimate goal. Not to be achieved just through buying carbon credits or offsets but through a whole organisation approach of reduction followed by ofsetting and then to begin this whole process of cyclical improvement all over again.
At this time we are Carbon Neutral for our vehicle usage within the business. Then for select product we have been able to establish the CO2 footprint of those products and then we are choosing to offset them. At this stage we have established the additional costs to our product to be of the order of 4% which we have absorbed into our costs.
Additionally, for every order placed with our espace deco & print business we plant one tree as part of a carbon ofsetting initiative of our business. Every 6 trees are considered to equate to ofsetting one ton of CO2.
In Summary
We have an integrated approach to designing our products sustainably. Of making strategic investments to support this, to improve our resource use efficiency and then finally where we cannot reduce emissions at that time to offset those emissions.
And this is embedded within an environmental management system where the process of continuous improvement ensures improved environmental performance.
Our Environmental Reports
Downloads
To download the files below, either click on the link to open the Acrobat files in your browser or right click the files and select save as from the pull down menu.
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