Making a change for good: why SME’s need to start now

The UN’s global climate summit, COP26, held in Glasgow earlier this month has refocused our attention on what we can do to slow global warming. The rst e er climate deal to phase down the use of coal was agreed during negotiations at the summit but there are still gra e fears this may not be enough to reduce our planet’s rising temperatures.

Big industry has a signi cant part to play in cutting carbon emissions, but in Aotearoa, where small business makes a considerable contribution to our economy, SMEs cannot ignore climate change.

Mayuko Hirose, director of corporate strategy and CSR for leading print company, Brother New Zealand, says many SMEs want to do the right thing, but often they don’t ha e the resources that many large companies do to transition to a low carbon future. There are some quick wins though that can make a difference.

“You don’t need to be a sustainability expert to start making changes and it can be done affordably. Getting commitment to combat climate change from the top-down is the rst step, it must be led by management rst. Then getting buy-in from the whole team –

nding out what your employees care about and want to support is a good start.”

Hirose belie es adopting a sustainable approach to business can pro ide reputational bene ts but it’s important to do so with integrity. Collating data and reporting back on how your business is committed to reducing carbon emissions will help to a oid a perception of greenwashing.

Says Hirose, “Once you understand what matters most to your people, and it feels authentic to your business, you can set some goals and targets to aim for and report back on, as you would do with sales. E en small changes can make a big difference – it could be as simple as reducing power consumption, a commitment to more recycling or choosing to work with likeminded suppliers.”

Brother New Zealand itself is certi ed Toit carbon ero across all areas of operation and works with businesses of all si es across the country. The print company offers a recycling programme where businesses and households across Aotearoa can dispose of their print hardware and consumables, safe in the knowledge that they will be either recycled or repurposed.

Brother partners with e-waste specialist, Croxley Recycling, to offer this free ser ice with hardware recycling drop off points located from Kaitaia to

n ercargill, plus consumable drop off locations at retail partners including Warehouse Stationery, Noel Leeming and Paper Plus.

Wayne Grie e, manager at Croxley Recycling, says Brother’s recycling programme pro ides an easy win for SMEs who want to reduce their impact on land ll, and it’s not solely limited to Brother products, they accept printers, copiers and cartridges regardless of make.

“A lot of people probably aren’t aware that when it comes to printers themsel es there is

ery little hardware that can’t be recycled. We di ert 2 tonnes of recyclable material from land ll e ery year and this is repurposed into other materials. For example, our glass is granulated for reuse, like in swimming pool lters, and EPS (polystyrene) from packaging is compressed and repurposed into picture frames that look and feel so much like wood, you can’t tell the difference.”

Hirose encourages small businesses to make sustainability a priority in 2 22. “Granted there are many stressors on small businesses right now, but climate change isn’t going away. Soon it will be a requirement to ha e a solid carbon reduction plan in place, so by making changes now you’ll be safeguarding your business for the future.”

For more information about Brother New Zealand visit brother.co.nz.