A couple of weeks ago I was privileged to be at a networking meeting for the various landcare groups from around Southland. Many spoke of the great work their volunteers had achieved, from high profile events like the Living Legends planting for the Rugby World Cup, to everyday work that goes under the media's radar. In particular, one group raved about how much they achieved when a workplace used their project for a workplace volunteer day - part of the BNZ's 'Closed for Good' initiative.

Last month I attended what felt like the social event of the year - the Environment Awards. Such a positive buzz of enthusiasm from young school kids right through to some of our region's older pioneering tourism operators. There were a number of businesses nominated for awards. However, I felt there should have been a greater number of nominations because there are so many more businesses doing wonderful things that I am aware of.

If you are keen to go down the road of obtaining an 'ecolabel' to prove to your customers that you are as green as you say you are, the next step is to work out which certification programme suits your needs. It's a complex business, but thankfully there is a really handy tool to help you.

Energy ratings on appliances are great, they help communicate with us, the buyer, about something very important when we are comparing different models – the running costs. By having ratings, this also helps encourage the manufacturers to keep making more efficient models. However, when comparing different models, it’s not quite as simple as assuming those with the highest ratings are going to cost less to run. Buying a 5-star rated large fridge may actually consume more energy than a 2-star small fridge, even though the larger one is more “energy efficient”. Confused? Read on before you make a purchasing decision, or go writing anything specific into your company purchasing policy.

We have a number of businesses in Southland who have implemented the LEAN system, following on from receiving training through the former Enterprise Training Programme. Recently one business asked me what the difference was between an Environmental Management System (EMS) and the LEAN system. The following is summarised from a paper written by  Ross & Associates Environmental Consulting, Ltd for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and outlines how these are different systems, but are complementary in some ways.

Ideas Shop founding partner, and regular contributor to Venture Southland’s former Enterprise Training programme, Dan Ormond attended the COP16 climate change talks in Cancún, México from 29 November to 10 December.

Are there any Southland organisations who are ISO 14001 accredited? If so, did they aim for this from the outset, or start with the likes of Enviro Mark first. Read more about one local business Alliance Group.