PhoenixServices is a trade organisation which offers a range of services to a variety of different customers; mainly commercial businesses. Owner Philip Brown was motivated to start making changes within the business after participating in Environment Southland’s ‘Quick Steps’ programme. This programme included an on-site audit which made Philip aware of how much waste was being sent to landfill, causing him to take a closer look at his business. “Instead of doing what you’ve always done I decided to change things and the outcomes so far have been very, very rewarding,” he reports.
Early in their sustainability journey, Phoenix Services was visited by Southland Wastebusters who found that the business was spending $700 a month disposing of waste at the landfill. This prompted Philip to look at what could be recycled and Southland Enterprises now visit each week to collect the business’ recyclables. After Philip and his team explained the importance of dealing with fluorescent tubes appropriately, several of their clients choose to pay $1.10 per tube to have them recycled. Phoenix Services now sends over 100 tubes a month to Christchurch to be responsibly disposed of.
For other business-owners, Philip recommends beginning with small, easy-to-achieve steps; initially working out why you want to pursue sustainability. He believes it is important to “analyse what you do and then ... start talking to other businesses that have actually started down the process.”
Phoenix Services's interview
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Hear about the Phoenix Services, what sustainability means to them, their motivations, and why they think other business should be motivated to get started (3mins).
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Listen to Phillip Brown explain the initiatives they have put in place at Phoenix Services (12mins).
Learn about the costs, benefits, challenges and Phillip’s advice to you (7mins).
Download the MP3 file
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Business background
Phoenix Services is a multi-skilled trade organisation which offers a range of services to a variety of different customers; predominantly commercial. The business has branches in both Invercargill and Dunedin, and owner Philip Brown says they can cover everywhere south of Ashburton. Phoenix Services began 15 years ago with 3 employees and has now grown to employ just over 40 staff.
What sustainability means at Phoenix Services
Sustainability at Phoenix Services is driven by the feel good factor of doing something positive and by ensuring staff understand what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. Philip explains that “people like to use companies that are doing it right ... I don’t want to be seen as the company that goes down to the tip (and) throws rubbish into the bin all the time. I want to be seen as the company that’s at the recycling bin.”
What motivated Philip to begin initiating changes within the business was participating in the Quick Steps programme offered by Environment Southland with funding from WasteNet. This process involved an on-site audit which made Philip aware of how much waste was being sent to landfill, causing him to have a close look at his business. In addition, several clients of Phoenix Services have begun asking about what the business undertakes regarding sustainable business practices. As Philip explains, “they’re actually starting to ask me the question of what is my sustainability programme, what’s my environmental plan, all this sort of stuff.”
As Philip says, some companies will not be interested in pursuing sustainability because they’re always going to do the same as they’ve always done. However, in time it is likely that such practices will become the norm, rather than the exception. “Instead of doing what you’ve always done I decided to change things and the outcomes so far have been very, very rewarding,” reports Philip.
Sustainability in action
Phoenix Services recently built a new building to house their operations; this provided the opportunity to integrate some sustainable design features. The new building includes energy efficient heat pumps, with the wiring arranged so that only areas being used can be heated as and when required. In the workshop, skylights have been utilised in order to capture natural light, thus saving on using lights during the daytime. All of the toilets within the building are also dual flush so as to minimise water use.
Early in their sustainability journey Phoenix Services were visited by Waste Busters, who identified that the business was spending approximately $700 per month disposing of waste at the landfill. This prompted Philip to look at what could be recycled and Southland Enterprises now visit on a weekly basis to collect the business’ recyclables.
A recent initiative has been to introduce recycling and composting bins within the staff room. As Philip says, “we’ve got a compost bin out there now and it’s funny they (the staff) all use it!” As a result of these, and other actions, the business now saves money by effectively diverting waste from landfill.
Phoenix Services offer their clients a fluorescent tube recycling service. After Philip and his team explained the importance of dealing with these items appropriately, several of their clients choose to pay $1.10 per tube to have them recycled. Phoenix Services now sends over 100 tubes a month to Christchurch to be disposed of responsibly. Staff at Phoenix Services also ask clients if they would like them to recycle leftover items from jobs. Philip explains that “most people say, oh, can you recycle that and then they say, oh we’ll do it ourselves.” It seems that Phoenix Services are helping raise awareness of recycling and responsible waste management.
The business has also installed bins to collect paper for recycling. Philip reports that clients notice these bins and are impressed by them. “We get a lot of positive feedback about that and so it reinforces what we are about,” he says.
Painters employed by Phoenix Services tend to have some paint left over after jobs. This surplus paint is recycled through the Resene Paint Wise scheme or donated to kindergartens and other people. Philip is also about to implement a washing system that removes all the paint solids from paint brushes. This system leads to clean water going down the drain which is completely free from solids that are potentially harmful to waterways.
Challenges involved in seeking sustainability
Philip sees the biggest hurdle involved in sustainability as changing peoples’ mindsets when it comes to issues like waste; “it’s just too easy to screw it up and throw it in the bin and it’s gone,” he explains, “they’ve always left lights burning, they’ve always used full flush (on toilets).” Philip says you have to change the way people think. “Unfortunately we say, oh but New Zealand produces so little (waste) who cares. I think if we all thought like that, that’s where the problem comes.”
Advice for other businesses
In terms of advice for others, Philip says that encouraging a team effort makes the process of implementing sustainable business practices much more effective. “They’ve all got to be part of it and you’ve actually got to take small steps and then encourage them and reward for doing things,” he says.
For other business-owners, Philip recommends starting off with small, easy-to-achieve steps, with the first being to work out why you want to pursue sustainability. Philip suggests that it is important to “analyse what you do and then ... start talking to other businesses that have actually started down the process.”
Philip also recommends the assistance of the Sustainable Business Network (see http://www.ssbn.org.nz/join.aspx for further details). Phoenix Services participated in the Quick Steps programme, which has provided valuable assistance in their pursuit of sustainable business practices. After completing this programme, the business received a certificate to acknowledge their efforts. Philip says that it is good to show this to clients and promote their sustainability successes achieved so far.
Philip and his team continue to get positive feedback from their participation in Quick Steps following an article describing the programme was published in the local paper. Philip still gets people asking him how the recycling is going, despite the article appearing some time ago. He says it’s satisfying to know that people have actually read about their efforts, have taken it in and are asking questions about their progress.