The Northern Inland Sustainable Business Network (NISBN) is conducting a Sustainability Masterclass to help local organisations get greener.

Run in conjunction with the Armidale and District Chamber of Commerce, the workshop-style session will take place between 5 – 7pm next Tuesday, July 27 at the Armidale City Bowling Club. Chamber Co-President, Matt Meehan, is encouraging all local businesses with an interest in being greener, reducing their environmental impact and saving money, to come along. “This is a great chance to talk to other local organisations about what is working for them and why,” he said.
The Sustainability Masterclass has been designed to cater for New England organisations of all sizes and industries. Local Sustainability expert, Mahalath Halperin will lead the hands-on, interactive workshop. “Attendees at this workshop will do more than listen; there will be hands-on activities. Everyone will leave with some processes to enhance sustainability that they can implement the very next day,” she said. “It often comes down to behaviour and not much capital outlay. A whole lot of little things add up to make a big difference.”
NISBN is delivering the Sustainability Advantage program in northern inland NSW. Local organisations within the program are able to learn from each other as a network and tap into the latest Government advice and incentives. A diverse mix of 14 prominent organisations have already signed up, according to AusIndustry’s Regional Manager for Northern and Central NSW, Tim Cotter, who is on the NISBN Steering Committee. “It will help them to diagnose how sustainable they are and equip them with practical techniques with which they can adapt their operations to meet the sustainability challenge,” he said. “The Masterclass is being supported by a number of pro-active local organisations which, as Sustainability Advantage participants, are regional role models,” Mr Cotter said.
Armidale City Bowling Club CEO, Phil Wheaton, said that initiatives within his organisation have already yielded benefits, including the raising of awareness among Club members about the advantages of sustainable practices. “Sustainability Advantage is another step forward for us, towards ensuring our community, staff and Board of Directors are fully aware of the importance of reducing our environmental impact,” he said. “Recycling is a major issue for us. We’ve introduced ‘Pat, the Worm’, a worm farm that composts Club scraps. Members can come and get worm juice for their gardens. It’s been a massive hit.”
Arthur Kirk is the Managing Director of Forsyths, respected Chartered Accountants and Financial Advisers in the region. “We see sustainability as a leadership issue and an opportunity. The obvious challenge for us was to reduce the amount of paper used in our offices. The amount of paper that we now produce and retain for our client purposes has decreased by around 85 per cent over the past three years. Electronic data management and communication is also the way the world is moving and we want to be at the forefront of that,” he said.
For Uralla’s Phoenix Foundry, Sustainability Advantage does not simply mean reductions in environmental impact and operational expenses; it is an opportunity to demonstrate that change has occurred. “Changing the image of foundries is important. It is a dramatically cleaner industry than it was 20 years ago. We monitor emissions and odours,” said Phoenix Foundry’s Chief Financial Officer, Monicka Baird. “We’ve introduced printer cartridge recycling and printing on both sides of the page. Lighting and water use is now more efficient, and we’ve worked on how we can re-use waste sand from moulding. Some technologies have only become available in the last few years. Being in Uralla, we need to be pro-active in finding sustainability solutions and educating our employees.”
RSVP via [www.nisbn.org.au] or contact the Armidale Chamber on 6771 1177.
Businesses looking to become part of the Sustainability Advantage program or the Northern Inland Sustainable Business Network can do so by calling 02 6768 2492 or visiting the website: www.nisbn.org.au.

 
Story: Gary Fry