Environmental Protection Authority
Environmental Protection Authority
When the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) asked to join the Your Sustainable Workplace programme, our initial response was - huh?
What could we possibly do for an organisation whose job is to look after the environment?
So we sat down with their Chief Executive, Dr Allan Freeth, to find out more.
“The EPA is New Zealand’s environmental regulator. We’re an organisation that gets to time travel - we regulate in the present for the future, and we inherit what has happened in the past. As an organisation espoused with the responsibility of looking after the environment, it was only natural that we had to take a look at our own behaviour.”
“When the team came to me about joining the (YSW) programme it didn’t take much to convince. It was obvious that we had to be involved. We needed measurement and awareness.”
“Since joining the programme, I’ve noticed that there has been a real shift in behaviour. Like me, standing in the kitchen looking at the bottom of the cup and wondering what to do with it and then wondering why I even bought it. We’re focusing more on refusing before recycling.”
“Of course, we’re all human. We all make mistakes and most of us hate being told what to do, especially by someone who is extra keen. The good thing about this programme is that it’s not about telling people what to do, it’s all about creating awareness.”
Since completing the programme and doing a team waste audit, our EPA Sustainability Team has had a good look at their purchasing habits. They know where our staff all go locally for coffee and lunch and have reached out to those cafes to introduce incentives for people who take reusable cups and food containers.
The Sustainability Team has updated all the signs on rubbish bins to make it easier for everyone to recycle right. New segregated glass recycling has been introduced to support quality recycling, and they’re returning used pens as well as batteries to the Trust for recycling.
Watch their waste audit below