5 years of sustainability

Back in 2017, OCS New Zealand released its first Sustainability Report for the 2016 calendar year. We were just embarking on our sustainability journey and were, on reflection, naive – but enthusiastic, nevertheless. 

Pre-2016 we really weren’t doing anything consciously in the sustainability space. We didn’t know how big our carbon footprint was (we hadn’t even thought to measure it!), we weren’t focusing on the sustainability of our planet or delving deeper into our biggest asset – our own people.

Thankfully, five years ago I met Abbie Reynolds, then Executive Director of the Sustainable Business Council. Abbie provided the encouragement and direction we needed to start creating some pretty courageous (and audacious) goals. She met with our management team several times and even led a supplier/partner meeting for us, focusing on sustainability and corporate responsibility, to provide us with the knowledge and kickstart we needed to enter this new realm. 

As I recall, she led some robust discussions on corporate responsibility, ‘green hush’, the change in momentum and pace of climate change, along with providing some global examples where corporates were embracing change and creating massive benefits for their communities, the environment, and their companies. All of which really had us fizzing!

It also inspired me to become a member of the SBC Advisory Board. I’ll happily admit I’ve gained more than I’ve given in terms of inspiration from my peers. There are some incredible people in some of our largest businesses that are absolutely smashing it – and that gives me a lot of hope for the future. 

In 2017, OCS became one of the first signatories to the Climate Leaders Coalition Climate Change Statement, pledging our commitment to reduce carbon emissions. The CLC is another organisation that has inspired me and provides endless amounts of peer support from other like-minded leaders. 

When I look back now, one of the biggest challenges we faced in 2016 was ambivalence – both from within our own ranks and our supply and customer partners. Fortunately, that’s a thing of the past – the current political environment has highlighted the absolute urgency to create a sustainable business across every facet – from the bottom line, through to impacts on the environment, and most importantly, the impacts on people. 

Things look very different now and I’m proud of our people who have really stepped up. From taking ownership of and driving carbon emissions and waste reduction, through to mindfully changing driving habits, highlighting sustainability solutions, and stepping up to support and help each other, our partners, our communities, and our environment of which, we only have one! 

Of course, there are numerous things that I’m proud of – reducing our carbon emissions across the entirety of our business, attaining Toitū carbonzero certification for both our Australian and New Zealand businesses, moving to environmentally friendly cleaning products, the work our team are doing in WasteLine, the introduction of our supplier code of conduct – so very many highlights.

Achieving carbon neutral status in 2020 doesn’t mean that we can ‘relax’ and take our eye off the ball when it comes to carbon reduction. We’ll keep reducing emissions where we can. But what it does mean is that we now have an opportunity to focus more heavily on other aspects of our sustainability journey.

In particular, our commitment to our people and the communities we work and live in. Last month I was invited by the government to join MBIE’s Modern Slavery Leadership Advisory Group. This provides an opportunity for OCS to stand up for vulnerable members of society, to ensure that other less scrupulous employers are called to account and together putting mechanisms in place to support vulnerable workers. 

Our Operations Director, Gavin Upston, is another passionate advocate of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, a passion that was further ignited by attending SBC’s Thriving People Executive Workshop and their subsequent wānanga series, Moving Beyond Diversity. With advocates like Gav, and others throughout our business, I know that our people are in safe hands. 

Of course, there are other measures that we need to look at more closely too across our business. We can always do more – and we will. 

Recently, we invited Mike Burrell (SBC Executive Director) to sit on our Advisory Group. This puts sustainability front and centre of our business – exactly where we need it to be. Mike’s insights and recommendations have already proven invaluable, and I look forward to further robust discussion with Mike and our other Advisory Group members around how we can do more.

I’m excited for the road ahead and I’m grateful for the help we’ve had to get to where we are. Our goal is to be the most sustainable business in our sector by 2030. I think we’ll smash it.