Go green
- Turn the computers and lights off each night as you leave. Alternatively ask the security guards to do so when they do the rounds. If you have cleaners then ask then to swithcb the lights off after they are done.
- Go hybrid – and lose the thirsty clunky Commodore company cars and invest in hybrid cars. Not only are they find to drive, they send a very positive message about your company’s commitment to the future. Hybrid’s are expensive, but for high miles in cities there is plenty to save – just ask customers of Green Cabs.
- Recycle everything – from envelopes and paper to broken products. Measure the amount of waste you are generating (number of bags/week, tonnes per month etc.) and set a tough target to reduce it to. Then set another target.
Lance Wiggs 
Auckland isn’t as bad as Sydney on this count, but I often drive through the CBD late at night and notice huge numbers of brightly lit up buildings. Some of these have the logos of companies who like to be thought of as green.
This suggests three things:
1. The companies are taking so much money from me and other consumers they can afford to be profligate. Where possible I’ll take my business elsewhere.
2. If a company can be slack about something as public as leaving lights on all night, what else is it being slack about? Customer service? Giving a toss?
3. Green credentials? Advertisements about saving the planet? Don’t make me laugh. Practice what you preach.
LikeLike
What business is insane enough to buy/lease such enormous gas guzzlers?
And can you quantify what kind of saving I would make if I switch off my 400W PC every night? I switch off the monitors before I go so its only the PC we have to worry about.
Oh, wait a sec I’ll do it myself.
The saving works out to be around $600 a year [0.4kWh * (5*16 + 2*24)h * 0.22c/kWh * 52weeks].
LikeLike
In answer to your first question – let’s start with NZ Police. Why they are driving gas guzzling and in my mind such dangerously poor handling cars?
Your PC may have a low power standby mode, but that’s still a lot of money. Multiply the $600 by the hundred or thousands of PCs a business has and it is a very real opportunity for saving.
LikeLike
The couple of times I’ve been glad Police had Commodores:
– The time my Maxima died on the harbour bridge and the friendly chap pushed me all the way to the Fanshawe servo
– The time my Skyline died on the Southern Motorway RHS shoulder one Good Friday, and 3 Police cars did a rolling roadblock to slow traffic and clear the lanes while another pushed me to the offramp and down to the nearest servo.
I imagine there are a nubmer of other police-type situations where they need the size and grunt. Rare I grant you, but when they need it they’ll need it there and then. So they have to carry the extra capacity everywhere everytime. I’ve seen a variety of smaller cars doing non-highway patrol.
LikeLike
Why not use Subaru Legacys then? They are far safer on our twisty roads, more efficient and can perform the same tasks. I’d also love to see the tiny cars that the Metropolitan Police in London use so effectively.
LikeLike
Most Police cars I thought run on LPG and they are modified to handle extremely well. They are not off the shelf Commodores. They also need big cars to load up the scum they arrest don’t they?
LikeLike
Ahem,
Please justify my adding your blog to my bookmarks. You need to update more often.
I care very little if you have a life/job/family, or indeed, an illness that prevents your eyes from seeing the screen, your fingers are too gnarled to type, or your too hungover to think.
I am an internet whore and need your bloggy goodness.
Please help.
Dave
LikeLike
Noted…and thanks. I was just pondering as I drive up the West Coast how hard it is to compete with the ‘real’ media. So much that I would love to blog about is missed due to lack of time. I expect things to pick up once I head out this next week.
LikeLike
I love the snobbery around public transport – especially in places like Wellington.
It actually IS faster to catch a bus from one side of the central city to the other than it is to taxi. Busses aren’t even busy and just for a moment you can pretend you are riding the tram in a ‘proper’ city like Melbourne. And they only cost $1. AND you can browse the internet on your iphone or talk to a nice old lady.
I think I use my car about 10 times a year for business (out of a total of 30 odd journeys). I know we cant all live behind a computer screen, but we don’t all have to drive everywhere either. :)
LikeLike