South Africa has committed to a zero waste to landfill goal by 2030, it is ambitious, and it starts with all of us - reducing our carbon impact on the planet – a planet we love
In fact, preserving the planet starts with looking at its biodiversity and how we can limit carbon impact on the very elements that give us life. This month we celebrate World Wetland Day on the 2nd of February. Commemorative days help raise awareness on specific topics and provide the opportunity to learn more about them. Wetlands are seen as biodiversity hotspots and form a fundamental part of our approach to carbon sustainability and effective environmental preservation.
As we know, South Africa is a waster scarce country and we have recently experienced the devastation of both droughts and floods. Not only do wetlands reduce the impact of droughts or floods by regulating water flows but they also help to clean water by removing toxic substances and sediment. In addition to this, wetlands support a wide range of plant and animal life, provide resources such as fibre and offer recreational activities. Understanding the direct and indirect benefits of wetlands is crucial to limiting our impact on them and ensuring their preservation and restoration.
Effective waste management helps improve the quality of our water systems, lands, and air, as well as reduces the emissions of greenhouse gases. We can no longer look at waste management with a linear view though, we must place more focus around the ‘throw away culture’ that many businesses, individuals, and households have, if we want to make any change to our planet, our resources and all species that inhabit this earth.
Learn more about what a carbon footprint is and how it is measured.
Just by merely taking recycling, reuse, repurposing – seriously – whether it be in our homes or through larger initiatives like regenerative agriculture practices, reforestation and embracing emerging green technologies - we can restore the earth’s natural habitat and biodiversity, reducing carbon emissions and creating a sustainable carbon future.
In our sector, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and providing alternatives like green energy to support South Africa’s growing needs, has become such a critical focus. Carbon sustainability is about identifying core areas of carbon impact and finding innovative solutions to meeting those challenges.
For us, as a company with the vision to lead in the sustainable preservation of our environment – we have implemented solutions such as Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF), which is a waste to energy technology that results in significant reductions of non-recyclable waste being disposed of to landfill, and the fuel being used as alternative to fossil fuels thereby reducing carbon impact in many ways.
But we haven’t stopped there. By leveraging technology in the form of data rich platforms we can improve the carbon emissions of our fleet and drastically enhance driver management, capital expenditure decisions - in relation to the technology and vehicle investments – as well as replacement cycles. We are also using logistics planning tools to ensure all our transport routes are optimised to reduce distance and fuel consumption – ensuring we too, lead the way in carbon emission reduction.
In addition to this, numerous digital systems have also been applied to our office to achieve a paperless environment. We have examined signing on glass technology, eliminating the triplicate paper forms of the past and we have stopped couriering invoices to clients – as these can be emailed directly - or can be accessed through our client portal.
In fact, we have found that employing a behaviour-based culture, one that is focused on achieving ‘zero harm’, both in terms of employees and the broader environment, is working well for us – and it can do the same for you.
However, to truly drive change, we must shift our thinking and change our processes to align with models, such as the circular economy model, that focus on designing waste and pollution out of the value chain and prioritizing, re-use, recycling and biodiversity regeneration. Circular economy models are proven to have economic, social and environmental benefits which is why we partnered with Danone South Africa on the One Desk. One Child. campaign, where yoghurt tubs are now being transformed into school desks. This is an excellent example of how circular economy thinking and legislation such as the Extended Producer Responsibility regulations, can be drivers of innovation.
Download our 2022 calendar and learn more about biodiversity.