Our Commitment

Environmental Sustainability Policy

We have been busy working on our Environmental Plan, which will cover six key priority areas:

• Carbon emissions
• Electricity consumption
• Travel
• Waste
• Use of Ozone Depleting Substances
• Land Use (e.g. mobile phone masts, broadband cabinets etc)

We aim to have the plan accepted and to start implementing it by the end of 2009.

EcoRangers

EcoRangers are staff volunteers who under the guidance of our Environmental Manager, actively promote our environmental initiatives internally. EcoRangers monitor our power saving initiatives, waste reduction and recycling, and motivate staff to participate in many other environmental initiatives.

To keep up with national and international developments and trends in sustainability, our Eco-Rangers have regular video conferences with guest speakers. You will find an Eco-Ranger in almost all Telecom buildings - working their magic and moving us forward along the sustainability pathway.

World Environment Day 2009

World Environment Day is the United Nations flagship environmental event, celebrated every year in more than 100 countries to raise awareness of global environmental issues.

Once again we celebrated World Environment Day with the Telecom World of Recycled Art Awards, an internal event that aims to raise awareness of the need to recycle. The challenge was to create a piece of artwork using recycled material.

Winning creations include:

Grand Prize - Functional/Wearable winner: called Enviro Warrior Princess.
This outfit was designed using aluminium cans collected over a four-week timeframe. The cans were individually disassembled to various components. The design was to resemble the gear worn by warriors and gladiators in combat; in this case to combat climate change. This was symbolised on the bodice with the green recycle symbol. The outfit is complemented with accessories such as the handbag and headpieces to show that you can still mix fashion with a great cause.

Second Prize - Functional/Wearable winner: called Tick Tock Timepiece.
This outfit plays on the idea that waste is like a ticking time bomb; if we don't change our current behaviour it will explode and the world as we know it will be lost. This beautiful dress - made out of e-waste such as cds, motherboards, cables and an old computer - represents the world today as we know it - beautiful and fragile, being threatened by the coiling cable of a ticking time bomb.

Teamwork Prize: called Damned if we don't.
This creation may strike some as a little bit on the morbid side, but it's a poignant message to us all on the dangers of not recycling, re-using and doing anything to help reduce carbon emissions. The skeleton is made of materials mostly fished out of the recycling and rubbish bins in the office kitchen and old computer components. The slightly deformed appearance is to highlight the potential consequence if we continue to dump chemicals, not recycle, and not manage our CO2 levels. However, it is not all doom and gloom, as the skeleton has a heart, representing hope and love.

Art for Art's Sake Prize: called Micro Shuttle.
This rocket shuttle was made out of a variety of waste products. The nose cone is made of a recycled thermometer and used bubble wrap. The pay load bay area, which is used to take things into orbit and has an airlock, is made out of an old Cadbury drinking chocolate can. The three big and two small rear clusters are made of old pipes from an old vacuum cleaner toy. The rest of the spaceship is made out of used cardboard material.

Environment Awards and competitions

The awards we have won as a consequence of efforts in environmental awareness include

• EECA Energy Achiever Award in 2004 as a result of our efforts during the 2004 power crisis
• The Christchurch City Council Target Zero Award in 2004 for implementing our recycling programme

Telecom was reported in the Ministry for the Environment report 'Targets in New Zealand Waste Strategy: 2006 Review of Progress' as contributing to the achievement of the 'Special waste Target' 3.1 in the NZ Waste Strategy (2002) by having a mobile phone take-back or stewardship scheme.