Environmental Policy
Highview Accounting Services believes that a healthy environment is necessary for the well-being of our people and our business, and is the foundation for a sustainable and strong economy. We take seriously our responsibility as a member of the community and believe that as a leading business in the City of Casey we should play a constructive role in helping to address the challenges facing the environment and to reduce our impact as a firm and as individuals. To that end, we will work to ensure that our people, capital and ideas are used to help find effective market-based solutions to address climate change and other critical environmental issues, and we will seek to create new business opportunities that benefit the environment. We will work to identify policy measures that are creative, meaningful and provide a contribution to helping address environmental problems. In pursuing these objectives we will not stray from our central business objective of serving the long-term interests of our clients. CLIMATE CHANGE Highview Accounting Services acknowledges the scientific consensus that climate change is a reality and that human activities are largely responsible for increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere. We believe that climate change is one of the most significant environmental challenges of the 21st century and is linked to other important issues such as economic growth and development, poverty alleviation, access to clean water, and adequate energy supplies. The way in which climate change is addressed will fundamentally affect the way present and future generations live their lives. DIRECT IMPACT ON OPERATIONS Highview Accounting Services recognises that an effective environmental policy must first begin with a focus on minimizing the impact of our own operations. Accordingly, we will make efforts to ensure that our facilities, use of resources and business practices adopt appropriate environmental safeguards. We will disclose the environmental impact of our operations to our team, and where appropriate, to clients and reduce those impacts, wherever practical. We plan to report on a number of factors, including our greenhouse gas emissions and electricity use. The measurement of these factors will be taken through an external audit process which will provide the firm with recommendations as to how we may work to reduce our impact upon the environment. The firm succeeded in its aim to become carbon neutral in June of 2008, but we will always seek opportunities to further reduce our carbon footprint by focusing on the following issues; ELECTRICITY • Ensuring that wherever possible computers, printers, photocopiers, tv’s are switched off when not in use and overnight • Make use of as much natural light as possible to save lighting being switched on • Always take into consideration an item’s energy rating when purchasing new equipment • Only purchase government accredited ‘Green Power’ PAPER USAGE & RECYCLING • Continually review printing procedures to reduce the amount of paper used • Ensuring our confidential material is securely managed to make sure it is shredded and pulped for recycling • Aim to increase our use of recycled and environmentally certified paper and print products and purchase more organic and sustainably harvested products and supplies • Purchase more products locally, to reduce the environmental impact related to shipping, where practical • Develop environmentally sound procurement practices and incorporate environmental criteria into our supplier selection and review processes • Having recycling bins in the kitchen for employee’s recyclable waste TRAVEL • Use wherever possible the ‘Carbon Offset’ function to offset the omissions made by flight travel • Encourage employees to whenever possible car pool or use public transport to travel into the city MARKETING • Making it compulsory for employees to include a ‘Green’ statement on their email signature, ie. Please consider the environment before printing this email • Including the Carbon Reduction Institute’s NoCo2 logo on marketing material and relevant information on our website |