Welcome to this month's edition of Good Environmental News
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Calling all early adopters!
Take a stand for procurement that will do good for our planet and the people on it.
We’re so excited to be officially launching our Positive Procurement Pledge on 19 September – challenging businesses, government agencies, industry groups and NGOs around the world to get serious about sustainable procurement.
By taking the pledge, organisations are committing to developing, documenting and implementing a sustainable procurement policy to govern all purchasing decisions by 31 December 2020 (if not already).
Is your organisation looking for a unique opportunity to differentiate itself from the competition and demonstrate leadership and innovation within your sector?
We’re inviting you to get in touch prior to the launch to see how you can become an early adopter.
GECA’s Positive Procurement Pledge is open to any organisation – regardless of its sector, size, and location – that is involved in procurement decisions and processes.
We understand that every organisation’s pledge journey will be unique. Some of our pledgers will have existing sustainable procurement policies, while others will be taking their first steps in this area. Our pledge has been designed to allow you to move to the next level at your own pace no matter where you’re starting from.
By committing to long-term sustainable procurement, your organisation can build resilience and become future-proofed through increased efficiency and effectiveness.
Tomorrowland: Building for a Sustainable Future
Don't miss out! Join us at 'Tomorrowland: Building for a Sustainable Future', an event by The Fifth Estate and co-designed with GECA and Pollinate. It's the summit that will examine key issues and provide insights and tools to enable business to sort the futuristic from the likely and the probable, what’s likely and what’s not.
New technologies and sophisticated, sustainable materials are set to transform the building and construction industry. With this comes an increasingly intense focus on the supply chain and whether it meets sustainable and ethical standards. How do we do business under the pressure of such rapid change? How do we design for the unknown?
An event not to be missed for property executives, design professionals, manufacturers of sustainable materials and procurement professionals on what they need to know about building technologies and materials for the future.
19 September, Sydney.
2017 Annual Infrastructure Sustainability Conference & Awards
The 2017 Annual Infrastructure Sustainability Conference and Awards Ceremony is on 17th-19th October - for the very first time in Melbourne. The Infrastructure Sustainability Conference brings together industry stakeholders to discuss and debate trends, issues, successes and challenges in global infrastructure sustainability.
GECA's Kate Harris will be speaking on 19 October as part of a panel session titled "Unlocking the sustainability potential through the power of procurement". The session will examine how procurement can enable greater uptake of more sustainable products and, ultimately, more sustainable projects and assets.
Join management and professionals from all infrastructure asset types involved in planning, design, construction and maintenance to network, learn and share environmental, economic and social excellence.
17-19 October, Melbourne
Sustainable Procurement and the Chain of Responsibility
Interested in improving the sustainability and responsibility of your organisation’s supply chain? The Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ACCSR) is offering a brand new course in sustainable procurement, which will provide you with the knowledge and skills to develop a sustainable procurement policy and plan, and improve supply chain visibility.
The course is supported by GECA and is suitable for sustainability, procurement, and business professionals. It covers supply chain risks and offers extensive case studies to illustrate examples of pro-active supply chain management.
24 October, Melbourne.
Global Purposeful Leadership Summit
Leaders who are purely focused on the market value miss the chance to drive even greater business value by utilizing purpose to bring meaning to employees’ work, a key driver of employee engagement. Identifying this gap presents an opportunity— and responsibility—for leaders to approach purpose more holistically, to optimize value for employees, shareholders, and other stakeholders.
The Global Purposeful Leadership Summit will inspire and support leaders in creating purposeful organisations - use the promotional code 'GECA' for your 10% discount!
20-22 September, Sydney
Green Globe Awards
The finalists for the 18th Green Globe Awards have been announced, recognising sustainability and environmental leadership across NSW.
Thirty-six outstanding finalists were selected from a field of over 130 and will go on to compete for top honours next month - GECA's Kate Harris will be one of the judges. Read more about the 36 finalists from across NSW here.
2018 Annual Review of the State of CSR
Registrations are now open for the 2018 Annual Review of the State of CSR in Australia and New Zealand.
The Annual Review, managed by the Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ACCSR), is one of the largest ongoing longitudinal studies on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, trends, and capabilities in the world. The insights uncovered by the research illuminate business views, priorities and competencies in the field of CSR, giving us a unique nation-wide perspective of the state of CSR.
By registering your company to participate, you will enter the CSR Top 10 Awards competition and receive a customised CSR insights report related to you organisation’s CSR performance.
For more information about the survey or to register, click here.
GovProcure
Now in its fourth year, the GovProcure conference has established itself as the place that procurement managers from all levels of government come to meet, engage and build the skills that they need to continue to deliver efficient, effective, ethical and economical goods and services.
Come and hear from GECA's Kim Andrews and Shaila Divakarla as part of over two days of conference sessions and a full day of in-depth sessions. Over 25 procurement experts will help you deliver better outcomes for your organisation by giving you insights into leading case studies and evolving best practices.
Are hotels making the most of sustainability opportunities?
Sustainability is an increasingly important part of doing business in the hospitality industry, and many hotels are embracing opportunities to incorporate initiatives ranging from linen and towel re-use programs to obtaining third-party green certification across their operations. Are their efforts effective?
Freshly recertified
Luxmy Furniture and ROCKCOTE have recently renewed their GECA certification, demonstrating their ongoing commitment to having a lower environmental, health and social impact!
Luxmy Furniture is one of Australia's leading manufacturers of worktops and joinery for the commercial market. They offer a wide range of modern, stylish furniture products, including the creatively-named Cheese on Toast table (pictured).
EcoStyle Paints by ROCKCOTE are ultra-premium quality paints that deliver a high performance, scrubbable finish without the use of toxic chemicals.
Designed with exceptional aesthetics, easy maintenance and healthy indoor air in mind, they are the ideal choice for schools, day care centres, hospitals, nursing homes and top quality homes.
Green Globe Awards
Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton has announced the finalists for the 18th Green Globe Awards, recognising sustainability and environmental leadership across NSW.
Thirty-six outstanding finalists were selected from a field of over 130 and will go on to compete for top honours next month - GECA's Kate Harris will be one of the judges. Read more about the 36 finalists from across NSW here.
Healthy people, better buildings: video
Considering we spend around 90% of our lives indoors, it makes sense to try and ensure our indoor spaces promote better health.
The WELL Building Standard recently crossed the 100 million square feet threshold for registered and certified projects in more than 30 countries around the world. That's over nine million square metres of projects designed with human health in mind.
GECA's many standards, which cover a range of building materials, also require products to have minimal impact on human health, as well as being ethically produced and better for the environment.
Check out the video below offering some food for thought, courtesy of the International WELL Building Institute.
