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Eco-activities and Social Contributions Page
Current eco-measures:
As an organization who is involved in the Children’s
Services industry, we believe our role extends to mentoring
and supporting services to achieve sustainable programming.
As such, we also acknowledge that part of this belief and
responsibility needs to be role modeled by our team.
Practical Outcomes believe in a sustainable future where
children can grow and thrive.
As such, we place an important emphasis on the following
eco-activities. As we grow, we will endeavour to expand our
social contributions.
Paper saving
We are aware that new paper is bleached and that this bleach
(dioxin) is a serious carcinogenic and can cause water
pollution.
In addition to using recycled paper, folders and other
stationary, we also have an office policy of re-using the
blank side of used paper. We do not recycle documents that
include personal information or of a personal nature- these
documents are cross shredded.
Where possible, we use electronic versions and print only
when essential.
We have a suggestion added to all company emails
recommending that the recipient consider the environment
prior to printing.
Where practical, training materials for sessions are
reusable and we also use practical assessment including
photos with the exception of some paper-based evidence
required for auditing. We are currently investigating
elimination of student manuals where practical so electronic
versions can be sent by email. We recognise however that
our students will have individual learning styles and that
this method does not suit all.
We have also selected recycled card for our business cards
and these are also of a slightly smaller size to save the
amount of card required.
Recycling
With many years in the industry, we are all natural
collectors of safe reusable materials.
We use these in our training sessions and often donate these
resources to services and clients. We are also members of
Reverse Art Truck Inc.
We continually work with clients to introduce
sustainable and recycled products into their learning
environments.
Office Environment
Throughout our working day, we use natural sunlight and
fresh air for light, heating and cooling. We actively try to
avoid air-conditioning and heating unless essential for the
care of staff and clients. When in use, heating and cooling
is zoned to be effective in the areas that are in use.
Computers are set to switch off after a period of inactivity
and printers are set up for optimal energy efficiency.
Water Saving
The majority of our staff have water tanks and so collect
and save their own water supply. Some staff at their home
offices have a water supply of tank water only and others
use their tank water for their water wise gardens, so we are
all aware of how much water we consume. This knowledge is passed on to interested clients.
Safe grey water is collected from home offices and used
for gardens.
Sponsor Child
Members of our team through sponsorship, support a young boy named
Elisha from Zimbabwe and his family through World Vision Australia. We
believe that children everywhere should have every
opportunity to grow and develop into happy, thriving adults.
Elisha is now in grade 3 and it has
been some time since we have received some encouraging
news given the political unrest in Zimbabwe.
Although he is calm and shy, he
continues to progress in English, Shona (his native
language) and mathematics, but we were also pleased to
hear that his favorite past time is actually ‘herding
goats’ where he can spend time outdoors investigating
and exploring the world.
He has also sent a fabulous
drawing.
Selecting Resources
We are conscious when selecting resources and we ensure
whenever available, we select fair-trade products that
support communities in developing nations. We endeavour to
buy Australian owned and made products.
We recognize that as a small
organization, these are only small footprints etched into
the future of a sustainable environment, but we will work
hard to grow our efforts and hopefully the size of our feet.
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