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Sometimes bosses need a nudge from below before they get the environmental message. If an Auckland business believes it can improve its environmental performance the Auckland Environmental Business Network is willing to help. The director of the network, Rachel Brown, says that sometimes it is employees rather than managers who see the need for environmental improvements. "There are often staff who are desperate for their companies to do something about their environmental performance - but they cannot get their senior managers to buy into it. "Some of the employees get in touch with us to find out how they can persuade their managers to start thinking about it." The Auckland network exists not only to improve environmental outcomes, but also to show businesses how being environmentally aware can benefit staff and help a business's profits. Ms Brown says a big part of the network's job involves providing and organising advice for new members. "The problem with small and medium-sized businesses in New Zealand is they are not like big companies which have resources at hand. "What we try to and do is get them together and make those resources available relatively cheaply," Ms Brown said. "We also do a lot of training and education and get businesses which are leaders in their fields to stand up and talk to members of the network about how they improved their environmental practices." The network believes that by focusing people on the environment businesses can improve both the atmosphere in their workplaces and customer relationships. Ms Brown says the network can help businesses by giving them advice on recycling and re-using waste products, designing environmental products or helping to find market niches for their products. The network is pushing two projects - encouraging companies to "green" their transport fleets, and to design for the environment. It wants businesses to introduce transport efficiency measures, to plant native trees to help reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and to consider using alternative fuels or vehicles to reduce Auckland's pollution problems and to get fuel costs down. Ms Brown says designing for the environment involves designers thinking about a product's life cycle to minimise or eliminate the environmental impacts of its construction and end use. The network is part of the NZ Environmental Business Network. There are also active networks in the Bay of Plenty and the Waikato. www.aebn.pl.net .
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