We are living in a climate crisis. And at Ellis Jones, our mission is to create positive social and environmental outcomes through our work.
This goes beyond the clients we help; it’s ingrained in our culture, which is why, in February 2020, we declared a climate emergency.
We pledged to act as a company, and as individuals, to create a positive impact on the environment across energy, waste, transport, food, client work, procurement, and culture.
While we made major progress last year in drastically reducing our emissions, landfill waste, and becoming a carbon-neutral company, the challenge this year was to maintain and improve our actions while navigating the hybrid working environment.
Energy: we’re still a carbon neutral company. And proud.
All our office power comes from carbon-neutral suppliers.
However, this year, we left a long-life companion, Powershop, as it was acquired by Shell. We wanted to keep our values aligned with our energy provider, which is why we’re now with Momentum. Boasting a 4.5-star rating, one of the highest in the market, Momentum is leading the sustainability fight. And is carbon neutral, of course!
While we mostly walk, cycle or take public transport to work, the adjustment to a COVID-normal world has meant some travelling back into the office – to see each other, and to meet our clients and suppliers in real life.
Like last year, we calculated and offset these emissions. We’re proud to say that despite our slight transport increases from last year, we still reduced our overall emissions.
We offset approximately three tonnes of CO2 emissions by supporting Carbon Neutral’s Yarra Yarra Biodiverse Corridor Program, a carbon offsetting project, which plants native vegetation in Western Australia.
Waste: what a reduction!
We diligently tracked our waste through weekly bin audits and counts. The results? A dramatic decline in waste.
Our waste footprint is lower than the period of FY20-21, and most of our waste is recycled.
In addition to these major achievements, we’ve also been working towards our other objectives.
Culture & food: we stood up and ate sustainably.
We’ve repeatedly acted in support of the climate movement.
A group of us went to the School Strike for Climate to make our voices heard. We also presented at and attended the Social Impact Business Meet-Up to connect with like-minded businesses and individuals.
Some of us fundraised for a climate change grassroots organisation called Climate For Change, raising over $500 for climate action.
We ate (mostly) vegetarian meals. We used keep-cups and bought our coffees from our favourite Zero Waste Cafe, IntoCoffee.
And of course, we wiped our bums with Who Gives a Crap’s recycled toilet paper.
Procurement and work: working with people like us.
We kept expanding our impact through the work we created and the clients we helped. We made a positive difference through our work in waste, energy, water and biodiversity. For clients such as:
- Banyule City Council
- Carbon Market Institute
- Stonnington City Council
- Clean Energy Council
- Hycel at Deakin
- Sustainability Victoria
- Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
- Glen Eira City Council
- Trust for Nature
- Yarra Valley Water
What’s next? While we’re proud of our progress, we’re also looking forward to the year ahead.
- We’re moving! A new office is a chance to re-evaluate our energy consumption and waste practices to keep reducing our impact.
- We’re continuing to spread the word through our work. FY22-23 will be a big year for climate and the circular economy! We’re excited about our new value-led projects and are eager to see our work materialise into impact.
- We’re still embracing a hybrid working culture and finding ways to encourage sustainability in our team – both in the office and at home.
- While we’re reducing landfill waste every year, we’re also working towards achieving 100% biodegradable and recyclable waste in the office by 2025.
P.S. Learn more about why EJ declared a climate emergency and read our 2021 EJ sustainability review.
