‘Biggest carbon losers’ celebrated

The 2019 Enviro-Mark Solutions Excellence Award winners’ combined carbon emissions reductions are equivalent to taking more than 23,000 medium-sized internal combustion engine (ICE) cars off our roads for a year.

So says Enviro-Mark Solutions chief executive Dr Ann Smith, adding the awards are “a celebration of climate action success and of creative, genuine and dedicated methods of cutting carbon emissions”.

Excellence in Climate Action winners are the Auckland District Health Board (large organisation), the Kapiti Coast District Council (medium organisation), Auckland’s Soar Print (small organisation) and Auckland skin care product supplier Snowberry New Zealand for product carbon foot-printing.

Auckland and Wellington uniform and corporate clothing specialist Booker Spalding won the Excellence in Environmental Management Award.

The winning organisations from the major award categories have each reduced their carbon footprint by around 30% on their base year figures, with two organisations reducing their carbon footprint by more than 75% compared to base year.

The winners are congratulated by climate change minister James Shaw and associate health and transport minister Julie Anne Genter.

More than 131 certified companies were eligible for the awards recognising organisations that have achieved outstanding reductions in carbon emissions in recent years using the carboNZeroCert and CEMARS programmes, as well as exceptional environmental performance through the Enviro-Mark programme.