ACHIEVEMENT: The City of Melbourne has reduced the amount of paper it uses by 2004 to 30% less than 1999 levels when I was elected.
| TARGET DATE: June 2004 |
PROGRESS: Moderate. |
DESCRIPTION: Council will cut its paper use by 30% from 1999 levels when I was elected, making significant cost savings. An audit of paper use, some new technologies and practices and a 'waste wise' attitude from all staff will help achieve this goal. Council will then promote these ideas and share their experience with other city offices.
The City has reduced its consumption of office paper by a considerable amount, though I need to confirm the actual figures involves. In 2001, following a previous trend of increasing paper use, paper consumption per employee reduced from an average of 23 to 22 reams per year. I do not have data on the amount of paper used for external publications.
The City of Melbourne has implemented a number of measures to reduce paper consumption.
- An electronic document management system called 'Docs' which allows staff to manage documents without the need to print them.
- Paper recycling bins have been provided in all offices, allowing for this wishing to reuse their paper, forward one sided waste paper for reuse as note pads.
- Following an extended trial Council currently uses Evolve 100% post consumer waste paper for the majority of its needs.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
2 September 2003: Debate has occurred as to the most appropriate paper for Council to use. The following recommendations were passed at the 2 September Environment, Community and Cultural Development Committee meeting:
That the Environment, Community and Cultural Development Committee:
• endorse the decision of the Corporate management Team to centralise and standardise the procurement of paper used for printing and copying;
• request the Waste Task Group develop a policy for the procurement of paper used for printing and copying;
• Council recommend the purchasing of a 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper, for example, Evolve, or a paper of equivalent or superior environmental performance, following an exploration of the benefits of doing so and having consulted with the Waste Task Group:
• Notes that this decision is being made by the Committee under delegation from the Council and is subject to the referral notice process;
Further, that the Environment, Community and Cultural Development Committee defer consideration of this matter and request management to report back on the following issues:
• data on relative frequency of paper jams and the paper being used;
• availability in the future of obtaining 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper from an Australian supplier;
• include the view of the Waste Task Group on the issue.
8 October 2003: Lawyers for Forests' Forest Friendly Eco-Kit is an excellent guide to saving paper, and therefore money, which details some easy, cheap and effective ways for your firm to reduce the impact it . It is available as a pdf download (833 Kb) by clicking on the underlined title, or by going to the Lawyers for Forests website at http://www.lawyersforforests.asn.au A description of Lawyers For Forests below is taken from their website.
Lawyers for Forests is an association of legal professionals working to promote the conservation and better management of Australia’s remaining native forests.
Lawyers for Forests believes that the industrial scale woodchipping and clear felling of our native forests is a matter of serious public concern, and we intend to be active on a number of levels to promote awareness of the issue and advocate change.
We believe we can do this by:
* increasing scrutiny of laws and policies which affect native forests;
* demanding accountability from our leaders in business and government; and
* providing proactive legal support to other groups campaigning for change.
Our Statement of Purposes sets out our aims:
* to promote the conservation and better management of Australia’s native forests;
* to increase the accountability of government and business for their forest management policies;
* to stimulate and encourage public interest in the value and importance of protecting native forests and related environmental issues; and
* to provide pro bono legal advice and undertake law reform and policy development activities to further our objects and purposes.
If you have a law degree and would like to assist us, we encourage you to become a member of Lawyers for Forests.
