July 2008 - The New Zealand Herald "Worms turn on Waste in Eco Office" by Helen Frances

Exerpts From the Article

Wellington Based communication management company Datamail has spent the last year imbedding sustainable practices at work. Group CEO Gary Woodham is impressed with the results.

"Our major waste is paper, cardboard and plastics. We have created recycling programmes that divert around 80 per cent of waste generated on site from landfill," he says.

The staff at Datamail are encouraged to contribute and vote on ideas via the intranet. A committee of GreenKeepers ensures they stay on track in practice. I deas for a worm farm and more sustainable staff transport are under discussion; recycled drink cans already raise money for charity.

"I'm quite blown away by the enthusiasm of people around this initiative," says Woodham, who speaks with all staff once a month.

"I'm finding people driving this have children at primary and intermediate school and they are picking up what their kids are learning."

Other sustainable practices include recycling water from the roof catchment for urinals and watering onsite gardens. There are lights out areas and plans to install sensors that switch off lights automatically. Datamail has just opened a 4.5 green star rated building in Auckland.

"It's about accountability, ownership, and responsibility, considering: if this was your house, would you do this?"