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by Meredith Gee - Sustainability Consultant

Friday, 5 June is World Environment Day, and this year the focus is on climate action now. As the saying goes: the best time to act was yesterday and the second-best time is right now. Too often, World Environment Day becomes a marketing push for large corporation’s glossy goals and “wins” that feel completely unrelatable to small, local operators.

Queenstown’s natural playground and clean, green image are the very reasons people choose to live here and tourists choose to visit. Yet, we already know the ripple effects of events like pandemics, flooding and landslides can have on our community and economy. Against that backdrop, climate talk can easily devolve into doom and gloom.

I want local businesses to look at this through the lens of cost savings. In a difficult time for cost-of-living, making a positive environmental impact can directly benefit your bottom line.

If you’re going to act, make it worth your while. At a back-of-the-envelope level, your expenses are a rough guide to where you should prioritise your efforts to reduce your environmental impact and also find cash savings. For most local businesses, the highest costs sit in electricity, transport, and staff turnover.

Plug your energy leaks. Are you running a heat pump with an open door in a busy retail store? Install an air curtain. Are your cooktops still gas? Transitioning to electric offers health and hip-pocket benefits - local high-volume commercial all-electric kitchens doing exactly that. Add doors to open commercial fridges (like the supermarkets have done) or schedule regular maintenance for your heat pump, gives you bang-for-electricity-buck.

Are you still scratching your head about your high electricity bills? Get someone in to see what is using the most power to save you money (known as an energy audit).

Invest in resilience. If you own your building, ask your bank about a low or zero interest ‘green loan’ for solar panels. This effectively locks in your electricity rate which feels unheard of in a world of ever-increasing power bills. Paired with a backup battery, your building becomes a resilient asset when the eventual Alpine Fault (AF8) earthquake occurs.

Where else is cash slipping away? Is your team regularly late - stuck along Frankton Road before hunting for a carpark? Staff incentives like upfront e-bike funding, preloaded bus passes or a simple WhatsApp ride share group saves cash for you and your staff.

How about your rubbish costs? Can you set up simple sorting systems? Glass and food organics are the heaviest items. Keeping them out of the landfill will drastically reduce your commercial waste bills.

Ultimately, taking action shouldn’t feel unattainable, it’s about future-proofing your business to be ‘sustainable’ in every way. It can help attract and keep your staff, improves how customers perceive us, and builds a buffer for the next business ‘rainy day’. Climate action shouldn’t feel out of reach, it’s just good business.