Environmental Policy Background
At Wilson & Nicholson we strive to be as efficient as we can with the use of our energy.
How to face climate change is one of the most important discussions New Zealand has had for many years.
In the 1970’s scientists were concerned at the possibility of a new ice age. By the 1980’s their concern was with global warming.
Now in 2000 and beyond, the term has been replaced by “climate change”, since there is still some debate among scientists about whether the temperature is rising or not.
Nevertheless, if scientific predictions are correct, there should be reason for concern. The expected impact of climate change could include extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and changes in wind and rainfall patterns.
Furthermore progressive melting of icecaps and rising sea levels, because of average temperature increases of between 1.5 and 4.0 degrees, could raise sea levels by as much as 30cm to 50cm by the end of this century, endangering low lying islands and coastlines if no action is taken.
Causes
The main cause of climate change has been the steady increase in carbon dioxide and other planet warming greenhouse gases in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution.
In the main, these gases are released when fossil fuels such as coal and oil are burned. To avoid catastrophic changes in climate, scientists warn that we need to reduce or at least stabilise the levels of carbon dioxide by the end of this century.
In a global sense, New Zealand is not a significant contributor to the problem, accounting for less than one quarter of one percent of the world’s overall greenhouse gas emissions.
Responsibility of all New Zealanders
Although it is possible to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere by planting trees, there is a limit to how much carbon dioxide a tree can absorb and eventually the carbon will be released back into the atmosphere if the tree rots or is burned.
So in the meantime, the best thing New Zealand individuals and businesses can do is use less energy or use it more efficiently.
Even though New Zealand produces such a small amount of the world’s gas emissions, we will still be affected by the impacts of any climate change in the same way as everyone else. It is therefore essential that we do our part to minimize these emissions.
Responsibility at Wilson & Nicholson
At Wilson & Nicholson we are striving to be as efficient as we can with the use of our energy even if it is only in small ways, such as not fully lighting our Showroom at night and keeping the heating at a comfortable rather than hot temperature during the cooler winter months.
In addition to this we are constantly searching for the best available components for our product construction so that our sofas and chairs last longer and do not need to be replaced or recovered as often.
We recycle all our leftover wood, foam, padding and fabrics so that nothing goes to waste. Furthermore we encourage our customers to return their sofas and chairs to us for reupholstery rather than buying new. We have many sofas which come back for their third or fourth recover, the frames being reuseable and in excellent condition, even though they are up to forty years old.
Summary
Taking action in New Zealand against climate change is essential to protect our ‘clean green’ image. This image will also work to our advantage in the international market place as sustainability becomes an important selling point for our goods overseas.
Wilson & Nicholson believes that New Zealand’s economy should be promoted as carbon efficient meaning that the goods that we deliver to the global market place should have the lowest possible emissions, this being one of our major marketing points of difference. Each one of us can help in his or her own way to collectively promote the future of New Zealand.
