This Environmental Sustainability Policy formalises SpacetoCo’s commitment to supporting the principles of environmental sustainability & recognises that a sustainable environment is central to our lives, our work & the wellbeing of all living things
The intent of our Environmental Sustainability Policy is to:
- Implement environmental actions within the company
- Monitor the environmental actions and improvements internally
- Communicate environmental initiatives internally and externally.
This policy applies to all directors, staff and contractors working for SpacetoCo.
Our intentions
SpacetoCo was founded on 3 core intentions and beliefs. One of these is our commitment to sustainability.
“We believe that there are plenty of spaces and it’s not always necessary to build more. By utilising existing assets more efficiently and by making it easier to book spaces online, we all play a part in a more sustainable future.”
SpacetoCo respects our relationship with the natural environment and its ecosystems. We acknowledge the adverse impact that human activity can impose and take actions to prevent the degradation of those natural systems. SpacetoCo’s intent is to do no harm to the natural world, but rather, be a solution towards sustainable human behaviour.
SpacetoCo commits to the following principles and practices
Company Culture
One of our 15 SpacetoCo Commandments states: “We are an Environmentally Responsible business. We avoid plastic waste. We enable a paperless workplace. Where possible we use public transport & carpool.” Further to this, SpacetoCo is a remote work company. We leverage co-working as needed and have removed the need to maintain an office that comes with unsustainable overheads including air-conditioning, travel emissions and inefficient building design to name just a few.
Energy Management
As a remote, work from home (or any location) company, SpacetoCo has a small energy footprint. Our staff largely work from home and we make use of the existing infrastructure at our homes. Because we are not adding to traffic congestion in the daily commute, SpacetoCo staff tread lightly in terms of energy use. The personal energy consumption of our staff is largely limited to laptop and monitor use which has seen increased efficiencies over the past decade. SpacetoCo is a cloud based solution. Our hosting is supplied by Amazon Web Services who make their own commitments to sustainability: https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/environment/the-cloud
Resource Management
Office waste, building waste and resource recovery are mostly offset by not having a dedicated SpacetoCo head office, but by utilising digital technology tools to facilitate a more flexible working environment. This philosophy plays out on the SpacetoCo marketplace where we promote the sustainable sharing of venues or spaces listed on our platform
Greenhouse Gas Emission Management Plan
Similar to the above points, SpacetoCo offsets its Greenhouse Gas Emission footprint through the way we work and through the sharing economy services we provide. The need for an Emission Management Plan is mitigated by these practices.
Solid Waste Management Plan
As mentioned above, SpacetoCo produces little in the way of solid waste. That said, electronic equipment will at some stage come to the end of its useful life. To help in this area, SpacetoCo does not expect that staff replace their IT equipment every three years as many organisations insist they do. We simply require that equipment needs to be adequate to perform the tasks asked of our employees. This can mean that instead of rolling over IT assets every 36 months, we encourage SpacetoCo staff to get as much life out of their laptops, monitors and ancillary devices as possible. When IT equipment is to be replaced, we encourage that the equipment be sold on or recycled. Here in Western Australia & NZ where we are based, there is access to very good e-recycling services. In particular: https://www.totalgreenrecycling.com.au/ or https://techcollect.nz/
Transportation
As an organisation, we support the use of sustainable vehicles whenever practical and possible for founders and employees. SpacetoCo supports the use of public transport by subsidising this cost for team members over that of paid parking options. Public transport supports the minimisation of greenhouse gas emissions and ozone-depleting substances.
Water Management Plan
Similar to the above points, SpacetoCo offsets its water consumption through the way we work and through the sharing economy services we provide. The need for a Water Management Plan Is mitigated by these practices.
Partnerships and Providers
Whenever possible, SpacetoCo will consider the environmental policies of strategic partners when determining sub-contractors, suppliers and other providers of products and services.
Purpose
As a matter of purpose, SpacetoCo exists to utilise existing resources for the betterment of community activity and engagement. We firmly believe that sustainable use of physical spaces such as those listed on the website contributes to; reducing waste with water, energy, solids, transportation and helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are proud to be building a company that does no harm to the environment.
Responsibility and Review
This Environmental Sustainability Policy is the responsibility of the Management of SpacetoCo. This policy was first implemented in 2016 and is reviewed annually.