Canteen is proud to announce the launch of CanGreen, our Action Plan to reduce the organisation’s impact on the environment and lead us into a sustainable future.
The CanGreen Action Plan 2022-23 was set in motion by our young people at last year’s Annual General Meeting, who made it clear just how important the environment is to them.
Young people are at the heart of what we do, and they’re our future, and we are so excited to be able to share our plans for sustainability in the way we travel, work, consume, educate, and engage.
The action plan will build annually, as Canteen moves to reduce its impact on the environment every year.
The key action plan focus areas are travel, purchasing, waste, energy, education and youth leadership, and our progress will be reviewed and adjusted every year to ensure Canteen continues to reduce its impact on the environment each year.
CEO Peter Orchard says the CanGreen Action Plan 2022-23 is the start of an important journey for Canteen.
“We are so excited to be on this path to a better and more sustainable future. We have listened to our young people and together, starting today, we are improving things every year from here onwards.”
Canteen Chair of the Board and young cancer survivor Joey Lynch agrees it’s a momentous day for the organisation.
“As an organisation, Canteen prides itself on placing its young people at the heart of everything it does; elevating their voice and ensuring that what matters to them matters to us. This environmental plan is yet another example of this commitment in action: our young people raised the importance of caring for our planet and maintaining it for future generations and now Canteen has acted. I take great pride in being part of an organisation that so deeply cares about what the future looks like for young people and I look forward to seeing our commitment to sustainability and environmental care grow in the future.”
As part of the action plan, Canteen will create and implement a Green Travel Policy, which encourages a change in the way we travel to reduce our carbon footprint. We’ll also track the combined carbon footprint using a carbon emissions dashboard.
When it comes to purchasing, we’ll look at what we can do better and share guidelines and recommended sustainable suppliers with Canteen staff.
We will look to reduce energy and consumption across our sites and shift to renewable power sources where possible. We will also move to a more sustainable approach to waste, so we can reduce the amount that goes to landfill.
A large part of the action plan also involves educating staff and the wider community about CanGreen and sustainability, to promote widespread interest and to achieve positive change.
Canteen will also continue to engage Canteen’s young people for their collective impact and empowerment.
Our key areas of focus in the year ahead:
Travel
- Create and implement a Green Travel Policy
- Track travel carbon footprint using Canteen’s carbon emissions dashboard
Purchasing
- Look at what is being spent and identify suppliers, products and services that could be improved
- Create preferred suppliers list
- Provide guidelines to staff on how to sustainably buy items
Waste
- Audit the recycling facilities for offices and recommend and implement improvements
- Monitor print volumes for each office
- Provide staff guidance on how to responsibly divert from landfill
Energy
- Connect National Office to renewable power sources
- Implement power saving technology and processes
Education
- Roll out a staff education calendar with a sustainable theme each month
- Create a CanGreen Teachable module for staff to complete and add to induction
Youth Leadership
- Engage with local Youth Leadership Teams via the CanGreen leadership projects
