Melbourne printing company Mystique has become the first Australian commercial print operation to be certified greenhouse gas-neutral under the Australian Governments Greenhouse Friendly initiative.
The certified offering now gives Australian businesses the option to take action against global warming and purchase greenhouse-neutral printing for all of their print supply needs.Mystique Printing has taken a strong stance in responding to the threat of climate change, and we are proud to be the first company in Australia to offer businesses, large and small, the opportunity to be able to do the same when it comes to printing. Whilst others may claim to be carbon-neutral, we are the only printers in Australia who have the certification, said Mathew Eldred, Environmental Manager of Mystique.
Being carbon neutral means that Mystique calculates how much greenhouse gas their business produces and then works to reduce it through a range of energy efficiency measures. Any remaining greenhouse gases are then eliminated through the purchase of abatement from approved Greenhouse Friendly abatement providers, achieving a net result of zero greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition, Mystique takes further environmental concerns into their practices through purchasing recycled paper and soy-based inks, reducing the amount of chemicals used and reducing electricity consumption and paper waste.
For Mystique, offsetting the remaining emissions just seemed like the next logical step to our already environmentally friendly practices, Mr Eldred said.
Mystique is obviously using their new certification as a marketing tool, saying that, Through Greenhouse Friendly, every business or individual consumer who uses Mystique can be confident that the service and the end product they receive is entirely greenhouse gas-neutral.
The complete life cycle of every service Mystique delivers has been determined and offset by purchasing Greenhouse Friendly approved abatement. In making the determination, emissions related to office equipment maintenance, couriers and transport, print machinery, electricity, paper, printing and inks have all been taken into account.
Examples of the types of abatement activities Mystique uses to offset the companys greenhouse gas emissions include waste diversion and recycling, capture and flaring of landfill gas, generation of renewable energy and tree planting, Mr Eldred said.
The work undertaken to determine the Greenhouse emissions associated with Mystiques activities will be used to develop a template for other small to medium office service-based enterprises to use when considering becoming a Greenhouse Friendly certified business.
Overseen by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Malcolm Turnbull, the Greenhouse Friendly initiative is part of the Australian Governments $2 billion plus climate change strategy. It encourages companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, invest in greenhouse emissions reduction projects and provides businesses with the opportunity to offer carbon neutral products and services.
Mystique joins other Greenhouse Friendly certified providers including AGL Green Balance Electricity, BP Global Choice, Dulux Aquanamel and EnvirO2 paints, Origin Energy GreenEarth Gas, Renewtek IT consultancy, Channel Sevens Sunrise program and Synergy Earth Friendly power in the fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their products and services plus businesses as a whole. These are the only businesses in Australia who are certified Greenhouse Friendly.
Mystique Printing
www.mystique.com.au
www.greenhouse.gov.au/greenhousefriendly
