Recent Posts
- ICNZB announce new Sustainable Business Award
June 10, 2018 
Reusable Drinking Straws
May 10, 2018- SBN release their Smart Office Guide
June 15, 2017 
Biodegradable Coffee Capsules
August 11, 2016
NZBAI Award for Cloud Innovation
August 6, 2016
Xero’s got a new cloud platform provider – what’s their clean data plan?
May 16, 2016
- ICNZB announce new Sustainable Business Award
Blog
Nov
5
Check out Sustainable Business Networks blog about making events more sustainable. There are some good things in there. Maybe try implementing at least one?
The ones we will use at our Katalyst Christmas Party 2014 are:
- Choose a venue close to our team (at my house, down the road from the office)
- Use reusables, rather than disposables
- No bottled water
- Reuse last years Christmas decorations
- Buy from the Yealands wine range
- Use Eco products for cleaning
Oct
14
A simple idea from the team: use paper clean sacks - 5oc each from the supermarket, to bag up shredded paper. You can stuff them down and get way more in than you would using thin plastic bags, plus, the whole thing is recyclable if you can't find someone to reuse the shredded paper.
Sep
30
We are very proud to be on the longlist of entrants who proceeded to the second stage of the awards entry process. We have some stiff competition in our category - Community Impact.
Community Impact Award Longlist
- AgriSea NZ Seaweed Ltd
- Gourmet Night Market (Tenacity Ltd)
- Fonterra
- Headlands
- Katalyst Office Management Ltd
- Peoples Coffee
- Sustainable Coastlines
- Waikato Regional Council
- Wilkinson Environmental Ltd
Jul
7
The Annual Carbon Emissions (ACE) calculator, designed by CATALYST Ltd, is a simple tool to help businesses and households estimate their greenhouse gas emissions. It's free to use.
Calculating your emissions is an important first step in reducing your carbon footprint since you can’t manage what you can’t measure.
Click here for more information.
Jun
11
We recently turned our sustainability eyes towards ourselves, as a team.
We wanted to:
The natural choice for us was Rosina from Energise Coaching. Call us, or see below for more information.
Energise Coaching - Rosina Webb
Have you ever wondered why you can relate easily to some people and not to others? Or why some people seem to speak your language even at your first meeting? Likewise do some things stress you while other people you know find them exciting or enjoyable? This is especially noticeable in workplaces where we need to ‘get on’ with our fellow colleagues to ‘get the job done’.
As part of a team building exercise, we get teams to understand some of these personality differences and characteristics, firstly by understanding themselves better, then their colleagues. We look at things like your needs, motivations, behaviour patterns and how your personality has developed during your life. We do all this by using the well known and highly respected personality tool called Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
After a session with me, you will have a greater understanding of yourself, an insight into why and how other people are different from you and most importantly an appreciation of those differences. We often see conflict in the workplace dissolve with team members valuing the strengths of their colleagues and utilising their differences to create a more positive and effective team.
It’s fun, it’s lively, it’s revealing with lots of ‘ah-ha’ moments.
So if you are interested in improving communication and ultimately making your team far more productive and profitable, contact:
Rosina Webb
Managing Director of Energise
Phone: 021703859
Email: [email protected]
Home
May
18
We have developed the first draft of our new sustainability meter. We use this in our business to reduce waste, reduce energy consumption and to promote and improve sustainability to our team.Please feel free to download and use it. Let us know how you go and any changes you make, so we can improve and share it.
Apr
25
Our new Aficio™MP C305 SPF scanner is amazing! You can scan single, multi-page, double sided documents etc, direct to our secure document storage Box.com.
This provides us a backup of all client documents and enables easy movement from Box to Xero Files. Allowing our clients to be 100% paperless.
Low energy consumptionThe MP C305SP/MP C305SPF incorporate Ricoh’s new Quick Start Up (QSU) fusing system. This slashed the Typical Electricity Consumption (TEC) values of these devices. Furthermore, QSU reduces both the recovery time from sleep mode and the initial warm-up time.
Other sustainable reasons to buy:
- The Aficio™MP C305 SPF scans up to 30 sheets per minute
- With the short warm-up time and high print speeds you can accelerate your work
- Scanning capabilities include colour scanning, scan to email, folder and USB - which saves file handling
Apr
16
Thanks to Katalyst – the Cloud Office Experts
New to Xero, or still getting the hang of it? Join Katalyst Office Management’s Cloud Office team for a FREE training session, with complimentary drinks and nibbles, at Xero’s Auckland offices this July.
We’ll teach you more about working with Xero files and show you how to reduce the time, effort and paper associated with bookkeeping.
Katalyst’s Cloud Office team specialises in helping businesses become more sustainable by eliminating paper from their accounting processes. We are Xero Gold Partners, members of the Sustainable Business Network and already assist clients in a wide range of industries.
When: Tuesday, 15th July, from 5-6.30pm
RSVP: To Glennis Stuckey – [email protected] by Friday, 20th June
Where: Xero Offices – Level 1, 69 St Georges Bay Road, Parnell, Auckland
Limited spaces
Learn more about Cloud Office at www.cloudoffice.co.nz
Mar
23
You might have heard it before, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. But have you thought further about it?
I read somewhere, that there is no 'away', so when you throw something away, it doesn't magically disappear, it has to be dealt with by someone. So, if we can reduce first, we reduce costs, but it also reduces a whole chain of events - chopping trees, shipping, water, production, shipping, consuming, recycling etc. I am sure it is more complex than that.
First - Reduce the paper documents coming to us
I read somewhere, that there is no 'away', so when you throw something away, it doesn't magically disappear, it has to be dealt with by someone. So, if we can reduce first, we reduce costs, but it also reduces a whole chain of events - chopping trees, shipping, water, production, shipping, consuming, recycling etc. I am sure it is more complex than that.
- We reduce paper by educating and moving clients to paperless offices
- Encourage suppliers to send our clients paperwork via email. If possible, email direct to Box, or direct to Xero to reduce file handling time
- Having dual screens reduces the need to print as you can view the document alongside the bill you are entering. This is leveraged, as we become more efficient as a result
- When we do need to print, we have set the default print to double-sided, so both sides of the paper are used
Second - Reuse the paper documents when we have uploaded them
We need to cease being consumers and start being users. How can the product be reused when we are finished with our turn?- We have invested in a high speed scanner (purchased from a client) which can scan direct to Xero, reducing file handling, archiving products and further hard copy paperwork from clients suppliers and our own of course
- We have taken reuse to next level - see our blog about shredding. Our shredded paper currently goes to Hillpark Preschool for total destruction and reuse by 2 - 5 year old kids
Third - Recycle the remains
If all else fails, Recycle.- Mostly our remaining recyclables are courier bags and cardboard boxes - we hold these for re-use if possible, but some courier companies offer a courier bag recycling service
- We actually print very little at the office, most documents come in via email, but when we do print, we try to get paper from renewable sources, but we balance this with good quality paper that doesn't shed a lot of dust, that may damage our printer
- In South Auckland, we have kerbside, fortnightly recycle pickups - click here for all of Auckland
Mar
22
Send us your uses for shredded paper - add a comment or contact us via our contact page form. Some ideas are better than other...
- Reuse as packaging for fragile items - for couriering or packing
- Confetti for a table at parties, or for weddings
- Add equal parts of flour and water to make Papier Mâché
- Make new paper with it
- Use for pet bedding for your own pets or your local pet shop (watch for toxic inks)
- Better yet, see if the SPCA want it - and donate some pet food while you're there
- Create a pet pillow by stuffing and sewing shut an old pillow case
- Put some shredded paper in the bottom of your new rubbish bag to prevent random minor spills
- Start a fire with it, or make paper logs with it, or paper bricks
- Spread it out and make snow angels in it (less messy than spilt beans from bean bag on the lawn)
- Use it for your chooks to nest in, it decomposes so you can later put it on the garden
- Make some compost
- Give it to kids, along with used cardboard, felts, glue, feathers etc and see what they come up with
- Mulch - to suppress weeds and conserve water - apparently it helps soil to retain water
- Use it to help drainage and reduce dirt needed for a pot when potting plants
- Create seed starters, these are super cute
- Have fun at holloween and create a scarecrow, stuff it with shredded paper and stick a photo of someones face on it to scare their kids, wife or husband - stand it up in cupboard
- Use it for a sensory activity for kids - basically just chuck piles on the floor and let them go for it
- Make a birds nest
- Extend your kitty litter
- Scent it with essential oils and make a sachet
- Use cookie cutters, load it up with your Papier Mâché leftovers from above to make little Christmas Tree shapes - or gifts for your mother in law