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Customers are interested in CR
edita västra aros
is find-
ing that it pays to be green – and
never mean – as an increasing
number of its customers are
looking for suppliers that care
about the environment.
Anna Lindblom,
Quality
and Environmental Manager at
Edita Västra Aros, says there has
been an explosion in the num-
ber of companies – both private
and public – asking questions
at the tender stage about Edita
Västra Aros’ commitment to
sustainability and adherence to
labor laws, among other things.
“They want their suppliers to
conduct their business responsi-
bly in all of these areas,” she says.
“If they don’t, they might go with
a different supplier.”
Edita Västra Aros is well
prepared to answer questions
of this sort, having signed the
United Nations’ Global Compact
for businesses as early as 2009.
The Global Compact is an initia-
tive that encourages companies
to align their operations with 10
principles in the areas of human
rights, labor, environment and
anti-corruption.
Lindblom says that, since
signing the agreement, Edita
Västra Aros has actively and
openly communicated with its
customers about what it is doing
in these areas.
“This is giving us a competi-
tive edge, for sure,” she says.
Edita Västra Aros is also pro-
moting the Global Compact
to its suppliers and encourag-
ing them to adhere to the same
code of conduct. Next year, it
will send out a questionnaire
asking them for their views on
these principles and urging them
to promote the initiative.
“If our customers sign up to
the code of conduct, that puts
pressure on us and our suppliers
to do the same,” Lindblom says.
“It creates a ripple effect, and
that’s very positive.”
Lindblom believes the
momentum behind corpo-
rate responsibility will continue
to grow in the years to come,
partly because of new legislation
and media coverage.
“There are several exam-
ples in the media which show
that bigger companies don’t have
control over their suppliers, and
that puts pressure on them to
do something,” she says. “Up
until now, smaller companies
haven’t been affected as much,
but this is about to change. We
welcome this shift of focus from
price to how a company con-
ducts its business, especially
since the EU is about to intro-
duce new rules for government
procurement reflecting this.”
•
Torunn Hansen-Tangen
Anna Lindblom
A new mindset about
business traveling
the way to reduce
jg
Communication’s carbon foot-
print is clear: decrease business
travel.
Business trips – domi-
nated by long-haul air travel
– accounted for 92.2 tonnes
of jg Communication’s overall
2010 carbon footprint of 153.54
tonnes of co
2
, far outstripping
emissions from either commut-
ing or office-based emissions,
such as electricity or heating.
Yet travel is often a key
aspect of jg Communication’s
work for clients such as Ericsson,
with staff being sent all over the
world, from Nairobi to Hong
Kong. So how do you grow
your business while reducing its
impact on the environment?
The answer is not to elimi-
nate travel but to think smarter
about it, says
Torunn Hansen-
Tangen
, a member of jg
Communication’s Green Office
team and a content driver for
Corporate Responsibility at
Ericsson.
As a first step towards
that goal, the Green
Office team has created a
comprehensive travel pol-
icy, which addresses every-
thing from promoting bicycle
rentals to booking environmen-
tally-certified hotels to informa-
tion for employees on purchas-
ing cars with reduced emissions.
The management team
approved the policy document
in the fall, and it was introduced
to employees in November.
The plan for 2012 is for Hansen-
Tangen and co-author
Johan
Fritz
to discuss the docu-
ment with managers at jg
Communication: specifically how
the policy could be implemented
by each group.
Some possible ideas include
using local photographers or
reporters, and ensuring tighter
coordination and cooperation
between departments on over-
seas assignments.
Yet the most important
change will be to the company’s
mindset and how employees
and managers think about the
environmental impact of trave-
ling, Hansen-Tangen says.
“We do not want to over-
reach,” she says. “We under-
stand our business and the need
for some travel. We want this to
be a living document. And at the
end of the day, it has to be prac-
tical.”
•
edita’s year 2011
67