top of page

Sustainability Statement

We undertake our day-to-day operations in a way that recognises ongoing sustainability practices that remove, or where possible, reduce, detrimental impacts on the environment. 

​

Our industry already puts us in a great place – we grow indoor plants for use in commercial spaces. This brings people and plants together and has a positive impact on the mental health of people in every environment we work in. Our staff are passionate about what they do and the benefits that living, breathing plants bring to our clients’ environments. 

​

The Urban Garden currently has the following processes in place: 
 

Environmental Initiatives

Social Responsibility

Energy Management

  • We measure and review our electricity usage each month. We reduce energy waste where possible, by turning off lights and equipment that is not in use. We plan to be more sustainable with the lighting of our glasshouse by replacing current light bulbs with LEDs in the 2024-25 financial year.

  • The star energy efficiency rating of new office equipment is a key decider in choosing any new appliances. We predominantly purchase products with a 3-star rating or above.

Water Conservation

  • We acknowledge that we are a water intensive business and do what we can to address this with our two 32,000 litre water tanks and one 20,000 litre tank which we use to collect rainwater. We rely on tank water year-round, so encourage a company culture which is focused on not wasting water.

Waste Reduction and Recycling

  • We are mindful of waste creation and, where possible, avoid creating it in the first place. All rubbish we do create is separated to exclude carboard, paper, metal, plastic and glass, so only non-recyclable rubbish goes to landfill.

  • An example of our effort to create a circular economy is re-using any waste potting mixes around our nursery to establish and rehabilitate hedges and gardens, rather than disposing of it.

  • We work with our suppliers to reduce packaging where we can which allows us to dispense with cardboard packing in favor of reusable plastic trays that can be used time after time.

  • Our operations are committed to recycling packaging from suppliers by retaining and repurposing polystyrene, foam, plastic, plastic bags and cardboard products so they can be reused as many times as possible.

  • We have been actively reducing our use of paper and printing consumables for maintaining client records. We plan to move to digital-only record keeping by 2025 as technology in our industry is developed which meets the requirements of our business.

Sustainable Transportation

  • Our service managers organise driving routes to best achieve the most efficient logistical means of servicing our clients – particularly when by vehicle, but also when on foot in certain areas of the Auckland Central Business District.

  • We have reduced the size of our service vehicles to improve our efficiency and reduce our impact on the environment. We have also recently purchased our first Hybrid vehicle.

  • Deliveries to the glasshouse are scheduled to achieve the best possible outcomes by minimising the time of travel and distance between sites for maximum efficiency.

Eco-Friendly Practices

  • We use non-toxic products on our clients' premises to maintain and care for our living plants.

  • Organic pest controls are used where possible throughout the company for the benefit of staff, clients, and the environment.

Employee Well-being and Diversity

  • We're proud of our diverse company culture. We employ more females than males and our employees represent a strong mix of ages, cultures and nationalities. All Urban Garden employees are paid the living wage.

  • We're focused on creating an engaged team so do things such as provide professional and personal training and development opportunities for all staff members.

Health and Safety

  • The Urban Garden promotes safe, clean and healthy working environments for our staff and clients. Where they exist, we follow any individual client policies when carrying out our services. We provide training for employees, contractors and sub-contractors to ensure compliance with all Urban Garden policies.

  • We measure and monitor lead safety measures such as Near Misses and Safety Behaviour Observations and share these internally with our team members. Our Health and Safety performance has remained consistently high over the past five years, and we have achieved a 5-star rating for our Pre-Qualification assessment most years.

Community Engagement

  • The Urban Garden supports charity organisations, such as Big Buddy, by gifting indoor plants to help create a better working environment for staff, volunteers and charity recipients. We also support community groups, such as a local softball team, by providing plants for fundraising activities.

Governance and Compliance

Industry Affiliations

Ethical Sourcing

  • We're aware of the existence of modern slavery and only purchase from known local and globally recognised suppliers.

  • We aim to use contractors (electricians, plumbers, builders, engineers etc.) that work locally to our operations.

Data Security

  • To ensure The Urban Garden's data is secure we have data privacy controls and policies in place, such as the confidentiality statement in our client service agreement.

Sustainability Awareness

  • All staff are aware of our sustainability statement. Regular discussion at our team meetings is allowed for to ensure focus is maintained so we can improve our operations by reducing our impact on the environment.

Partnerships

  • We know partnerships are important so have worked to strengthen our relationship with organisations such as the Green Building Council, who The Urban Garden worked with as an advisor in 2008, when the rating tool for indoor plants was developed.

We're aware that the more we do to improve our environmental, social and governance (ESG) activity, the more we can help our clients to further achieve their own sustainability goals. We know we can always do more to improve, so this Urban Garden Sustainability Statement will be reviewed and developed as we continue to take action to reduce our environmental impact and further strengthen our sustainability focus.

bottom of page