The City has expanded its Smart Living series with the Smart Office Toolkit, which focuses on environmental awareness for the workplace. Read more below:
The City of Cape Town launched its latest environmental resource – the Smart Office Toolkit – today, 22 April 2013. The launch aptly coincides with Earth Day and the start of Green Office Week.
The comprehensive and user-friendly Smart Office Toolkit will assist individuals and organisations to green their workplaces. This toolkit will be a valuable addition to the City’s popular Smart Living series of resources.
The toolkit is only available online, at www.capetown.gov.za/smartoffice , and consists of the Smart Office Handbook: A guide to greening your office; a range of supporting resources and publications; and an A3 reminder poster to put up in your office.
The handbook itself is available to download as a visually appealing interactive PDF (on screen view), as separate sections, or as a black and white printer-friendly version with no graphics.
“Through training staff at various organisations with our Smart Living Handbook over the past few years, we became aware of the demand for a resource that was more focused on greening the office environment. Thanks to our generous sponsors: Pick n Pay, Eskom, Santam and the Clicks Group – who also recognised this need – we have not only been able to produce a handbook, but a comprehensive Smart Office Toolkit,” said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic, Environmental and Spatial Planning, Councillor Garreth Bloor.
This toolkit is based on the four smart living themes of energy, waste, water and biodiversity. It is designed to assist in identifying:
- what you can do to green your office;
- developing a process for implementing a sustainability strategy;
- learning practical tips;
- planning a successful and cost-effective approach to addressing environmental issues in the workplace;
- compiling an environmental policy and strategy that is relevant to your business and of interest to your clients and stakeholders;
- and exploring further options for implementing sustainability through brief introductions to eco-procurement, green building and eco-driving.
“We are excited to be launching our toolkit on Earth Day and at the start of Green Office Week and we encourage all individuals and businesses to take up the theme: Lead the team. Keep it green. It’s about making the necessary changes and then sustaining them,” said Councillor Bloor.
The City will be introducing the Smart Office Toolkit to new staff through its induction programme, as well as rolling it out with current City staff and externally through its Smart Living campaign.
Compiling a toolkit of this nature requires research, input and advice from a variety of sources. The City would like to acknowledge, with thanks, all those who have contributed to the information contained in this toolkit – especially Grace Stead of Steadfast Greening, who compiled the toolkit, and Derrick, who did the design and layout. Both companies contributed a great deal of their time on a pro bono basis.
The Smart Living series consists of the Smart Living Handbook, Smart Events Handbook, Smart Building Handbook, Smart Eating Toolkit (for schools) and now the Smart Office Toolkit.
The Smart Living Handbook, which was developed in 2007 and updated in 2011, was developed for Cape Town households, with a focus on the efficient use of natural resources such as water and energy; the reduction of waste; and the protection of our natural biodiversity. It has been successfully used to train and raise awareness among City staff, and in schools, communities and the corporate sector in Cape Town.
To download the Smart Office Toolkit, please visit www.capetown.gov.za/smartoffice
For more information on Green Office Week, please visit www.greenofficeweek.co.za
For more information on Earth Day 2013, please visit www.earthday.org/2013