GASAA has greens for breakfast

GASAA dishes up a breakfast seminar designed to turn its members green. Print 21 editor, Simon Enticknap, went along to see what the group had cooking.

GASAA members met in Sydney last week for a 'green' breakfast designed to help them learn more about the organisation's upcoming environmental management course.

Attendees heard that certification in ISO 14001 is likely to become a prerequisite for graphics arts companies in the future as a means of demonstrating that they are committed to reducing their environmental impact. The message is clear: customers are increasingly asking their suppliers, including print companies, to demonstrate how they are tackling environmental issues, and one way of doing so is via ISO 14001 certification.

Paul Kohn, a consultant who has helped numerous printing companies including Focus Press achieve ISO 14001 certification, has teamed up with GASAA to conduct an environmental management course that will enable participants to undertake the necessary ISO 14001 audits. The course offers a cost-effective means of achieving certification without taking a DIY approach or hiring expensive consultants.

Speaking at the breakfast, Kohn pointed out that the ISO 14001 standard shared several components with other ISO standards such as ISO 9001 on quality and AS 4801 on safety, and that any company which already has these certificates would be well-placed to embark on environmental certification.

Garry Knespal, GASAA executive secretary, said the upcoming environmental management course provided an ideal means for many businesses to prepare for ISO 14001, offering a saving of about 50 percent on the cost of doing it yourself. The course combined both group tuition and individual guidance from Paul Kohn who is a member of the Standards Australia committee on ISO 14001.

Also at the breakfast, Anne-Maree Huxley, CEO of Models of Success and Sustainability (MOSS), an industry body focusing on corporate sustainability, outlined how notions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and increased environmental awareness are driving today's corporate decision-making.

Arguing that CSR is not just "cheque book philanthropy plus PR", Huxley outlined how businesses that are committed to CSR enjoy a competitive advantage in their respective industries and can achieve quantifiable bottom-line benefits.



Pictured (l-r): Anne-Maree Huxley, CEO of MOSS, Luke Everingham, GASAA president, and Paul Kohn, ISO 14001 consultant.