Wellington Zoo leads the way for the planet with carboNZero certification
23 November 2016We’re thrilled to have achieved our carboNZero certification again! This makes it four years in a row since we became the first Zoo in the world to be carboNZero certified in May 2013.
“Regaining certification for each financial year just goes to show that Wellington Zoo is leading the way in sustainability,” said Karen Fifield, our Chief Executive and member of the Sustainable Business Council Advisory Board.
Conservation is at the heart of everything we do, and this achievement shows how very seriously we take our commitment to minimising our environmental impact.
“Our journey to become the world’s first carboNZero certified zoo was a five-year undertaking, and achieving certification again is a testament to the hard work and commitment to sustainability of all Zoo staff – and a wonderful acknowledgment of our passion for creating a better future for our precious animals,” said Karen.
As a conservation organisation, sharing our sustainability journey with our visitors is really important. We want to encourage everyone to take positive action for our environment to help save animals in the wild. Throughout the Zoo we share messages to show how we’ve worked to shrink our carbon footprint, and highlight actions our visitors can take at home.
As part of our carboNZero certification, we’ve made a commitment to continually work on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This year, we installed 48 solar panels on our front entrance building, which helps us save the same amount of power as one and a half average households per year.
Using power smartly is often the easiest way to reduce power use, and we’re proud of the significant reductions we’ve made in our electricity consumption over the past few years through making energy efficient choices. Electricity is still the largest contributor to our carbon emissions profile so switching to solar where we can makes a big difference.
“Being an environmentally sustainable organisation is not an end goal – it’s a journey of ongoing choices and improvement,” says Karen. “Lowering our carbon emissions and our impact on the environment is about securing the future, for animals, the environment, and ourselves.”
