ESG & Earthtrack
ESG is a term that is getting a lot of attention lately, but what does it mean?
Environmental, Social and Governance. Sounds like more of a boardroom conversation than something that would be top of mind for a mine site or a small business, but that is changing due to the impact each of these areas has on our values as a business, managing risk, how we look after our staff/stakeholders, where we source product from and measures we take to care for the environment.
The term resonated with Earthtrack very strongly due to our values around environmentally sustainable solar and energy efficient LED lighting. We proudly support the Business News feature around this topic each month to further increase awareness in the business community.
Earthtrack embedded our commitment to ESG into our values that underpin everything we do throughout the company. We keep this at the top of mind when evaluating a new product or system within the business regarding waste reduction, worker/user safety, energy efficiency and environmental impact.
Doing no harm with lighting can mean less is more.
By getting a compliant lighting design before embarking on a lighting project, it results in only sourcing the products that will do the job to create a consistent result across an entire area. The advantage of LED lighting is that each fitting is supplied with technical files that can be plotted into software to provide a model of how the lighting fittings will perform, so there is no need for guesswork.
This is particularly important, as lighting can cause discomfort or health issues if glare or reflection is not directed properly to where it is needed. Any sports field lighting needs to comply to an Australian Standard that requires management of light spill and glare, so Councils are not faced with complaints of night game lights shining into neighbouring residential properties or illuminating the night sky to the detriment of local wildlife.
Ensuring lighting fittings also are fit-for-purpose also reduces waste. The advantage of LED is the long life of fittings over the old metal halide options so less fittings end up in landfill. Ensuring fittings can deal effectively with harsh Pilbara conditions, marine/corrosive environments or high vibration/impact zones will mean the fittings stand the test of time and will not be in landfill prematurely due to poor selection.
Battery technology has also improved to create longer life batteries that provide better autonomy, more power, and a smaller footprint than the older style AGM options.
Taking care to understand practices of overseas suppliers to ensure they also follow ESG criteria, as well as supporting local workers with jobs by producing more product content and design in Australia, we see this as incredibly important to our success going forward.
ESG is about being a good corporate citizen. It is no longer about big business doing the right thing, but about all the small actions taken each day to make the world a better place.
