Toyota dealership goes five-star green
BY IAN PORTER | 6th Aug 2010
The Dandenong outlet this week was recognised by Toyota as the first of its dealerships to achieve five-star status under the program, which is an extension of Toyota’s own efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.
Presenting the award, Toyota Australia president and chief executive Max Yasuda said Patterson Cheney Toyota was leading the way.
“The Toyota Environmental Dealer (TED) program reflects our belief that sustainability must be built into everything that Toyota does, from every aspect of our manufacturing operations, to the energy efficiency of our vehicles, to the places where we sell our cars,” Mr Yasuda said.
Dealer principal Colin Uden said the Patterson Cheney advisory committee had examined every aspect of the dealership’s operations with a view to improving the overall environmental performance.
He said he and signed up to be a pilot participant in the program because he believed it was a worth doing and it would encourage team work and improve staff morale. Besides, he thought Patterson Cheney was already doing well in the environmental area.
“I thought we were pretty green,” he said. “Particularly, we thought we were doing a good job in recycling and in water management.
“I thought this would be pretty easy. How wrong was I?”
Mr Uden said the first environmental audit done under the program left him with a flattened ego. Patterson Cheney barely scraped through with a pass, and there were seven more stages to achieve if it wanted to score a five-star rating.
Patterson Cheney was able to call on Toyota for advice in many areas. The environmental unit at the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (VACC) was also helpful in advising on how to comply with various rules and regulations, which established a starting point.
Mr Uden said he also had to work hard to convince the board of directors it was worth doing.
“They were worried it was going to cost us a lot of money. I am pleased to say it has not.”Major areas of improvement included waste disposal, where Patterson Cheney discussed alternatives with waste contractor Veolia and achieved much more thorough recycling and a 40 per cent reduction in disposal costs, and electricity use, where costs have been cut 15 per cent.
“Most initiatives will save us money, some initially, like that Veolia wet waste, and others will save us money over time,” Mr Uden said. “The majority will save us money over time.”He said electricity usage was a relatively simple place to start: “We now turn off the lights. It’s pretty simple.”Mr Uden said the showroom lighting at night had been like Luna Park, but that now the dealership got by with security lighting.
“The one that amazed me was the warehouse,” he said. “Our warehouse was Luna Park as well. We’ve now turned the lights off there.
“It was all to do with security, so we’ve now put a few lights above the door so that if anyone does take a part we can see them.”Now all the computers, photocopiers and faxes go to sleep when idle and the company now prints on both sides of the paper.
“Why have we been printing single-sided for the last 10 years? I don’t know.”Patterson Cheney has also installed blinds and canopy screens to create shade in summer and natural light in winter and now uses tank water to do all its car washing.
The VACC’s environmental advisor Sarah Thomas said that any VACC member could call the environmental unit and arrange to have an environmental assessment done for $165. She said members could save many times that amount.
“It’s very important to know how to comply with the rules because the Environmental Protection Agency can prosecute people who do not comply, and that can cost a lot of money,” she said.
Ms Thomas said the VACC also gives advice on sustainability, those areas above simple compliance with rules and regulations.
Mr Uden said raising environmental awareness inside the dealership would help to create awareness in the community at large.
He said Patterson Cheney’s environmental committee had forged a partnership with the Patterson Lakes primary school with a view to participating in Toyota’s National Tree Day, which was held last weekend.
The dealership and the school combined to plant 200 native trees, but the plan nearly ran off the rails when it was discovered in the week before the planting that there were not enough trees.
“We realised half way through last week that we didn’t have enough trees to plant. So, again, the green committee decided to ring Bunnings to see if they could assist us.
“Not only did they assist us, they gave us 40 trees and then, on the day, they sent two staff members, with shovels for the adults and for the kids, which they donated. It was a sensational effort by Bunnings.”Mr Yasuda said the TED program gave dealers a practical roadmap to reduce their carbon footprint and save money at the same time.
“TED is about helping our dealer network invest environmental thinking and business sustainability practices into the daily operations of their dealership.
“It is also helping dealers respond to the growing trend of customers wanting to buy products from environmentally friendly businesses.
“I am very excited about this program and am pleased to be presenting the first 5 Star TED award after only three months after implementation.”