Forest & Bird bags a great deal from bank billboards

21 February 2008 - Wellington

Contact: Forest & Bird Communications Manager Helen Bain, 04 801 2763, 027 4185 026;
National Bank Internal Communications Manager Bridget Catchpole, 04 494 4556, 027 24 32 957

Royal Forest and Bird is better off by $5000 as a result of unique and environmentally friendly fundraising by National Bank staff.

Faced with a large number of vinyl advertising billboard "skins" that were no longer required, rather than throwing them away into landfills, the bank had them cut up and recycled into laptop bags and satchels. The bags were then sold to National Bank's staff – with the proceeds going to Forest & Bird.

As a charitable organisation Forest & Bird depends on donations of this kind to carry out its conservation work, General Manager Mike Britton says.

“The fact that this initiative also created a unique solution to an environmental problem at the same time as raising funds for conservation is a real bonus,” he says.

Managing Director of National Bank Retail Banking Craig Sims presented the $5000 cheque to Forest & Bird in Wellington this week, where it was accepted by Mike Britton and Forest & Bird staff dressed as some of the native species which the funding will support.

"The billboard bags have had an interesting spin-off:  they have encouraged our staff to think more broadly about living and working sustainably," Craig Sims says.

"We're delighted to be donating these funds to an organisation that is committed to preserving and protecting the native plants and animals and natural features of New Zealand. It's entirely the right thing to do."

The billboard bags are just part of the bank's wider waste reduction strategy, he says.

"We're focused on changing our business processes to save paper, turning off lights and computers when not in use and developing recycling programmes.  Such measures may seem very small on an individual basis, but the cumulative effect is making a big difference to the goal of reducing our environmental impact."