Soar Print is a family owned business that was founded back in 1920 in Onehunga, Auckland. Fast-forward a hundred years, and family values and sustainable practices are deeply embedded in their business. It's what drives their commitment to building a cleaner future.

Soar Print has the strongest sustainability credentials of any New Zealand printing company. The company is a member of the Climate Leaders Coalition, a group of organisations working to help New Zealand's transition to a low emissions economy. They were the first corporate printing company to achieve Toitū carboNZero certification for company operations. And last year, they won the Climate Action Leader award at the 2020 Sustainable Business Network Awards, having halved their organisational greenhouse gas emissions over 10 years.

Cutting carbon and costs

Since becoming carboNZero certified, Soar Print has achieved:

  • 40% reduction in waste to landfill
  • 6% reduction in power consumption
  • 40% reduction in fuel consumption
  • 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions

Some of the initiatives the company has implemented:

  • replacing two printing presses with a single press that has saved 20% in energy costs over a year
  • maximising natural light in the office and factory, switching to LED lights, and keeping lighting off wherever possible
  • introducing recycling streams to reduce landfill waste
  • switching company cars to hybrid vehicles that has led to significant savings in fuel.

Good for business

Being carboNZero certified has saved Soar Print around half a million dollars by making changes to the way they operate, but it's also good for business in other ways.

"We have a lot of enquiries from customers who want to choose a printer that cares about the environment," says Carter. "The other thing that it's good for is staff retention. A lot of younger staff are interested to hear what you're doing to improve sustainability and reduce carbon emissions, and they want to work with a company that thinks those things are important."

"The process to becoming carbon neutral is a lot less complicated than you might think. I don't believe it's that difficult for small and medium sized businesses to do their part. It might actually save your business some money along the way."

- Jenny Carter, Financial Director and granddaughter of the company's founder, Fred Soar.

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