This month we welcome to the fold three new B Corporations united in their pursuit to protect our earth; because it’s true what they say — “There is no Planet B!”
Netlogix Group is using technology to drive change in the freight industry,
McHugh & Shaw is providing eco-conscious companies with confidence, andann
meetpat is offering a refreshingly convenient alternative to single-use plastic water bottles.
As we spoke to these B Corps, we learnt that they each had quite different certification experiences, some spanning years, others much more intensive, some lead in-house, and others guided by a B Consultant.
These diverse approaches underline a crucial point: our community is a kaleidoscope of businesses, varying in size, industry, and history. While drawing inspiration from others, it’s important to remember that comparing journeys is like comparing apples and oranges.
Shifting gears with Netlogix Group
Take a moment to cast your eye around the room. Chances are, nearly everything you see made its journey to you courtesy of the freight industry. It’s an industry we rely on daily, but unfortunately, it’s also one that contributes significantly to emissions. According to the Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy, and Resources, by 2030, freight transport emissions are slated to hit 28% of all transport emissions. This is why Netlogix Group is working to steer the industry away from ‘the way things have always been done’; instead engaging technology to optimise efficiencies and minimise harm to the environment.
Image: Netlogix
For this Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand-based B Corp, eliminating, where possible, ‘empty kilometres’ is key. These are the kilometres travelled sans cargo, such as before goods are loaded or after they have been delivered. According to Netlogix Group, a massive 40% of freight kilometres driven within Australia and New Zealand are empty kilometres. Using technology to identify and mitigate empty kilometres is not only better for the planet, but it helps Netlogix’s client community cut operational costs too.
“We recognize that freight transport is one of the major sources of global emissions and has significant environmental impacts. Our business model aligns with B Corporation values and goals, as we aim to ‘move more with less’ by reducing empty kilometres across the freight networks.”
“This results in reduced emissions and fewer trucks on the road, benefiting the community while unlocking reduced costs, service, and asset efficiencies for both shippers and carriers. Our approach is focused on optimisation, and we are committed to constant improvement.”
— Netlogix Group
Image: Netlogix
Netlogix Group hopes to influence their industry to adopt similar innovations and, over the 12 months in particular, the team have been focused on reducing their footprint closer to home too, by switching to a 100% renewable electricity provider and replacing some fuel-powered equipment with battery electric options. These actions are an important reminder that we should never underestimate the impact of positive day-to-day operational changes (which by the way make up 90% of the B Impact Assessment!)
“In the transport and logistics industry, we want to make sustainable freight management an everyday practice. In every decision we make, consideration is made for the impact on customers, suppliers, community, our people and the broader environment. Taking these small steps, we hope to see others join us in a movement of continuous improvement — creating a better future for freight and the environment.”
— Netlogix Group
Netlogix’s road to certification was an exciting and unconventional one. The group has been one of the first to take our one-day verification trial for a test drive.
“We went through the one-day verification. This was a good way to complete the process for all parties as it cut down the lead time significantly. However, the approval process did stagnate towards the end, understandably as it was a trial run.”
— Netlogix Group
Eco-conscious confidence with McHugh & Shaw
McHugh & Shaw is an independent assurance firm supporting businesses to succeed in their environmental stewardship endeavours. Their meticulous audits and checks keep clients up-to-date with evolving government and industry regulations and expectations, guarding against unintentional greenwashing and offering peace of mind that environmental initiatives are contributing to true impact.
As an Ekos Climate Positive organisation, McHugh & Shaw annually offset 120% of their carbon emissions to projects that protect forests within their home of Aotearoa New Zealand as well as the Pacific Islands.
“We support organisations on their journey to reduce the impact of their services and products, for the planet and future generations. Through our assurance services, our clients can feel confident in making credible sustainability claims that customers and suppliers can trust.”
“We are passionate about environmental sustainability, and this is where our greatest impact lies. For the health of our planet and future generations, all organisations must reduce the impact of their services and products. We are here to make sure that sustainability claims are independently verified and not just a big greenwashing operation.”
— McHugh & Shaw
Image: McHugh & Shaw
These eco-advocates understand that our planet and humanity are intrinsically linked. They are proud partners of the One Percent Collective, donating 1% of revenue to Upstream, supporting child and youth community initiatives, and Garden To Table, building children’s confidence in growing and preparing food. Whilst their commitment to the planet remains unwavering, McHugh & Shaw share that their work cannot come at the expense of the health and happiness of their team.
“The heart and soul of any organisation lies with its people. So, we think one of the most important aspects to get right is how we treat our staff. Because if they’re not happy and supported, then our business (and all the good we’d like to achieve with it) can’t thrive.”
“Our sector has a track record of burning out staff as auditing can be very taxing. We’d like to see all players in our industry establish policies that give workers more time and flexibility and therefore better working conditions to align their jobs with their personal commitments and mental health needs.”
— McHugh & Shaw
Image: McHugh & Shaw
Rather than solely focusing on certification as the end goal, McHugh & Shaw, like many B Corps, initially used the B Impact Assessment as a tool for developing strong policy, procedure, and business foundations. It’s about the journey, not the destination after all! As a compact team, McHugh & Shaw found the guidance of a B Consultant immensely valuable when it came time to officially pursue certification.
“Our certification process has been a long one. We first looked at the requirements back in 2016 and quietly worked on setting up the policies and processes that we needed to improve our business structure. What gave us a real push to work through the finer details and submit our B Impact Assessment, was engaging a B Consultant. While we might have been able to do it alone, the support from Grow Good gave us the confidence (and useful resources) to make it happen.”
“The assessment takes a lot of time, so as a very small team with limited resources, it was an investment in having a designated person work (almost entirely) on making sure all areas of the certification process are covered in our business operations. But we couldn’t be happier with the outcome!”
— McHugh & Shaw
Making a splash with meetpat
The single-use plastic water bottle: it’s a product synonymous with environmental harm and yet, thanks to its convenience, it remains ubiquitous. This is exactly why Australian-based water station manufacturer, meetpat, set out to create an even simpler solution to this significant problem.
meetpat collaborate with councils and event coordinators to develop enduring or pop-up style hydration stations. These aren’t your school bubblers. Boasting a sleek and modern aesthetic, meetpat’s stations are designed to make refilling your water bottle an inviting, elevated experience.
Each station is thoughtfully built with accessibility features and hygiene-promoting elements. And yes, complete with an inbuilt dog bowl, they’ve even considered our furry four-legged friends!
meetpat is based in NSW, but their stations are certainly well-travelled, popping up everywhere from Melbourne’s Federation Square to the Ryder Cup Golf Tournament in Rome.
Image: meetpat
“Our mission is to deliver innovative, safe drinking water solutions while contributing to sustainable impact for people and the planet.”
“Single-use plastic products [such as water bottles] may provide convenience, but the damage they cause through production, distribution, and litter is a major threat to environmental and human health.”
“Our greatest impact is in reducing single-use plastic water bottle use — if there is a bottle refill or drinking fountain in every public space or at every event, buying overpriced unsustainable water in a plastic bottle should be completely unnecessary.”
— meetpat
Image: meetpat
“We are excited to engage in a process of continual improvement and be able to draw on the shared knowledge available through the B Corp community to continually evaluate and make improvements. Instigating small changes to policy and social incentives through the B Corp [Certification] process has improved our focus on staff and what we can do to improve workplace culture and engagement.”
— meetpat
meetpat partner with 1% For The Planet, and support Reforest Australia through their carbon offset efforts. They encourage other businesses to approach sustainability with enthusiastic curiosity — to be a part of the proactive movement towards a better future by balancing profits with social and ecological impact, as well as ethical governance.
“We believe businesses, regardless of size, are critical change makers, if we want to see more positive outcomes for our world. We don’t need to wait for political systems to enforce change, we can proactively instigate rapid change. Consideration of a quadruple bottom line (economic, social, environmental, and governance) by all businesses is a good place to start.”
— meetpat
meetpat’s approach to tackling the B Impact Assessment started with assigning the role of ‘B Keeper’ to one individual team member. B Keepers are those invaluable individuals within organisations who keep the B Corp Certification process running smoothly. As meetpat explains, by no means do they carry the responsibility alone. B Keepers know that they will need to call on the strengths of their teammates to successfully travel the road to certification.
“Stand up for change and don’t let it overwhelm you. You will get there. Incremental changes in your organisation will help you progress towards becoming a B-Corp. Plan out your end goal, the tasks to get there and then chew off bite-size pieces. Continuously utilise the B-Corp resources and reach out to B-Corp. Share your progress with your team, meet regularly and engage their support. What really helped meetpat achieve certification was courageously dedicating a person to see this project through.”
— meetpat
A big thank you to Netlogix Group, McHugh & Shaw, and meetpat for taking the time to share your unique B Corp journeys with us. Visit our Become a B Corp Guide to discover what the journey could look like for your organisation. Or, visit the Blog to get inspired by more newly Certified B Corporations.
