Good Environmental Choice Australia CEO Kate Harris recently spent two days in Victoria visiting GECA licensees and learning more about their business operations.
Interacting with a broad range of GECA licensees from fabulous furniture makers, to leaders in library design and successful stonemasons, Kate learned how Australian manufacturers were surviving in a deteriorating manufacturing industry while dealing with a market full of cheap imports and skill shortages for machinery. Kate was impressed with their perseverance as they continue to operate despite these challenges.
For instance, Kate met foam manufacturers who were re-engineering their factories to eliminate as many risks as possible - not because they have to, but because they truly want to. She sat on beautiful furniture made by manufacturers who were doing the right thing by the people and the planet.
Kate observed that this commitment to do the right thing and being proud of it was not limited to the management alone but permeated all the way to the factory floor. According to Kate, these GECA licensees are committed to local jobs, to creating, innovating and driving environmental and ethical processes and products against commercial odds. They are not only surviving, but are thriving in Australia and across the globe.
Kate also called on all the GECA licensees to work with each other in the manufacturing process, having seen many opportunities for procuring materials from local, best practice certified sources that not only make it easier to do the ‘right thing’ but also help support their fellow manufacturers here in Australia.
Kate additionally encouraged consumers considering a purchase to take some time to look at whether or not it was GECA certified.
Image: Good Environmental Choice Australia CEO Kate Harris
