Toyota dealer scores one for the environment
Patterson Cheney Toyota discovers caring for the environment also helps the bottom lineToyota Australia has recognised its dealer Patterson Cheney for working towards a sustainable future. Located in Dandenong, Victoria, the Toyota dealer has reduced energy use within the premises by 15 per cent and saved 70,000 litres of water each month, over the past year.
At the urging of the dealer's Environment Committee the business has adopted low-impact lighting and now washes cars using rainwater collected in on-site tanks. Blinds and canopies fitted allow more light in winter, more shade in summer, cutting the power bills as a consequence. More innovative ideas include recycling pizza boxes as employee clock-on cards.
For its efforts, Patterson Cheney has notched up a five-star rating, according to the Toyota Environmental Dealership program. Participating dealers are rated at three, four or five stars according to the eco-efficiency gains they make within the parameters of the program.
"Energy efficient cooling and lighting and water saving technology use to be reserved for the most environmentally conscious, but now it is widely available to the community and business sector. Many of the changes we've made to reduce our environmental footprint are so simple that I don't know why we didn't adopt them sooner," said Dealer Principal Colin Uden.
"The business case for making your dealership or business environmentally friendly is financially attractive. We spend a huge amount of money on energy to run the dealership and if we can reduce our costs and lessen our impact on the environment, why wouldn't we do that?"
Toyota Australia president Max Yasuda (pictured) was on hand at an award ceremony today.
"Overseas research shows that a higher percentage of new and used-vehicle shoppers would prefer to buy their vehicle from an en environmentally responsible dealer, rather than from a dealer with no environmental program," he said, explaining why Toyota has introduced the program.
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