Less is so much more

Chloe Van Dyke MInstD runs an award-winning, climate-positive company in Nelson and is trying to usher other businesses and whole industries into a better world.

Sustainability is at the core of Van Dyke’s Chia Sisters, a solar-powered, zero-carbon, health drinks company that prides itself on the wellbeing of people and the environment.

“It is in our DNA,” says Van Dyke, who along with sister Florence created the company in 2012.

They may be small but they are leading by example on climate solutions and innovations, helping inspire or influence more than 1,000 businesses across New Zealand. Last year, they won the Sustainable Business Network’s Climate Action Leader award.

To achieve a climate-positive certification, a company has to offset their emissions by 120%. The first steps, though, are measuring its carbon footprint; implementing a carbon reduction plan; reducing emissions; and then offsetting what cannot be reduced.

Chia Sisters has solar panels that produce more than the amount of energy needed “on a good day”. They use electric vehicles and are continually working on waste reduction, including food waste going into landfills.

“It may not be within our internal operations but it is within our community,” says Van Dyke, a neuroscientist-turned-entrepreneur.

Food waste in landfills is a big emitter of emissions and Van Dyke says they recently ‘saved’ a lot of damaged pears and fruit from going into a landfill, and turned it into a “beautiful juice”. It was not damaged in any other way than aesthetically.

They have introduced kegs so juice can be served on tap in cafes and the kegs are returned to their factory. They have eliminated single-sheet plastics in favour of reusable covers in their operations.

“A lot of waste happens behind the scenes in companies,” says Van Dyke. “You can’t tell by looking at someone’s packaging.”

She says recycling is “really the worst of the environmental initiatives” and there has to be a continual process of reductions.

“It should always be about reduction,” she stresses.

Offsetting emissions

Chia Sisters achieves its climate-positive certification thanks to offsetting emissions in a carbon sink in Golden Bay.

“We do that through Rameka, a certified carbon sink,” says Van Dyke. “It’s close to where we live and regenerating farmland to native forest.

“At the moment regulations, measurements and certification are variable. Going through a regenerative native forest project is one way. I think there will be a lot more ways you can do that.

“For example, we send solar power back to the grid when we are producing more that we are using, but we don’t get a carbon credit because they haven’t figured out how to measure that. It still has a value.

“There could be some sort of credit, or value or offset, if you stop food waste from going into landfill.

“It shouldn’t just be about planting trees and then continuing as though it is business as usual because that won’t work.

“Offsetting is a way of adding an external cost to your business which should change the way you do business.”

Mobilising business

Van Dyke helped create a not-for-profit in Nelson named Businesses for Climate Action, which is bringing industries together to collectively measure their carbon footprints and then work on a reduction plan as an industry. That makes their actions – and voice – a lot louder.

“One of the things we recognise at Chia is that we are a small player and individual action alone by businesses is not going to cut it. Solutions can’t be on an individual basis; they really need to be industry-wide.

“Exerting your collective buying power, for example, can change the way things are done. In the food and beverage industry, my guess is 50% or more of all emissions comes from freight so that is something external to our business. If I go to my freight supplier and suggest they think about getting a hydrogen vehicle on the road, they are going to laugh at me. But if I get all the F&B industry on board, then we have the power to create more change.”

Van Dyke is concerned New Zealand is not doing enough in the fight. Chia Sisters’ goals are aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, of which there are 17.

In the 2022 global assessment of countries’ progress towards achieving their SDGs, New Zealand achieved only three. One of those was ‘Affordable and Clean Energy’.

But the Sustainable Development Report said “challenges remain” in 10 other goals, “significant challenges” remain in one (‘Life on Land’) and “major challenges” remain in two (‘Responsible Consumption and Production’, and ‘Life Below Water’). There was no information available for ‘Reduced Inequalities’.

“I’m not sure where we actually meter, but we are not doing great,” Van Dyke says. “It seems like we are slowly dropping behind, which is a real shame.

“New Zealand has the potential to tell a good story. We should be able to collaborate in this space. I’m hoping people see this as an opportunity and get active.”

Best practice

Van Dyke has just joined the board of Environmental Choice New Zealand, which certifies companies that are doing business at best-practice standards.

She has also joined the B Corp Council, a global network which certifies for-profit companies that use the power of business to build more inclusive and sustainable economies.

“In March 2021, Chia Sisters was certified as the highest-scoring B Corp in New Zealand, and since then have ranked in the top 5% of B Corps globally for their environmental impact.”

Florence has since left the company and is now Head of Sustainability at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Te Taurapa Tūhono. In May, she graduated with a Masters of Laws in Business and Climate Change at the University of California, Berkeley. She is still a director of Chia Sisters.

Chloe says new climate-related disclosures are a necessary step but it is not going to be enough to stop climate change.

She says directors need to see the crisis as an opportunity, to be innovative, provide motivation to employees, to deliver on what customers ask for, and explore access to capital whether through sustainable finance or investment.

“I think there is going to be a lot of disruption and change in what is considered to be acceptable and what’s not. Your competitors are going to be working on it. Do not become obsolete. Now is the time to change.

“This has to come from the boardroom because it is responsible for strategic direction. If they don’t do it, then who will?”