Sustainability Feedback

Welcome to our feedback page. This is where you can share your suggestions, questions or concerns about our sustainability plan - we'd love to hear from you.

Please make sure that your feedback meets our publishing standards. We'll post as much feedback as we can, with a response if required.

Thanks for taking the time to share your views with us.

From the Westpac Team.


Your Feedback

Kim writes: If you leave the tap off while you brush your teath, each year you will save an Olympic swimming pool of water. Dentists will tell you the benefits of dry brushing. The movie HOME is just amazing and brings focus to the nature of consumerism which has infected humanity in developing nations. We can choose and we can make a difference, and there's a real power in when we do take action in some way - we feel good. Imagine walking down the street and seeing everyone smiling and happy - just imagine .....

Anon writes: Great work Westpac....keep up the good work. It is a point of difference and I'll be sticking with you as long as you stick with this. Sustainability is relevant to us all You just need to work on some of your big clients I imagine??

Wendy writes: How about cutting down the amount of paper used in your statements. I get 2 pieces of paper with a small amount of info on each one. Years ago all of this info was on one page - how about going back to what you used to do or at least printing on both sides of the paper

Suzie responds: Thank you for raising a very good point. Depending on what your statement is for, if you bank online you may be able to stop receiving paper copies. For accounts where this is not possible we should be printing duplex. Our paper statements sent to individual customers are printed duplex. Statements for some of our business accounts are not. I am raising this with the appropriate people to see if we can get this changed.

John writes: You should practice what you preach Each month I get several statements from you, with the first page At a glance and 'Your current balance', the second page with the actual transactions. It does not take a genius to work out the closing balance of page 2 is the current balance. Suggest you save 50 of your paper and redesign page 2 so it incorporates page 1

Suzie responds: Hi John. Thanks for raising this. As you can see from Wendy's comment above, others share your thoughts. This is a good opportunity for us.

Maurice writes: Just wanted to commend you on your new sustainability' advert on TV. Very funny yet quite powerful with the key messages from the boy to his Dad. Nice work.

Linda writes: Hello there. we find and fund all those clever ideas that divert waste from the landfill and the wider environment, including ones that may generate sustainable energy. If there is anyone out there that has some great ideas in this area in Canterbury we would love to hear from you Have a look at our website for some ideas www.sift.net.nz

Anthea writes: Really impressed to see a large organisation making an effort to make their business more sustainable and impacting the community. I hope you are an imspiration to other businesses to do the same.

Brian writes: Hi what you are doing might be good for wespacs image but you are kidding yourself if you think you are going to affect the climate.Man only contributes 1 per cent of green house gasses the rest comes from natural causes .If when you mention climate change you mean global warming say so.For your information it seems the earth is now starting to cool down I hope this is wrong I was looking forward to warner weather.the computer models that the U N has based their global warming on are now proving to be seriously wrong instead of temperatures rising rapidly in the last two years which there models show they have dropped hardly seems like global warming.So I think its good the sustainable part might even save Westpac some money but to think you are changing the climate you must be joking and as a Westpac customer I strongly object to these claims you can release all the CO2 you like it neccessary for life on earth

Anon writes: I understand Westpac is the last NZ bank still printing and couriering information to branches on a daily basis. How does Westpac justify that carbon footprint ?

Suzie responds: Yes, we are still printing and mailing information to branches each day. Being more sustainable is very important to us but we are certainly not professing to be perfect. Reducing paper usage is a key focus. We have done simple things like moving to duplex printing and encouraging customers to suppress their statements but we still have a long way to go. We do, however, include paper in our carbon footprint so we now understand and measure the greenhouse gas emissions from our paper usage. Landcare Research have advised us, as far as they can see, we are one of the only banks globally to do this.

Wendy writes: You guys ROCK Thank you so much for all you are doing to reduce your carbon footprint and take action against climate change. Let me know what you're planning for world environment day take action against climate change and for www.350.org.nz world action day on October 24th.

Suzie responds: Hi Wendy. On World Environment Day we contacted over 200,000 of our customers by email telling them how we are doing our bit for the New Zealand environment. We haven't thought about World Action day on October 24th yet but thanks for reminding us!

Kelly writes: Good on you Westpac for doing your bit. I understand, by law, I must receive paper statements for my credit card, which are usually out of date by the time I receive them so don't even get opened. This is not only a waste of paper, cost and time but a ridiculous law for something that should me my decision. Westpac should be the first to change that law. You'd be legendary.

Suzie responds: You are right. The Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 stipulates the requirement for continuous disclosure for a revolving credit contract, like a credit card, every 45 working days. Whilst we can't change the law, we are looking in to whether or not we can achieve this disclosure electronically. Thanks for the encouragement!

Kirsty writes: I've just read the World Environment Day newsletter from Westpac and was very heartened to read of the range of sustainability initiatives in which Westpac is involved. As someone who cares deeply about the environment, I am pleasantly surprised to see such a strong commitment to sustainability. I look forward to reading more in future communiques - well done, keep up the good work and keep sharing the news with customers.

Moana writes: I work @ Kaikohe West School. We had 'wacky hair day' to fund-raise for the Westpac helicopter on the 22nd May. Gold coin donations. We have 3 bins in each classroom/ staffroom for food-scraps, paper & plastics. I also pay monthly payments to 'Greenpeace'

Suzie responds: Thanks so much for sharing the positive steps you and and your school are taking. Thank you also for supporting Rescue Helicopters. I'm sure those who are rescued in the Northland community thank you too.

Kathryn writes: Hi there. I am a teacher of year 5 and 6 students and we are currently doing a unit on sustainability, I was intrigued by your latest advertisements on sustainability and wondered where I can get copies to share with my class to enhance their learning in this area. I hope you can help - I have tried to find these on the net unsuccessfully. Thank you

Claudia writes: I am proud of you and proud to live in New Zealand where the wish is there to keep our planet green. To EVERYONE please watch HOME our earth you can watch it on youtube if you like. This is a must see and soo beautiful. As it was said in this film, WE HAVE TEN YEARS to reverse the catastrophe. 10 years, that's it. After that, no comment... So do whatever you can and do it NOW

Liz writes: Year 6 @ Hadlow School make their own design of recyclable bin liners, make our own compost out of our foodscraps, are making our own individual desk bins, then recycle the pencil shavings and put them in our compost bins, making a wormery which we feed with our lunch scraps,and are reducing CO2 emissions in our class by having lots of plants inside we love your web-site and your ad on tv.

Suzie responds: Thank you for your feedback Liz and for sharing what you are doing at Hadlow School. You are truly leading the way. The kids must love getting involved.

Shar writes: I applaud what Westpac are doing towards pro-actively reducing carbon emissions within your place of business and without and also educating the public about environmental sustainability. Active participation within the community by picking up rubbish along our beaches does show that Westpac does genuinely care and are not just using environmental sustainability for commercial gains. Does Westpac have any renewable energy strategies on the agenda?

Candice responds: Hi Shar. Westpac doesn't have a renewable energy strategy per se. Electricity usage makes up over 50% of our carbon footprint and as you may know, around 70% of New Zealand's electricity generation is renewable. Through our Institutional Bank we also look for opportunities to fund renewable energy projects.