Green lessons from teaching aids supplier
September 12th, 2009 at 09:27pm Under General
In a clear case of walking the talk, Perth-based educational resources supplier, Australian Teaching Aids, is setting a green example for all business.This educational aids company can give itself a merit award for its environmentally aware and community-orientated business practices.
For over 25 years, Australian Teaching Aids have distributed teaching aids to schools across the country, but with new management at the helm,the company has redoubled its efforts to support local industry.
The new management changed the focus towards local manufacture, with over 80% of its teaching aids now made in Australia.
The large range of novelty pencils is brought in from the United States, where the health and safety regulations are even more stringent than those in Australia.
And when it comes to safety, all of ATA’s locally manufactured teaching aids are child-safe and meet Australian health requirements.
Jane Fievez, MD of Australian Teaching Aids, is pleased with their strategy of bringing the business back to local manufacture and design, saying everyone benefits – from retailers on-selling their educational products to the people who use them.”We are totally committed to supporting local talent and business,” she added. “We use local artists and authors, and support local businesses such as ParaQuads to handle most of our packaging.As far as we can, our preferred contractors are environmentally aware.
Our books are all written by local authors and published locally – with titles ranging from ‘Learning About Libraries, Benchmarking and Relief for Relief Teachers.
Our new glossy educational charts are designed by a local artist and manufactured by Scott Print, which is Perth’s first environmentally certified printer.They use a Process Green System which means that every aspect of the printing process is environmentally sustainable, such as the use of green electricity, recycled waste, petroleum-free inks and recycled paper.
The company’s caring approach extends to less fortunate communities.When stock of teaching materials becomes redundant, ATA’s sends it to needy schools overseas where facilities are lacking and where kids often don’t eat a proper meal every day.
“Local business benefits from this approach, and there are benefits for people who use our teaching aids as well,” added Jane.”Imported products sometime have designs, grammar and language that is inappropriate and not relevant to the Australian learning environment.Grammatical correctness is a vital aspect of teaching aids, and by using local authors and designers, we can control this as well as ensure the materials are relevant in the local context.Because we use local designers who incorporate Australiana into their designs such as gum trees and kangaroos, the products have a special relevance to Australian learners.”
Teaching aids have been part of the primary and lower middle school environment for decades, and if demand for Australian Teaching Aids’ wide range of products is a benchmark, these are products that are continuing to gain popularity – even in the face of technology.
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