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A&U Green

Allen & Unwin staff have formed a committee dubbed 'A&U Green' to oversee the company's charitable and environmental activities.

Allen & Unwin charities


Allen & Unwin has a proud history of supporting charitable programs, with an emphasis on literacy, environmental, cultural and aid initiatives. Current partners include The Inspire Foundation, the Indigenous Literacy Project, Surfaid, Australian Wildlife Conservancy and the Wakakirri National Story Festival, Books in Homes (NZ) in addition to providing scholarship funding to students from Liverpool Boys’ and Girls’ High Schools.

We also donate books each month to Barnardo's, Mission Australia, The Children’s Hospital, the Alannah and Madeline Foundation and the John Morony Correctional Complex.

Allen & Unwin environmental activities


In early 2006 (we were on the case before the release of the Stern report!) Allen & Unwin set out to reduce our environmental 'footprint'.

Measures we have taken to date include:

  • Switching to green power for electricity used in our offices;
  • Altering the thermostat to save energy in our kitchens;
  • Installing energy-efficient light bulbs;
  • Alerting staff to the energy drain from computers, printers and monitors left on standby and asking them to switch off fully each night; and
  • Encouraging staff to minimise office printing and to use electronic forms of communication where possible.
  • Our Melbourne office has built a bike rack to encourage more staff members to ride their bikes to work.
  • Our Sydney office has installed a rainwater tank, with the goal of saving up to 250,000 litres of water per year.

We're very committed to increasing the amount of recycled paper stock in our printed books - we've recently printed books by authors such as Al Gore, David Suzuki, and Barbara Kingsolver on 100% recycled stock, and are working with the Australian Publishers Association to lobby for better environmental practices in print production.

In 2008 we undertook a comprehensive audit of our energy usage and carbon footprint using the Carbon Clarity service offered by Big Switch Projects.