Tagged with Sustainability

Present at the 2019 National Sustainability Conference

The 2019 National Sustainability Conference will be held at Hotel Grand Chancellor Brisbane over 1 – 2 April and applications to present at the conference are currently open

The educational program will include sustainability research, participation from diverse industry sectors and topics of integration, technology, automation, climate risk, procurement, renewable energy and sustainable construction. The conference will be looking at current topics and also looking forward to emerging sustainability considerations.

Applications to present in 2019 are open until Friday 9 November 2018. 

Invitation to Submit Your Presentation

Individuals and organisations are invited to submit an abstract to deliver a 30-minute oral presentation; a poster presentation; or a panel presentation which addresses one or more of the conference topics. The abstract should be no more than 300 words and outlines the aims, contents and conclusions of the presentation. Abstracts should not include tables, figures or references.

All proposals will be reviewed by the program committee. Presentations will be selected to provide a program that offers a comprehensive and diverse treatment of issues related to the conference theme. Authors will be notified by e-mail of the outcome of their abstract.

Invited Featured Speakers for 2019 Include:

  • The Hon Josh Frydenberg, Minister for Environment and Energy, Australian Government
  • Ms Megan Flynn, Manager, Environment & Carbon Strategy, Qantas Group
  • Mr Andrew Sellick, Head of Environmental Sustainability, Australia Post
  • Mr Clive Stiff, CEO, Unilever Australia and New Zealand

We are looking forward to another successful conference in 2019 and hope you can join us, for more information on the 2019 National Sustainability Conference, to submit your presentation or register please visit conference.sustainability.asn.au.

 

Opera House Goes Carbon Neutral Five Years Ahead of Schedule

The Sydney Opera House was notoriously behind schedule on most things during the 14 years it took to build but will be five years ahead of schedule when it meets its target to reduce emissions and become carbon neutral.

This move puts it up there with New York’s Empire State building and Paris’s Eiffel Tower as global architectural icons which are actively working to become world symbols of energy efficiency, its Environmental Sustainability Manager Emma Bombonato said.

…

Officials at the Sydney Opera House have been working to increase its energy efficiency and decrease its waste for the past decade. In 2014 it replaced incandescent bulbs in the Concert Hall with custom LED lights to achieve a 75 per cent reduction in the venue’s electricity consumption. In 2017 it introduced a new building management control system to monitor energy and water use and manage climate control. It also optimised the heating and cooling of the building by replacing chiller units connected to the Opera House’s pioneering seawater cooling system in that same year, resulting in a 9 per cent energy reduction.

“One of the biggest benefits of changing the incandescent bulbs to LEDs, means that instead of changing them in the Concert Hall once a year, now it is needed only once every nine years,” she said.

By becoming more energy efficient and streamlining day-to-day operations, it reduced its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and offset its remaining emissions for the year 2017-2018 with help from its major partner EnergyAustralia. To reduce its carbon footprint, Australia’s most recognisable building invested in renewables, tree planting and biodiversity projects to offset its greenhouse emissions. The 2015 Paris Agreement set a goal of limiting a rise in world surface temperatures, and last month the mayors of 19 cities, including Sydney, put in place regulations requiring all new buildings to be carbon neutral by 2030 and all existing ones to reach the same goal by 2050.

Each year the Sydney Opera House hosts 1800 events, serves 2.6 million food and beverage orders – producing 5000 cubic metres of waste and uses electricity equivalent to 2500 households (16 gigawatts). A new waste management program, including the introduction of new recycling streams and transferring food waste that would have otherwise gone to landfill to an organics facility to be turned into energy last year, improved the waste recycling rate from 25 per cent to 60 per cent. An educational program on waste management for staff and contractors also helped reduce waste.

This article was originally published by the Sydney Morning Herald. Click here to continue reading entire article.

Share your expertise in sustainability

Abstract submissions are now open for the 2019 National Sustainability in Business Conference, held from 1-2 April in Brisbane.

Submit for your chance to present your research or experience to an audience of like-minded professionals dedicated to creating strong and sustainable communities, businesses and futures.

Find out more here.

Strawberry Grower’s Despair Over Mass Dumping of Fruit Amid Demand for Extra Large Sizes

A Queensland strawberry grower has posted an emotional video to social media, despairing about throwing away drum loads of edible fruit because they do not meet retailers’ demand for extra-large berries as the season reaches its peak.

A spike in winter temperatures brought fields to peak production late last week.

In response, Coles dropped prices to as low as $1.00 per 250-gram punnet in New South Wales over the weekend to help suppliers move tonnes of excess produce.

Mandy Schultz was appalled by fruit waste on their farm so decided to freeze and freeze dry strawberries. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)

The glut may be great news for strawberry lovers, but growers are counting the cost.

On Friday, Wamuran grower Mandy Schultz received a phone call from a wholesale agent to say he was not accepting anything but extra-large strawberries.

She walked through her family’s packing shed that night, filming the trays of rejected sweet, small fruit that had been emptied into drums for disposal.

The dietitian launched her own waste-fighting program last year.

Titled LuvaBerry’s Our War on Waste, it saw Ms Schultz and her team freezing and freeze-drying excess fruit, that she then sold at scheduled meets in carparks.

But this time, on Friday, the freezers were already full.

“We are a farm that makes a really big effort with our waste, so what about the waste from the farms that don’t have anything in place?” Ms Schultz said.

Farm’s first open day helps address glut

On Sunday Ms Schultz welcomed more than 100 visitors to the farm’s first open day.

Families did their bit to eat excess fruit, picking assorted sizes of strawberries for $10 per kilogram.

Matt Garratt drove up from Brisbane to support the farm’s war on waste and expressed his surprise that size could be such an issue.

“I actually personally quite like small strawberries, I like them better than the large ones, so that’s a bit frustrating,” he said.

Price squeeze

Mandy’s husband Adrian Schultz is the vice-president of the Queensland Strawberry Growers Association and revealed that while production peaks are an annual event, gluts have been exacerbated by larger plantings.

Highly productive new varieties of strawberries that fruit earlier in the season have also impacted profits.

This article was originally published by ABC. Continue reading here.

Want to have your say on sustainability?

Submit your proposal to present at the 2019 National Sustainability Conference, held at Hotel Grand Chancellor Brisbane on Monday 1 – Tuesday 2 April 2019.

Find out more here.

Present at the 2019 National Sustainability Conference!

Your Opportunity to Present at the 2019 National Sustainability Conference Awaits!

The 2019 National Sustainability Conference will be held at Hotel Grand Chancellor Brisbane on Monday 1 – Tuesday 2 April.

The educational program will include sustainability research, participation from diverse industry sectors and topics of integration, technology, automation, climate risk, procurement, renewable energy and sustainable construction. The conference will be looking at current topics and also looking forward to emerging sustainability considerations.

Join the discussion on current challenges, successes and what the future holds for sustainable practices within business at the 2019 National Sustainability Conference.

Invited Featured Speakers for 2019 Include:

  • The Hon Josh Frydenberg, Minister for Environment and Energy, Australian Government
  • Ms Megan Flynn, Manager, Environment & Carbon Strategy, Qantas Group
  • Mr Andrew Sellick, Head of Environmental Sustainability, Australia Post
  • Mr Clive Stiff, CEO, Unilever Australia and New Zealand

Invitation to Submit Your Presentation

Individuals and organisations are invited to submit an abstract to deliver a 30-minute oral presentation; a poster presentation; or a panel presentation which addresses one or more of the conference topics. The abstract should be no more than 300 words and outlines the aims, contents and conclusions of the presentation. Abstracts should not include tables, figures or references.

All proposals will be reviewed by the program committee. Presentations will be selected to provide a program that offers a comprehensive and diverse treatment of issues related to the conference theme. Authors will be notified by e-mail of the outcome of their abstract.

The call for abstracts is now open and accepting submissions until Friday 26 October 2018. 

We are looking forward to another successful conference in 2019 and hope you can join us, for more information on the 2019 National Sustainability Conference, to submit your presentation or register please visit conference.sustainability.asn.au.

 

Sustainable Technology: Q&A with TODAY App Creator

Born from a desire to bring big changes to the world via our ever increasing reliance on technology, Seb Berry created the TODAY App, offering users the chance to take on small sustainable challenges that have big impacts on our planet.

We got the chance to speak with Seb about sustainability, solutions and the big challenges in today’s society.

Q: What inspired you to create the TODAY App?

A: For me, the first thing was to try and figure out how to bring the world’s most monumental challenges into some kind of framework that feels personal and relevant.

We live with one of the most powerful pieces of technology in our pockets, 24hrs a day. Many of us also recognise the need to make change towards sustainable alternatives, and technology can help make it more fun and easy to share.

I saw so much power in the small choices we make as individuals, which play into broader systems and dynamics with environment & climate as much as business & governance – and imagined how we might recognise our own potential in our daily habits.

I’m inspired by the incredible things people are capable of, and brought the TODAY App to life to provide a platform to empower people with the personal difference they can make on many of the biggest issues facing our generation.

Individually and collectively we share many common goals, and we can work toward them by focusing our energy and attention into what we know is important – but we tend to get distracted and forget about those things in our day-to-day lives.

 Q: Tell us a little bit more about the app. What’s your favourite feature?

A: TODAY is a sustainable living app that gives people one small challenge that they can make each day. It gives people feedback on the positive impact they’re having. It prompts little habit hacks and changes we can easily make – like going meat free for a day or grabbing a reusable coffee cup.

The vision of the TODAY App is to create a lifestyle tool that motivates us to take up more sustainable habits. You can see daily quotes alongside active challenges, personal impact and collective impact.

My favourite feature for the App right now is ‘Invite Friends’, which allows people to start building teams and a support crew around taking on positive new habits and having the support network to keep up with them.

 Q: Do you think we’re becoming more or less sustainable in today’s society? Why?

A: There is much happening that is positive. It’s an interesting and tough question to answer though, as there equally are signs that as a global community the net shift is still heading in the wrong direction.

There’s huge groundswell in awareness and action around sustainability. In media, government and non-government organisations, business, community and then of course ratified commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 by 150 world leaders.

As individuals (consumers if you will) we also drive the agenda though – and that’s a critical factor. There is something of a reliance on support structures such as government to provide answers to how we will turn the tide on unsustainable human practices. However, the Catch-22 is that consumer behaviour is the very thing that motivates business and drives policy. Equal pressure is needed from both sides to find balance with the natural world and arrive at a healthy and sustainable future.

As a business owner myself, I would say there is a real change in the air with organisations realigning with deeper values and taking the initiative to shift the goal posts around people and planet as much as profit. In this respect I would highly recommend all organisations to go through the process of B Corporation Certification and involving as many of their teams in that process as possible.

 Q: What’s your favourite TODAY challenge? Why?

A: There are so many things we can do, and I’ve only incorporated a small number of the hundreds of habit hacks that I’d like to have in there. 

My favourite challenge would also have to be the most impactful. And one of the most significant habits we can get into is reducing the amount of meat in our diets.

What I hope people get out of the App is a sense of:

Personal motivation – consider it a sustainable living buddy.

Connection with friends who also want to make a positive impact, since you can log into the app through Facebook.

Access to products and services that can help to support more sustainable living in the long term.

 Q: Tell us your top three tips for sustainable living

  1. A: Try going VEGAN
  2. Buy nothing else NEW in 2018
  3. Move all your services to GREEN

 Q: Can we look forward to TODAY for Android in the future?

A: Good question! Further work is going into the App to make it more awesome. First thing’s first, we need to help people form the sustainability habits that they’re going for, and support them with the community, information, products or services they need to maintain them.

While an Android version would be great to make available, we’re looking for resources to be able to make that happen.

To help accelerate TODAY on its journey, we’ve just built a chatbot game for Plastic Free July on Facebook Messenger. The idea here is for us to keep testing and making things better while finding the money to be able to continue App Development.

If it’s not too late, please go to https://m.me/thetodayinitiative and simply click Get Started to get involved in the Plastic Free July game – you’ll get little daily reminders to keep up the good work!

Check out the TODAY App here and download it from the Apple Store here.