Earth Hour 2008- Business & School Update

Since our last blog entry (yesterday!) we have already had another organisation - St Marys Area Community Development project Inc. (SMACD) and another business - Crystal Clear Filtration Systems (Aust) Pty Ltd sign up for Earth Hour as well as another seven local schools, including Emmaus Catholic College, Oakville Public School, Caroline Chisholm College, Kingswood South Public School, Montgrove College, Mary MacKillop Primary School and St Marys North Public School. So that’s now a total of nine local schools, seven businesses and three organisations. Keep up the good work!

If you haven’t already signed up to show the world you care and pledged your commitment to Earth Hour all you need to do is click here to be directed to the Earth Hour website where you can register your business, school or organisation.

Earth Hour 2008 Update

As most of you would be aware Penrith City Council is once again throwing its support behind Earth Hour - an annual event coordinated by WWF Australia to raise awareness of climate change, while at the same time encouraging households, schools, businesses and organisations to take the practical steps that are needed to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 5% over the coming year.

Along with millions of others around the globe, Penrith City Council will "power down" for one hour on Saturday 29 March at 8pm by turning off non-essential lighting across Council owned facilities and encouraging all staff to switch off machines and unplug appliances at the power point before they leave the office.

The inaugural Earth Hour event in 2007 saw Sydney plunge into temporary darkness as more than 2 million residents turned off lights and appliances, which, as a result, helped cut energy usage by 10 percent. This year Earth Hour has grown significantly, with more than 20 cities around the world signing up and millions of people in households, communities, businesses and corporations set to take part.

Several Council facilities, as well as a number of schools, businesses and organisations across Penrith City will be participating in Earth Hour this year – most noticeably by switching off their lights for one hour on Saturday 29 March at 8pm. Currently we have 89 residents across the Local Government Area; two local schools, including Holy Cross and St Clair Public School; six local businesses, including Altank Sheet Metal, Lindsay PieMaking Equipment Pty Ltd, Holistic Healing Therapies, eSpire Solutions, Colliers International and The Candle Hut and two organisations, including Technocrats Association of Australia and UWS have signed up, not to mention 10 Council owned facilities as well. Way to go Penrith City!

If you haven’t already signed up to show the world you care and pledged your commitment to Earth Hour all you need to do is click here to be directed to the Earth Hour website where you can register your home. Let’s see if we can hit 200!

Even if you can’t switch your lights off for the one hour period you can still participate. Earth Hour is as much about making the small changes needed to reduce energy consumption as it is about switching off the lights, so why not sign up for Earth Hour and start looking for areas where you can save 5%?

As an extra incentive to get involved Penrith City Council will commit to plant a native tree or shrub on behalf of each home, business or school that signs up to participate in Earth Hour 2008. The planting will be undertaken with assistance from NRMA Insurance through their communityhelp Grants Program and the planting will be undertaken in Werrington Creek Park, Cambridge Park.

For more information on Earth Hour and how you can make a difference, go to www.earthhour.org or visit our website.

Graduates of Sustainability

Saturday 1 March was an important day for members of Penrith's newest Sustainability Streets, with participants of the program graduating in a celebration held in the lovely grounds of Muru Mittigar.

After a week of rain Saturday dawned bright and sunny - just perfect for our requirements, with the sun lasting throughout the ceremony and through to the lovely BBQ lunch and bush tucker tasting, which seemed to be well and truly enjoyed by all.

Some special guests (apart from the Sustainability Street participants) were on hand to lend some ceremony to the occassion and included:

• The Mayor of Penrith City, Councillor Greg Davies;


• Council's Sustainability Champion, Councillor Karen McKeown;
  
• One of the founders of the Sustainability Street Approach, Dave Seignior, a Director of Vox Bandicoot Pty Ltd; and
  
• Group mentor, Vanessa Steele.

The highlight of the morning were some passionate and heart felt speeches from some of our sustainability graduands, putting into words how the Sustainability Street experience had affected them and what they had gleaned from the workshops since the program began way back in July 2007.

A big thanks and congratulations to Lee, Irene, Gretel and Janis who were the brave ones to get up and speak in front of the crowd!

A huge novelty cheque was also presented to both groups as part of the graduation ceremony to allow them to get a community project of their choice underway with the Mulgoa group choosing to work with Mulgoa Public School on a community vegetable garden, and the Garden Club working with Mamre House to improve their plant propogation and irrigation systems. The funding for these community projects was made possible by grant funding provided by the NSW Government through their Environmental Trust.

To find out more about the Sustainability Street program and getting your street, club or community involved email Council's Sustainability Education Officer or call 4732 8050.