October 19, 2015

Long-term green credentials acknowledged by NSW Government

UOW’s long-term green credentials have received a major boost with news UOW has won the NSW Green Globe 10 Year Sustainability Award.

The University has been a leader in sustainability since the 1990s and in 2005 the then Minister for Utilities, Mr Carl Scully, awarded UOW a Gold “Green Globe Award” at the Energy and Water Green Globe Awards.

A decade later and UOW was again named as a Green Globe winner at an event hosted by the Minister for the Environment, Mark Speakman, at the Art Gallery of NSW on Thursday night October 15.

The University’s impressive record over the past 10 years has included:

·  a third less water use with strict irrigation regimes, waterless urinals and AAA rated showerheads

·  130 ‘e-champions’ across campus who help and educate staff and students on environmental initiatives

·  opening the Sustainable Building Research Centre in 2014 with a 6-star Green Star rating

·  a biodiversity program planted tens of thousands of native plants over thousands of hours of bush regeneration work

·  recycling rates of 38% by volume, up from 8%

·  recycling 12 tonnes of e-waste, and composting and on-campus reuse of 20 tonnes of waste from food outlets

·  significantly reduced car use through increased carpooling including a ‘3 for free’ initiative, and extension of shuttle bus services

Local Members of Parliament have praised the University’s achievement including Member for Kiama, Gareth Ward, who said UOW was being recognised for its long-standing focus on sustainability.

“It was back in the 1990s that the University started its first formal sustainability program with a range of energy, water and waste reduction initiatives,” Mr Ward said.

The Environment Minister congratulated this year’s 21 winners for their role in leading sustainable development across the economy and community.

An independent panel of leading environmental experts helped select this year’s winners. The awards are considered the leading environmental awards in NSW and have been running for 16 years.

For further information about UOW’s environmental efforts see uow.edu.au/about/environment and for further details about the Green Globe awards see environment.nsw.gov.au/greenglobes.

Caption: Contributing to the Green Globe Award is UOW’s Sustainable Building Research Centre which opened in 2014 with a 6-star Green Star rating.