A 24 Hour Ride for Sustainability

This might sound like a day-in-the-life-of sort of story, and it is, because it covers a sustainably significant 24 hours (from 12noon on Thursday 11 March until just after brunch the following day).

It involved spending time in Parliament House with a selection of the most sustainable, innovative and enterprising people in Queensland.

It included announcing the launch of a new business advisory service – Carinya Corporate & Commercialisation – to enable Small to Medium-sized Enterprises capitalise on market opportunities in the Sustainability Sector. More on Carinya in future issues, as this new venture involves ABC Carbon, along with three other experienced professionals, Simon Stodart, David Hunt and Jeremy Martineau.

It extended to talking and listening to some of the same and more over a wine or two in a couple of Brisbane bars. Always entertaining and inspiring hearing from Philip Surch of eNerwise about the Ultra energy saving device he’s distributing around Australia.

The Business Eco Forum featured Don Norton of Envirofriendly, who gave added insight into the origins and activities of the microbe waste management process, while Phil Little presented a comprehensive survey of his sustainable housing innovations and the proposed solar decathlon.

And to top it off, there was a barbecue brunch on a windy South Bank whipped up by celebrity chef Ben O’Donoghue (of “Surfing the Menu” and “The Best” fame), sharing the occasion with Minister Kate Jones to mark the launch of WWF’s 2010 Earth Hour.

The Sustainability Showcase was all about giving Queensland’s Minister of Climate Change and Sustainability some renewed insight into what’s going on the smart state with enterprising businesses engaged in renewable energy, biofuels, energy efficiency, waste and water management.

Not only did Minister Jones welcome the opportunity to meet and hear of the challenges and the opportunities for the Sustainability Sector players, but all the participants, including those Eco Biz partners present, gained from the chance to engage in business-to-business talk which many know will lead to action.

As Nigel Grier, the principal of Zingspace (Townsville), put it the next day:

“The networking opportunity has provided us with some great new connections and potential relationships and the bringing together of so many catalytic thinkers was a great experience! Looking forward to being on board the ABC Carbon Road Train in 2010 and beyond!”

Here is a full list of the 40 organisations, in addition to ABC Carbon, which included businesses, not for profits and industry groups, participating in the Sustainability Challenge:

All Safe, Australian Green Infrastructure Council, Biofuels Association of Australia, Calthorpe Consulting, Carinya Corporate & Commercialisation, Climate First, Dynamic Eco Solutions, EC3 Global, Ecokinetics, Eco System Homes, Ecospecifier, Enerwise, Envirofriendly, EXlites, Fumunda Marine, Funnel, FWR Group, Green Roofs Australia, Ingenero, IQ Agribusines, My Clean Sky/SEA 02, NAC Consulting, Natures Paper, Norton Associates, OFB Corporation, Phil Little Sustainable Design Foundation, Prime Carbon, RBL Management Consulting, Soil Carbon, Start Innovation Centre, Strategic Directions, SuperGreenMe, Sustain Asia, Sustainability Challenge, Sustainable Jamboree, Sustainable Insight, VRM Biologic, Waterwise International, Wind Power Queensland and Zingspace.

For the WWF and Earth Hour brunch, it was good to not only sample some of Ben’s very appetising food, but also hear of his pledge to recycle all of the bio-waste generated at his new restaurant, The Surf Club, when it opens at South Bank in May.

Minister Kate Jones used the occasion to stress that simple lifestyle changes could make a huge difference to reducing each household’s carbon emissions.

“I’ve already pledged to reduce my carbon footprint through a number of easy practical steps and there are a number of government programs to help Queenslanders do the same,” she said.

Understandably, there was considerable work involved behind the scenes (by us and others) to make this period of sustainable events such a productive and satisfying 24 hours. The pleasure of dealing with such enterprising people with their hearts and their energies in the greenest of places was only matched by the enthusiasm generated for the business and friendship opportunities expected to be forthcoming in the near future.

Source: www.abccarbon.com