Latest Climate Positive News
9,000 indigenous species planted east of Melbourne on 26 May at annual planting day
Thirty hard-working volunteers from five Climate Positive offset partners planted enough indigenous species to draw down 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over their lifetime, at Climate Positive's 2010 planting day in Wantirna South on Wednesday.
To see photos of the day, go here.
Good Business Register selects Climate Positive calculator
The Good Business RegisterTM, currently managed by St James Ethics Centre, has chosen to include Climate Positive's calculator as the preferred tool for small businesses to measure their carbon footprint.Suzanne Granger, Project Manager of the Responsible Business Project at St James Ethics Centre, said the Climate Positive calculator was "definitely one of the most useful we've found, particularly for small business".
She said the Good Business RegisterTM will "promote and link through to [Climate Positive's] carbon calculator for small business within the environmental principle five - specifically within the ‘measure and monitor' focus area."
Finding the Biggest Carbon Loser
Climate Positive offset partner VicSuper borrowed from the small screen for its latest carbon-cutting and team-building initiative, 'VicSuper's Biggest Carbon Loser'.VicSuper Corporate Sustainability Consultant Matt Wicking said he began the initiative to encourage VicSuper's 184 employees to cut greenhouse gas emissions at work and home. Staff won points by cutting emissions and inventing creative team-based reduction measures.
"Eighty per cent of our staff took part in the competition in some way,"
Matt said. "And while the competition encouraged employees to reduce their carbon footprint, its primary objective was to engage them on VicSuper's approach to managing its carbon impact."
Climate is ripe for change
Erica Hughes, Climate Positive board director, measured and offset her personal footprint using our easy-to-use online calculator. Measure yours at http://www.climatepositive.org/measure/
Danielle Johnston, general manager, bought an indoor compost bin which accepts all food waste (including cooked food, meat, fish and cheese) and produces nutrient-rich compost, minus the usual foul, compost smells http://www.bokashi.com.au/How-Bokashi-works.htm
Vic-based volunteers needed
Climate Positive would like to invite 20 keen volunteers to help with our latest biodiverse revegetation to be held next Wednesday in Wantirna South, Vic.
With the Balook site planting completed and Bush Family Reserve in Stratford nearing completion, Climate Positive is recruiting green thumbs for the annual planting day on Wednesday, 26 May, only 30kms east of Melbourne.
Safe climate solution gains pace
Climate Positive has aligned with Australia's pre-eminent big-picture, end-game global-warming-solution organisation - Safe Climate Australia - to further fulfill our charter to protect and conserve the natural environment.
The NGO is currently researching the societal transformations and solutions needed to achieve a safe climate at emergency speed.
Safe Climate Australia launch emissions assessed, reduced & offset
Safe Climate Australia, launched on July 13 by The Hon. Al Gore, engaged Climate Positive and environmental consulting partner ecovantage to perform an emission assessment of the 1000-person event, and to offset residual emissions.
The major sources of emissions assessed by ecovantage included:
Climate Positive confirms next partner planting site
Climate Positive have finalised the next planting site and preparations for a planting are already under way.
The Axford Road site is 4.35ha and located in the Dandenong Valley Parklands, within the greater Melbourne area. This location makes it an ideal site for the Climate Positive partner planting days, which, despite being held over two hours out of Melbourne have proved very popular (See photos of last years planting in the Strzelecki Ranges here).
Climate Positive's Balook planting to sequest up to 1800 tonnes of carbon
Researches from The Australian National University have just published a report which shows Victoria's Mountain Ash forests have the potential to hold more carbon than any other forest type in the world.
This is great news for Climate Positive's partners who, through the Balook planting site, will be responsible for removing up to 1800 tonnes of carbon or 6600 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over the life of the planting.
A man of heart determined to make a difference
The Age
Martin Flanagan
March 7, 2009