Public Sector Sustainability Award

2012 Winner

TAFE NSW Northern Sydney Institute, Sustainable Education

"Winning a Green Globe Award is a celebration of the Northern Sydney Institute sphere of influence of learning for sustainability - whether through staff, students or business partners, the multiplier effect continues beyond the individual into building a sustainable society".

- Audette Benson, TAFE NSW: Northern Sydney Institute

TAFE NSW, Northern Sydney Institute (NSI) has taken an integrated and far-reaching approach to sustainability, and has created a way of thinking and doing that is embedded in every aspect of the Institute’s operations.

NSI is committed to integrating sustainability into all teaching practices. They are introducing new environmentally based courses and modules across all industry sectors, covering subjects such as renewable energy; dual grid installation; insulation training; energy, water and waste minimisation; green plumbing; automotive gas refitting; and ecologically sustainable building design and construction.

It is the only institute in Australia to be certified ISO 14001, the international standard for environmental management systems.

The Institute is committed to green skills staff training and in the past two years, more than 2,000 staff have completed training in specific green skills and skills for sustainability.

NSI understands the importance of modeling sustainability on its own campuses and is working on a number of innovative new green skills training and developments including:

• Small Wind Turbine Site Assessment with UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures, Alternative Energy Association and Clean Energy Council
• National Green Jobs Corps with conservation volunteers
• Green Space with Parramatta River Catchment
• Wholesale Nursery Training
• Cert IV Business Sustainability Assessment
• Carbon Accounting
• the Energy Efficiency Lifestyle program
• Cert II Renewable Energy and Grid Connected PV Systems.

NSI has implemented its Energy and Water Efficiency And Carbon Reduction Strategy across its colleges. In 2011, NSI saved $223,818 in energy costs and over 1,191 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

Highly Commended

Corrective Services NSW, Glen Innes Correctional Centre

Glen Innes Correctional Centre is a minimum-security institution for male inmates located 45km east of Glenn Innes and is well known for its innovative entrepreneurial activities and positive environmental programs.

Inmates are employed in the Centre’s sawmill, nursery and kitchen as well as in community projects.

Over the past 10 years the management team and staff have initiated a range of waste reduction and recycling projects that have dramatically reduced waste and helped to minimise the Centre’s impact on the local environment.

These projects include:

• all organic food waste is used in the Centre’s worm farms. Fertilizer and worms produced in the worm farms are used in the Centre’s gardens and the surplus is sold. Start-up worm kits are supplied to other correctional centres throughout NSW
• shredded paper is used in worm farms for the manufacture of potting mix
• sawdust, timber shavings and waste timber from the on-site timber mill, are recycled and reused to make potting mix and mulches, animal bedding and bagged kindling
• plastic bags have been banned and plastic wrapping on inmate meals reduced
• polystyrene cups have been replaced with cardboard cups.

The Centre’s waste reduction and recycling strategies have resulted in the diversion of 260 tonnes of waste from landfill every year.

2012 Finalists

View the 2012 Public Sector Sustainability Award finalists and find out more about their projects.