Western Australia’s Cities of Armadale and Gosnells and the Serpentine Jarrahdale Shire are working together as the South East Regional Energy Group (SEREG) to develop partnerships with business, industry and residents.
SEREG launched the ‘Switch Your Thinking!’ program in 2002 to deliver a range of sustainability initiatives to the regional community under a recognisable and consistent brand.
Switch Your Thinking! helps councils to educate their communities, while delivering projects to promote energy and resource efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction.
The project took out the National Award for Outstanding Achievement at the National Awards for Local Government in November, and also received a category award at the 2008 Western Australian Premier’s Awards for Sustainable Management of the Environment.
Since the program’s inception, SEREG and its project partners have invested more than $1 million dollars in regional actions, helping to reduce greenhouse emissions by over 250,000 tonnes of equivalent carbon dioxide. This is akin to taking some 50,000 cars off the road for an entire year.
Switch Your Thinking! Coordinator, Jason Menzies, said the group takes advantage of the niche available to Local Government, delivering actions at a grassroots level.
“We have formed quite a number of successful partnerships with State and Federal Government agencies, funding bodies, corporate sponsors and community groups,” he said.
“In particular, we have forged a very good working relationship with the Sustainable Energy Development Office, which assists with the provision of grant funding.
“This enables us to deliver many of our innovative community projects.”
Jason Menzies said corporate sponsors are also willing to get on board, due to the councils’ planning commitment.
“As with many councils, SEREG councils have developed long term Greenhouse Action Plans,” he said. “However, Switch Your Thinking! breaks these ten year plans into three year business plans, complete with financial planning.
“From these business plans, our sponsors and program partners can see that we mean business, and have commited the appropriate resources to effectively implement priority actions.”
SEREG councils have delivered a myriad of sustainability initiatives to their communities over the past six years through the Switch Your Thinking! program.
For example, the Greenlight Schools Fundraiser, which runs like a chocolate fundraiser but with the sale of compact fluorescent lightglobes (CFLs), has worked with over 35 schools to sell more than 7,500 globes in the last year.
“We recruit schools in participating council areas to take part in the program, which targets parents and children,” Jason Menzies said. “Flyers and information are distributed through the school newsletter, outlining the benefits of the globes for parents – both financially and environmentally.
“Parents are offered three subsidised CFLs and a free show bag for the kids at a cost of $10.
“The school keeps half the money raised from all the sales and we then encourage them to reinvest those funds back into more sustainable and environmentally friendly initiatives, such as installation of PV systems, rainwater tanks and energy efficient lighting.”
Another innovative Switch Your Thinking! project is The Green House – promoting sustainability on a budget.
This involved the retrofitting of an old, double brick and tile house, representative of many in the region.
Jason Menzies said the house was retrofitted using sustainable products and services from local businesses and traders, and was set up for people to pass through and take on board sustainable ideas for their own homes.
“Importantly, the project was done on a budget to show that reducing your carbon footprint doesn’t have to be expensive,” he said. “Switch Your Thinking! also has an annual rebate scheme, providing up to $800 in rebates on solar panel systems, pool covers, rainwater tanks and so forth. These rebates come in addition to those already available from the State and Federal Governments and aim to make environmentally friendly products more affordable.”
For further information contact Jason Menzies, telephone 0432 370 671.
