Embassies, businesses, charities, and hotels are among the winners of the ACT Government’s 2022 Climate Choices Business Awards, which recognise Canberra businesses and public event organisers who made an outstanding contribution to sustainability and climate action.

The Embassy of the United States of America won the Waste Minimisation Award.

Their Canberra Green Initiative is the steering committee for the Embassy’s greening movement. They have been part of the Business Recycling Program since 2012, reducing their waste from 580 cubic meters in 2012 to 125 cubic meters in 2022. That is equal to a saving of 3,250 household landfill bins, or a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 88 tonnes per year.

In 2019, they received worldwide recognition by winning the Greening Diplomacy Initiative Award for their efforts in Canberra. In 2021, they executed the ‘Face the Waste’ campaign to educate department personnel on plastic pollution and the marine debris crisis. They have implemented a bottle refilling station – saving 59,000 single use plastic bottles from landfill. They run an ‘Art from Trash’ competition highlighting the importance of recycling, with prizes funded through their container deposit collections throughout the year. These initiatives are on top of efforts to make recycling available to staff, and sharing practices with the diplomatic community and broader Canberra community.

The Embassy of Belgium won the Sustainable Event Award for its World Bee Day Fair in May.

World Bee Day is an important day for biodiversity and food security, and by extension, climate and the economy. The Belgium Embassy aimed to make their event a zero-waste event. They only purchased items with minimal or zero waste; worked with food vendors to ensure all packaging was reusable; supplied reusable water bottles and refill stations; had a map and program available through a QR code; and asked patrons to consider their mode of transport when getting to the event.

More than 400 people attended the event, and thanks to the Belgium Embassy’s efforts, only 80 litres of waste – or two-thirds of one wheelie bin – went to landfill, and 240 litres went to recycling.

Electromotiv, a Canberra-born company providing green, low-cost, refuelling solutions for buses and trucks, won the Zero Emissions Early Movers Award.

In 2021, Electromotiv won an eight-year contract to deliver and operate 125 zero-emissions buses and associated infrastructure for Transport NSW. In 2020-21, they trialled the Yutong vehicle in Canberra. They also lease 16 electric buses in New Zealand.

Electromotiv and the CIT Electric Vehicle Working Group are developing Canberra as the renewable transport destination for students.

The Woden Valley Early Learning Centre was named Sustainable Business of the Year.

Children at the Centre learn about the benefits of sustainable activities, grow food, look after animals, and plant native shrubs to regenerate the land.

At the Centre, all programs incorporate waste minimisation activities, materials are recycled into art, old furniture is refurbished, and pigs and worms dispose of organic waste.

The Centre is working towards becoming paper-free, and any paper used is shredded for animal bedding, then composted on site. It participates in the container deposit scheme, and money raised is donated to a wildlife care charity.

The Centre installed a 31KW solar system on its rooftop, which supplies most of its energy. It will install batteries to be completely off-grid.

Rainwater tanks support gardens and animals. All produce grown at the Centre is shared with families.

It will publish the first children’s picture storybook based on its philosophy that young children should learn and explore nature through hands-on experiences.

St Vincent de Paul Society Canberra/Goulburn and the Little National Hotel were joint winners of the Corporate Climate Leader award.

Vinnies’ first ACT shop opened in Narrabundah in 1964, and the Society has been active in sustainability ever since. For more than 50 years, Vinnies has promoted recycling of Canberra’s pre-loved textiles and homewares. Every year in the ACT alone, 50,000 tonnes of donations are recycled, re-used, or repurposed, significantly reducing the volume of landfill. Vinnies are also committed to improving their own waste management, and have installed recycling for cardboard and paper, general recyclables, coffee pods, and toner.

Vinnies has installed 16 solar rooftop systems across their facilities, with a total system size of 200kW, reducing their carbon footprint over the next 20 years by more than 4,600 tonnes. Vinnies partnered with Solar Choice to evaluate their electricity usage, and found that all 16 facilities produced a positive return on investment within five years, and nearly half the sites created a net positive outcome in fewer than three years.

Vinnies’ shop managers use a Smart Metre to monitor energy usage on their premises, maximise renewable energy, and further reduce reliance on the grid. Their rooftop solar systems will charge electronic vehicles in the near future, and a second tranche of rooftop solar systems will soon be rolled out. Vinnies will use batteries to produce and store energy.

The Society is pursuing a net zero carbon footprint, and hope to achieve Federal Climate Active accreditation within the 2022/23 financial year.

The Little National Hotel Canberra opened in September 2015; the hotel building maximised energy and power saving measures without compromising style and functionality.

The team implement climate action into their business, seeking suppliers who share their sustainability commitment. Price is secondary to environmental impact; toilet paper, slippers, and coffee pods are assessed for environment and social benefits.

250 solar panels generate enough energy to power a third of the hotel, saving $22,000 every year, and a 20-year carbon abatement of 1,859 tonnes.

The hotel has a partnership with the local primary school; Bonython Primary’s 12-year-old Sustainability Warriors were fascinated to see environmental initiatives in practice in an operating hotel.

The hotel’s next initiatives include:

• a garnish garden;
• recycling coffee grinds into the hotel gardens;
• engaging with ReturnIT to recycle containers and donate the proceeds;
• replacing single-use containers with refillable pump amenities, returning beehives to the hotel roof spaces, and using the honey;
• designing branded reusable coffee cups; and
• seeking climate neutral accreditation.

The Hotel will expand into Adelaide and Newcastle.

The sustainability committee is chaired by general manager Kathryn Carling, who received the Minister’s Award for Leadership.

She opened the Brassey Hotel and the Little National Hotel as paperless properties, saving more than 150,000 pieces of paper and more than $1,000 a year. She removed all single-use plastics from the Little National Hotel.

The Vikings Group won the Innovation Excellence Award.

Vikings Group were the first company in Australia to implement recycled, recyclable uniforms, and to make the entire change as sustainable as possible.

“Local businesses can play a big part in making the products and services we buy more environmentally sustainable, and the Climate Choices Business Awards celebrate those that go above and beyond,” Shane Rattenbury, Minister for Emissions Reduction, said.

“I’m proud to see the innovative and proactive ways that Canberra businesses are taking action on climate change. It’s wonderful to be able to celebrate some of ACT’s climate action leaders in the business community.

“Many of the businesses receiving awards today have participated in ACT Government initiatives that are designed to help businesses move towards environmentally sustainable practices, such as reducing energy and water usage, and waste to landfill.

“Programs such as the Business Energy and Water Program, the Business Recycling Program, and the Zero Emissions Vehicle Fleet Advisory Service can all help ACT businesses reduce their overheads and become more sustainable.”

Tara Cheyne, Minister for Business and Better Regulation, said: “Businesses in the ACT have not only embraced but lead in environmentally sustainable practice and innovation, and it is fitting that we recognise and celebrate this leadership with these awards. 

“Congratulations to all the winners whose achievements and innovations will continue to inspire more businesses to consider how they can help reduce emissions.”

To find out how your business can reduce their impact on the environment, through ACT Government supported programs and rebates visit www.climatechoices.act.gov.au

The Climate Choices Business Awards continue the legacy left by the Actsmart Business Sustainability Awards, held since 2010.