The Green Office and Green Labs Programs continued to engage and inspire staff throughout UQ in 2022, holding seminars, workshops, and competitions. Since returning to campus, staff are tackling how to remain sustainable while working in a hybrid mode ad have been taking advantage of opportunities and programs, to make their workspaces more sustainable!
Representative Spotlight
School of Business: Buddy Nuku
UQ Business School has continued their strong support of UQ’s Green Office program in 2022 with multiple events and initiatives. They have a number of amazing academic and professional staff as Green Office representatives and volunteers, forming a green team, who’ve worked tirelessly to deliver these initiatives. This year we are featuring Buddy Nuku as one of the Business School’s amazing representatives.
Buddy was a highly engaged representative throughout 2022, as well as in previous years. In addition to being a voice for Sustainability within his workspace, he arranged a Green Office Fair as an opportunity for students and staff to network and to learn about Sustainability.
The BEL Student Centre Green Office Fair was held on the 30th of August to share and swap cuttings, plants, seedlings and all other green goodies and to promote green office initiatives. Fellow Business School teams were invited along to collect their indoor and outdoor jungle necessities to share amongst their offices, families and friends.
The new Green Office board was also unveiled during the event and offers tips, tricks and challenges in support of UQ’s sustainability goals. The team will continue to update the board monthly to showcase amazing initiatives happening at UQ Business School and the wider UQ community.
Gatton Campus: Marce Walker
Marce Walker (Gatton Green Office Rep)
Marce joined the Green Office ambassador in 2021 was able to have organised the installation of a reuse and recycling station under the library at the Gatton campus with the collaboration of the sustainability office, P&F and the UQ Wildlife Association.
She has been part of the community garden at Gatton for a number of years and even received a prize for best plot as a student.
“You don’t need to have a green thumb or have a lot of experience with plants, it definitely helps, but as long as you have time and are willing, the plants will grow. It is a very rewarding feeling to see something grow and know you have taken care of the plant. Also, it’s great when you can actually harvest some of the produce and make a lovely meal or snack”
“Gatton campus has so much to offer. To me, having a recycle and reuse station is a way for students and staff to give a second life to some items that otherwise would have gone to land fill, such as stationary. At the end of the semester there are always things that we don’t need or wish to take back home. To me this also helps the next person along, that needs some pens or pencils instead of going to town to buy them, they can simply reuse some from the station”
The recycling and reuse station is located under the library at Gatton campus and is managed by the UQ Wildlife Association and Marce (during the holidays), if you have some time check it out or if there is anything you would like to see added to it, please email the Sustainability Office at sustainability@uq.edu.au.
Michael, Coordinator for the St Lucia and Gatton Community Gardens, had this to say about the progress at Gatton throughout this year:
"The Gatton living classroom & community garden is a thriving place of productivity. Many beds are thriving with produce from greens to root crop of turmeric and ginger. The occasional sneaky pumpkin vine as well rambles across the garden. It is a very different space to the St Lucia garden, highlighting the uniqueness of the rural aspect of the region."
Promotions and Competitions
Several competitions were run this year for the staff involved in the Green Programs, with lots of prizes on the line. These included a WARPit competition, a Sustainable Development Goal photography competition, giving Green Office and Labs representatives many opportunities to compete and win!
In Semester 1 of this year a WARPit competition ran from April to May and had several entries, with Marce Walker winning the $100 Biome gift voucher. WARPit allows furniture and other resources to be donated and claimed within UQ through an online portal. This promotes the principles of a circular economy by avoiding unnecessary purchases and diverting goods from landfill. Staff using WARPit are reducing their environmental footprint, as well as saving money, reducing waste, and optimising property utilisation.
In semester 2, a photography competition was run from the 15th of August to the 19th of September. The ‘Snap an SDG’ competition allowed staff to draw connections between the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and parts of their everyday life! Staff who took part in this competition also won a block of fair trade chocolate!
Updates and Seminars
Green Office and Labs representatives at 'UQ and Biodiversity: A Symbiotic Relationship' Seminar
Several seminars were run for staff throughout 2022 and had great attendance! Green Office and Labs representatives were able to learn about biodiversity on campus and how UQ manages it, as well as how to reduce their carbon footprints within their offices and labs.
In semester 1, the seminar ‘UQ and Biodiversity: A Symbiotic Relationship’ was held. Fifteen staff members attended to ask questions about how UQ manages its biodiversity, both on and off campus. Great discussions were held regarding how UQ operates in order to minimise any negative impact to the diverse range of flora and fauna which inhabit the campuses.
In semester 2 the seminar was held during Research and Innovation week discussing based around the environmental impact of offices and labs. This seminar aimed to educate and inform both staff and students alike on how they could reduce the impact of their work in labs and offices across UQ. Labs can be highly energy intensive, and as a research-intensive university with many labs across the sites and campuses, it is important to be informed on the choices made in the workplace.
Warren and Christine from the Sustainability Office team spoke about scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, and about the many ways we can keep our offices and labs as sustainable and energy efficient as possible.
Green Office and Green Labs Training
Green Office and Green Labs training this year had great turnouts! All training was conducted online to optimise outreach and be inclusive for staff at remote locations and working from home. Lots of great ideas were shared in both Green Office and Green Lab training, with reps taking the opportunity to ask questions about how they could improve Sustainability practices in their workspaces.
Semester 1’s Green Office training was attended by 8 new representatives, and lots of new ideas were discussed! Conversation focussed around UQ’s sustainable procurement guidelines and balancing sustainability with cost, as well as organic waste bins around campus and how to convince people to use them properly! Conversation also included how to celebrate those in the office space who go the extra mile to contribute to sustainability, as well as the carbon footprint of emails and how sustainability needs to come from the top-down and bottom- up in organisations.
Green Office Training in Semester 2 saw many friendly faces return to refresh their training, and some great conversations covered sustainability communications on projects at a university-wide level, as well as how staff can be more sustainable in their workspaces.
Semester 2’s Green Labs Training had many returning representatives, and many great discussions were had, mainly surrounding how to reduce waste in labs such as packaging and pipette tips.
Initiatives
UQ Carbon Literacy Program
The UQ Carbon Literacy program has gone from strength to strength this year. The program provides a short course that brings together people and organisations from all sectors and walks of life to collaborate, disseminate and act on climate change. Close to 400 participants have gained their carbon literacy certification since UQ launched the program in 2021. Check the website for upcoming dates and to register for the program. Participation is free for all UQ staff and students.
UQ was delighted to announce the program was shortlisted as a finalist for the 2022 Australasian Green Gown Awards. The prestigious Green Gown Awards are dedicated to recognising – and defining – sustainability best practice in the tertiary education sector and provides a benchmark for excellence. UQ now joins other finalists throughout Australasia, and is looking forward to the announcement of the winners on 17 November 2022.
UQ Business School staff create new sustainability garden
Situated on the University Drive side of the Sir Llew Edwards building, UQ Business School’s new sustainability garden contains an array of native plants and edible produce that will rotate over time, according to the season. The idea came about as part of a group pledge made by colleagues who attended the UQ Carbon Literacy Program last year. The internationally accredited program teaches participants how to think about their individual carbon emissions, as well as those of their organisations and society. It encourages people to make changes, big and small, that can help reduce their impact and improve the environment.
After completing the course, a crew from UQ Business School banded together to launch the new garden. Support was provided by the School, P&F, the UQ Green Fund and donations of plants by School staff. Working bees were held and were open to all School staff to prepare the soil, construct trellises and lay pavers prior to planting. The inclusion of all staff in the working bees served to emphasise the community and culture building aspect of the garden.
“We wanted to do something that would help spread the sustainability message, but that would also give people a physical way to practise sustainability,” says Helen Lambe, an executive coordinator and the project’s driving administrative force. It also has the added benefits of fostering teamwork and culture, as well as providing a lovely spot to sit and chat, eat lunch or drink a cup of coffee.”
UQ Sustainability showcased the amazing garden in August 2022 and a garden harvest event was scheduled in October 2022 with the UQ Aeroponics Garden and the UQ Community Garden to expand the reach of the gardens on campus. The garden continues to be a place for morning and afternoon teas, team meetings and general hang out. Please pop down and check out the garden whenever you’re near Sir Llew Edwards Building!
Art Museum Exhibit Going Carbon Neutral
In February 2022, UQ Art Museum’s “Oceanic Thinking” exhibition was certified carbon neutral. It was UQ’s first certification and the result of many months of planning, research and learning. It’s also the first time a Queensland-based gallery or museum has had an officially certified carbon neutral exhibition.
They had this to say about this achievement:
"The Art Museum team worked closely with members of UQ’s Sustainability Team on the project.
Photo: Josef Ruckli
Climate Active is Australia’s certifying body operated by the Australian Government to provide a rigorous and consistent measure for carbon neutrality. The process to become carbon neutral certified involved gathering and counting emissions from our activities such as weighing rubbish, counting electricity use for everything from air conditioning to the water fountain at the front of the Art Museum, and – in our case – including optional factors such as freight chains related to artwork shipping and the carbon footprint of our visitors (these are known as Scope 3 emissions – emissions produced by third parties).
UQ’s sustainability team helped our team to count the data and establish our carbon footprint, so that we could look at how we may be able to remove or reduce these. Any emissions that couldn’t be removed or reduced were offset through the purchase of carbon offsets and using UQ’s carbon credits (available due to UQ’s extensive adoption of solar panels, including on the roof of the Art Museum).
Going through the certification process has informed our strategic planning in areas including sustainability, exhibition development and design. Through this process we now have detailed understanding of important aspects of being a more environmentally sustainable organisation: we know our carbon footprint and where our biggest emissions are coming from; we have identified ways to reduce or remove emissions; we learned how to define and count data for items ranging from heating, ventilation and air conditioning to freight and shipping; and we learned how to select and purchase offsets for carbon emissions we are unable to remove.
Now that we have been through the experience of having an exhibition certified, we are working towards ongoing certification as an institution.
Our certification has given our team essential insight into the certification process that places them at the forefront of this process in Australia and this has been an invaluable capacity-building activity for the Art Museum and its team. We are now equipped to support colleagues in the University and within the museums and galleries sector in Queensland as they embark upon their own journeys towards carbon neutral certification.”
