CEO Megan Houghton's update  

It’s been a great end to the financial year, with significant outcomes achieved despite the additional challenges provided by the Brisbane floods.  These achievements wouldn’t have been possible without our loyal corporate partners, the forward-thinking CitySmart board and hard-working CitySmart team.

A few highlights from the year:

• Close to 50,000 homes in greater Brisbane have signed up to EzyGreen, leading to an estimated 34,000 tonne reduction in Brisbane’s carbon emissions
• Over 60,000 Brisbane residents attended  Brisbane City Council’s green events, as delivered by CitySmart.  This included a record 15,000+ attendees at the Green Heart Fair in May, with great support from Ingenero, NAB, Northside Honda and the Brisbane Broncos, as well as our media partners Network Ten, Nova 106.9FM, Quest Community Newspapers and ourbrisbane.com
• Our partnerships program has grown from strength to strength with some 26 partners engaged and signed up. 

I’m pleased to confirm Lord Mayor Graham Quirk's continued commitment to making Brisbane Australia's greenest and cleanest city and funding support (FY 2011-12) for CitySmart Pty Ltd is as a key delivery vehicle for Council’s green events program and the continuation of EzyGreen as a single point of entry for households to implement a number of carbon reduction initiatives.

Two key activities we’ll be progressing in the financial year ahead include:

• New commercial projects that target Brisbane businesses and offer potential new business opportunities for our partners. Projects currently being scoped include energy-reduction options, green energy sources and low energy building cooling options
• An EzyGreen product review is underway to identify how to gain greater engagement from nearly 50,000 EzyGreen residents and attract more sign-ups,  including a review of new products and offers that could be offered to Brisbane residents

Finally, I’d like to congratulate and thank two key staff members who are commencing maternity leave – our Events Manager Maria Ranchod and Marketing and Business Development Manager Melody File. We have enlisted very capable and experienced staff to fill their shoes for the next 12 months, in Lori Hogan and Terry Hamilton.  Both bring a wealth of experience that will allow CitySmart to continue as business as usual.

Regards

Megan Houghton

CEO CitySmart P/L  

 

CitySmart board welcomes new member

CitySmart is delighted to announce that BDO Brisbane partner Dylan Byrne has been appointed to the CitySmart board. BDO is a key foundation partner of CitySmart and Dylan has been the main point of contact for the partnership.

Dylan's ability lies in tax and advisory and Dylan heads up BDO’s National Sustainability Advisory Group. He has 16 years of experience in public practice and is a CPA member. CitySmart is proud to welcome Dylan as a board member and we look forward to working with him in this expanded capacity and welcome him to the team. 

 

  

BDO budget review

CitySmart's new board member, Dylan Byrne, provides an overview of the Queensland State and Brisbane City Council budgets and key sustainability actions.

Queensland’s commitment to sustainability

During the past month, the Queensland State Government and Brisbane City Council delivered their 2011/12 budgets and it is fair to say there was a fair degree of expectation as to how these budgets would deliver on sustainability issues, particularly with the backdrop of the recent floods and the huge cost pressures of the clean-up process.

Both governments have maintained their commitment to green initiatives, as outlined below.

Brisbane City Council

The Council budget recognises environmental issues in planning and implementation of the flood recovery effort and includes key commitments around the Council’s own carbon footprint:

• 100 per cent green energy purchased in 2011
• $1.3 million in carbon offsets for the entire Council bus, ferry and vehicle fleet
• $8.8 million for new parks, plus $28.42 million for parks recovery
• Acquisition of bushland on track for 500 hectares of bushland saved
• Tree planting on track for 2 million trees planted
• Continued commitment and implementation of “Sustainable, Green and Clean City” – a comprehensive and detailed plan about managing Brisbane’s future prosperity and the achievement of Council's long-term goal of becoming Australia's most sustainable city.

 Queensland Government

• $60 million over three years to extend the ClimateSmart Home Service to December 2012
• Continued works on major solar energy infrastructure
• $75 million to support investment in solar powered energy generation
• $10.5 million over four years to employ additional Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service rangers and to help manage the National Park Estate
• Commitment to protecting strategic cropping land
• Improvements to water security programs.

The Reconstruction Plan for Queensland also incorporates environmental factors in its various initiatives and milestones. 

 

Trade your eWaste for dollars

Businesses can now trade in old technology and receive a gift voucher from The Good Guys to the value of the traded item.

CitySmart partner The Good Guys has launched a unique trade-in initiative that aims to reduce unnecessary eWaste going into landfill, whilst helping your hip pocket.

Visit The Good Guys website and learn how to exchange old technology via iTradeit, to receive a The Good Guys eVoucher to the agreed value of the item. The eVoucher can then be used on any product across the entire store, allowing you to upgrade to more energy efficient products that help them save on running costs, whilst doing your part for the environment.

The materials used in old laptops, digital cameras, mobile phones and MP3 players will be reused or recycled to make new items, preventing them from otherwise going into landfill and reducing carbon emissions from the manufacture of new materials. 

The Good Guys Capalaba initiated this program that is now available at all Queensland stores. The Good Guys Capalaba proprietor James Brockhurst believes this initiative will help customers reduce their impact on the environment.

“By providing an incentive to trade in older technology, we aim to get the message out about what can be done with old or unwanted appliances and at the same time encourage people to upgrade to more energy efficient models,” James said.

“The aim of the program is to help customers divert some of their old electrical items from going to the tip for disposal,” James said. “And to further encourage this, we are providing customers with an opportunity to trade in their old technology online to reward their good environmental initiative.”

“Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the sustainable choices available and many now actively seek out retailers with environmental strategies in place. eWaste is an important issue and we are just proud to be doing our bit to combat the issue.  As a retailer of these goods, we feel we have our part to play.”

For conditions and more information on this incentive, visit www.thegoodguys.com.auand look for the ‘iTradeit’ icon. 

 

Families flock to Green Heart Fair

Over 15,000 Brisbane residents flocked to the recent Green Heart Sustainability Fair, held in Chermside in Brisbane’s north on Sunday 15 May.

This is a record attendance for the Brisbane City Council event, which is delivered by CitySmart and strongly supported by our partners and sponsors.  Special thanks to Ingenero, NAB, Northside Honda and the Brisbane Broncos, as well as our media partners Network Ten, Nova 106.9FM, Quest Community Newspapers and ourbrisbane.com for helping make this our best event to date.

Thousands of families were seen to be green as they devoured vital sustainability advice, energy saving tips on how to combat rising power costs and all day entertainment on the Ingenero stage including Aussie music legend Daryl Braithwaite

Residents enjoyed over 50 sustainability displays, showcasing the latest in green products and services, while the queues at the NAB Cooking Demonstrations and Honda Kids Hub highlighted Brisbane’s love affair with sustainable community events.

NAB Chermside store manager Carmen MacNaught who manned the NAB stand said she was impressed by the number of families enjoying the day. "From before the start time of 10am we were inundated with people wanting merchandise and queues were 20m deep until well after lunch," Carman said.

Northside Honda principal Robert Brown didn't get the opportunity to sit down all day due to the number of children wanting to paint the Honda car. "We had a great day and the best part was seeing the children's faces while having so much fun painting the car,"' Robert said.

Evergreen pop legend Daryl Braithwaite entertained throughout the day and Channel 10’s Amanda McLeay and Summer Burke showcased their cooking talents alongside MasterChef winner Adam Liaw and Junior Masterchef twins Isabella and Sofia Bliss. A special guest appearance by Brisbane Broncos player Corey Parker had the kids throwing balls and playing games with Nova’s street team.

The next Green Heart Fair will be at Mt Gravatt Showgrounds on Sunday 16th October, 2011, for sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities contact our team at events@citysmart.com.au

 

Brisbane Broncos join the CitySmart Green Team

CitySmart is excited to welcome aboard its newest partner and now arguably Brisbane’s greenest sporting team, the Brisbane Broncos.

The Brisbane Broncos are one of the most successful rugby league franchises in the professional era. With six premierships and one of the largest fan bases in the NRL, the Broncos are recognised as one of Brisbane’s icons and have one of the strongest relationships with the residents of our city.

CitySmart is proud to be partnering the Broncos in delivering the sustainable message to its passionate fans and helping the team on its journey to become Australia’s most sustainable sporting team.

In the coming months, the Brisbane Broncos will be promoting the EzyGreen energy-reduction program through its extensive supporter network which includes over 100,000 Facebook fans, season members in excess of 17,000 and a high profile sponsor and partner network.

In addition to this, the club will be supporting CitySmart’s green events program with player appearances at the Green Heart Fair and Green Up small events happening all around Brisbane later in the year.

Some of CitySmart’s partners have already been quick to seize the promotional opportunities offered through the partnership, with Ingenero, CSR Bradford, Quest Community Newspapers and Airtrain all lending their support to the recent Broncos Charity Auction held on Saturday 9 July. 

 

Exclusive CitySmart Partner Offer

As an exclusive offer to CitySmart partners, the Brisbane Broncos are offering a 20% discount on a fantastic three game Corporate Hospitality package to celebrate Darren Lockyer’s final home appearances including his final Round 26 appearance in the Broncos jersey. Offer is available for boxes and suites only, for more information contact Graham Witherspoon.