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USC students help businesses go greener
Two University of the Sunshine Coast business students are coordinating a ground-breaking workshop this month to assist business owners who’d like to make their operations cleaner and greener.
The “how to” sustainability workshop will be held as part of the 2009 Sunshine Coast World Environment Day Festival at the University campus, Sippy Downs, on Sunday 28 June.
Students Habba Svansdottir, 34, and Tyson Doyle, 20, said the forum would target tourism operators in the accommodation and service sectors and other small to medium businesses.
It will feature discussions about the costs and benefits of becoming more environmentally-friendly, including how offices can cut energy use, waste and water use.
Representatives from the Sheraton Hotel and Queensland Complete Printing Services will discuss their businesses as case studies at the workshop, which has the backing of the Innovation Centre, Auzion Sustainable Living, Eumundi Markets and Greg Smith Electrical.
Sunshine Coast Regional Council’s ecoBiz Coordinator Emma Menzies will be a guest speaker, and a series of podcasts will include live interaction with Bob Willard, a leading expert in corporate sustainability strategies.
For Habba, helping businesses protect their subtropical beach environment was a long way from working as a cabinet-maker in cold, grey Iceland.
Habba said her love of travelling and the environment, as well as a desire for a new career, prompted her to move to Australia two years ago to start studying sustainable tourism at USC.
“I wanted to try living in a very different environment and thought Queensland would be awesome,” she said.
Habba said many companies were noticing increased customer demand for sustainable products and services as part of a new economy.
“We recognise that a lot of resort managers and business owners aren’t sure how to do this and are concerned about the cost of implementation and maintenance,” she said. “However these are long-term solutions that will pay off – and the businesses will gain corporate and competitive advantage as well.”
Organising the workshop is a milestone for Tyson, who is due to graduate soon with a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Marketing.
The former Matthew Flinders Anglican College student said he hoped to work in marketing, advertising or market research, preferably for a local firm.
“The course at USC has been such an eye-opener,” Tyson said. “After learning about managing our resources into the future, I’ve become more conscious of sustainability at home in Buderim as well as in workplaces.”
This will be the first time that USC’s Faculty of Business has run such a forum at the annual World Environment Day Festival.
More than 7,000 people are expected to attend the festival, with activities ranging from sustainable lifestyle demonstrations and a Green Biz Expo to a farmers’ market, stalls, entertainment and displays.
– Julie Gatehouse