Source: Auckland University of Technology (AUT)
05 Jun, 2020
During lockdown we have seen the environmental and social benefits – less CO2 associated with travel, more time to connect with family.
How do we sustain some of these benefits beyond the lockdown, both at AUT and at home?
The following highlights some initiatives for AUT staff and students:
- Green Impact – a sustainability behaviour change programme enables AUT staff and students to choose specific actions, or create your own actions, and then implement them at home and later at work.
- Thinking beyond sustainability and regenerating the planet – something that is regenerative adds more back to a system than it takes and is resilient and flexible; whereas sustainability is broadly where the negative and positive effects on a system are in balance. Do you want to create regenerative actions within Green Impact?
- The United Nations’ World Environment Day is on Friday the 5 of June. This year the theme is biodiversity and people are being urged to take time for nature.
- Pending Auckland Transport sign off free bike maintenance workshops and free electric bike rides will be offered at AUT in August and September. In the meantime there is bike maintenance advice and videos about kids learning to ride a bike.
- At the beginning of August there will be free workshops about growing and caring for herbs and vegetables on our campuses. More information to come.
Some sustainability projects that have progressed during the lockdown:
- Electricity consumption at AUT halved during level 4 lockdown, a saving of 750,000kWh or 74 tonnes of CO2.
- New parking technology that is equitable and flexible.
- Maps that show native and exotic trees at North, South and City campuses.
