Live ChatThe Club’s Environmental Journey
June 27, 2012
Currumbin RSL CEO Anne Stovin is a firm advocate for sustainable living and in 2009, together with key staff, embarked on a journey to make the Club more sustainable. The Board of Directors, a progressive group of people have been behind the initiative 100% which has enabled the Club to reach its current status.
Initially the Club focused on water saving and collection, general energy and waste reduction, with these initiatives closely monitored and results were as predicted. After initial costs of $50,000 for major projects, the Club is maintaining a payback period of less than 2 years.
In July 2011, Ecobiz, the Department of Environment and Resource Management, awarded Currumbin RSL with an EcoBiz partnership for substantially reducing their carbon footprint and for their continued efforts in sustainability. In one year the Club made energy savings equaling the energy used by 19 households, a GHG savings equaling the emissions from 20 cars and a water savings equaling one Olympic swimming pool.
The Club has now moved onto creating its own vegetable and herb garden complete with a compost area and worm farm that feeds the garden along with reducing the Club’s waste removal by up to 70%. The Chefs have taken to the garden project hammer and tong or more aptly, pick and shovel and often volunteer their time to its maintenance. Sous Chefs, Adam and Scott have begun community garden days where they offer their expertise in garden and cooking education along with fun workshops for the kids aided immensely by restaurant staff Mark, Carlos and Alana.
The Club’s award winning restaurant Alleys, has benefitted greatly from the garden which is only in it infant stages. The Alleys evolutionary vision is to expand the garden and create more sustainable seasonal menus.
Note: The statements made in the above paragraph have taken form and we have now began our secondary vegetable garden and Alleys new seasonal menu is out – with many products sourced from local producers.
From here…
Community garden days are now taking place with Alleys’ Alana at the helm creating free family friendly workshops. A workshop that will hopefully take place in the near future is the creation of a pizza oven in our garden!
All great things are only a number of small things that have carefully been collected together.
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