Australia
In collaboration with a leading environmental sustainability organization, the SIFE team from Bond University in Australia developed a comprehensive, two-part “enviropreneurship” project entitled GrassRoots. Through this project the team sought to create meaningful and long-lasting environmental change. During the first phase, the Bond SIFE team conducted workshops aimed at reducing carbon emissions in households. Participants calculated their carbon footprint and learnt techniques to reduce their impact. In the second phase, the team developed a carbon footprint simulator which allowed businesses to audit their carbon emissions and determine the associated financial costs. After using the simulator to identify emission and cost reduction areas, businesses received a Green Marketing Guide which details best-practice techniques that can be used to increase revenue by “going green”. An extensive resource list containing information on government rebates, environmental advisory contacts and other related information was also provided to ensure long-term implementation. More than 40 individuals participated in the household workshops, and more than 60 businesses downloaded the business toolkit with 47 businesses actually performing the energy audits. The team is already working on the next stage, seeking to build partnerships between leading environmental sustainability organizations and increasing the reach of the program.