College commits to ongoing environmental sustainability

Brenton Stacey
Public relations officer
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

Four small native trees on the Lake Macquarie campus of Avondale College are now symbols of the higher education provider’s renewed commitment to environmental sustainability.

Levi Kingston and Ray Roennfeldt plant a swamp mahogany during the launch of Avondale College’s Environmental Sustainability Policy. Credit: Ann Stafford.

The swamp mahogany and broadleaf paperbark saplings will grow beside the reopened Girls Walk following their planting during the launch of Avondale’s Environmental Sustainability Policy on June 10.

President Dr Ray Roennfeldt launched the policy, noting its grounding in the values of Avondale and in the fundamental beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He referred to the Adventist founders of the college who wanted to establish a school in a natural, rural setting. “The ‘seventh-day’ part of our denominational name refers to a belief in God as creator and to the privilege of caring for the earth in partnership with Him.”

Ray quoted from the policy preamble, which notes Avondale’s responsibility to monitor its use of resources, minimise its waste production, maximise its recycling and implement ecologically sensitive management and development. The policy also lists seven goals, including conducting annual energy and environmental audits, promoting environmental sustainability and stewardship, enhancing biodiversity and supporting environmental research.

Ten priority areas, from education, facility construction and management and information technology, to landscape and campus management, purchasing and diet and food consumption, even advocacy is included, form the core of the policy. Each area has its own goal and tasks.

A committee of staff members, students and a member of the community developed the policy. Ray noted how the diversity of the members—from geographers, a marketing and recruitment specialist and a pastoral educationalist, to a business manager, an information technology manager and scientists—indicated the priority Avondale gives to environmental sustainability. He thanked the committee, adding, “We will continue to thank you into the future.”

Hunter region manager Mark Squires of the New South Wales Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water also thanked Avondale for joining the government’s Sustainability Advantage Program. Membership will see Avondale receive support as it: establishes a vision for sustainability; collects data on energy and water consumption and waste production; identifies, prioritises and implements actions to save energy and water and reduce waste; engages staff members and students in establishing a culture of sustainability; and reports progress. “Sustainability isn’t about sitting in the dark wearing a blanket or working with the lights off,” said Mark. “It’s about doing more with less.”

Avondale School prefects Levi Kingston and Katelyn Smith and Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Teaching students Wade Coster and Kaliya Murray joined Ray and Mark to plant the trees. Carmen Booyens, an associate lecturer in the Faculty of Science and Mathematics, had earlier described the trees as ecologically significant. The swamp mahogany, or Eucalyptus robusta, grows to 25 metres. “It stabilises wetlands and provides a winter food source for migratory animals such as grey-headed flying foxes and swift parrots,” said Carmen. The broadleaf paperbark, or Melaleuca viridiflora, grows to three metres “providing an understory for smaller species.”

Sustainability Committee member Avril Lockton, who is also deputy chair of the Community Environment Network of the Central Coast, summarised the symbolism of the planting of the trees. “As they grow, so will our policy as people work together to bring change to our environment.”

The launch of the policy is the latest green initiative at Avondale. It follows the promotion of Fairtrade Fortnight on the Lake Macquarie campus, the support of Clean Up Australia Day, the publication of the first volume of The Avondale Walking Tracks, a catalogue of the native fauna and flora on the Avondale Estate, an increase in number of recycling bins on the Lake Macquarie campus, and the opening of Girls Walk and Sandy Creek Walk, also on the Lake Macquarie campus.

Visit www.avondale.edu.au/greenavondale to read the policy and for more information.

Join the Green Avondale discussion on Avondale College’s Facebook.