Posts Tagged ‘Green Avondale’

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Regeneration begins

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Green Avondale: Encouraged either by one hour’s paid leave or by student club COSMOS, staff members and students planted 400 trees in four hours over two days during Avondale College of Higher Education’s Green Week (September 5-10). The trees are all natives donated by not-for-profit community organisation Trees In Newcastle. They are now growing along Girls Walk and near the dam between the Cooranbong Community Services Centre and Avondale Springs, both on Avondale’s Lake Macquarie campus. The planting should promote an increase in flora and fauna on campus and perhaps the return of kangaroos.—Brenton Stacey Credit: Krissie Hopkins.

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Farewell old friend

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Boiler goes but environment and bottom line to benefit

Kirsten Bolinger
Public relations assistant
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

Avondale College’s decision to decommission its long-serving boiler and replace it with a more efficient gas heating system will have environmental and financial benefits.

Plumber John Vosper, who served at Avondale for 39 years, symbolically turns off the boiler, which ceased operating on September 30. A new gas heating system now provides hot water for the cafeteria and each of the residences on the Lake Macquarie campus. Credit: Ann Stafford.

Campus supervisor and projects officer Bruce Cantrill says the boiler had to be replaced because the pipes carrying water from it to the cafeteria and the residences on the Lake Macquarie campus were deteriorating.

It did not work efficiently, either. According to vice-president (finance) Francois Keet, the boiler used 450,000 litres of gas a year. The new gas heating system will use only 150,000 litres a year. It will also save on electricity—the boiler operated 24 hours a day to distribute hot water through the pipes—and labour, adds Francois.

John Vosper, the former plumber at Avondale, checked the boiler twice a day, every day. “There was no alarm system to tell us if something went wrong,” he says.

The gas heating system includes two gas hot water systems in the cafeteria and in each of the residences, eight in total.

Avondale plans to sell the boiler for scrap metal.

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Reality bites

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Comment: Festival of Faith

Kirsten Bolinger
Public relations editorial assistant
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

Students stand up against poverty at a Festival of Faith that challenged them to deliver justice with their day-to-day choices. Credit: Ann Stafford.

My cheek is still burning from the slap I received at Festival of Faith this past week.

Of course, I’m speaking metaphorically, but between the large environmental projection-like screen standing imposingly behind speaker Joanne Darby and the rhythmic music that moved my soul as well as my feet, the festival is an experience I’ll not forget.

Joanne passionately showed us we can all be “The house that bears His name” by delivering justice to the world with our day-to-day choices. One of her key texts: Amos 5:21-22, which tells of God’s disgust for injustice. She answered the question, “Is my God green?” with a resounding yes, giving scriptural evidence such as Numbers 35, which tells us how to coexist with the natural world.

The green theme extended to Cafe Rejuve, which sold Fairtrade hot drinks during the week. The cafe is a not-for-profit project of Regeneration, an Avondale College Seventh-day Adventist Church-based young adult Bible study. All profits support Regeneration’s overseas mission projects such as Make A Stand for Clean Water, which is raising money for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Malawi Well Project.

The meeting on Friday evening ended with more than 400 people standing against poverty as part of the worldwide Stand Up event this weekend that precedes a Millennium Development Goals summit at the United Nations.

I received a humbling dose of reality at Festival of Faith. Now the question is, “What am I going to do with it?”

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COSMOS says thank you for Fairtrade support

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Kirsten Bolinger
Public relations assistant
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

Student mission club COSMOS hosted a free soup and buns evening to thank those who supported Fairtrade Fortnight on Avondale College’s Lake Macquarie campus.

COSMOS raised $1075 in less than one hour during its slave auction and sold more than 80 per cent of the chocolate it bought as part of its Fairtrade Fortnight promotion. The campaign, which included collecting signatures for a petition encouraging Avondale to buy more Fairtrade certified products, gave the club a presence on campus, says vice-president (public relations and marketing) Anjuli Cruz. “We have people on our team who want to see change and are making it happen.”

“We wanted to do something to show our appreciation that didn’t involve asking for money,” says COSMOS team member Tammy Zyderveld.

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COSMOS to push for Fairtrade food

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Kirsten Bolinger
Public relations assistant
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

Student mission club COSMOS is promoting a campaign called Fairtrade Fortnight as part of its push to make changes to Avondale College’s food purchases.

COSMOS and the Out of the Box Café are selling Fairtrade products, including chocolate, until Friday this week. Credit: Natalie Rixom.

COSMOS wants Avondale to buy more Fairtrade certified products to sell in the Out of the Box Café on the Lake Macquarie campus. The club and the café have been selling Fairtrade products since Fairtrade Fortnight began on campus on Monday this past week (May 3). COSMOS has also been collecting signatures for a petition it plans to present to Avondale’s administrators.

The promotion seems to be working, with director of food services Nick Hartigan reporting an increase in the sales of hot drinks. Nick is a supporter of the Fairtrade movement, but he is also committed to providing a cost-effective service. He trialled the use of Fairtrade products in the café this past year but received only a lukewarm response. “I can’t afford to stock a product that doesn’t move,” he says.

According to The Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand, Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. “Fairtrade Fortnight reminds us our purchasing power does make a difference in poor countries,” says Brad Watson, a lecturer in international development studies in the Faculty of Arts and staff adviser for COSMOS.

Brad and the COSMOS team have repositioned the club this year—it now focuses on advocacy, development and sustainability. Says vice-president (public relations and marketing) Anjuli Cruz, “We belong to a Christian college and should all have a vested interest in what is happening in the world around us.”—with Brenton Stacey

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