Low Carbon Diet in School Communities Program

The Department of Environment and Resource Management and Keep Australia Beautiful Queensland (KABQ) have partnered on a new nine month program to help south east Queensland (SEQ) school communities and their associated households to reduce their household carbon footprints.

The Queensland Government’s Low Carbon Diet will be used as the framework for the program to encourage school communities to work together to each reduce their carbon footprint by 2,000kgs by making behavioural changes in areas such as water savings, energy savings, waste and recycling, and sustainable travel.

The program will leverage off the community hub nature of school communities to promote low carbon actions from Parents & Citizens (P&Cs – state schools) and Parents & Friends (P&Fs – private schools) into school households.

The Low Carbon Diet in School Communities program goal is to involve 170 school communities (primary, secondary, public and state schools), and 2,500 households.

The program aims to reduce carbon footprints by 2,000kgs – so if 2,500 household each saved 2,000kgs, then that would equate to GHG savings of 5,000 tonnes!

KABQ will commence in south-east Queensland from October 2009 and school communities will have until 30 June 2010 to complete the program.

Information will soon be available on the new KABQ website at www.keepaustraliabeautifulqueensland.org.au