This month the City of Canada Bay was named a winner at the Local Government NSW Excellence in the Environment Awards.
Council was Joint Division B and Overall winners in the ‘Towards Net Zero Emissions’ category, as well as winners in the Division B ‘Communication, Education and Empowerment’ category.
These awards recognise the City of Canada Bay’s work in racing towards our net zero emissions targets, as well as our efforts to build biodiversity and protect the Bar-tailed Godwits in our area.
“I’m delighted that the City of Canada Bay has been acknowledged at the Excellence in the Environment Awards this year,” said City of Canada Bay Deputy Mayor Joseph Cordaro.
“It is an honour to be recognised for our leadership in sustainability and the win reflects our hard work towards reducing carbon emissions and protecting our local wildlife over the last year.”
The City of Canada Bay is aiming to achieve net zero emissions from Council operations by 2030 and this year took some great strides towards that goal with a 77% reduction in Council’s operational carbon emissions compared with our baseline year (2017-18). This reduction was largely thanks to the purchase of 100% renewable electricity, the installation of solar power and an electric heat pump at Cabarita Swimming Centre.
Adding to Council’s own reduction in emissions, there was also a 10% reduction in community emissions and 56 tonnes of food waste diverted from landfill through the Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) waste collection trial in Rhodes.
The Communication, Education and Empowerment Award specifically highlighted our Building Biodiversity – Protecting the Bar-tailed Godwit project, which saw Council engaging with over 3,000 residents about how to help support these endangered birds and responsible pet ownership in our parks.
The project also focused on increasing saltmarsh communities and improving the local habitat for Bar-tailed Godwits and marine life. Residents were invited to get involved through citizen science opportunities to track the health of saltmarsh communities along the Bay Run.
