Turkish‐speaking businesses in the City of Hume have jumped at the opportunity to sign up for free green business assessments.
The audits are being carried out by local community members who have been trained as GreenTown Sustainability Assessors by Environment Victoria, together with the Alevi Community Council of Australia and Moreland Energy Foundation.
The assessors have delivered more than 60 home sustainability assessments in Turkish and Kurdish family homes since April this year, and are now turning their attention to Hume’s business community.
GreenTown Assessors Sehriban Genc and Nurcihan Ozturk today conducted an assessment at Lazoz Kebab & Chicken shop in Broadmeadows.
Mrs Genc said she was pleased to be expanding her role as a sustainability assessor.
“Today we conducted our first business sustainability assessments and we had some really great results. We showed the business owner how he can reduce his energy and water consumption and how to produce less waste in the workplace,” she said.
“I have really enjoyed working as a GreenTown assessor. It has helped me to learn a lot about the environment and how we can live more sustainably, both at home and at work.”
Environment Victoria’s program manager Nina Bailey said the GreenTown program was a unique opportunity for Melbourne’s culturally diverse communities.
“The GreenTown program trains local community members to be sustainability champions and helps them to share their knowledge with others in their neighborhood,” she said.
“Delivering business assessments in Turkish will help Turkish and Turkish‐speaking Kurdish business owners make their workplaces greener and save them money – something every business owner wants to do.”
Environment Victoria’s GreenTown program is a Melbourne‐wide program which aims to help people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds learn about sustainable living. GreenTown is funded by Sustainability Victoria’s Sustainability Fund.
Media photo opportunity:
Two GreenTown Turkish program Assessors conducting a Turkish‐language Business Sustainability Assessment in a kebab shop, together with the owner of the business.
Date: Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Time: 9.30am
Location: Lazoz Kebab & Chicken, Shop 1A Blair Street Broadmeadows, Phone 9309 0111
For further information please contact:
Nina Bailey, GreenTown program manager at Environment Victoria, on 0404 330 348 or Suzan Saka, Alevi Community Council of Australia, on 0414 305 008.