CQUniversity Sydney introduced an environmental committee over 12 months ago to reduce its impact on the environment and to help educate staff and students on environmental issues.

Susan Loomes, Campus Director, Sydney, believes we should be doing everything possible to address environmental issues and this is a small way of making a difference.

"Our students and staff are global travelers and future leaders. Anything we can do to educate them about environmental concerns has to benefit our planet," Susan said.

Since its introduction the committee has introduced a range of initiatives:

• Garbage bins have been removed from all work stations and replaced with recycling boxes. The boxes can take paper, cans, glass and plastic. A central garbage bin has been installed in each department. Staff adjusted very easily to the change and have been happy to support this initiative. Gone are the hundreds of plastic bags that lined the bins each night and the amount of recycling has significantly increased.

• In mid-May, all student PCs (at both 333 and 400 Kent Street ) were set to shutdown via Altiris (software program) at midnight every night. In total 600 computers are shutdown. All student PCs are now off for at least an extra 7 hours each weeknight. Early results show a reduction in energy usage over a typical month due to this initiative is around 39% or 47600 kilowatt hours of electricity per month.

• On both campuses, environmental tips are placed on a rotational basis on plasma screens to educate students on environmental issues. eg. turn off the tap when cleaning your teeth to save water.