Australian Museum's Climate Change Distinguished Fellow, Tim Flannery Urges the Community to Act on World Environment Day.
SYDNEY, Wednesday 5 June, 2019: This World Environment Day (today) the Australian Museum (AM) is encouraging the local community to come together and take small actions to ensure a clean, green and more secure future for themselves and their children.
"Small changes are how we start making a big difference," Professor Tim Flannery, the Australian Museum's Distinguished Fellow in Climate Change said.
"Taking public transport, doing errands on your own two feet, growing more trees and plants, turning off lights and electrical appliances - these are actions we can all take which will collectively make a difference to the air that we breathe," Flannery said.
World Environment Day (WED), is the United Nations flagship day to encourage worldwide awareness and action for the environment. In 2019, the theme is Beat Air Pollution, and communities across the globe will come together to help minimise emissions to strive for cleaner air.
Long-time environmental campaigner, AM Director and CEO, Kim McKay AO said that when it comes to air pollution, we can all play our part.
"Whether you're an individual, a business organisation or large multinational, there are things we can all do to improve air quality," she said.
McKay, who co-founded Clean Up Australia with the late Ian Kiernan some 30 years ago, said that over the past five years, the Australian Museum has implemented energy-saving practices across the institution including to its air-conditioning systems, installing LED lights and minimising waste to reduce consumption and air pollution.
"The initiatives to reduce our energy consumption without compromising the care of precious collections have been remarkable. Not only have we saved money, but the fall in energy consumption is equivalent to taking 130 Sydney households off the grid," McKay said.
As part of its sustainability commitment, the AM has already achieved significant energy savings including a 23% reduction in electricity consumption through mechanical upgrades, new energy efficient LED lighting across the building and better recycling and waste management processes.
The AM is continuing to upgrade its air-conditioning plant and progressively become more energy efficient, while sharing this knowledge with smaller regional galleries and other museums across the nation.
"By joining together on World Environment Day and committing to make changes to our behaviour, we can help reduce emissions and create a more sustainable environment for our community," she said.
