Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses wins Banksia Environmental Foundation 2009 Origin Gold Award

Banksia Environmental Foundation has celebrated 21 years of environmental excellence with its annual national awards evening.

This year, Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses was awarded the top prize, sponsored by Origin, for its commitment to sustainable business practices which have delivered significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and behaviour change of employees, suppliers and customers.

By harnessing the waste heat from refrigeration systems, redistributing heat recovered from freshly baked products, employing hybrid vehicle technologies and offsetting the remaining emissions via tree planting, Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses has reduced its carbon footprint by over 5000 tonnes of CO₂ annually.

Through its commitment to finding and implementing sustainable ways to manage its business together with a continued commitment to growth, Ferguson Plarre is a great demonstration of a small business making a big difference.

The brand new Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre was recognised for setting a new global standard with its innovative environmental design features. The venue is the only convention centre in the world to achieve a ‘6 star green star’ environmental rating, awarded by the Green Building Council of Australia. The awards night was held at this leading-edge new building.

Four friends who cycled over 17,000 kilometres across Australia to spread the news on climate change and encourage communities to make change have also been recognised for their community efforts. The MyPower team were awarded a community grant of $10,000 to help continue their endeavour to spread the word about easy ways to create a sustainable lifestyle. Origin supported the MyPower team as they cycled across Australia in 2007 and 2008 and celebrated with them at the awards when they received the Banksia Community Grant.

Origin congratulates Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses, MCEC, MyPower and all Banksia finalists and award recipients, who are leading by example in the area of environmental sustainability, for helping to create a brighter future.

Find out more about the Banksia Environmental foundation at its website.