TCC Environmental Excellence Awards
Year 2001 – Winners and Commendations

Community Group Award
$1000 cash prize from QNI

Wildseeds
Wildseeds is a community-based, volunteer, not- for-profit group committed to the collection, processing, storage and supply of native plant seeds for use in community revegetation projects in the Townsville and surrounding region.

Wildseeds undertakes monthly seed collection trips within the region. 10 or more volunteers participate in these trips each month. Over the past one and half years over 70kg of local seed has been collected and processed by community volunteers.

Through this program volunteers learn plant identification and uses, seed collecting and propagation techniques.

This program creates a great opportunity for volunteers to learn more about Townsville’s native local flora and encourages wider use of local native species within the Townsville region and provides important support to other community run projects.

The group intend on developing a seed orchard and purchasing necessary seed collection equipment with the prize money. Business/Industry Award – $2000 cash prize from TCC Stanwell Corporation

Queensland-based Stanwell Corporation Limited is recognised as Australia’s leading provider of environmentally responsible energy solutions producing ‘green-electricity’ from biomass, biogas, hydro, wind and solar.

Stanwell has installed two mini co-generation units fuelled by biogas, at Cleveland Bay and Mt St John Water Treatment plants.

These units use all of the biomass produced at both of the plants and prevent the release of an estimated 700 tonnes of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere each year.

This energy provides 90% of the power to run the Mt St John plant and 30% of the power to run the larger Cleveland Bay Plant.

Generating electricity from these units does not add to global warming, reuses waste materials that would normally be dumped, or burnt off, reduces the need for the use of conventional electricity and develops a reliable and economical supply of alternative electricity and reduces green house gases.

intend on making the prize money available to local schools for projects designed to enhance the quality of the environment or contribute to nature conservation in Townsville, through their Education Officer.

Primary School Award
$500 cash prize from QNI and $100 worth of books

This year we had a tied win between Annandale State School and Belgian Gardens Primary School, it was an especially tough category to try and judge with all the entries of a high standard and achieving great environmental outcomes.

Annandale State School - $250 and $100 worth of books
Annandale State School worked over 2 school terms on Friday afternoons to plan, construct and maintain a frog pond. This whole project was put together by the schools Science Club. They built a toad barrier to prevent toads from accessing the pond. The work have increased the students awareness of environments needed for frogs to survive, frog lifecycles and have developed a frog breeding program to ensure the success of the frog pond.

The school plan to use their prize money to add a light source near the pond to attract insects for the frogs and develop a worm farm.

Belgian Gardens State School - $250 and $100 worth of books.
Belgian Gardens State School has a great reputation as an environmentally conscious school and this year has tied with Annandale State School for their creation of ‘Environmental Eddie’. Environmental Eddie represents all the different environmental projects that the school has fostered over the past years and the students dedication to the environmental program run with grade 6 students. There programs range from seed collection and planting to worm farms. The school plan to spend their prize money on the development of a permaculture garden for the students.

High School Award
$500 cash prize from QNI

Ignatius Park College

Ignatius Park College has been planning and designing a Rainforest to be built by the students within the school grounds. The area was planted out in the past with exotic species and is suffering from soil degradation. The focus of the project is to create a self sustaining Rainforest with species that are local to North Queensland and Bush Tucker species. The project aims to increase the awareness of the students, address land degradation (weed and soil) issues and empower the students with hands on work to become active members of society.

Special Commendations Community Group Award

Common Interest Program run by Conservation Volunteers Australia.

“Common Interest” is a program that was developed to involve the Townsville Community in caring for one of its most precious resources – The Town Common. The project is a focus site for ‘Revive Our Wetlands’, a national partnership between BHP and Conservation Volunteers Australia.

Conservation Volunteers Australia recruits volunteers from throughout the community to participate in the program. QPWS also support the program by providing equipment needed for the volunteers.

The success of this program can be seen on-ground with significant areas of the Common cleared of weeds, revegetation with local native species and repaired walking tracks.

This special commendation is to acknowledge the work that the program has achieved so far and to encourage them to keep up with these great outcomes.

Westside Cycles

This special commendation goes to Louis Hamilton of Westside Cycles who collects old bicycles that have been thrown away or dumped and builds new cycles from them including piggy back cycles for parent and child, Camel back single wheel trailers, and child trailers. This process reduces the amount of waste going to the local landfills and reuses these materials to create a new product for the community to purchase.

The student volunteer program is an initiative of the Reef HQ Volunteers Association. The program is focused toward students in year 10. The program aims to enhance Reef HQ visitor’s experience, develop further advocates for the environment by providing public education courses and promotion of reef conservation and management.

Over 9 years students from secondary schools all over Townsville have given more than 12 000 hours to the community during their weekends and holidays.

The program is offered to all year 10 students at every secondary school in Townsville region.