Sustainability agency increases air travel and water and paper use

My mum always told me to set a good example for the other children, so too it seems for the Australia’s Victoria state government department, Sustainability Victoria.

The government agency, responsible for environmental sustainability, said in its annual report:

“It is critical that our operations exemplify our values and we are held to account on our own environmental performance. Our environmental sustainability policy commits us to implement an accredited environmental management system to manage our environmental footprint.”

But that hasn’t been translated into action, with the agency reporting an 18 per cent increase in paper use and a nine percent jump in water consumption in the 12 months to June.

Staff in the agency have also been getting around with the report detailing a 49 per cent increase in the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated through air travel, according this article by the ABC (the Oz version of the BBC only without the shenanigans of Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross).