Good Environmental Choice Australia News

GECA & Licensees @ Green Cities

We are back from Green Cities 2011! This year's event delivered a dymnamic mix of inspiration and controversy with guest speakers including innovation expert Jeb Brugmann; Head of Sustainability for the 2012 Olympics, Dan Epstein; and Europe's famous environmental sceptic, Bjorn Lomborg. Much food for thought!

GECA's stand in the exhibitors hall increased our visibility to the 1200 architects, specifiers, designers, builders, project managers, government and university representatives, and sustainability advocates in attendance.

We would like to thank the 5 valued licensees that co-exhibited with us: Australian Workplace Manufacturers (AWM), Woods Furniture, Style Ergonomics, Regupol and Independent Cement and Lime. It was a great opportunity to showcase their GECA certified products to key audiences.

It was also great to catch up with licensees including Cavalier Bremworth, Astec Paints and CSR Hebel who attended as delegates.

Click to see Green Cities 2011 presentations and pictures; or GBCA stories; or The Fifth Estate's news coverage.

'Buying Better - What's in a Sustainability Label?'

GECA's Chairman (Gordon Renouff) and CEO (Judy Hollingworth) were part of the expert panels assembled to speak on ecolabelling for the Green Capital/TEC events: 'Buying Better - What's in a Sustainability Label?' held in Sydney and Melbourne in March.

Judy and Gordon were joined on the panel by representatives from Woolworths, the Total Environment Centre (TEC), International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling Alliance (ISEAL), Planet Ark and ECO-buy.

Both forums were well attended by a highly engaged, multi-sectored audience, whose lively discussion spaned national and international market perspectives on ecolabelling.

GECA in the Media

GECA's CEO Judy Hollingworth was interviewed by The Fifth Estate April 2011 for the Special Report: 'Green building materials fire up the green building revolution, but it's complex.' Click here to read the story.

The Fifth Estate opened the article with "Building materials are on the cusp of a major revolution driven by demand for more sustainable products and processes. And the tools used to assess their sustainable credentials are an integral part of this revolution. It is a complex world full of acronyms such as LCA, BIM and LCI and driven by people obsessed with methodology and analysis. We dipped a toe into this rapidly evolving and fascinating area."

GECA will have more media coverage in the coming months, including a flooring article in Facility Perspectives Magazine and another in Awards Magazine. Stay tuned for links and excerpts on the GECA in the Media page.

Introducing GECA's NEW Business and Marketing Director

GECA proudly welcomes new Business and Marketing Director Anne-Marie Byrne.

Anne-Marie comes to us with a successful track record of managing people, projects, partnerships, communications and operations in not-for-profit organisations who, like GECA, offer practical programs for achieving environmental improvement in Australia. She is the former General Manager of Planet Ark and has also coordinated the Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism.

Anne-Marie is excited about her appointment at GECA: 'I am looking forward to building GECA's profile, assisting licensees to maximise marketability of their GECA certified products and services, promoting the work of a wide range of GECA stakeholders as well as showing that participation in the GECA Program can achieve positive outcomes for the environment. There are SO many opportunities to pursue.'