A North Stradbroke Island cafe owner who participated in Tourism Queensland’s Sustainable Regions pilot program will be the first operator featured in Tourism Queensland and Channel Nine’s new “Living Green in Queensland” initiative, Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor announced today.

Mr Lawlor said the “Living Green in Queensland” 30 second segments would promote the outstanding work done by Queensland tourism operators to become more environmentally sustainable.

Member for Capalaba Michael Choi said Fishes at the Point had done a great job in reducing its carbon footprint.

“Guests of Colin Battersby’s the Fishes at the Point can take comfort in knowing that the 200 litres of oil used each week to cook their meals will be filtered and reused in the fishing boats that supply by the café,” Mr Choi said.
“Additionally, by recycling their food waste at a community farm, Fishes at the Point will divert 128 cubic metres of waste from landfill, resulting in a massive reduction of 45.5 tonnes in CO2-e.

“Other initiatives undertaken by the cafe include investing in a heat exchanger that creates hot water from unwanted compressor heat to reduce both their heating and cooling bills by up to 25% and replacing wax-covered cardboard takeaway containers with recyclable alternatives.”

Minister Lawlor said following on from Tourism Queensland’s Sustainable Regions pilot program, we wanted to promote the fact that various Queensland tourism operators had implemented changes to become more eco-friendly to the domestic market.

“The aim of the Sustainable Regions pilot program was to encourage Queensland tourism operators to adopt practices that reduce the environmental impact of their operations and also encourage visitors to view Queensland as a sustainable destination,” he said.

“A number of Queensland tourism operators from the five chosen pilot regions -Winton, North Stradbroke Island, Airlie Beach, Magnetic Island and Pioneer Valley/Cape Hillsborough, successfully committed to lowering their carbon footprint after participating in the program.

“Each ‘Living Green in Queensland’ segment will feature an operator that has participated in the Sustainable Regions program from some of these regions.

“In addition, some of the various destinations showcased in the segments will also feature in Nine News’ weather forecast with Weatherman Garry Youngberry crossing live from these locations.

“The expectation is that the segments will help to create greater consumer awareness of the hard work Queensland operators have done to become more eco-friendly and hopefully encourage domestic tourists to book their next guilt-free holiday in Queensland.”

The ‘Living Green in Queensland’ segments will be 30 seconds each and began airing on Sunday 20 June for 10 weeks.