If you’ve been following us for a while, you would know that we do a fair bit of work for, and with, local government. We’ve done energy audits, feasibility studies, solar monitoring, climate training workshops, business sustainability assessments, sustainability roadmaps, climate resilience assessments…and that’s only in the past 12 months! This is because we are living in a time of frightening environmental change and many of the South Australian LGAs have declared a Climate Emergency. We are all working together to foster change in our local communities.

What services does the council offer? That depends wholly on which council you live and/or work in. All councils are different and prioritise different aspects of environment, sustainability and community resilience which needs to be balanced with local economic growth and (sadly) limited funding.

  • Some councils offer grants for such things as energy efficiency upgrades or hiring a consultant (like us).
  • Some councils offer free or heavily subsidised trees to help green the community and reduce the urban heat island effect.
  • Some councils pay for consultants (like us) to do energy or waste recovery assessments for businesses in their local area.
  • Some councils are spending money on building community climate resilience by creating wetlands for cool green spaces and naturally treating or storing stormwater.
  • Some councils are funding recycling hubs for recycling the “hard to recycle” waste products and promoting the circular economy.

When was the last time you visited your local council website? You should check it out and see what services are offered. If you have any suggestions, I’m sure they’d love to hear from you. Contact your local sustainability officer (if they don’t have one, ask why not!?) and have a chat about how your council can help your business. They would love to hear what you are working on and how they can help. If you want to install some EV chargers but need some financial support, let them know. If you want to electrify your hot water system so you’re no longer using gas, let them know. Perhaps you are thinking of establishing a green roof on your building to make the most of passive cooling during our hot South Australian summers…tell them. They may not have what you need right now, but they won’t know unless you tell them, or maybe they can point you in the right direction for some grant money. You never know.