11 April 2012 - A multi-award winning Australian company specialising in environmental sustainability for the tourism industry has developed a new educational program to help save the planet.

Students from 12 schools in Singapore will be using technology that saves the tourism industry millions of dollars every year, by taking part in EarthCheck’s Sustainability Challenge.

EarthCheck CEO Mr Stewart Moore said the Sustainability Challenge is a new interactive educational program designed specifically for school children, aged between 10 and 16, and their teachers.

“The practical program actively engages students in their environmental future and gives them an understanding of their impact and the pathway to achieve sustainable outcomes,” said Mr Moore.

“One of the most significant components of the Sustainability Challenge is the interactive web-based benchmarking tool developed by EarthCheck that encourages teachers, students and parents to achieve household sustainability.”

EarthCheck’s Sustainability Challenge was launched in Singapore in association with the Banyan Tree Global Foundation and Singapore Polytechnic and with sponsorship from Golden Season.

Banyan Tree Global Foundation’s Co-ordinating Director Michael Kwee said the scientifically based Sustainability Challenge gives the children real-life experience in calculating their own household’s environmental impact as well as discovering practical ways to reduce their impact.

“We support EarthCheck’s Sustainability Challenge as a practical way of embracing environmental sustainability and empowering people to be agents of social and economic development,” said Mr Kwee.

EarthCheck plans to roll-out the Sustainability Challenge in schools globally in 2013.

“We chose Singapore to launch the program because it is well known as a smart destination with government and business leaders striving for environmental sustainability while growing the economy,” said Mr Moore.

"The future of the planet lies in the hands of today's school kids. Give them the information and the tools on sustainability and they will collectively shape the world we live in".

He said the program will be offered through the not-for-profit EarthCheck Research Institute which will donate the software licences to the schools.

“In order to extend the program internationally, we will be calling on corporate sponsors to get involved to cover the costs of server maintenance and translation services.”

Mr Tedric Ling, Sales Director of Golden Season, the sponsor of the Singapore program said their involvement was a cost-effective way to demonstrate their commitment to environmental sustainability and to support an international educational initiative.

“We saw the opportunity to sponsor EarthCheck’s Sustainability Challenge as a positive way to make a viable difference to environmental education and engagement and extend the reach of our CSR activities,” said Mr Ling.

“We are particularly excited about the international potential of the program and are privileged to be a foundation sponsor.”

About EarthCheck:
EarthCheck is an internationally recognised environmental management and certification program with more than 1300 members in 70 countries.   The program improves operational performance of member organisations and reduces costs.  EarthCheck’s global network of clients report an average saving of 30% on energy and waste streams; and a 20% saving on water consumption.  The company takes a scientific and systematic approach to risk mitigation and legislative requirements and is regarded as one of the world’s best-practice environmental sustainability leaders.  www.earthcheck.org