Back to tutorial

Beyond the call of duty - A hands on role in giving back to the environment and community

Goals - What we want to achieve

1. To have 50% of state government departments and agencies have at least 2 days leave per year for this initiative.

2. To have 80% of Government workers in W.A more appreciative to the sustainability to our environment.

3. To spread more awareness and get more people involved in sustaining the environment. This involves getting 80% of state government workers in W.A. to be involved in this initiative.

4. To get 80% of State Government departments to have this initiative in their workplace.

Action plan - Who needs to do what

1. Companies/Organisations endorsing this idea need to promote awareness of it. E.g team up with the RSPCA to promote upcoming volunteer days/events - display posters, thus encouraging employees to take day off and volunteer at the event with full pay. This would be on-going throughout the year.

2. Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) to endorse and support our proposal.
   
   The DEC is the main state government department of environmental protection, sustainable use and conservation of WA land.

3. Local councils to support this idea because many of the projects will fall under land that is being looked after by them (for conservation programs).

4. Actioned support will need to come right from the top whether it be from state ministers or the premier to give full support and allowance for this initiative to take place. Support also may not be enough so you will need promotion of sustainability.

5. Support from other government agencies and departments of this initiative. There needs to be a shared vision that this program promotes sustainability within our environment and community within the public service. This vision communication must be done months before the programs starts.

6. Team to design the programs that will be available for people to join and organise with the volunteer groups. The team will also liase with other stakeholders regarding these programs.

Social/cultural advantages

1. These types of activities also can contribute to organisational team building events, contribute to the team development within an existing team or even having that social element between employees that might not exist in the workplace.

2. Develop new skills and social awareness - Volunteer workers can work alongside specialists in other fields and develop new skills.

3. Education - By helping the environment, people will have a hands on experience and provide better awareness to the world we live in. Everyone knows that they should help the environment in some way. But to what degree depends on the education given.

4. Get involved with the community - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community. You become part of a solution, increase contacts, make friends, exhibit community commitment and support a cause you feel strongly towards.

5. Participation- we need to be active and help contribute more to the environment. We must help start the fight to save what is left of the world we live in. The more people we have helping our cause, the more work that will be done to contribute to our environment.

Social/cultural disadvantages

1. Social Disadvantages Ð disturbance to neighbours maybe because of the work

2. Not gaining enough support from those who need to be involved. I.e the Government workers who need to be involved in this actually shunning the idea or refusing to participate for various reasons. People who may actually say this day off affects their work time.

Environmental advantages

1. Cut pollution and waste Ð Depending on the activity that the participants join, can help cut pollution. It can help to reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfills and reduce the impact on the ozone layer.

2. Environmental restoration Ð volunteer activities like tree planting can contribute to environmental restoration

Environmental disadvantages

1. Environmental Disadvantages Ð noise complaints from residents (noise pollution), volunteers treading on vegetation etc

2. Some work sites require transportation by car, thus people driving to work sites will be contributing to greenhouse gases.

Economic advantages

1. Saves money- volunteering is an unpaid service to help contribute to your community/environment.

2. Save resources
   The more hands that help the more resources can be saved and focused on something else.

3. Greater motivation within the workplace -Jobs can sometimes get boring & repetitive. By allowing staff 1-2days of volunteer work can help stop the cycle and improve motivation. Motivation can be in the form of seeing how others are disadvantaged or by improving self confidence knowing that they can make a difference to the workplace.

4. Propose that everyone shuts down the office for a day to complete their volunteering, thus saving the company on unnecessary power usage (lights, phones etc) that they would otherwise use if in the office. This results in saving the company money while also helping the environment by dramatically cutting down on carbon emissions on that day.

Economic disadvantages

1. Loss of labour from employees that take a day off to participate in this initiative. If you then multiply this by 80% of a workforce within a department at various times of the year, this can mean a substantial loss of productivity.

Moving your plan forward

1. Each program has to be assessed for safety and what it offers to the volunteer. So there needs to be an outline on what each work will entail to the participant, providing as much information as needed to assess the job effectively.

2. Research into the insurance needed to insure employees on the worksites. Insurance agencies will need to be contacted for conditions, quotations and appropriate information provided to participants about safety, sun protection etc.

3. Develop a survey that will act as an instrument to measure people's attitudes before and after they have completed the programs. The idea is for a change in behaviour and attitude towards the community and environmental sustainability.

4. Create a shared website for all government bodies participating in this program so that people can browse what the initiative is all about, information on what sustainability is and why it is important as well as have a look at the types of tasks that are available.

5. Look into the types of programs that are available for people to sign up to. Programs can be linked into putting back into the community and environmental sustainability. Basically the more choices, then the more enticing for people to participate.

6. Create community awareness that this is what the government of WA is implementing so that we have support from all types of community associations (both volunteer and profit). The aim of doing this is to improve relations and have a common goal of making WA a cleaner place with a strong focus on environmental sustainability.

Back to tutorial