Step Up Canterbury

Canterbury Residents Step Up And Make A Difference On World Environment Day!

Sustainable Transport Promotion

World Environment Day in Canterbury commenced at 7am with the distribution of 4,000 native tree seedlings from fifteen BP stations across the region. Seedlings were given to motorists as a gentle reminder that planting trees will help off-set the carbon emissions from vehicles. Tree seedlings were packaged in paper bags containing information about the carboNZero™ Carbon Calculator.

In addition, 1,000 Metrocards pre-loaded with $10 of free bus travel were distributed to motorists at busy car-park buildings in Christchurch. It is hoped that these people will try, enjoy and continue to use bus travel.

Those who have already adopted sustainable commuting methods by either cycling to work or catching the bus were also rewarded as 3,000 Subway vouchers pre-loaded with $5 each were given out at the central Bus Exchange and on key cycle routes into Christchurch; proving that there is such a thing as a free lunch!

These 8,000 items (seedlings, lunch vouchers and Metrocards) represented at least 8,000 “transactions” or “conversations” related to sustainability.

Step Up Canterbury Expo - Going, Going, Gone!

The Step Up Canterbury Expo opened its doors at 12-noon to a crowd of several hundred who had gathered early for this exciting event at the Christchurch Convention Centre. The Step Up Canterbury Expo commenced with a debate between Christs College and the Councillors to ascertain whether ‘Environment Canterbury is doing enough to tackle global warming’ – it was decided that more can be done!

The Expo was supported by almost fifty ‘sustainable solution providers’. That is, companies and organisations whose products and/or services target home-owners, by offering energy efficient alternatives which will help to save money and lessen our impact on the environment. Each of these companies was required to donate a product or service for auction, in return for exhibition space and inclusion in the Step Up Canterbury marketing campaign. This generated a variety of products and services varying in retail value from $50 to $4,500 - 83 x auction-lots were created and divided into four separate auction time slots, with the total prize pool exceeding $45,000!

Gathering Step Up Points and The Auction Process

On arrival at the Step Up Canterbury Expo, visitors were given an Event Passport, Eco-Bag and 50-Step Up Points. Step Up Points were the currency of the day; used to bid for the donated products and services at auction (New Zealand Dollars were not used and no money was raised). To be competitive at auction the public were required to visit the Sustainable Solutions Expo and seek answers to questions which they found in their Event Passports. Once the correct answers were given, each Exhibitor stamped the Event Passport; confirming that the individual had been educated on their product and was therefore entitled to additional Step Up Points. Step Up Points were then redeemed from the Points Bank.

Auctions were conducted on the Switch Stage in the main Expo area, by a professional Auctioneer at 1pm, 3pm, 5pm and 7pm. Between the auctions Tristan Glendinning from the popular TV3 programme – Wa$ted and surprise guests from Hollywood entertained the audience. In addition five exhibiting companies were invited to deliver 15-minute presentations on their products and services.

Special guest and celebrity auctioneer Prime Minister Helen Clark spent an hour at the Step Up Canterbury Expo; speaking with exhibitors, enjoying the product demonstrations and conducting the 3pm auction of a family set of 4 x bicycles.

Special Exhibits

A recycled art competition was conducted on-site with Master Artist Tony Bond and ten enthusiastic and creative students. While a Transport Through The Ages exhibition showcased a variety of transport modes from an early 1900's electric truck to a solar powered racing car.

There was face painting and balloon tying for the kids plus a continuous display of images from the video ‘The Earth from Above’ was screened in the Kick the Habit Lounge. Footage from Dr Pachauri’s presentation on Climate Change taken from the Hillary Institute for International Leadership Symposium, held at the Christchurch Art Gallery was also shown in this lounge area from 5.30pm onwards.

The Results

At the conclusion of World Environment Day in Canterbury the Step Up Canterbury events had facilitated almost 10,000 “transactions” about sustainability (i.e. nearly 10,000 people received a free item or communication of some sort to remind them of the nature of sustainability). In addition there were countless numbers of people who had been made aware of World Environment Day through advertising and news media coverage.

Satisfaction surveys taken at the Step Up Canterbury Expo revealed that on average people spent 1.69 hours at the event and when asked of their "overall satisfaction" with the event, the average score given (out of 5) was 4.22. Sample size was 80 people from 1,570 attendees (5%). While a survey of 45 exhibitors showed that all said “I will consider involvement next year". The average level of "overall satisfaction (out of 10) was 8.9. Exhibitors welcomed the Event Passport and Stamp concept as it guaranteed traffic to their booth and therefore significantly increased their return on investment.