AUCKLAND LIVE WALKING THE TALK ON EARTH DAY
Published: 21 Apr 2022
From flipping the switch on energy consumption to taking a hands-on approach to recycling, at Auckland Live we’re always striving to reduce our carbon footprint. To celebrate Earth Day we wanted to showcase and share some of the exciting initiatives we’ve been undertaking to play our part in lightening the load on planet Earth.
Turning The Light On Energy Consumption
Over the last 11 years, we’ve changed thousands of light fittings across our venues, upgrading almost 1,900 lights from incandescent bulbs to LEDs.
At the Auckland Town Hall alone, we’ve reduced the power consumption of our lights by a whopping 87% by moving from 76 kW to 9.6 kW bulbs. That’s the equivalent of driving a petrol car 457 km or a trip from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland to Pōneke Wellington!
In the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, we’ve been busy swapping the stage lighting to LEDs, reducing power consumption from 160 kW to 10 kW, which equates to a saving of 93% when the lights are running on full. LEDs also produce a lot less heat which means less energy spent on air conditioning and a much cooler comfortable environment for our performers!
Motion and ambient light sensors are also being used across Aotea Centre to cut back on unnecessary energy consumption.
Recycling or Landfill? We’ve got it sorted
Even with the right bins on-site, it’s sometimes tricky for our event goers to know where to place their waste when visiting our venues. We realised too many recyclable items were going to landfill, so a plan was put in place to sort our waste by hand so we could ensure the right items made it to the right home.
Our passionate Housekeeping Team oversees this key sustainability initiative, receiving and monitoring monthly reports on the percentage of waste that has gone to landfill versus what’s been recycled. They have a huge, dedicated sorting area, filled with bins for every type of waste and recycling you can imagine, from paper and cardboard to paint and cooking oil - everything has its place!
This process might be time-consuming but knowing they are making a genuine difference keeps everyone smiling.
We have a lot more ‘planet friendly’ plans in the pipeline and will continue to do everything we can to make our venues and events as energy efficient and environmentally friendly as possible so we can help make every day Earth Day at Auckland Live.
