A new Sustainability in Retail course is to be piloted in Queensland by First Impressions Resources, the Australian Retail College. 

The course provides 30 subsidised places across the state for retailers to examine and review their current practices with a view to identifying and implementing practices appropriate to their business.

The course is being funded by the Queensland Department of Education and Training to support the identification and application of green skills for retailers.

First Impressions trainer and course Developer Annie Dardir said the new course, which starts in late February, is the first of its kind.

She said the course was offered at the diploma level and was geared towards retail managers and the growing number of environmental-specific positions emerging such as brand environmental ambassadors.

Research showed that the advent of the ‘green consumer’ is a growing trend, she added.

“Consumers are changing the way they buy things to reflect growing environmental concern. There is big demand for green products and services and people are more discerning with their dollar after the global financial crisis. They are taking more care where their hard-earned cash goes.

“Course participants will get an overview of where Australia is sitting in regard to environmental practices in retail, and unfortunately, we are lagging behind other developed nations.”

The course also examines sustainability in key areas such as supply chain, design and construction, operations and processes, and product design and introduces simplistic environmental frameworks.

Course participants will learn how to conduct an audit of their current sustainability level and look at the implications of organisational change management.

Dardir said there were currently no regulatory requirements of retailers with regard to implementing greener practices.

“It is a voluntary process, but there are incentives. Research in this area shows that there have been some amazing savings made by businesses who decided to go more green. This debunks the myth that it is expensive to be environmentally responsible,” she said.

“There are different dimensions to sustainability; not just environmental and economic, but social such as using fair-trade products.

“In the Sustainability in Retail course we study the whole lifecycle of a product from its source material to whether it can be recycled at the end of its primary use. Just one retailer making a simplistic change in how they do things can make a difference.

“The end outcome we would like from the course is that environmental sustainability becomes an inherent part of a business’s culture. It’s a bit like water saving in south-east Queensland, where people have completely changed their habits.”

The course is offered both face-to-face and online.

For course information visit: www.fir.edu.au or contact Sue Freeman on (07) 3236 3322.