About Us

From Humble Beginnings...

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to read testimonials from clients and employees

After attending the internationally renowned Dusseldorf Skills Forum in 2008, team members of the Port Phillip EcoCentre acknowledged the real need for an innovative, local-based service for community members. The rising price of energy and water bills was proving to create serious difficulties for low-income households, who already struggle to meet day-to-day living costs. The result of collaborative brainstorming and careful planning gave birth to the now, locally-famous CarbonCut.

Check out the CarbonCut Team at Earth Hour at  The Tower in 2009

CarbonCut began as a home retrofit program, delivering free retrofits to low-income residents in the City of Port Phillip, assisting to minimise their energy and water usage and expenditure.  Following a successful pilot project in 2008, a full-scale program was funded and launched in 2009, extending beyond its initial recipient quota, to retrofit over 220 households in order to meet public demand for the service. 

Past service recipients were primarily elderly and from diverse backgrounds. To ensure that non-English speakers were provided equal opportunity, both Greek and Russian language translators were employed to assist with communication.  As part of the service, the team provides residents with relevant energy-saving tips, advice and multi-lingual information booklets. Promoting long-term sustainable behaviour and innovative methods of engagement are key program components.  CarbonCut continues to receive significant interest from the local community.

To date, CarbonCut has trained and provided employment to ten people, coming from a range of backgrounds and bringing unique skills and experiences to the program. The EcoCentre has also been able to provide real career pathways for these employees and works to build capacity in this area. Meet Our Team.

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to learn what a CarbonCut Retrofit entails