Local mechanic reducing waste and emissions
Gil Auto on Edgecliff Road, Woollahra is a small local business demonstrating genuine care for the environment with projects to reduce pollution, recycle materials and reduce their emissions. We interviewed the business owner Gil Sher to learn more about their projects and how they’re making a difference.
Special equipment installed that crushes oil filters for recycling and removes residual oil.
What motivated you to become more sustainable in your business?
I’m a regular ocean swimmer and this inspires me to reduce pollution, improve our area and protect what we have. We started with this work more than 30 years ago with projects to improve the quality of our wastewater. We installed oil water separating equipment before the current standards were in place and have continued to focus on this area to remove potential pollutants as much as possible.
Which project makes the biggest difference?
Definitely our lighting and solar project. We replaced our large overhead halogen lights with LEDs and installed a 16.5 kW rooftop solar system. This project reduced our energy bills by more than $1,000 per month. We use all the energy we produce during the day when we’re open and only feed energy back into the grid on the weekends. Our system paid for itself in the first year or so.
16.5kW solar system on Gil Auto rooftop
Did you receive any financial incentives to undertake your projects?
We accessed NSW Government energy rebates for projects such as our LED lighting upgrade and installation of a solar hot water heat pump. Our solar panels were cheaper due to the regular Australian Government incentives.
What materials are you recycling? What waste do you find challenging to deal with?
We try to send as little waste to landfill as we can so we recycle the used oil, filters, batteries, metals, rags and cardboard. We take time to crush oil filters to remove extra oil and send the outer metal and extracted oil for recycling. We also accept old car batteries from people who bought their battery elsewhere to help prevent dumping. Century Batteries are able to recycle an impressive 98% of battery materials.
We encourage our suppliers to take back as much of their packaging as possible. Single-use plastics are a problem to dispose of now due to services that have closed in this area.
What advice would you give to other businesses?
Just get started and take on one small project at a time. Network and learn from others in your industry to find good suppliers and services that support your goals.
Where do you go for information and inspiration about your sustainability projects?
I network with others through the Australian Automotive Service Dealers Network (AASDN) and other industry bodies. We share information about good suppliers and projects we’ve done. One of our members is keen to inspire the industry to be more sustainable and has spoken at a conference on this theme.
How do you manage to reduce the heat in your building during summer?
We take advantage of the shaded side of our building with fans to pull fresh air in from the cooler side and extracting the warm air out through the opposite wall. This has been really helpful. We also installed insulation in the roof.
Do you service electric vehicles?
Yes, we service many electric and hybrid vehicles here. We’ve been learning about electric vehicle technologies since before the Prius arrived in Australia. Many technology advances across all types of cars have a focus on emissions reduction now which is good to see.
Gil’s efforts to keep our area clean don’t stop at his business, he’s keen on picking up any litter he spots in the local reserve as he heads down the beach for a swim. His father Harold, who's works with the business, is also talented at rescuing and repurposing materials left on the kerb.
We hope Gil Auto’s efforts will inspire other local businesses to make a difference, one sustainability project at a time.
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