Story by Elena Antoniou
When you ponder on having a wholesome lifestyle, your thoughts might immediately jump to concepts like regular exercise, healthy food and having a stable emotional state of mind. But have you ever wondered how you could contribute to a healthier community?
Studies show cohesive communities contribute to healthier families, stronger social connections and ultimately a healthier planet. We can all do our bit to create a robust environment for our families, friends and neighbours. Of all the new initiatives City of Canada Bay is implementing to this end, here are two of our favourites.
Compost Capers
Unsurprisingly, food and garden waste increased significantly in Sydney during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown as most people spent more time cooking at home. When organic waste is put into regular red bins and sent to landfill, it releases methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas 25 times worse than carbon dioxide. In May 2020, Canada Bay Council launched Compost Capers to help everyone in the community reduce their food waste. The program provides education, resources and support for home composting, including composting in apartment buildings. It has already given away over 100 compost bins and worm farms as part of the unique program, recovering over 11,000 kilograms of food waste.
Visit collaborate.canadabay.nsw.gov.au/compostcapers for more information.
Energy Smart: Multi-Unit Development Campaign
City of Canada Bay has started working directly with strata building managers to help hundreds of residents become more energy smart, save considerable money on their energy bills, and move towards the ambitious goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 for the Canada Bay community. During 2019, council worked with three apartment buildings to create a strategy to help residents become more energy efficient. This included replacement of fluorescent and halogen lights with LED alternatives, and identifying electricity efficiency opportunities such as solar power for common areas. This strategy may reduce greenhouse emissions by up to 24 tonnes CO2 per annum and reduce annual electricity costs by $4,320.
HOW TO ECO HELP
- Take a re-usable coffee cup to your local cafe instead of getting your hot drink of choice in a disposable cup.
- Don’t buy water in plastic bottles.
- Go shopping with tote bags and refuse single use plastic bags if they’re offered.
- Refuse all plastic straws.
- Do your bit and take three pieces of rubbish with you every time you leave a park, waterway or public area.
THE PLASTIC FACTS
- Over one million plastic bottles are purchased every minute around the world.
- Recycling plastic bottles produces materials that cannot be easily recycled again.
- An estimated one trillion plastic bags are used annually and are rarely recycled.
- Any plastic straw you use today will last far longer on the planet than you.
- Around 500 billion coffee cups are produced each year. Paper and cardboard coffee cups have a thin plastic lining to prevent leaking, which makes them difficult to recycle.
For more information visit: take3.org