Reduce and Recycle Your Corporate Waste with These 4 Easy-to-Execute Methods

As the economies progress, global carbon emission levels are off the charts and are only expected to rise as time passes! These ever-changing emission rates should be a cause of concern for both individuals and organisations as they can have massive environmental ramifications. To bring about the desired effect, companies and businesses will have to come together and find solutions that can contribute towards reducing corporate waste and really make an impact! For those of you looking to start a recovery and recycling drive at your workplace, here are 4 simple, easy-to-implement methods you can follow: 4. Optimize Your Planning …

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Materials that make heat worse for our kids demand a rethink by designers

It is with some relief that Australians are leaving behind the excruciatingly hot days of summer. But did you ever stop to think about the role of design in making matters better – or worse? Spending all day in air-conditioned rooms before walking out to a car that has baked in the sun all day is an exercise in extremes that many of us have faced. It’s easy to forget these conditions are shaped and mediated by design. Campaigns warn us about the dangers of leaving children in hot parked cars. However, there are many more designed microclimates in the …

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Why Australia imports so many veggie seeds (and do we really need to treat them with fungicides?)

Organic farmers have reacted with alarm to a draft review released last week that recommends mandatory fungicide treatment for certain plant seeds imported into Australia, including broccoli, cauliflower, radish and spinach. Over 19,000 people have signed a change.org petition objecting to the proposal, which is designed to strengthen biosecurity for plants of the brassicaceae family. Opponents say mandatory fungicide treatment could spell the loss of organic accreditation for organic vegetable growers who rely on imported seed. Why do we need to import seeds? Australia’s vegetable growers do rely heavily on imported seed. But why? The answer lies partly in where plant breeding expertise and effort is …

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The Great Barrier Reef Could Be Protected By A Giant ‘Sun Shield’

The Great Barrier Reef has become arguably one of the biggest casualties of global warming with over a third of the reef dying in 2016. The sun’s rays, combined with increasingly warm waters causes the corals to bleach and in severe cases completely die out. Well one solution could be to reduce the effect of the sun on the water and in turn the reef by implementing a giant ‘sun shield’. Developed by the University of Melbourne and the Australian Institute this ultra-thin film would sit on the surface of the water and create a barrier between the reef and the Sun. While the testing …

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Grattan Institute urges compensation for higher power bills caused by energy grid ‘gold plating’

Consumers must be compensated for higher bills caused by the excessive “gold-plating” of electricity networks and the value of energy assets should be written down, according to a report out today. The Grattan Institute blames “poor decisions” by governments in New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania for driving unnecessary investment in power networks, which has ultimately left consumers footing the bill. In the Down to The Wire report, the Grattan Institute estimates consumers in those three states are being slugged between $100 and $400 more a year as investment outstripped population growth and demand. “Consumers connected to the National Electricity Market are …

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Steven Marshall welcomes Elon Musk and wants to cut energy costs

Incoming South Australian Premier Steven Marshall says cutting energy costs to business and households is a major priority for his new government, with a $200 million inter-connector fund a centrepiece of his plans to deliver cheaper power. Mr Marshall is also getting on the front foot with a proposal for a $100 million household storage battery fund, which would provide means-tested grants of around $2500 to households with solar panels that want to install home storage batteries. It would cover about 40,000 households. Getting the fund up and running is among the projects earmarked for the first 100 days of …

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Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef: going beyond our backyard to protect the reef

From place-based to problem-based campaigns, we are seeing a rise in initiatives aiming to foster collective environmental stewardship among concerned citizens across the globe. These international communities have arisen to meet new environmental challenges and seize the opportunities presented by our increasingly connected world. Traditional approaches to community engagement have tended to focus only on the involvement of local people. However, the recently launched Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef initiative highlights the changing nature of community engagement aimed at fostering environmental stewardship. In a globalised world, maintaining treasures like the Great Barrier Reef and other ecosystems affected by global-scale threats demands …

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Opportunities for Sustainable Urbanism from The Rise of Autonomous Vehicles

The 2018 National Sustainability in Business Conference will be held this week over Thursday 8 and Friday 9 March at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Brisbane.  Ms Jessica Holz, Senior Ecologically Sustainable Design Engineer at Aurecon joins us at the Conference and will discuss ‘Opportunities for Sustainable Urbanism from The Rise of Autonomous Vehicles’. The rise of autonomous vehicles at a time of rapid technological and associated behavioural changes, population growth, and pressured natural resources presents exciting opportunities for sustainable urbanism. Autonomous vehicle technology is advancing quickly, with trials already underway in various Australian cities and international locations. Experts agree that the positive …

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Yellow Fridges Are A Great Anti-Waste Solution!

The start-up collects any meals not served in company canteens and gives them away. A clever solution that helps tackle food waste. Canteens waste a lot of food. According to ADEME (the French agency for the environment and energy management), collective catering is responsible for wasting 540,000 tonnes of food every year in France – that’s more than 1 million meals lost! Recovering food waste To fight this particular source of food waste, the “yellow fridge” (lefrigojaune) start-up set up in 2016 by Laurence Kerjean, found a very clever solution. A yellow fridge for the meals not eaten at lunch, which employees can then …

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Banking on Shared Value – The Bendigo Pathway

The 2018 National Sustainability in Business Conference will be held next week over Thursday 8 and Friday 9 March at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Brisbane.  Kate Wakeling, State Community Manager – Queensland at Bendigo Bank joins us next week at the Conference as a Keynote Speaker and will present ‘Banking on Shared Value – The Bendigo Pathway’. Banking on Shared Value – The Bendigo Pathway Shared Value is a concept now gaining global momentum, although it has been central to the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank strategy for its entire 160 year history. With big banks, big business and our institutions such …

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