South Australia Sunday Mail, Jane Martin
Published December 4, 2005
Making the planet a cleaner, greener place often sounds too hard. So here are some easy ways to make a difference. By Jane Martin.
When New Zealand actress, Lisa Harrow, met and married a whale biologist it changed her life. Through the work of her husband, Dr Roger Payne, Harrow gradually realised how much people were using and abusing the world's precious natural resources.
The more Harrow thought about the toll modern living was taking on the environment, the more she wanted to do something to help planet Earth. But she felt helpless. How could one woman make a difference to pollution, global warming, water shortages and waste?
"People think they have to do something big to protect the planet, or they think the problems in the world are too overwhelming for them to make a difference. So they don't bother," says Harrow.
"But do one thing differently each day - whether that's choosing to eat more organic vegetables or fitting your home with energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs - and you'll be helping the world we live in.
"This planet is our only home, and we have to take care of it. All of us need to clean up our own crap. If we allow our world to go to Hell in a hat, where are we going to live? Mars?"
A few years ago Harrow and Payne developed an environmental program called Lessons from Copernicus, named after the sage who discovered that the Earth travels round the sun. The program, a blend of poetry and environmental science, explored the impact of people on Earth's ecological balance and left the audience wanting to know what they could do to avert an environmental crisis. Harrow has now written a guide to eco-friendly internet sites, What Can I Do? (Hodder, $12.95), which covers everything from where to dispose of your old printer cartridges to composting and carpooling, helping each of us do a little something each day.
So what can you do today to start making a difference?
Community farming
The site of City Farm Perth used to be an industrial wasteland. Today it's a flourishing community of artists and organic gardeners. There's an organic community garden and an education centre to promote a healthy urban environment.
"This organisation used the concept of zero waste and organic farming to develop a permaculture farm. They bring in kids at risk, people with disabilities, school kids and mental health patients and teach the community how to grow food and reduce waste," says Harrow.
"Their vision is to become a centre for methods of alternative energy and recycling and to encourage sustainable community programs." Go to
www.cityfarmperth.org.au
Car sharing
Instead of buying a car and paying thousands of dollars a year for petrol, registration, insurance and repairs, why not hire a car by the hour when you need it? You'll save money and will be one less person battling traffic jams and adding to your neighbourhood's pollution problem.
Flo Carshare in Melbourne has a fleet of cars parked at convenient places around the city that you can rent by the hour or day. They're cheaper than conventional car hire companies and when you've finished with the car you simply leave it in the spot where you found it.
"You pay a small amount of money to join the organisation and whenever you need a car you let them know and pick it up at an assigned parking space," says Harrow.
"It's full of fuel, you don't need a key and at the end of your booking you put it back. The scheme encourages people to use public transport more and to only book a car when they really need one." Go to
www.flo.net.au or call 1300 363 780 to find out more.
Green power
More than 90 per cent of the electricity we use comes from burning coal - a major cause of greenhouse gas pollution that leads to global warming. Green Power allows you to buy "clean" electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydropower. Switch to Green Power and save the equivalent of taking two petrol-guzzling cars off the road every year. Go to
www.greenpower.com.au or call 136 206 for more information.
Smarter homes
"When we rebuilt our house I filled it with compact fluorescent light bulbs and people wondered what they were.
I explained they'd cut our lighting bill by a quarter and they were better for the environment," says Harrow.
All new homes in Queensland will use less water and energy from next year after new building regulations were approved by the Government. All new home plans approved from March next year must have greenhouse-efficient hot water systems, energy-efficient lighting, AAA-rated shower roses and dual-flush toilets. Gas water heaters reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a third while AAA shower heads save 15,000 litres of water a year. Go to
www.greenhouse.gov.au/yourhome for ideas on how to make your home more energy- and water-efficient.
No more plastic bags
Every year Australians use six billion plastic bags to carry home their shopping but scientists believe it takes between 15 years and 1000 years for a plastic shopping bag to break down. In the meantime all those plastic bags lie in landfill sites. Ireland has tackled the plastic bag plague by placing a levy of 25 cents on each plastic bag - as a result plastic bag use has dropped by a staggering 90 per cent in Ireland in recent years.
You can reduce the number of plastic bags going to landfill by using reusable shopping bags. Go to
www.planetark.com or
www.reusablebags.com.au
Start a green trend
If you want to meet like-minded people who want to make the world a cleaner, healthier place you can enjoy a "Green Drinks" night.
"Green Drinks is a place where you can meet like-minded environmental friends and work with them within your own community to develop projects," says Harrow.
"A lot of environmental initiatives are started by one person or a dedicated group of interested people. Green Drinks lets you know what's happening in your neighbourhood." Go to
www.greendrinks.org to find out your nearest event.
Drought-resistant gardens
Plant a garden with hardy natives that don't need a lot of watering to conserve one of our most precious natural resources. After Antarctica, Australia is the driest continent on earth, but Australians use more water per capita than any other country. You can do your bit for water conservation by choosing a garden filled with drought-resistant plants. Go to
www.savewater.com.au for ideas.
Start composting
"Soil is replenished through composting and every town in Australia should be collecting its food waste and turning it into compost. It would hugely reduce the amount of waste we produce," says Harrow. Most of your food waste can be turned into compost. Compost is simply food for your soil and the theory is that the richer your soil, the better your plants, fruits and vegetables will grow. At the same time you're cutting back on the amount of household waste you expect your local council to get rid of on your behalf. Go to
www.journeytoforever.org/compost.html for ideas.
Printer cartridges
Each year Australians throw away 18 million printer cartridges producing about 5000 tonnes of waste for landfill sites. So think about recycling them instead. Cartridges 4 Planet Ark sees your old printer cartridges revamped. Leave your old cartridges in special bins at Australia Post, Officeworks, Harvey Norman, Tandy or Dick Smith Electronics. Go to
www.planetark.com
Go organic
To lower your intake of pesticides, switch to organic fruit and vegies. The Environmental Working Group in the US says eating the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegies can expose the body to 20 different pesticides a day. In the US, for example, apples, celery, cherries, imported grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, red raspberries, capsicums, spinach and strawberries are most likely to be contaminated with pesticides, according to the EWG. Go to
www.ewg.org for more information.
If you want to buy organic in Australia, go to
www.theorganics directory.com.au and download the directory for your state.
What Can I Do? by Lisa Harrow (Hodder, $12.95). Available from all good bookstores.
