A Greener New Year

New Year's Eve is generally the time we look back at our bad habits, self perceived faults and failed ambitions and resolve to do better in the future.  While New Year’s resolutions are generally far easier to make than they are to keep, it doesn’t stop us from setting lofty goals for the coming year.  This year, as we re-pledge our personal aims for the New Year we should also consider including a few ‘green’ resolutions for the health of the planet.  Some simple and easily achievable changes could be to:
 

• Buy locally made and grown products.  They usually require less packaging and eliminate the environmental costs of long-distance transport. The added bonus is that local fruits and vegetables are often fresher, and locally produced goods help support your own community.
• Buy fewer disposable items. Look for long-lasting goods that won’t have to be replaced as often. You’ll reduce waste and save landfill space.

• Turn food scraps and garden waste into compost. Wasted food is bad for both our wallets and the environment.   When food rots it gives off methane, a greenhouse gas that is 23 times more potent a greenhouse gas than the carbon pollution that comes out of your car exhaust.   Australians are throwing away three million tons of food a year which could be creating as much as 13 million tons of greenhouse emissions.  The other big impact is what we call the hidden costs of food waste, and that is all the energy and resources it takes to get the food from the field to the fork.  If organic waste is made into compost, it puts carbon and plant nutrients back into the soil where they belong and reduces the need for fertilizers. 
• Use a clothes line or indoor airer. The second biggest household energy user, after the refrigerator, is the clothes dryer.   If you must use a dryer, remember to clear the lint filter after each load and dry only full loads of clothes.   Hanging clothing outside in the sun and air to dry is the most energy-efficient method you can use with the added benefit of natural sanitizing from the sun.
• Wash clothes in cold water.  Only10% of the energy used by a typical washing machine powers the motor.  About 90% of the energy is used to heat the water.
• Fix leaky water fixtures and investigate low flow toilets and showerheads.
• Drive smarter to help reduce the amount of fuel that you use.  Proper maintenance on your car can make driving safer, use less fuel, and make your car last longer.
• Carpooling helps reduce air pollution and traffic congestion.
• Buy reusable water containers.  Plastic water bottles are becoming a major environmental hazard.  They require large quantities of fuel to produce and create mountains of rubbish when they are thrown away.  Ironically, it takes 26 bottles of water to produce the plastic container for a one-liter bottle of water.   Plastic bottle production worldwide requires approximately 2.7 million tons of plastic each year.   Massive quantities of fossil fuels are required to transport bottled water long distances to shops and places of distribution whereas tap water is distributed to households through energy-efficient infrastructure.
• E-waste. Discarded electronics (or e-waste) is the fastest growing waste stream in Australia – it is estimated that almost 20 million tons are thrown away each year.   As individuals and businesses upgrade electronics like computers, TVs, videos etc at ever increasing rates, more and more programs are springing up to reuse or recycle the old equipment. Some programs refurbish the equipment and sell it or donate it to charities. Others collect, dismantle and recycle the materials.  When purchasing new electronic equipment ask the supplier if they can take and recycle old equipment. Businesses, especially small operators and sole traders can search for local drop off locations at RecyclingNearYou.com.au
• Printer Cartridges.  Australians throw away more than 18 million printer cartridges every year.   This amounts to over 5,000 tons of material, including laser toner cartridges, inkjet cartridges, photocopier toner bottles and drums, that will eventually end up in landfill.   When printer cartridges break apart in landfill, they have the potential to contaminate groundwater and the environment.   You can drop your used cartridges off at participating Australia Post, Harvey Norman, Officeworks, Dick Smith, PowerHouse and Tandy stores.  Details at PlanetArk.org/cartridges
• Mobile phones contain both valuable and harmful materials.  MobileMuster is the industry funded program established to increase recycling rates for mobile phones and chargers. There are drop off locations around the country that you can take your phone to or you can register your workplace as a collection site. For more information visit http://www.mobilemuster.com.au/
• Batteries.  Batteries, including single use and rechargables, contain both valuable and dangerous materials. In some states certain batteries are considered toxic waste and can't be disposed of in the general garbage. You can find more information about a range of battery recycling programs by searching the following sites:   cleanaway.com.au/batteryrecycling , www.sita.com.au , batteryworld.com.au, auszinc.com.au 
• Compact and normal fluorescent light globes. Fluorescent tubes contain glass, aluminium phosphor powder and mercury (which is toxic). Tubes, both compact fluros and traditional tubes, can be recycled to recover the valuable resources and safely deal with toxic elements.   You can find more information about a range of fluorescent recycling programs by searching the following sites:  www.sita.com.au , www.chemsal.com.au , www.ecocycle.net , www.veoliaes.com.au 
• Return Unwanted Medicines (RUM) project is a national scheme for out-of-date and unwanted medicines. This scheme urges Australians to discard their medicines in a responsible manner. The returned medicines are then disposed of safely. They are in no way reused or recycled.   You can take your out-of-date and unwanted medicines to any pharmacy inAustralia. All pharmacies are equipped to accept all medicines.
• Buy recycled products.   Recycling material is really the beginning of the process. Buying recycled products helps close the loop. The more products you buy made from recycled products the greater the environmental benefits of recycling. If you can find Australian made recycled products the environmental benefits are even greater.
• Recycling is one of the simplest things we can do to reduce our impact on the environment. Paper/cardboard/newspapers, plastic bottles, glass and plastic bags were the most recycled materials in Australia and were mainly collected through municipal kerbside recycling services.  There are however many items that cannot be collected through council services.  The Planet Ark web site http://recyclingnearyou.com.au/ is a comprehensive site that offers specific local solutions for almost every item that you may need to recycle or safely dispose of.  Just enter one of the Location fields and choose a product from the drop down box to be taken straight to information about local sites. There are contact details of charities and ‘reuse’ centres, drop-off recycling facilities for Items such as paper and cardboard, aluminium and steel cans, glass bottles, plastic containers etc. and collection points for hazardous items such as gas bottles, paints, asbestos, tyres, vehicle and appliance batteries, contaminated fuels etc. This site also has details about local council services and contacts along with links to educational resources and publications.