Australians are finally catching up to the advance thought of the Europeans in 'green thinking.' In our vast brown land, we have vast resources that can be converted into energy without the use of non-renewable resources, and now government is starting to catch on.
Due to Australia's worst drought on record and the escalating price of petrol, the Australian government has had to act fast in making households energy and resource independent as well as keeping the land clean of waste.
The government has introduced new policies on building new homes. Besides new regulations on insulating a house, each home has a choice of adding a water tank to the property or solar hot water system. There are cash rebates from the government for installing these necessities.
Citizens are becoming responsive to these policies due to the drought and concern for the environment. More and more families are putting in vegetable gardens in their backyards as the cost of fruit and vegetables skyrocket. Compost bins are now a permanent fixture next to the shed. Sprinklers are now a thing of the past.
Water tanks have come along way since the 1950s where there was a huge tin can on a stand with a tap in the backyard. Now they are slim line and have all types of uses. Some homes even install 20,000 litre tanks under the home to maximise the water available to the property. Water tanks are usually connected to the drain pipes and guttering system so that the water from the roof can be collected into the tank. Water tanks are then available to feed dripper irrigation systems that are set up for the garden and toilet cisterns. High end water tanks have filters to ensure all the water can be converted to drinking water and feed the entire house for bathing, kitchen needs, laundry needs and the garden.
I know of one household that has never tapped into the state water supply. They went on a 7 week vacation and during that vacation the water board sent them a note stating that their water meter was faulty and that they were going to change it over on a particular date that they were away. As they didn't know that this was happening (being overseas), they didn't have a chance to ring up the water board to tell them not to worry as they had 40,000 litre water tanks on the property so they were completely self-sufficient. The water board changed it over, none the wiser.
With Australia's raging sun, solar panels are perfect for every household. Attached to the roof line, anything between 8-16 panels will service a 28 square home for all their electrical needs. From heating up the hot water, to heating the house, cooking, running computers and lighting, you'll never have a power black out with solar panels. The energy companies have created a system that allows homes that are self sufficient with solar panels to put any excess power they create back onto the electrical grid for others to use. Excess power then puts the home that supplies the power into a negative spin on its meter ensuring that the power company ends up paying you for supplying the power.
As petrol prices have made owning the family car almost a thing of the past, people are tending to use public transport more for single person trips (like going to work), or even riding their bikes to work. Some people are riding 15-20 kilometres each way to get to work so they can save some dollars and save the environment.
Other ways Australians have gone green are using re-usable environmental bags when they go shopping rather than plastic bags; planting native gardens with loads of mulch and rocks, rather than lawn; recycling all their milk/juice containers, paper/cardboard, glass and printer cartridges, washing their cars in recycled water car washing stations and buying fuel efficient or hybrid cars.
We are still a highly disposable society, especially in the capacity of electronic products and white goods. If its broken, don't fix it - it's cheaper to buy a new one. My biggest concern is when I buy a printer. I have a perfectly good printer at home, but the cartridges/toner to run it are more expensive than the printer itself. So it is actually cheaper for me to buy a new printer with new cartridges (from my experience, they are usually completely full) than replacing the cartridges. But on an environmental level, what happens to my old printer? Do I leave it out for hard rubbish? Do I sell it on to someone prepared to buy the cartridges/toner? Would it be better for me just to wear the cost of the cartridges/toner and think about the environment? The government needs to question the printer companies and find out why these cartridges are so expensive (or take off the excessive taxes).
The government and industry have a long way to go in making our country greener. There are policies in place including cutting our carbon emissions by 5-15% by 2020, advertising that asks us to aim for 155 litres of water per day per person and government rebates for water saving contraptions. Yes, you can make the world a better place by asking everyone to participate on a personal level, but what about the corporate level? Are they just recycling their paper or are they doing more for the greater good? Every company is different, but they need to do a lot more.
The State of Victoria is at crisis point with their water levels. Currently, the water in the dams are 33.6% full. Every day without rain, the city uses 0.1% of the water in the dams. If there is 336 days without rain, there will be no water left. Frightening really. For a city that is home to 2.5-3 million people, that is catastrophic. The Victorian Government have plans (not yet implemented) for a desalination plant to convert sea water into drinking water on the Mornington Peninsula. Could it be built in 336 days? Will it be able to supply and pump the water through the metropolitan area? I don't think so. The thinking and planning has begun too late.
It's great to see the general public getting behind the environment and becoming more self sufficient. Maybe, when we are in complete surplus of water, power and gas and the government hasn't got anyone to sell it to because we have all become self sufficient, then they may do something themselves for their own buildings and employees. We can only hope...