Sustainable Victoria is a government initiative. It aims to achieve a vibrant and ecological future by improving the way Victorian’s manage their day to day lives. This organisation strives to work together with Victorian citizens, providing ideas and means of cost-efficient and environmentally friendly alternatives to the lives of all, in order to tackle issues of climate change, protect the environment and global warming. As such, Victorians are urged to maintain and practice ways of sustainability through reducing business and household costs, waste management, and where waste cannot be avoided, to REDUCE – REUSE – RECYCLE. In an attempt to assist households in contributing to the protection of the environment, the Victorian Government is aiming to increase the value of resources, to further ensure a liveable, stable and prosperous future for the people and state of Victoria.
As the population of Victoria is rapidly growing, with an approximate and anticipated population growth of 8.9 million people by 2043, the Victorian government has integrated the waste management approach. This approach has been integrated into the lives
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of people today to ensure the expected 8.9million people are not effected by any sort of abuse to the environment done by people today. Thus, waste generation is controlled. To enhance the resource recovery over the growth period, Sustainability Victoria have identified recovery methods such as: • $550-810 million in new infrastructure required in Victoria • A total potential investment of between $3.6 and $5 billion in maintenance, upgrades and expansion of existing infrastructure (including landfills). To achieve a first class integrated waste management system, the system will need to meet the following criteria: • The ability to manage the various varieties of volumes of waste; • The ability to minimise the amount of important materials going to landfill sites; • The ability to contribute to environmental, social and economic aspects. While the government has put into place plans and methods of maintenance, cooperation and contribution by the population is highly needed. Further, sustainability does not just rely on government contribution, but also significantly on individual contribution too. Whereby methods of sustainability and resources have been provided, individuals have it in their power and right to use these resources to their full extent. Thus, individual contribution can be done through using and taking advantage of the energy saving resources and sources provided by the government. Infrastructure, transportation, social services, and energy conservation are among the numerous factors that contribute to the better of the environment. These have thus been established and provided to the public as a means to alter their day to day encounters with the environment, to ensure that what they do is as beneficial to environment as to themselves. Contributing significantly to sustainable urban development is energy conservation.
Reducing and altering one’s energy consumption, and more broadly, saving resources of energy, is a key factor in ensuring that this world is kept and maintained liveable for future generations. By incorporating energy consumption methods in our daily lives, sustainable urbanisation will be achieved and our community will be ever more environmentally friendly. The practical methods and first step measures households should take in reducing their energy consumption, is by utilising energy smart principles and renewable energy resources. These have become easily accessible and affordable for many as the government continues to emphasise the importance of sustaining our environment and the importance of people being conscious of energy expenditure from
homes. Solar power has become a very popular and effective way of not only reducing and saving energy, but reducing and saving money. Solar generators can reduce and save household energy expenditure by almost 40%. While solar power has become a popular energy saving method, the initial cost for the solar equipment, may set households away from purchasing them. However, having said this, the system does save energy and money, as what was spent on the equipment will most definitely be returned throughout it’s life-cycle as it saves a lot of money. In addition, the government, under the Renewable Energy Target Scheme, has assigned and provided financial incentive for eligible small-scale renewable energy systems, (wind turbines, solar HWS, solar PV systems and hydro systems). The “Eco Home” has gained much attention and support in Victoria over the past 10 years. The introduction of such a house has become a very effective and efficient ide and concept, which has been labelled and is believed to be the start a successful future for urban development. This Eco-Home has gained much support within the suburb of Cairnlea Victoria, whether Metricon Homes; a house development company, has designed and incorporated in many of its buildings, features and methods of enhancing energy saving. In order to ensure that Metricon Homes was able to build and put together one of the most energy saving homes, numerous other companies and organisations were heavily involved in the design of these houses. Together with Metricon Homes, the Building Commissions, The Sustainable Energy Authority Victoria, VicUrban, Hassel Architects, Melbourne Water, Origin Energy and City West Water, were involved in this grand development. These companies thus worked together to ensure that this development was as eco-friendly, energy saving and sustainable to the environment. Further, these features also set an example for what individual houses, that are not supposedly labelled as eco-friendly, can incorporate within their homes as a means to play their part in the safety of the environment. The features that have been included within this home include: Other than solar PV and HWS (have been detailed below) the Ecohome is equipped with number of sustainable features which can be named as: • Hydronic heating • Rain water tank • Grey water recycling • Water efficient appliances • Low emission paints • Heat recoverable ventilation system • Use of recycled and natural materials Solar photovoltaic panels Eco home is using grid connected solar PV panels with capacity of 450W per panel. The expensive battery backup system has been avoided and Origin Energy supplies any excessive power. Solar hot water system Eco home is equipped by “AquaMax” hot water system connected to natural gas. This system has the ability to be connected with solar panels. The solar system used for this house comprises flat plate solar collectors on the roof which warm the water and store it in a stain steel tank. The water temperature then is rise up to required level with natural gas. Additional cost A considerable amount of over $37,000 has been spent to all sustainable features and equipment in the Ecohome. $25,000 of this amount has been allocated for energy and water saving features. Sustainability is also dependent on the different actions and choices people make in their day to day lives. For example transportation plays a vital role in sustainable living, whether it be private or public transport. Without it, people cannot travel to and from their homes, to work, to school, or wherever they desire. Public Transport is an extremely popular method of transport. An increase in use of public transport in urban communities can reduce traffic congestion and pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle exhaust. Congestion is usually greatest during the morning and evening peak times, when substantial quantities of people are making a trip to and from their work environments and educational institutions. However, during these times the transport system may fail and result in high delay, struggling to meet user demand. A combination between land use and transport is important to achieving sustainable outcomes, for both the developer and the transport system. It is vital that public transport is designed into upcoming developments to promote sustainable living. Insufficient access to public transport in new subdivisions is a main obstacle to economic and social inclusion, and has increased the rates of car ownership and reliance. Approximately 85 to 89 per cent of growth area residents used their own cars to travel to work in 2011, compared to Melbourne's metropolitan average of 65 per cent. (Public Transport Victoria). Evidence from Planning Victoria shows that around one-third of people who use private transport to work, do so because public transport is inaccessible. Public transport is mostly used is situations where parking capacity is a problem, where people may not have access to vehicles and where the cost is cheaper, as well as travel time, convenience and accessibility.
The ABC aims to scale back energy and water consumption and waste. This involves supporting a spread of initiatives to implement additional sustainable systems and processes as well as to alter workplace behaviour. Energy and emissions
To begin, many Canadian households in today’s society lack the focus to conserve energy with appliances and electronics and the way they are used throughout the day, which requires great improvement. Using
Our Common Future (1987 Report to the UN General Assembly by the World Commission on Environment and Development) defined 'sustainable development' as 'development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. Much of Australia's domestic environmental policy on sustainable development reflects the influence of Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and Agenda 21. Sustainable development must be considered on the scale of the ecosystem, which may be regional or
Introduction: The company I researched was Aramark, which is a food, facilities, and uniform services provider, headquartered in Philadelphia. With 270,000 employees Aramark has operations in 19 countries around the world and ranks 207 on the 2018 Fortune 1000. Globally, it provides services for numerous big events and also to public sports arenas, schools, hospitals, corporate workplaces, and other venues. On average, the company serves 2 billion meals annually and it sold 4 million uniforms in 2017. A quick look at Aramark’s website proves that the company takes its responsibility to its employees and the environment very seriously.
220,000, that is the number the world population will grow in a single day. Everyday. That is 220,000 new mouths to feed everyday. While globally this issue is already a top concern how will we continue to approach this with populations surging, at what cost will we draw a line and crack down. Overpopulation has contributed to innumerable environmental issues not only on a national level but also on a more substantial transborder level. This paper will focus specifically on the air, water, and land aspect of environmental issues affected by surging populations.
Introduction Climate change can be observed globally at a progressively alarming rate. The most visible changes can be seen in the global average temperature whereby the Arctic warming is at almost double the global average rate (CITE). Observed changes in temperature have been consistent with the general warming trend - hot days and hot nights have been occurring more frequently and cooler nights are occurring less often. There is major evidence that climate change is human-induced/anthropogenic from the increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions since the industrial revolution (CITE). The increase in the atmospheric CO2 concentration by 40% is a result of burning fossil fuels and deforestation (CITE).
As such, Australia recognizes there is an urgent need to place a large focus on building an ability to recover by better integrating sustainability goals into urban development. The United Nations has provided a set of 17 sustainability goals, some of which Australia believes are highly important in taking into consideration in urban development. These goals include ensuring availability and sustainable management of water
Environmental educations in a childhood education system always involve paradigms that expose the child to the natural environment. According to Kim and Lin, exposing young children to the environment is beneficial to their health (42-45). Cognitive development has been associated with the exposure to the environment. Some therapies have always used nature in children with cognitive disorders such as autism to help develop their cognitive skills. It is natural to for children to feel excited and relaxed when exploring nature and playing with children. However, the health benefit is relative. The contemporary children are less exposed to the natural environment because if urbanization and technological advancements. Even in these circumstances,
With the increasing population, a continuing trend is expected whereby people will be residing in urban areas (around 93% by 2050). This will have a lingering impact on the Australian environment as it will continue to see the loss of biodiversity, limited water supply and threats to food security. To deal with the challenge of rising population, planners must consider sustainability in their planning activities because they need to be able to create adaptable sustainable communities. The purpose of sustainable communities is about building areas where the public can have good health and quality of life. Sustainable Community can be helped to succeed by not impacting the environmental and cultural resources that assist
As stated above,this feedback loop is the major contributing factor for global warming that modern scientific community has agreed on its existence. Since our reliance on electricity has lasted for centuries now and has provided economic freedom it is nearly impossible to stop its usage all at once. Adopting smart and generous tecniques at home and every installations that uses electricity for day to day living will eliminate most of the problems that are addressed here. Following are some of the smart ways to minimize its usage. • Using self-generated electricity utilizing renewable sources of earth-solar energy and small wind turbines.
Victoria is one of the most urbanised states in Australia. However, cigarette butt litter is a major issue in Victoria. This is a research about Sustainability Victoria’s “Don’t Be a Tosser, Bin Your Butts” campaign organised by The Reputation Group (TGR) from February to September 2007. “Don’t Be a Tosser, Bin Your Butts” is a cigarette butt litter awareness and behavioural change campaign. The intention was to urge smokers to bin their butts. It was a successful campaign as it has exceeded its objectives and showed positive results.
Climate change creates significant impacts in the Australian context, and communities are severely vulnerable to the impacts. Australia has warmed by 0.9 centigrade mostly since 1950s. Further, during the period climate related conditions have been changed; for instance, reduction of cooler season, increase frequency of hot days, changes in extreme weather events and rising of sea level. In this context, communities in the coastal areas, low-ling areas, marginalized lands and hazard prone area are in high vulnerability (Australian Government, 2015).
Household energy conservation is a very practical and realistic approach to conserving energy within our society. US households consume a tremendous amount of natural gas as well as electric energy. It has been calculated that the amount of energy consumed within the US increased exponentially from about 1850 to 1975. If energy continued to increase at this rate, we would be experiencing severe energy shortages in our current society. Luckily, steps towards conservation, including various energy regulations, have curbed that growth somewhat, brining the predicted 160 Qbtu/yr for the year 2000 down to around 93.8 Qbtu/yr by the year 1996. However, household energy usage is still a major issue as households consume about 38% of the total consumed energy and contribute greatly to natural gas consumption and issues such as global warming. Therefore, it is important that people understand how we use energy in the household and what steps can be taken to conserve that energy.
Citizens of the developed world have come accustomed to a comfortable way of life. In recent history, humanity has become aware of the consequences of this way of life in terms of its physical impact on planet Earth, and in terms of its social impacts on generations to come. The notion that our species is having a negative impact on the world has raised concern as to whether human life will be able to indefinitely enjoy the comfortable way of life experienced by those in developed countries. Alarmingly, Earth’s population continues to grow, and more citizens are continually able to access the unsustainable ways of the current generation. According to Robert Engelman, the president of the The Worldwatch Institute, the future energy and food
“To truly transform our economy, protect our security, and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy.”-- Barack Obama. As the negative effects of traditional energy and the benefits of sustainable energy are becoming more and more apparent, the whole society has a significant increasing emphasis to develop and use sustainable energy. As Barack Obama said in the Address to Joint Session of Congress, the benefits of sustainable energy include, but are not limited to the economy, the environment, and the nation security.