This week’s ‘Climate action at home’ workshop in Holdfast Bay attracted about twenty local residents. I was one of three speakers who presented information on the nature of climate change, how it is affecting us and what we can do about it.
Shani Wood, Holdfast Bay’s Environmental Education and Projects Officer and fellow Climate Reality Australia Leader, delivered a slide show covering the latest scientific evidence, graphic examples of extreme weather events around the world in recent years, and future projections under a ‘business as usual’ scenario. Shani ended her presentation on a positive note with the latest information on the impressive global uptake of renewable energy.
Tanya Roe, Coordinator of Environmental & Coastal Assets for the City of Holdfast Bay, discussed the City of Holdfast Bay – Eco City Plan 2012-15 which includes council’s climate change mitigation and adaptation objectives. She talked about achievements to date, including the purchase of 20 per cent green power for all facilities and energy efficiency measures throughout council buildings. A large kilowatt (kW) solar electricity photovoltaic system has been installed on the roof of the City of Holdfast Bay Depot.
There has also been significant progress made in waste reduction and management, promoting bio-diversity by revegetating key areas, and protecting coastal assets with sand replenishment programs. The council aims for its corporate emissions to be carbon neutral by 2019.
I presented information about how to reduce household emissions, focusing on electricity, transport, food, general consumption and waste. The emphasis was on taking responsibility for our own actions while keeping in mind the bigger picture. Assessing your household’s use of electricity, gas, car fuel and monitoring food choices, is a good place to start.
Once you have this information, calculating your household’s carbon footprint is easy – check out the calculator at Carbon Neutral. In future posts, I will include information about how we reduced our household emissions. Holdfast Bay also provides a Sustainable Living Guide designed to help residents take action to live more sustainably – Sustainable Holdfast Bay: Holdfast Bay Sustainable Living … Here is two excellent blogs about living sustainably in Australia which I have been following for many years:
Down to Earth: Global warming and what we can do
The Greening of Gavin – Sustainable Living in the Suburbs
