Hot Topic Archives: Score points for the environment during Keep Australia
Beautiful Week

Keep Australia Beautiful staff are encouraging all DEC employees to lead by example next week during Keep Australia Beautiful (KAB) Week.

Kate MacRae from the department’s Community Education Branch said several simple actions could see you work your way towards 100 points for improving and conserving our environment, as part of the ’score points for the environment’ challenge. During KAB Week you and your families can participate in any of the following activities:

  • Compost food and green waste
  • Create a sustainable garden
  • Reuse grey water
  • Say no to plastic bags
  • Run a local community litter clean-up
  • Switch off your appliances when not in use Replace standard light globes with energy savers
  • Sign up to green energy
  • Refill or recycle printer cartridges
  • Recycle old mobile phones and accessories

Last year DEC ran a Mobile Muster and contributed to a 24 per cent increase in the number of mobile phones that were recycled across Australia during the last year.

“We helped prevent more than 90,000 kilograms of mobiles, including 18,500 kilograms of batteries, from ending up in landfill where they could potentially leach harmful elements into the environment,” Kate said.

                        KABC brochure banner

You can participate in the Mobile Muster again this year. Boxes are available at the following DEC offices:

  • The Atrium - reception on level four and main kitchen on levels seven and eight.
  • Kensington - reception and cafeteria.
  • Regional - Bunbury, Manjimup, Walpole, Warren Regional, Collie, Harvey, Karratha and Geraldton.

Signing up to the ’score points for the environment’ challenge could also win you a $10,000 modern solar home make-over, which means you’ll be doing even more for the environment.

For more information visit http://www.keepaustraliabeautiful.org.au/ or contact Kate on 6467 5169.

***Mobile Muster is the official recycling program for Australian Mobile Telecommunication Association and is dedicated to protecting the environment through processes such as reducing, reusing and recycling.

Some important facts:

  • More than 90 per cent of the plastics and metals in mobile phones, batteries and accessories recovered during recycling can be turned into jewellery, stainless steel products and plastic fence posts.
  • Australians send 34 printer cartridges to landfill every minute. A laser cartridge thrown into landfill can take up to 450 years to decompose.
  • Organic waste sent to landfill creates methane when it breaks down. Methane is 20 times more harmful than carbon dioxide in contributing to the enhanced greenhouse effect.
  • Plastic litter that ends up in our oceans is responsible for killing up to one million marine birds and 100,000 marine mammals each year.
  • It is estimated that electrical appliances represent about 40 per cent of a household’s energy use. The energy use in an average Australian household produces 12 tonnes of greenhouse gases a year. Switching off appliances at the power socket can save up to 10 per cent of energy use.

Home / Hot Topic Archives /  Score points for the environment during Keep Australia Beautiful Week
Search