Consuming Australia – the high price our environment is paying for our spending
found that some of the wealthiest suburbs in
Australia are the biggest producers of
Greenhouse gases because of the food and
products that the residents of these suburbs
consume. Clearly the more we consume, and waste,
the more we are going to increase the
overall concentration of Greenhouse gases
in our environment. The same ACF report suggests
that we can also consume in smarter and more
sustainable ways. For example, we can
choose more efficient electrical appliances
and even switching off unused electrical
appliances. The majority of urban Australians
have responded well to government initiatives
to save water in light of our on-going drought. There is no reason
why we cannot do the same to combat climate change.
The Howard government has been slow to react to
the threat of Climate Change. Its
continual refusal to set down reduction targets
show that it is totally out of touch with
the urgency of the situation. With or without
a government blueprint, Australians should
strife for a grassroot approach to combating
climate change. Not only should we make conscious
effort to reduce our personal impact on our
environment we must demand the same from
businesses. All of us are customers of large
manufacturers and retailers. Many of us are also
stockholders of big businesses. We should buy
from companies who will make the effort to
reduce their environmental impact when
supplying the goods and services that we consume.
Afterall, improving efficiency and reducing
waste are not only good for the environment
but also good for businesses' long term bottomline.
Grassroot pressure can still save our planet even if
our ostrich-like government continue to accept reality of
human-induced climate change.
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