 Food waste facts:  Approximately 8 to 10 billion dollars of food is wasted each year in commercial and residential waste. That’s around four million tonnes of food that ends up as landfill.  Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted  Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes)  Australians throw out one out of every five shopping bags, which equates to every Australian household throwing out $1,036 worth of groceries each year.  Australia produces enough food to feed approx. 60 million people, yet two million people still rely on food relief every year.  Food relief agencies are not able to meet demand. Nearly 90% of agencies reported not having enough food to meet total demand. 6 in 10 agencies require at least 25% more food with almost 3 in 10 agencies requiring double the food. [6]  Nearly one million Aussie kids go without breakfast or bed without dinner

 Recycle surplus food- OzHarvest is the first perishable food rescue organisation in Australia collecting quality excess food from commercial outlets and delivering it, direct and free of charge, to 600 charities providing much needed assistance to vulnerable men, women and children across Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Newcastle and Perth.  The Civil Liabilities Amendment Act was passed in NSW in 2005 with ACT, SA and QLD following. This ensured surplus food could be donated to charitable causes without fear of liability.  Do a meal plan for the week and only buy what you need.  Look at what food you throw out and buy less of that product.  Make a compost or have a chook or poultry farm to recycle organic food waste.

 The fastest-growing household waste in Australia is clothing, according to a Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia which said Australians spent $500 million of fashion clothing to the tip in It suggested this waste could be reduced if we removed spills quickly using baby wipes or sloshing with water to stop stains setting. And it said if we are like other Western countries, we only recycle 18 per cent of clothing compared to 55 per cent of paper and 63 per cent of metal. Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia

Sustainability is the condition which humans and nature can exist in productive agreement and maintain health and resources in an environment for long term use. For example: care for soils and keep them fertile keep a sufficient quantity and quality of water for future generations If we are sustainable, it will be possible to fulfil the social and economic needs of future generations Sustainability is essential because it will protect human and environmental health as we will have water, materials and resources for future generations

Reduce electricity by:-  Turn lights off when you leave a room.  Turning off power points and appliances at night.  Put insulation in when building your home.  Use halogen or low energy light globes.  Use solar energy for heating and electricity instead of fossil fuel electricity.  When buying appliances, buy low energy use appliances.  Plant trees in places that will help cool the house in summer and will not stop the sun from shining in in winter.

Reducing water can be hard at school with kids around but there are ways in which you can save. These include: Have a half flush/smaller cistern Minimise garden Teach children how to conserve water recycle waste water Back ½ flush toilet

Reducing chemicals can happen in the science room and in the agriculture plot. In science you can use less chemicals and in the ag plot you can physically removing weeds to reduce herbicide use. Get rid of burrs and weeds with a shovel or hoe and this gets the kids involved. Bathurst Burrs Gardeni ng Tools

 Use less energy  reducing electricity use, turn off power points at night, turn light/appliances off when you leave, put it insulation, use halogen/low energy light bulbs,  buy low energy use appliances,  reduce water use  Make compost  Use less chemicals  Move closer to work, or work at home when possible. Commuting accounts for more than a third of all car travel.

There are more than a few ways you can save in your workplace. Here are some examples: Promote sustainability with poster/ s/rewards Reduce printing and paper use by using /hard drives/print on both sides of paper Buy recycled or sustainably sourced paper Walk to work instead of driving Use ‘green’ electricity Have a half flush/smaller cistern toilet Promoting energy saving ideas is very important because your work colleges can also apply it to their own home. It will not only be saving their business money, it will be for you and them. Back