19 August 2011

Welcome

I trust that you had a restful semester break and are now ready to face the rigours of a new school term. Term 3 is traditionally the ‘school sports’ term where a lot of time and energy is focused on preparing for the annual sports days. Obviously there is a lot of teaching to do in the non sporting arena as well, so all in all, there are busy times ahead for students and teachers alike.

And this is a time when your school can be recognised for its efforts in helping the environment. It’s a time you can win a Keep Australia Beautiful award.

Our Green and Healthy Schools entries close towards the end of the term and we are looking forward to receiving record numbers of entries from schools. It’s not a big task to enter, and we have strong linkages between Earth Smart Science Schools, QESSI / AuSSI schools and of course the national Science curriculum. All schools have a bank of knowledge, skills and outputs that can be celebrated via the Green and Healthy Schools Program. So, go ahead and share your good work in the area of sustainability by ensuring you enter our awards program before September 02.

Green and Healthy Schools Awards cover the following activity areas:

• Biodiversity
• Energy
• Water
• Litter Prevention
• Waste
• Health and Wellbeing
• Nutritional Health
• Transport
• Spirituality and Values
• Young Legends
• Community Partnerships
• Outstanding Environmental Achievement

For further information, please visit our website

Regards,

Grant Evans
Green & Healthy Schools Program Coordinator

Waste

In the last newsletter, I touched on some issues facing an ever increasing global population, which is set to reach 7 billion some time before 31 October this year. By 2045, Earth’s population will likely have swelled from seven to nine billion. Apart from pressure on energy and water resources, food production is going to be a critical concern. To fill those stomachs, some experts believe that food production will have to double.

However, if we take a snapshot of current food production, we can see some rather disturbing trends.

One-third of the world's food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted each year, according to a study released recently by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Roughly 1.3bn tonnes of food is either lost or wasted globally due to inefficiencies throughout the food supply chain, says the report, based on research by the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (Sik) Amid rising global food prices, the study says that reducing food losses in developing countries could have an "immediate and significant" impact on livelihoods and food security in some of the world's poorest countries.

According to the report, industrialised and developing countries waste or lose roughly the same amount of food each year – 670m and 630m tonnes respectively. But while rich countries waste food primarily at the level of the consumer, the main issue for developing countries is food lost due to weak infrastructure – including poor storage, processing and packaging facilities that lack the capacity to keep produce fresh.

The average European, North American or Australian consumer wastes 95kg-115kg of food a year, above all fruits and vegetables. In contrast, the average consumer in sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia or south-east Asia wastes only 6kg-11kg. The study notes that in developing countries poverty and limited incomes make it unacceptable to waste food, and that poor consumers in low-income countries generally buy smaller amounts of food at a time.

Food wasted by consumers in rich countries (222m tonnes) is roughly equal to the entire food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230m tonnes).

Looking for solutions, the report argues that reducing reliance on retailers such as big supermarkets could help cut food waste , and suggests promoting the direct sale of farm produce to consumers. It also encourages retailers and charities to work together, to distribute unsold but perfectly edible food that would otherwise go to waste.

Keep Australia Beautiful Week

In 2011, KAB Week will be held from Monday 22nd August to Sunday 28th August with the focus on litter that ends up in our waterways and oceans.

It is estimated that about 80 percent of marine debris is from land based sources. Littered items such as cigarette butts and food and beverage containers, reach the ocean and rivers through run-off from storm water drains.

To highlight this avoidable environmental problem, this year's campaign will focus on the effects litter has on our oceans and waterways, and the direct impact it has on the health and safety of marine wildlife.

You may like to consider ways that you can help raise awareness of the issue of marine litter and help promote it at your school, university, in your local area, or in the media.

Always remember, litter on the land kills in the sea!

Visit www.kabq.org.au for more information and resources.

Healthy Queensland Awards

$1.6 million prizes for our “healthiest” Queenslanders

The Queensland Government is giving away $1.6 million to help make us all healthier.

Your school could be a winner of up to $250,000 if you have a healthy idea!

$1.6 million will be distributed to communities, schools and workplaces through the Healthy Queensland Awards, managed by Keep Australia Beautiful Queensland .

KABQ Chief Executive Officer, Mr Rick Burnett, said innovative projects to improve the health and well-being of Queenslanders could start with an idea from your school.

Mr Burnett said the best school idea would win $250,000 with five other schools receiving $50,000 for highly commended projects.

The awards would give organisations the opportunity to propose programs and projects that promoted improved health and could include 'healthy' infrastructure such as bicycle and walking paths, sun shades or sporting equipment.

Mr Burnett said the prizes recognised the efforts of groups within a community, school or workplace who were planning and putting into action ways of improving the health of their families, students or workers.

"These prizes should identify our leaders in the on-going fight to create healthier habits and behaviour,” Burnett said.

"Sustainability is the new catch-cry - and mankind is only sustainable if we all take responsibility for our own health."

Applications close 31 August, 2011. For more information, entry forms and guidelines visit www.kabq.org.au

Bald Hills State School takes out Young Legends in the Brisbane’s Spotless Suburbs Awards

Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk reveals City's most Spotless Suburb

Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk announced the south-east eastern suburb of Mackenzie has been named as Brisbane's most "Spotless Suburb".

And next year schools in the Brisbane City Council area would also be eligible to win a “Spotless School” award, so keep an eye on the KABQ website www.kabq.org.au as more details unfold.

The Lord Mayor said Mackenzie's Gainsborough Park Estate had been chosen from 18 suburbs and the community groups representing them who had been nominated by their local councillor in the 2011 Brisbane Spotless Suburbs competition.

"I want Brisbane to be Australia's most clean and green city and I'm proud to announce that Mackenzie is leading the way with great community spirit in keeping their streets and parks spotless," Cr Quirk said.

"Led by the Gainsborough Park Bushcare group, these residents show immense pride in their community with four formal clean-ups every year, as well as keeping an eye on graffiti and picking up litter.

"They've set a great example for other suburbs around Brisbane and I congratulate them on being named Brisbane's most Spotless Suburb in 2011."

The Spotless Suburbs competition is a joint initiative between Brisbane City Council, Keep Australia Beautiful Queensland and SITA Environmental Solutions.

This is the second year Gainsborough Park has been recognised in the competition, taking out the Pride Award last year.

The Lord Mayor said the competition was a part of his commitment to keeping Brisbane's suburbs clean and tidy, including a further $8.7 million in this year's Budget for sweeping local streets and cutting roadside grass.

"I've also allocated almost $7 million in 2011/12 for litter patrols across the city and $3.6 million for graffiti removal and enforcement," Cr Quirk said.

"In the last two-and-a-half years our graffiti clean-up crews have removed over 500,000 square metres of graffiti - that's the size of The Gabba playing field 25 times over.

"We will also be continuing our Eyes in the Suburbs program, rewarding people who take the initiative to let us know about issues in their area so we can fix them."

Local Councillor Adrian Schrinner said Gainsborough Park residents had made a major contribution to the improving their local community and were deserved winners of the Spotless Suburbs competition.

"Some of their outstanding efforts include a regular community newsletter to keep residents motivated, and during our wet weather earlier this year, many used their own mowers to keep parks neat and tidy when the ground was too wet for the heavier Council mowing tractor.

"The hard work they put in on their own time just shows how proud they are to live in this area and I look forward to continuing to work closely with them in the future."

BRISBANE SPOTLESS SUBURBS WINNERS 2011:

Pride Award - New Farm Park, New Farm
Partnerships Award - Fox Gully Bushcare Group, Upper Mount Gravatt
Litter Management Award - Nundah Community Enterprises Co-Op Project, Nundah
Litter Champion Award - Melrose Park Bushcare Group, Wooloowin
Flood Recovery Award - Corinda Horse and Pony Club, Corinda
Environmental Protection Award - Mount Gravatt Environment Group, Mount Gravatt
Environmental Protection (Judge's Commendation) - The Fort Bushland Reserve Bushcare Group, Oxley
Young Legends Award - Bald Hills State School, Bald Hills

How much do we waste?

Australians are throwing out three million tonnes of food every year – the equivalent of 145 kilograms for each and every one of us.

The following table shows the amount of food purchased and wasted per person each year.

Stop Food Waste! Did you know... Queensland is the most wasteful State in Australia!

• Australians are still wasting $6 billion of food each year - enough to feed the entire nation for three weeks.
• Current research suggests the majority of food thrown away is fresh fruit and vegetables.
• Meat, fish, bread, dairy produce, rice and pasta are all in the 'top' most wasted foods.
• The two main reasons for food wastage is that people 'cook or prepare too much' or simply just don't use food before its use by date.
• The Australian 2006 National Greenhouse Gas Inventory report stated methane emissions from solid waste disposal on land were equivalent to 13.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
• According to CSIRO data, dumping a kilogram of beef wastes the 50,000 litres of water it took to produce that meat; throwing out a kilogram of white rice will waste 2,385 litres and wasting a kilogram of potatoes costs 500 litres.

Want to know more?

The Hungry Beast

http://hungrybeast.abc.net.au/stories/beast-file-food-waste

Choice

http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/household/energy-and-water/saving-energy/food-waste.aspx

Litter

Litter is anything dropped on the ground that a person might reasonably believe is refuse, debris or rubbish.

Litter can be almost any material that is disposed of incorrectly. Litter includes cigarette butts and drink bottles dropped on the ground, fast food wrappers thrown out of the car window, poorly secured material from a trailer or grass clippings swept into the gutter. Litter can also be an abandoned vehicle or an abandoned part of a vehicle.

At this stage litter does not include any gas, dust, smoke or material emitted or produced during, or because of, the normal operations of a building, manufacturing, mining or primary industry. Tighter emission controls are likely to be introduced in the future.

Litter in Australia

The volume of litter across Australia has increased by seven per cent over the past year.

1 Highway litter now accounts for almost half of all litter in terms of volume, and illegal dumping is a major contributor to Australia's litter problem.

Litter in Queensland

Queensland has the highest number of litter items of any Australian State or Territory.

The most littered sites in Queensland are:

• Industrial sites, which were associated with large volumes of litter and moderately large numbers of litter items.
• Highway sites, which were associated with a large estimated volume of items but only small numbers of items.
• Retail sites, which were associated with large numbers of items but only small litter volume per 1,000 m2.

As the following graphs indicate, cigarette butts make up the majority of litter items in Queensland, while plastic bags represent the highest volume litter.

Figure 1. Litter by volume and item in Queensland.

References

1 Keep Australia Beautiful, National Litter Index 2006-2007 www.kab.org.au 2007

2 Department of Environment and Resource Management Queensland

A twist on waste

American artist Chris Jordan compiled the following project:

Running the Numbers looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on.

My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 32,000 breast augmentation surgeries in the U.S. every month.

This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. Employing themes such as the near versus the far, and the one versus the many, I hope to raise some questions about the roles and responsibilities we each play as individuals in a collective that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming.

You can find more of Chris Jordan’s incredible images at:
http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/rtn

OTHER INFO

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Keep Australia Beautiful Queensland
PO Box 3260, South Brisbane Q 4101
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