We talk about sustainability, but our future depends on us walking that talk. Here are some ideas about the thoughtful steps we can all take to use every day to build a greener decade.
Leave the car behind and move your body....
Yes, it’s often quicker to get somewhere by car, but they’ve contributed to our own declining physical health while their carbon emissions have warmed the planet. A simple, effective and enjoyable way to majorly reduce our individual carbon footprints is to add a few minutes onto trips by walking, cycling or scooting – to the shops, to school, to work, or to a public-transport hub. Everyday trips become instantly cleaner and greener, our fitness starts ticking up and we notice the little things around us that we’d zip past behind the wheel of a car. We might even stop for a chat with a neighbour. Already, we can feel ourselves breathing more easily.
Bag that single-use plastic
Next time you’re out grocery shopping, take a moment to notice all of the single-use plastic packaging suffocating almost every product on the shelves. It adds up so fast – try collecting your soft plastics for recycling and you’ll likely have a bagful in a day. Imagine how much a decade’s worth of your single-use plastic might look. Australians use more than 10 million plastic bags a day and we create an estimated 660 thousand tonnes of plastic waste every year. We can all do our bit to reduce that. Aim to purchase products in recyclable packaging or no packaging at all, use green alternatives such as beeswax wrap rather than plastic cling wrap or aluminium foil at home. We think it goes without saying that community-minded people are already using reusable coffee cups and water bottles, conscious that it’s often benefiting our personal budget as we strive to look after our precious planet.
Make every drop count
Water is more precious than ever and recent years have seen perhaps the most severe drought Australians have ever faced. Even when the rains come, it’s important to remind ourselves that water is a finite resource, and we must all make conserving it an automatic part of our daily life. Small things, such as putting a container in the sink to collect water and using it to water the lawn (soap won’t harm it!), taking shorter showers, turning the tap off while shaving or brushing your teeth and manually watering your garden, ideally with a watering can. At Aura, rainwater harvesting tanks must be installed in all homes, ensuring that more than half of all roof water that falls on the community is captured and used. Australians are so fortunate to have steady access to clean and safe water from a tap. It’s up to us to respect that privilege by planning to use less.
Re-use, Reduce, Recycle
By now, recycling bottles, cans, paper and cardboard should be second nature to most of us. The next step is to take time to make sure we’re doing it right – Planet Ark has a great recycling guide so that you can ensure your good intentions aren’t contaminating the recycling stream with products that should be there. Look at the products you are only using once right now and consider putting them to work a few times.
Here at Aura we are very proud to be one of the first Australian communities to achieve the Green Building Council of Australia’s highest accreditation – a 6 Star Green Star Communities rating – demonstrating world leadership in terms of sustainability and liveability.
For us, sustainability means leaving our communities and environment in good shape for future generations. We are therefore focusing on proven sustainable development at Aura, both protecting and regenerating the natural environment and actively including the residents and their wider circles in the evolution of the land.
To find out more about our community, visit: https://www.stockland.com.au/residential/qld/aura/enquire-about-aura
