Wollondilly Shire Council

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• Eco Aid and Travel

  Travel and work with local communities to protect endangered species, enhance the local environment and support the social and economic wellbeing of the communities we visit.
  
  Often we pass through a country without ever sitting down with a local, understanding their life and lending a hand. Spending time to assist the local people in the developing world, to survive, rebuild or protect their natural wilderness is a precious gift and can be an unforgettable experience.
  
  How to do it now!
  Volunte…

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• Immerse Yourself in Nature

  Go hiking, bird watch, swim in the sea or simply enjoy nature and your connection to it. It's good for the body and great for the soul.
  
  We are blessed with a fantastic natural environment, with so many beautiful places for us to explore right on our doorstep. So organise a family picnic at a local park, pop down to the beach for a day or walk along a river or through a forest. Take a deep breath and be thankful for nature's wonders.
  
  How to do it now!
  There are over 3000 national and…

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• Slow and Local Travel

  Holidays are a break from the normal routine, yet you can break your routine at home or in your local area, it just requires a new perspective.
  
  Ask your friends for their favourite local attractions, hidden pleasures, fabulous festivals and cosmic adventures. Map a slow journey along roads, rivers and coasts that you've never travelled and see sights you've never seen. If you throw in the cash you save not flying to the other side of the planet, you can even indulge yourself, guilt fr…

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• Recycle Technical Waste

  Replicating nature's nutrient cycle by creating closed loops for the recycling and reuse of those man-made (technical) elements of our consumption delivers efficiency, reduces cost and resource use, and protects the environment.
  
  We have concentrated, extracted and combined raw natural elements into new and unique elements such as plastics, aluminium, mercury and acids. Recently we have realised that to use these resources efficiently and avoid them spoiling the environment, we need to crea…

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• Cultivate Waste Reduction Habits

  The average Australian household wastes more than $1,000 every year purchasing items they never use. So use what you buy, buy less and save.
  
  A 2005 paper by The Australia Institute (Wasteful Consumption in Australia) found that Australians waste over 10.5 billion dollars annually on goods and services that are "never or hardly ever used". The majority of this is food purchased and thrown out (over 5 billion dollars per annum). A follow-up study on food wastage in 2009 showed no change…

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• Cull Your 'Stuff'

  By passing your second-hand or unused goods on to someone who will use them, you are both reducing the environmental resources required to satisfy our consumption as well as helping others.
  
  These days, giving away or selling your unused stuff couldn't be easier. From online sites through to garage sales and local charity clothing bins, there are loads of ways to give your unwanted stuff a new life.
  
  From an environmental perspective, recycling your second-hand goods extends the life of the…

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• Recycle Organic Waste

  Nutrient recycling is the foundation of life. Today's organic waste is tomorrow's lunch, so look after those worms and compost piles.
  
  Much of the journey toward sustainability involves us learning how to replenish nature as effectively as we have plundered her. Hence, establishing and maintaining the "food waste to compost to soil to food to food waste" cycle is both an efficient practice and a glimpse of the cycles we must learn to respect all around us.
  
  How to do it now!…

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• Recycle Building Waste

  Renovating or demolishing a house to build a new one generates up to 200 tonnes of 'waste', but around 80 per cent of this material could be re-used or recycled, saving vast quantities of energy, water, resources and money.
  
  Australians produce more than one-and-a-half tonnes of what we call waste per person per year, with 40 per cent of Australia's waste resulting from construction and demolition activities. However up to 80 per cent of this construction waste is actually made up…

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• No Junk Mail or Spam

  Time and paper are precious resources. Junk mail, email spam and unsolicited phone calls waste both time and paper, so let's get rid of them!
  
  Globally, it is estimated that 100 million trees are harvested to produce junk mail each year. In Australia, 8.2 billion articles of junk mail are produced every year, along with over 650 million articles of addressed promotional mail.
  
  Most of this mail is never read.
  
  In addition, a recent study by Nucleus Research estimates that spam costs Austral…

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• Transport

  Most of us still use the car as our primary mode of transport. However, one-quarter of all car journeys are less than three kilometres.
  
  Car travel has a very significant environmental cost and impacts negatively on our health and wellbeing.
  
  To ride a bike the same distance uses less than one-fiftieth of the energy required to drive. 
  
  Explore sustainable transport options.
  
  Reduce and Offset Car Emissions
  A litre of petrol produces about 2.3 kilograms of greenhouse gases and vehicles produce m…

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• Reduce and Offset Car Emissions

  A litre of petrol produces about 2.3 kilograms of greenhouse gases and vehicles produce more than half our air pollution. So let's use less to offset the emissions we can't avoid.
  
  Our cities and society are built around car travel, yet the cars we drive require a lot of resources to produce and maintain, and the fuels we use are destroying the environment. As responsible, informed people we must "own" our personal contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and work to address…

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• Car Pool

  If you have to use the car, those regular trips to work, the market or school can be done with others and you'll have more fun, use less petrol, and save money.
  
  If you have to use the car, regular trips we take to work, the market or school can be shared with others (co-workers, neighbours, other students) to reduce our car use. Express lanes, car pool parking spots at work, and online resources to connect you with other people travelling your way (not to mention increasing fuel costs) mak…

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• Use Public Transport

  Buses, trains and trams all use far less resources than cars. Increased use will lead to a better service and you can read, listen and relax as you go to and fro.
  
  Efficiency, civility and community are characteristics of cities with well-run, resourced and patronised public transport systems. Trains and trams are 40 times more energy-efficient than cars (and 90 times more efficient than aircraft). So, as we try to reduce our personal contribution to greenhouse gas emissions from car and aircraf…

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• Reduce and Offset Air Travel Emissions

  A return flight to Europe and back will travel over 25,000 kilometres and emit over 5,000 kilograms of greenhouse gases. So let's fly only when necessary and offset the emissions we have to have.
  
  The truism "Getting there is half the fun" became obsolete with the advent of commercial airlines.' (Henry J. Tillman). We now have another reason to take the slow road and engage in the ancient arts of exploration and conversation. By slowing down and saving up your air-time you ca…

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• Ride a Bike

  Stay fit, focused and firm and help save the world. Explore bike paths, cycle groups and ride any blues away.
  
  Bicycles are simply the most efficient form of transport. They produce no waste and improve our health and wellbeing. If we all used a bike to get to work and visit friends and family or went on cycling holidays instead of road trips, it would have an immediate and profound effect on our fossil fuel use and contribution to climate change. Finally, as if all this is not compelling enough…

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