coolmelbourne.org

Aaah, how we do love to shop. We have created a world where we can buy almost anything and everything we want, almost whenever we want it and almost wherever we are. This is no bad thing in itself, but our compulsion for buying 'stuff' is causing some pretty serious environmental problems. We're not asking you to give up your shopping altogether - that would be virtually impossible - but we're just asking that you have a bit of a think the next time you head out to pound the pavement.


Shop wisely. Cut down on packaging and products and avoid waste.

Buy recycled and recyclable. These days you can buy almost anything in a recycled format. And if you find something that doesn’t appear to be recyclable, write a scathing letter to the manufacturer asking them when you’ll be able to get the recyclable version.

You old bag… Did you know that Australians use 6.9 billion plastic bags every year? Each one can take hundreds of years to break down, and they usually end up in landfill or worse our oceans, contributing to the deaths of turtles and other marine creatures. If you leave a calico bag in your car or backpack, the next time you have to pick up bread and milk you won't need a plastic bag. The turtles with thank you for it!

But think twice about the green bag: They were meant to save us from the plague of plastic bags. But reusable "green" bags are being oversold and creating a new proliferation problem, according to Ian Kiernan, who helped devise the environmental anti-plastic campaign. Coles and Woolworths are profiteering from the popularity of so-called eco-friendly bags, the Clean Up Australia Day founder said. He accused the supermarket chains, which together have sold almost 20 million reusable bags, of ''trading off the green potential" of the now ubiquitous products rather than encouraging shoppers to cut consumption. Click here to read the full article in The Age.
 
Turn up your stereo! Music and movies have become an almost essential part of our lives and turning your entertainment green is easy: download, rent or borrow your music and movies and save on packaging and waste. Easy.

Buy it in bulk. We know this brings to mind enormous tubs of lentils and bags chickpeas, but we’re talking things like moisturiser or shampoo. Find a product that you like and buy it big. Lots of products do a small size and a large size. Buying large saves money and waste.

Be sure to always check the label – even in so-called ‘natural’ products (asbestos and tobacco are natural) you can find some surprisingly unnatural sounding ingredients… Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid anyone? What’s it doing to you, let alone our environment?   

Give wedding presents for your wedding. Organisations like Oxfam allow wedding guests to give a community a goat or a dunny as part of an aid project on behalf of the bride and groom.