Page 26 - TNE WORKBOOK

Before You Head Off

• Decide as a group when you’ll meet up again (same time, same place? Or maybe another group
member’s house?);

• Agree to have a quick squiz at the energy chapter before you meet up;

• Fish out your old energy bills (for example, if you have access to all of your energy bills for the past year
on e-pay plus) and your most recent one if you have it. Go to the Transition Streets registration page
and consent to ActewAGL sharing your gas and/or electricity billing data with The Neighbourhood
Effect if you haven’t already (there’s no obligation to do this, but it allows us to benchmark your progress
and create an estimate of your energy-related emission reductions). Remember to bring a few of your
electricity and gas bills along to your next session too so you can have a chat about them.

• Carry out your action plans from this session!

8 C Colley, ‘ACT’s waste management costs among country’s highest’, The Canberra Times, 6 May 2014.
9 K Lawson, ‘ACT government calls for bids on new ways to deal with city’s rubbish’, The Canberra Times, 22 February
2017.

10 The Australia Institute (2005), Wasteful Consumption in Australia.
11 If you want more information about the fashion industry’s exploitation of workers and environmental damage, check
out the film The True Cost.
12 S Rosenbloom (2010), ‘But Will It Make You Happy?’, The New York Times.

13 J Hamblin (2014), ‘Buy Experiences, Not Things’, The Atlantic.
14 N Darlington, ‘4 Scientific Reasons Why Decluttering Leads to a Better Life’, Lifehack
15 Although they can be used for a cleaning rag or in the shed!
16 Relative impact for each suggested action is a ballpark estimate. The exact carbon emission reductions associated with
each action taken will vary depending on household type, location and appliances used. All activities suggested in this
workbook have a positive impact, because they reduce our ecological footprints.
17 ACT Government, Transport and City Services, ‘Recycling and Waste Collection’.
18 S White (2016), ‘Takeaway coffee cups piling up in landfill as Australia’s caffeine habit soars’ Australian Broadcasting
Corporation.

19 If you are concerned about the carbon footprint of online shopping, have a read of this article. On average, if you are
going to drive your vehicle to pick up a few items from a store, from an environmental standpoint, you are better off
ordering them online. If you are going to ride your bike or take a bus to pick up an item - then that is less impactful
than ordering online.

20 Rethink Recycling, Top 10 Ways to Reduce Waste.
21 See for example, this recent CHOICE article on ethical superannuation and this article in the Australian Financial
Review.
22 You can also buy solid bars of shampoo and conditioner to reduce packaging and save loads of plastic bottles from
being manufactured. Two Australian brands are ethique and lush. See more tips on the SEE-Change website:
www.see-change.org.au/resources/recycling-and-waste/

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