Stories From: Sustainability

The Blue Mountains has long told the story of how its young people are forced to leave the Mountains to study and work, primarily because there haven’t been enough opportunities for them there. But that story may now be about to change! Led by The Big Fix, a broad coalition of government, community groups, organisations and businesses are collaborating to …

  Blackheath businesses have been proactive in the ‘War on Waste’. In 2016, Blackheath became the world’s first town to agree to phase out plastic straws – still a ‘work in progress’. The community and businesses have also supported Boomerang Bags and are working to reduce the use of plastic bags. To tackle organic waste, the Wattle Cafe, Blackheath General …

To make a change in one’s life takes effort, but to make change in your community takes a certain kind of courage – the courage to stand for something, and to back up your stand with action. As viewers saw when War on Waste aired on the ABC, some actions are big, others not so much. The story of waste …

Set in one of the most coveted locations in the Blue Mountains, overlooking the magnificent Kanimbla Valley, Mountains Christian College is very conscious of its environmental impact. It was the first school in Blackheath to say no to plastic straws, and in November last year it installed a 99.84kW solar system. That’s 384 solar panels covering 627 square metres and …

Imagine an initiative that helps to reduce the devastating environmental impact of plastic while also building community, teaching new skills and upcycling materials. Boomerang Bags is doing all that and more, and it’s arrived in the Mountains. Boomerang Bags first began on the Gold Coast in 2013. It addresses the problem of plastics at a grassroots level by engaging communities of volunteers to make cloth shopping bags out of upcycled materials. The bags are placed in stores …

Toolo .. If I had a hammer Remember when NASA launched the Hubble and the astronauts had everything they needed EXCEPT a crowbar? That’s the philosophy driving Justin Morrissey and the Katoomba Toolo: if you are out there doing a creative project, you should be able to get your hands on any tool you need. Toolo is a Library of Things, with everything owned …

  In an era that is being defined by adversarial politics and short term thinking, the Blackheath community is demonstrating another approach –and one that’s proving to be extraordinarily effective. By working collaboratively, with the long game in mind, they’re proving that their strategy is clearly worth emulating. Ten years ago, when a Federal election led to the announcement of a $250 million upgrade of the Great Western Highway between …

Mark Liebman, Sarah Laborde and Harry Twenty seven years ago, a young auditor at Ernst & Young in Sydney, one of the “Big 4” accounting firms, came across a newly published report, “Blueprint for a Green Economy.” Prepared for the UK Environment Department, the report claimed that environmental problems had their roots in “economic failures.” This struck such a chord …

  Children see things differently. Not only are they a little closer to the ground than your average adult, but so many of the things they encounter are being experienced for the first time. With eyes wide open, their minds absorb every little detail. So when Jacqueline Reid, from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, began working with schoolchildren to …

Blackheath, in the World Heritage listed Blue Mountains, Australia, has become the world’s first town in which all the shopfront businesses have agreed to phase out plastic straws. Thirty businesses – all the cafes, restaurants, bakeries, grocery shops, delicatessens, takeaways, service stations and pubs – now display signage indicating that they will only offer straws on request. Some businesses, like The Piedmont Inn, have …