Developed in conjunction with The Natural Strategies Group, this Guide is designed to help Colac Otway Shire Council residents take action to live more sustainably at home and in the community. The Guide is packed with information about how small, easy changes can have positive impacts on the environment and your health and well being - and save you money too! So go on, challenge yourself to take up a new sustainable action today! Find out just how easy it is to work towards creating a sustainable future for ourselves, our children and our children's children... Explore actions to reduce your carbon emissions | Community |  | In order to genuinely believe and act in a way that shows that people and living species are more important than exotic holidays and new toys we need to nurture and deepen our relationships with others and to fire up our compassion toward those in need, the young and future generations of living creatures on this planet. | | Food & Drink |  | Our food and drink choices directly determine the methods used to produce food within our environment, and the quality of the food and drink we ingest to maintain our wellbeing. So how do we move our diet toward a sustainable and healthy path? | | Garden |  | Our gardens can bring us closer to understanding and working in sympathy (or not) with the ecosystems that underpin life on this planet. By assisting nature to create a beautiful, efficient and productive garden in your home you are learning the rythems of nature and our humble role in it. So how can we let our green thumbs play and align our gardens to the sustainable path? | | Waste |  | The existence of waste is an indicator of inefficiency in the human economy. We extract from nature to create billions of tons of things which we use once then bury or pump out to sea. As individuals we can learn to reduce, reuse and recycle, with the journey ending with zero waste... or nature's finest. | | | Goods |  | The things we buy can move us toward, or away from, being sustainable. Do I need this? Does it require ongoing resources? Is it the most efficient available? Can it be recycled at the end of its life? Do I really need this? Reconfiguring our retail filters to include our environmental responsibilities starts with a discerning and disciplined mind. | | House |  | Our home can be a bottomless pit of resource consuming ecological inefficiency - or a healthy Eden of self sufficiency. So do we manage that part of our ecological footprint we most control, our home, and set it on a sustainable path? | | Transport |  | Transport for most involves moving several tons of metal around in order to move a couple of hundred kilos of us. One-quarter of all car journeys are less than 3km. To ride a bike the same distance uses up less than one fiftieth (1/50) of the energy required to drive. Explore more simple actions toward sustainable transport. |
| Work |  | Our workplaces make many of the resource consuming decisions in our society. While most of us have less control over our workplaces than we do over our homes, our commitment to reducing the damage to the environment cannot stop when we get to work. So become an agent of change toward sustainability and lead (or support) the greening of our work cultures and the means of production. | | |  To promote ideas and inspiration, Council has purchased a comprehensive information package from Natural Strategies Group Pty Ltd to assist you in making choices that guide you towards a more sustainable lifestyle. This information is presented here in Council’s “Sustainable Living” section of the website. Council would like to emphasise that the information in this section of our website does not necessarily represent the views of Colac Otway Council and should not be quoted as Council's position on any aspect of everyday life. Council welcomes your feedback on the site, contact (03) 5232 9400. Disclaimer: We and our content providers ('we') have tried to make the information on this website as accurate as possible, but it is provided 'as is' and we accept no responsibility for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by anyone resulting from this information. This information is of a general nature only and you should consider whether it is appropriate in your circumstances. Specific authorisation, licences or permits may be required. You should contact the appropriate authorities to ascertain what is necessary in your circumstances. Further Information
Environment Unit
Colac Otway Shire Council
2-6 Rae Street Colac VIC 3250
Telephone: (03) 5232 9400
Email: inq@colacotway.vic.gov.au
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