Australia’s Sustainable Living Trends
By Lana Hawkins
In the last couple of years many countries around the globe have started implementing different green and eco-friendly practices as a way to promote the ever-growing sustainable movement. These so-called trends are a mere mechanism to overcome the environmental issues we are facing today and a way to promote a healthier lifestyle in different spheres of our lives. Australia is one of the countries that has taken an important role in this development process by enforcing various concepts which could be beneficial for the sustainable movement. These are just some of the sustainable living trends that are growing in Australia:
Green Architecture
Australia is one of the leading countries when it comes to using building practices for designing sustainable objects and facilities. Some of the world’s best experts and engineers in this field are creating concepts whose main goals are energy efficient and environmentally friendly facilities that decrease environmental degradation and the production of waste and pollution. Over 20% of the CBD offices in Australia have the green star certification, which is a primary indicator of quality of the design, construction and operation of sustainable buildings.
Sustainable Fashion
The sustainable hype does not stop wit green construction; some of the leading fashion designers from Australia have accepted the green movement and started implementing eco-friendly practices in the production of their clothing garments. Using only reclaimed and up-cycled materials like hand woven and hand embroidered cotton fabrics, the sustainable fashion couture is the next big thing in Australia. The idea is also focused on promoting the fair trade movement, whose sole goal is to help producers from developing countries to achieve better trading conditions but also to promote sustainability. Rihanna, Kesha, Selena Gomez and Cristina Ricci are just some of the famous celebrities that have accepted this green fashion trend and have worn some of the Australia’s famous couture with pride.
Organic Foods
Perhaps the starting point of the sustainable movement was set in organic farming and producing safe, healthy and eco-friendly foods which are not treated with any chemicals, pesticides and have no correlation to genetically modified organisms. Australia is actually one of the leading countries when it comes to certified organically farmed hectares in the world with 22.69 million hectares of land cultivated. The organic food industry is perhaps one of the fastest growing industries in Australia. Recently, there have been reports of some of the leading Australia’s chocolate companies switching to only certified and sustainable cocoa for chocolates made in the land down under. Also, significant moves have been reported in the dairy industry as well, as 58% of dairy farmers already had a nutrient management plan in 2015, which is 28% more than it was in 2014.
Wasting Energy or Energy from Waste?
According to the Clean Energy Council, approximately 40% of South Australia’s power came from renewable energy during 2014, while about 95% of the electricity used by the Tasmanians came from renewables. Australians have also accepted a lot of healthy practices involving junk removal where 85% of materials are recycled. It seems that Australia has noted a significant grow in the 21st century regarding renewable energy sources and it is reported that there is a high chance of Australia becoming the next leading energy superpower. The recently constructed facility in Western Australia, which is also the second waste-to gas object will divert 100,000 tons of waste from landfill and convert it into renewable energy. This will be enough to power about 20,000 homes in Pilbara.
By the looks of it, it is only a matter of time when Australia will become a fully sustainable country. With the rapid climate changes and environmental problems we are facing today, perhaps it is high-time to start resolving to these sustainable solutions as soon as possible.
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Author’s Bio: Lana Hawkins is a student of architecture from Sydney. She writes regularly about home décor and landscaping. Lana finds the most of her inspiration in sustainability and green architecture and design. For writing this article Lana contacted junk removal specialists for all the necessary information. You can follow her on Twitter.
