Blog | 8th Aug, 2011

Let’s focus on waste... But not energy waste.

Over the last year I have worked with a number of community groups who had designed some really exciting projects that would have got a lot of Victorians involved in significantly reducing greenhouse pollution immediately and long into the future.

One project was about helping vulnerable Victorians, such as older people living alone, find ways to reduce their energy use, live comfortably and save money; another was training young Sudanese migrants to help their community identify and address energy waste in their homes. But according to the state government, these projects do not represent “value for money”. This is all despite the many hours hard work these groups have put in, with professional support from Sustainability Victoria to make sure their projects were effective and financially efficient.

As The Age reported yesterday, groups applying for grants from the Climate Communities fund have been told that their applications won’t be assessed, and the funds are expected to be redirected to waste and recycling projects. So communities and organisations across Victoria who had decided to get active and take a lead in finding ways to directly reduce their environmental impact have been told to forget about it.

These groups could be forgiven for asking “Why do we bother?” But they won’t. They’ll take a breath, swallow their frustration, and keep looking for ways to create positive change for the environment, with or without the state government. 

PS > We’re keeping an eye on all the decisions and actions the state government taking that affect Victoria’s precious environment – for better or worse. Check out EnviroWatch now

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