The Noughties Roundup and the Decade Ahead

To us it doesn’t seem like a lot has changed in the last ten years. Despite overwhelming evidence, some remain unconvinced about global warming. Coal remains Australia’s major energy source and a significant export and we continue to see more traffic on the roads, extreme weather seems to hit more frequently and there is continuing habitat loss.

But there have been some significant changes that ought to be celebrated. One major one that has been seen over the last decade is the massive increase in global awareness, of community concern and best of all, action. The next decade from 2010-2020 is being heralded as ‘The Transition Decade’ or T10. The T10 vision is a mass community movement set to launch on Valentines Day with the aim of engaging the widest audience possible to provide governments with clear direction to enable structural transition and roll back the policies which will cause further impact. The overall aim is to drive greenhouse gas emissions to (net) zero in an effort to create a safe climate future.

So with exciting times ahead, Green Beings, and sites like ours, will have an increasing role to play in promoting this grass roots movement. So as we close off the noughties here are a few eco efforts from this last decade that are worth celebrating.

1. Australia’s Earth Hour initiative has now gone global.
2. Establishment of carbon credits and offsetting.
3. Eco rating labelling on buildings (NABERs etc) and appliances.
4. Release of the Toyota Prius and a new generation of hybrid cars.
5. Government support for green initiatives including waste separation and collection as well as rebates for water tanks, solar panels, roof insulation etc.
6. Retail sales of Fairtrade labeled products in Australia and New Zealand passed $70 million since the introduction of Fairtrade in Australia and New Zealand in 2003.
7. Emergence of eco directories such as Green Pages and the Eco Directory.
8. Towns take the initiative banning plastic bags and plastic water bottles.
9. The internet has made it easier to recycle through sites such as eBay or Gumtree.
10. Organic produce is easier and cheaper to obtain and farmers markets have seen a resurgence.

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