Sustainable Burwood

GreenPower: Your fastest way to get renewable electricity

We have joined the City of Sydney and the Office of Environment and Climate Change (OECC) to promote GreenPower.

Switching to a GreenPower electricity plan is a simple way you can make a big difference. For many people, it’s the single thing they can do that has the biggest impact.

Importantly – both homeowners and renters can switch to GreenPower, and you can switch in as little as 10 minutes.

Why you might like GreenPower

• You'll help get more electricity from wind and sun made in Australia.

• It's the only government accredited and audited green energy program.

• Climate action is a race. You'll feel good about doing something that really counts.
  
  

Why GreenPower electricity plans are better than carbon neutral plans

Some providers offer 100% carbon neutral plans and many talk about carbon offsets.

If you’re on the phone to providers, expect their customer service staff to stress these plans are cheaper than GreenPower. But there’s a difference.

Offsets don’t remove the source of emissions.

GreenPower does.

For carbon neutral or carbon offset plans, providers commit to buying carbon offsets equivalent to the emissions related to your electricity use.

They’re not buying or producing renewable electricity.

When you opt for 100% GreenPower, you’re guaranteed to be upping Australia’s renewably - sourced electricity production.

Here’s 3 ways to switch to GreenPower. Choose what suits you:

1. Call and chat

Call your current provider, ask if you’re on a GreenPower plan and if you’re not - ask them to switch you to 100% GreenPower.

If they quote you a much higher price, get quotes from other providers, or use the Energy Made Easy comparison tool to find the cheapest deals currently on offer.

 2. Find the greenest option 

 Check out the Green Electricity Guide. It’s an independent, unbiased ranking of all electricity providers. Choose a provider and sign up on their website. Remember to tick the box for GreenPower if one pops up. If you care about company ethics, and want to support the companies doing the most to get more green electricity made, this option is for you.

 3. Get the cheapest deal

 Compare prices from all electricity companies using Energy Made Easy. It’s an accurate and independent service operated by the Australian Energy Regulator and it’s fantastic for comparing the current deals from all electricity providers in one go. Make sure you tick the GreenPower filter box.

Sustainable Burwood Plan

Burwood Council is pleased to present ‘Sustainable Burwood’. Sustainable Burwood follows on from and builds on Council’s Green Action Plan which was originally adopted in by Council in 2008.

Sustainable Burwood provides a framework for sustainable planning and decision making to achieve and improve on positive environmental sustainability outcomes for the Burwood Council area.

Sustainable Burwood has been developed and focusses on community issues, matters and feedback that you, the community, gave us through a consultation and engagement process that was conducted in the lead up to the development of ‘Sustainable Burwood’. 

For further information, see the  (PDF, 473KB)Sustainable Burwood Plan(PDF, 15MB) .

Green Action Plan 
 The Green Action Plan (GAP) outlines the initiative Burwood Council has put in place to address key environmental issues, including minimising greenhouse emissions.

Council is exploring options to become more energy efficient in daily operations and has already implemented initiatives to reduce the amount of energy consumed.

Council also has numerous programs and initiatives in place to assist the residents of Burwood Council in reducing their impact on our environment.

For further information, see the Green Action Plan 2012(PDF, 473KB)

Strategic Waste Action Plan

The Bower Free Collection and Rehoming Service

The food we eat has a huge impact on our environment. From producing it to transporting and packaging to distribution and waste. Some tips to improving your food sustainability are: 

• Eat local - grow your own food, join a food co-op to access fresh produce
• Avoid food waste - find out how to reduce food waste
• Choose organic and fair trade - support sustainable agriculture
• Growing Native Edible plants is another way residents can improve food sustainability. Learn how First Nations people use edible plants, tips and tricks on growing native edible plants and explore new flavours in your cooking. Council has a Native Edible Planting Guide(PDF, 5MB) available, produced by Narelle Happ, horticulturist, in conversation with La Perouse Elder Uncle Dean Kelly.

   

Love Food Hate Waste

In Burwood, households are throwing away a lot of food. Each household's red lidded bin has nearly half the contents of waste as food. Burwood Council has teamed up with Love Food Hate Waste program to help residents save time, money and reduce the environmental impacts. 

Food is wasted because we buy too much, overcook, or store food incorrectly. 

Explore the Love Food Hate Waste website for how your household can avoid food waste:

• Buy It for great ideas on food shopping
• Cook It to find out how much food you really need and for delicious nutritious recipes that use up leftover ingredients
• Save It for how to keep your food fresh and prevent it from ending up in the bin
• Love food to learn about the issues and how wasting less food helps our environment

DID YOU KNOW?

The average Burwood household bin consists mainly of food organics (30-40%) and garden vegetation (15-20%) where they are sent to landfill, garden and food organics are basically plant matter, containing carbon (energy), nutrients, minerals and water, all of which are cycled continually in natural ecosystems.

Disposing food to landfill wastes the energy and nutrients contained in the produce and the energy, water and resources used to produce, process, store and transport the food. By reducing organic waste to landfill we can reduce the potential for landfills to create liquid ‘leachate’ which can pollute groundwater and reduce the production of methane gas which is a powerful greenhouse gas.

Let’s keep food and garden organics out of landfill by starting a home compost or worm farm

Composting and worm farming quickly break down organic matter into a rich soil fertiliser, perfect for growing your own veggies and fruit and preventing the release of methane. We strongly encourage Burwood Council residents to recycle organic matter! Read the tutorials and once you have successfully completed the quiz of your choice, you can purchase a discounted wormfarm or compost bin and reduce your organic matter going to landfill.
Get started today at Compost Revolution 

Burwood Council offers free workshops on waste to all primary schools in our local government area.   

If your school is interested in booking any of these sessions, please contact Council’s Waste Education contractor EnviroCom Australia 9724 3889

Waste education topics include:  

Litter makes a place look untidy. Research shows when an area looks untidy, more people will litter there. Litter also damages animal habitats and causes major damage to marine ecosystems.

What does Council do:
Council provides services to keep our streets and parks clean such as providing public place bins, street sweeping and graffiti removal.

What can you do:
Ensure you place your waste and cigarette butts in the bins provided. You can also report litter from vehicles visit NSW EPA