Australians are really earth-friendly and energy-conscious. Very GREEN so to speak. I'd imagine it has much to do with the fact that they are in drought for years on end (2011 ended an 8 year streak when they weren't allowed to even wash their cars, let alone water their yards.)
Some of the ways they keep it real:
clothes lines - it's kinda frowned upon to use the dryer when the good old sun can do it without any energy drain (in fact most homes don't even have a dryer)
grocery sacs - don't leave home without 'em
bike lanes criss-cross this city through some gorgeous terrain (ask Darren, he's trying out the old bike-to-work routine and his first sunrise commute was quote "glorious")
recycling: it's BIG here
even to include food - at school they promote "waste-free lunches" with containers instead of bags/wrappers, as well as collecting food waste for "chook scraps"
half-flushers - you can even "go green" when you "gotta go"
Earth Hour: you may have heard of it, an exercise started by Australia a few years ago to stimulate some worldwide eco-consience and comraderie. The drill is that everyone turns the lights out, electronics off and basically unplugs for an hour. Join us! Save the planet this Saturday 8:30-9:30 pm. (Utah folk, I'm sure you're eager to set your alarms for 3:30 am Saturday morning to participate by NOT turning on the lights or tv...)
Pretty cool ad campaign. These guys are serious about going green and I'm talking fines for run off and excessive watering. Happy to report though, I'm changing some bad habits.
