Green Feature: Adelaide!

A recent survey has ranked Adelaide the most eco-friendly city in Australia.

With services ranging from green plumbing, eco-friendly pest control and even environmentally responsible sky diving, Adelaide has rocketed to the top beating out cities like Copenhagen in Denmark and Stockholm in Sweden!

We absolutely love to celebrate going green in all its forms, and this is the ultimate tribute to a dream made real after 10 years of hard work. Here are some fun facts about Adelaide - activities, hotels, and what makes it so sustainable!

1. Earthworms wiggle their way into helping the city. Did you know? The Adelaide Convention Centre employs 800,000 of the little critters to turn food waste into plant food.

  2. The Miller Apartments is one of Adelaide's Eco Friendly Hotels. They are focused on making sure you have a comfortable holiday, while keeping their carbon footprint at an all time low. From solar powered gas heating for water to green star appliances throughout the hotel, these sustainable development techniques have changed the way you vacation forever.

3. Adelaide City Bikes have more than 500 bikes available for hire. Simply flash a valid form of identification, helmet up and cycle away!

4. Meet Tindo - the world's first solar powered bus. Tired from your bike ride? Glide around in this comfort of air-conditioning and upload those photos of all the greenery with the help of the wireless internet available on this bad boy.

5. Feeling adventurous? Head on over to SA Skydiving, where they plant a tree for every person who sky dives with their team! So far they have planted over 30,000 trees - how's that for an eco adventure?

There are a lot of different ways to make a positive change, and Adelaide has proven that anything is possible. If you can conceive it, you can make it happen. 

A Battle Worth Fighting!

Those lucky enough to have visited the World Heritage Listed Great Barrier Reef will agree that it is extremely breathtaking. The clear water, colourful coral, and all the wildlife all take credit for why this wondrous place has been listed as one of the seven natural wonders of the world, and is touted as a national icon.

The reef also supports the livelihood of many people living along its coastline. Tourism, fishing and research organisations all rely on the reef and in turn provide around $7 billion annually for Australia's economy and around 70,000 jobs. Queensland needs a healthy reef to maintain the lifestyle it provides, now and in the future.

What many people don’t realise is that despite all of the aforementioned, the Great Barrier Reef is under threat from massive new industrial developments along its coastline. Large scale mining operations, new rail lines and ports are planned, driven by a huge demand for coal, gas and other mineral resources, especially in India and China. There are at least 67 developments on the drawing board in or near the Great Barrier Reef, including five mega ports – one of which would become the largest coal export terminal in the world only 50kms from the tourism mecca — the Whitsunday Islands.

If these developments are approved, millions of tonnes of seafloor will be dredged and then dumped in the Great Barrier Reef waters and the number of freight ships criss-crossing the reef each year will nearly double to over 7000, putting the reef and the industries which rely on it at risk.

At a time when the reef needs stronger protection, the Queensland Government is fast tracking these developments and giving special treatment to industry. They’ve cut environmental protection, removed assessment officers and ignored the concerns of the community. If we’re not careful, Queensland will emerge from the “mining boom” with one of its best tourism icons ruined and the loss of a coastal lifestyle loved by many.

The Australian Marine Conservation Society has recently joined forces with WWF-Australia to fight for the reef and stop this massive threat of industrialisation.

But we can’t do it without you.

We are fighting so that our children and their children can enjoy the Reef’s natural beauty.

We are fighting for our fishers and tourism operators who need a healthy Reef for their livelihood.

And we are fighting so the Reef remains one of the great natural wonders of the world.

It needs you now more than ever.

Please visit www.fightforthereef.org.au for more information about how YOU can help Save the Reef. Sign the petition and get involved today!