If every day was World Environment Day (June 5 ) what could we do?

The Theme for World Environment Day this year was Solutions to Plastic Pollution.

We have seen a lot of positive action on reducing plastics, but the truth is that we all need to do more and turn off the tap on plastic pollution at the source.

There are many things that we as an individual can do– from asking the restaurants we visit to stop using plastic straws, to bringing our own coffee mug to work, to pressuring our local authorities to improve how they manage our city’s waste. We need to adopt new habits to limit our plastic footprint.

Shop Sustainably: Next time you are out shopping, choose food with no plastic packaging, carry a reusable bag, buy local products, and refill containers to reduce your plastic waste and effect on the environment.

Try a Zero-Waste Lifestyle: Become a zero-waste champion. Invest in sustainable, ocean-friendly products- reusable coffee mugs, water bottles and food wraps. Consider options like menstrual cups, bamboo toothbrushes and shampoo bars. These will help you save money and the lake and ocean too.

Travel Sustainably: When you are on holiday, try to watch your single-use plastic intake. Refuse miniature bottles in hotel rooms, take your own reusable drinking bottle and use reef-safe sunscreen, without microplastics.

Be an advocate for change: Ask your local supermarkets, restaurants and local suppliers to ditch plastic packaging, refuse plastic cutlery and straws, and tell them why. Pressure your local authorities to improve how they manage waste.

Dress Sustainably: The fashion industry produces 20 per cent of global wastewater and 10 per cent of global carbon emissions. That’s more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. “Fast fashion” is so last year. Consider sustainable clothing lines, vintage shops and repair your clothes when possible.

Choose plastic-free personal care products: Personal care products are a major source of microplastics, which get washed into the oceans straight from our bathrooms. Look for plastic-free face wash, day cream, makeup, deodorant, shampoo and other products.

TASNG Update – Steve Dewar - Chair

Outcomes of the Graffiti community meeting held on 9 November included an anti-graffiti campaign commencing 2023 possibly involving murals by High School students and by the Awabakal aboriginal group and the 1st graffiti removal success from the wall of the Toronthai restaurant. This is a great initiative by one of our members Joanna Rees.

The Awabakal aboriginal group is keen that more prominence is given to the historic, unique connection between Reverend Thelkeld, soon to be seen as an SBS Documentary, at the Toronto Foreshore redevelopment. We can support them in their efforts.

One of our biggest projects is the Landcare site opposite Lions Park at Fennell Bay bridge, nicknamed “Crocodile Point”, led by Lois Simpson. We have cleared many invasive weeds so far! The group meets on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday 8:30-10am

We have also held initial discussions with the franchisee and manager of Toronto McDonalds to run a campaign on recycling fast food material, particularly home delivery material by Menulog. Also, we have had discussions with Stanley Tang, head of sustainability for Costco, Australia and New Zealand, about similar issues of recycling and over-packaging. Hopefully, a campaign to educate the public about recycling at these 2 venues can occur next year!

TASNG Waste Report

By Waste Warrior -Steve Dewer

On Saturday June 4, Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group (TASNG) held a stall outside Woolworths, Toronto, to celebrate World Environment Day and alert the public about the ban on single use plastic bags (including bio and compostable bags) which came into force on June 1. What a joy it was to see trolley after trolley with reusable bags rolling out of the store. Congratulations Toronto!

We had a number of give-aways including cloth reusable bags, low water shower heads, and especially the net veggie bags! Handouts for living sustainably proved very popular.

A petition to encourage Coles, Aldi and IGA to follow Woolies’ phase out of the cheap, 15 cent, thicker plastic bags, was signed by many people and later given to Managers of those supermarkets.

A decision has been made by TASNG to continue the message of “Recycle and Reuse” (including bamboo reusable coffee cups) at the Living Smart Festival in September and the community car boot event at Puntei Park in October. 

The ban on plastic straws, plastic cutlery and plates, plastic cotton buds and microbeads is due to commence on November 1!

The Plastic Free Cafes project is on the move again, with a planned roll-out of $2 reusable coffee cups in the next few weeks to distribute to local cafes and coffee vans.

King & Co and Belluno’s in Toronto are carrying the good quality bamboo reusable coffee cups.

TASNG Tips

Annual General Meeting

You're invited to the online Annual General Meeting of Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group on Wednesday 13 October, 5pm, via Zoom

Register in advance for this Zoom meeting:

The AGM Agenda will be

1. Welcome – Acknowledgement of Country
2. Attendance & Apologies
3. To confirm the Minutes of the AGM held on 11 November 2020.
4. Reports
5. Election of Office bearers - To elect an executive committee
Nominations for each of these positions should reach the Secretary at least ONE week prior to the meeting date. Please email torontoareasng@gmail.com.
6. To determine an annual membership fee.
7. To conduct any other business as required.

The October monthly meeting will follow the AGM

Looking after Locals after lockdown

As we emerge from our health hiatus and tentatively step forth along the road to recovery, spare a thought, and some cash, to support our local business that have done it tough over the past months. If you can buy local, you’ll be keeping our community humming along and providing the goods and services we need.

Transitioning to plastic free

The NSW Plastics Action Plan sets out several actions to better manage plastics and reduce their environmental impact, including phasing out some of the most littered plastic items through new legislation.

The Action Plan targets are to work towards national waste targets including:
• phase out problematic and unnecessary plastics by 2025
• ban the export of waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres, starting in 2021
• reduce the total waste generated in Australia by 10% per person by 2030
• recover an average 80% of resources from all waste streams by 2030
• significantly increase the use of recycled content by government and industry.

TASNG are starting to plan for the next phase of our Plastic Free Lake Mac campaign, with a focus on supporting our local businesses to make the transition away from plastic items such as "reusable" thick plastic bags, veggie bags, coffee cups, plastic cutlery, stirrers and straws.

What are your ideas about ways to help local businesses, and how would you like to be involved? Please let TASNG know. If there are businesses we can support in Toronto to transition through writing grants and providing information we’d love to hear from you.

In the meantime you can recycle a whole range of soft scrunchable plastics through the REDcycle program at Woolworths and Coles

TASNG Topics

The Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group (TASNG) has been getting out and gearing up for some sustainably focussed functions.

Recently the crew got together for an hour or so to spruce up the Fire Retardant Garden at the Fire Station on Ridge Rd. If you want some landscaping ideas to tackle over winter to prepare your garden for summer’s heat it’s worthwhile dropping in and perusing the signage and chatting to the local fireies.

On World Environment Day, 5th June, the TASNG and CPPA will be celebrating keeping warm in winter without the expense by offering some tried and true tips at a stall at Woollies-Toronto. There’ll be take away tips on recycling and some give-aways to support sustainability. You can catch up with our local sustainability champions from 10am till noon.

TASNG's Waste Warrior Steve Dewer has been on the hunt for businesses doing their bit to support recycling, here a handy list of what he found.

Progress Parlance

Bush Blocks – A new beginning

The flurry of February activity to garner pledges of support for the 20 Laycock Street, whilst not successful in securing the site, was in fact a success in showing local support for such a project.

It is acknowledged that there were shortfalls in the process: not enough time, background knowledge, nor detail. In spite of this there were 17 pledges made totalling $47,120. Considering the 48 hour timeframe this was very inspiring and genuinely appreciated.

Many of those that pledged have rolled over their pledge as a show of ongoing support for the project. As the concept is more fully explained and direction and new opportunities arise, the pledges will provide a barometer of our community’s capacity to undertake a collaborative housing project. You can pledge support for the ongoing project at   https://hub.benojo.com/connect/org/coalpointprogress/campaigns/progress-posterity-pledge-now

The CPPA committee has endorsed further exploration of the collaborative housing concept and an invitation is warmly extended to anyone interested in joining a project team to develop a project plan with defined objectives and a crystal clear mission within our geographical area. Contact Suzanne to get involved coalpointprogress@gmail.com.

Seeking a hall booking coordinator

Feel like volunteering a small amount of time throughout the year to coordinate the bookings at our Hall? The job involves keeping a calendar of bookings, showing interested parties the hall and processing the paperwork, taking about 1 to 2 hours a week on average. Contact Ian Dennison to find out more 0412 083 130

Muso’s musings

The CPPA is willing to support and encourage a regular social jam session at Progress hall with the intention of having a musical event as a regular Progress activity in the future. If you’ve got musical ability and are interested in making music contact Suzanne and we can get together, see what’s possible and look for suitable times.

Can we be plastic free?

The Toronto cafés and about 35 other cafés around Lake Macquarie have had the strong bamboo reusable coffee cups for a month now for only $2. With the COVID concerns about handling now addressed, it’s considered safe to use reusable coffee cups. With 2.5 million takeaway cups going to landfill in Australia each day, the TASNG team are keen to get Toronto back on track and heading towards being a plastic-free community. Later in the year it is hoped to support coffee trucks and fastfood restaurants with the reusable cups initiative.

Formosa’s getting hard to find!

We’re not popping the corks yet...but it won’t be too long. Well done, Coal Pointians, on great progress in eliminating the elegant but evil Formosa lily.

We’ve noticed a significant drop in number this year, indicating that far fewer seeds have been spread along our beautiful bush ridge.

That success is in no small part due to each one of you who has kept an eye out since last summer and dug out that horrible bulb, or at least removed the flower head before it seeded.

If we can keep up this rate of reduction, soon will come a summer when we’re down to a handful of sightings.

Watch for them in your yard. And feel free to remove them from our bush reserves if you can. If we get down to five floral fiends we’re all celebrating! ...and it will be well-deserved.

TASNG TIMES- Aug 2020

Eco-Angels Outcomes 

On Sunday August 9, the Sustainable Neighbourhood Alliance organised a citywide cleanup in order to highlight the increase in plastics litter during the current Covid19 crisis. Rubbish collected included plastic takeaway, gloves, masks, wipes and especially coffee cups as well as other rubbish! Toronto Lions Park was one of 5 cleanup areas and 23 full bags of rubbish were collected there, plus lots of broken furniture. Well done to the community for helping!

The Toronto Eco-Angels

Australians use about 130 kg of plastic per person each year and up to 130,000 tonnes of plastic will find its way into our waterways and into the ocean. Australians use about 10 million straws each day and 1 billion Takeaway coffee cups each year, mostly going to landfill! There is a push to increase the use of plastics during the Covid19 crisis but recent research points out that Coronavirus may last longer on plastic than other surfaces.

One hundred and twenty five world health experts have defended the safety of reusables during the pandemic. There are safe ways of using reusable coffee cups without cafe staff touching them, so encourage cafes to start using them again. Also, Queensland is to ban single use plastic straws, stirrers and plates, etc. joining South and Western Australia and the ACT, as well as 112 countries and cities. So, let’s get the NSW Government to ban them as well. Let’s back up our wonderful community members who cleaned up at Toronto Lions Park last Sunday!

Pamper Care Report

Pamper Care turned three in July. In the last financial year, the project assisted approximately 100 people. We have networked with a local school, Woodrising Neighbourhood Centre and OzHarvest which has seen food go to families in Blacksmiths, Belmont, Charlestown, Windale, Warners Bay, Speers Point, Blackalls Park, Wangi, Dora Creek and Bonnells Bay.

Plastic Free July...what will you choose to do?

TASNG Times

The Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group (TASNG) has quite a few projects on the go:

• An exploration into excessive packaging is being undertaken;
• Plastic free cafes are being encouraged;
• Canvassing of future footpath suggestions is underway; and
• Assistance is being offered with regenerating the Toronto Wetlands adjacent to the Workers Club
• As part of an Eco-Angels City-wide event, a clean up is planned for Sunday 9th August, 10am-noon.

Plastic Free July – what will you do?

COVID-19 has seen an unfortunate upswelling in plastic litter. Plastic free July is a chance to do something about it. plasticfreejuly.org

Join the Citywide Eco-Angels clean up

TASNG’s 10am Sunday morning clean-up session on 9th August will be radiating out from the Lions Park Toronto at Fennell Bay Bridge, aiming to clean up the lake foreshore as far as the eye can see and the legs can wander in two hours. We’ll be meeting at north end of Lions Park. Bags will be provided, along with gloves, yellow vests and sanitiser, everything you need for a meaningly morning of plogging (picking up whilst walking) whilst maintaining socially distancing .

Choose nude.

Take3 for the Sea is asking everyone to choose nude produce in July. A simple commitment to avoid fruit and vegetables wrapped in unnecessary plastic packaging, bags or wraps.
130,000 tonnes of Australian plastic pollutes our ocean and waterways every year. Can you do your part to reduce it?

Rethink your bin liner

There haven’t always been bin liners. 

Is Plastic Free July is an opportunity to try something different? 

Here are some ideas from TASNG’s Waste Worrier;

• Be bold and bare, just rinse out your bins;
• Reduce your rubbish by recycling more;
• Return the scrunchable soft plastics at Coles and Woolworths;
• Use a newspaper bin liner...various folding methods are on YouTube;
• Use the compostable bags supplied by Council; and
• Ask the supermarkets to cut down on unnecessary plastic packaging, especially over fruit and vegetables …go nude.

TASNG update

Plastic Free Cafes are one cup closer 

Every day in Australia 2.7 million takeaway coffee cups must go to the tip, 500 billion

each year worldwide!

Locally we are doing our bit to ease the tip-burden. There are 25 cafes in Toronto and Warners Bay who are part of the campaign to reduce single use plastics by switching to metal straws and offering re-useable, collapsible, pocket-sized cups for a $2.00 donation.

This project is a partnership with the Sustainable Neighbourhood Groups and New South Wales Government.

For more information about the reductions in plastics please do not hesitate to contact Steve torontoareasng@gmail.com

Pamper Care

Pamper Care was busy in January with 22 individuals (and their families) assisted, and three back-to-school kits were given out. The bush fire at Awaba Conservation Area (proposed) saw approximately 43% of the bush burnt. The Project assisted Awaba Rural Fire Brigade with bottled water and snacks to take on the trucks. With the bush fires and extreme heat conditions, we are assisting wildlife carers at Dora Creek and their network, with food.

TASNG will be supporting Harmony Day on Saturday March 21 with an event on the Toronto Foreshore 5-7pm. The day celebrates our cultural diversity and coincides with the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.

Keep in touch with TASNG Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TASNG/
Email torontoareasng@gmail.com

Clean Up Australia Day (CUAD)

Yural Reserve CUAD

The CPPA will be Cleaning Up our patch of Aus on Sunday 1st March, 9-10:30am meeting at Yural Reserve. We’ll be collecting large rubbish items that have been dumped in local reserves and relocating them to Yural along with the three abandoned boats in the reserve, ready for Council to pick up. If you think an abandoned dinghy would make a good sand-pit or veggie garden pop by and investigate or check the CPPA website for pictures, especially if you think it might be your abandoned dinghy! RSVP here.

Plodders Unite!

Can we all do a little extra on CUAD? Whilst out walking, take a collection bag and do some plodding – picking up litter as you walk – it adds another dimension to the daily walk with a bit of bending and for those doing a foreshore ramble, there’s always plastics a plenty to pick up.

Greenway CUAD

The TASNG will be hosting a Clean Up event on the Greenway from Carey St to Cook St and out along Stoney Ck on SATURDAY February 29 between 8-10am. The meeting point will be at the Cook St end of the Greenway. RSVP online

Cant’t get enough of the Clean Up warm & fuzzies?

Twice a year the CPPA crew give the Hall a bit of a clean up, the timing coincides with the council clean ups in case there are items to relinquish. We do it because Progress Hall is owned by the Progress Association, it is truly our community's asset.

All are welcome, especially regular hall users, to come along and lend a hand on Sunday 15 Mar 9:30-11:30, there's always something to do.

Recycle Right during the Festive Season

Planet Ark has published the 5 worst recycling MISTAKES that Aussies make:

Mistake # 1. Putting recycling items in plastic bags in yellow recycling bins. Plastic bags should go to Redcycle Bins at the front of Woolworths/Coles.

Mistake # 2. Putting toughened glass as in glass crockery and window glass and broken glass in yellow bins. Sorry not allowed! It can cause the whole load to be rejected

Mistake #3. Bamboo, wood cutlery/chopsticks can not being recycled, reuse them or use metal. Say no to them when ordering takeaway food. Putting plastic cutlery and straws in the yellow bin is allowed in Lake Macquarie though!

Mistake # 4. Biodegradable and compostable packaging items CAN’T be put in the recycling yellow bin. It’s off to landfill for theese items

Mistake # 5. Beverage containers made of liquid paperboard and long-life, foil-lined beverage containers CAN be recycled in yellow bins. In fact, these beverage containers less than 1 litre can go into the Return and Earn machines!

Simple changes we can make to make sure RECYCLING gets better for our environment!

Mother Earth Day 22nd April

The UN’s International Mother Earth Day is celebrated each year to remind us that the Earth and its ecosystems provide us with life and sustenance.

Do you feel like celebrating by setting up your REDcycle system?

What’s in your red bin? Chances are it’s full of soft scrunchable plastics that could have another life, in another form. Toronto’s Coles and Woolies both participate in the REDcycle scheme that supports manufacturers, retailers and consumers to share the responsibility in creating a sustainable future, reducing plastic going to landfill.

If you want to take your recycling to the next level just collect your soft plastic, make sure it’s dry and empty and take it into Woolies or Coles next time you go shopping. The deposit bins are near the checkouts.

There’s a comprehensive list if what to REDcycle on the redcycle website. 

TASNG Tales- March 2019

By Nico Marcar- TASNG Chair

As part of the Community Harmony Initiative, TASNG was again involved in organising the community 'Picnic in the Park' on the Toronto Foreshore on the evening of Friday 22 February. Numbers were down somewhat because of a little inclement weather. However, those present were treated to great music from Ukenjamit (ukelele band), a participatory African Drumming session, meditation, access to Lake Mac roving library and games.

The Awaba Road garden at the west entrance to Toronto has been marked, edged and mulched and a few hardy Lomandras planted. Major planting is planned for May.

TASNG is spearheading a campaign to reduce the use of plastics in Toronto. Twelve businesses are plastic bag and plastic-lined coffee cup free, twelve are well on the way and nine are still to change.

We always welcome new ideas for projects!

Toronto is making the switch

By Steve Dewer: TASNG Waste Warrior

Toronto is leading the way in the Hunter, encouraging local cafes, shops and residents to switch from single-use plastic items. Toronto’s lakeside location has the benefit of increased awareness about pollution from single-use plastics;plastic bags, plastic straws, plastic-lined takeaway coffee cups, plastic packaging, plastic cutlery, you can’t go for walk without seeing it washed up on the foreshore.

The cafés in Toronto that have switched out of plastic-lined takeaway coffee cups are Hughzies, Double Take, Bean-to-go, Miranda’s, Tinto, Cafe 2283 and Greg and Audrey’s Ice-Creamery. Michelle’s Cafe will switch in the next month. Having twin bins throughout Toronto means you can RECYCLE the non-lined takeaway coffee cups. Toronto has a community that cares!

Toronto clubs and pub have either switched to paper/cardboard straws or offer plastic straws only if asked. Maccas has even committed to switching away from plastic straws!

Of course, the supermarkets, and their liquor stores and service stations, are still handing out plastic bags but customers have to pay for them and most are reusing them. Most other shops have either stopped using plastic bags or will switch soon with customers now bringing their own bags!

Takeaway food from cafes still offer single-use plastic bags, Council has offered reusable non-plastic bags to help them and a few other shops and Chemists, to switch to non-plastic solutions.

As Toronto switches from single-use plastics, YOU, the customer, can encourage the remaining cafes and shops to make the switch to protect our little patch of paradise and the planet from the harmful effects of all this plastic which is affecting our birds, aquatic animals and even making its way up the food chain into us.

-->

How to Clean Up Australia, one bag at a time.

At AdaptNSW’s Annual forum Dr Nick Watts profiled his recent publication The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change, and reiterated three sobering key findings:

• the impacts of climate change are unequivocal and potentially irreversible, affecting the health of populations around the world right now;
• delayed action on climate change has jeopardised human lives and livelihoods;
• there is reason for optimism with significant action in the past 5 years and 2017 being a year of momentum change presenting clear and unprecedented opportunities for public health.

Whilst plastic bags may seem a world away from climate change, the Clean Up Australia Day crew remind us that plastic bags are made from non-renewable natural resources such as crude oil, gas and coal, the use of which to make the bags generates greenhouse gases that are driving climate change. Just 8.7 plastic checkout bags contain enough embodied petroleum energy to drive a car 1km.

Plastic bags take over 1000 years to breakdown, in Australia 7,150 bags are thrown away each minute, 4 billion bags used annually (about 200/person) and 10% of marine plastic is bags that kill 100,000s of marine animals globally each year. Plastic bags are recyclable and there are recycle bins at the supermarkets. If plastic is not recycled, this embodied energy is lost from the resource chain.

Over the next 6 months the major super markets will be phasing out the single-use plastic bags. More durable, reusable plastic bags will be available to purchase for 15c or you could start making your own long-lasting bag.

Clean Up Australia Day sites

The Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group will be doing their best to reduce plastic waste locally. On Sunday March 4th the Clean Up Australia Day project will focus on collecting plastics from the foreshore, anyone can participate and clean up a stretch of your favourite bit of Lake Mac or register on the Clean Up Australia Day website to formally participate locally. 

The TASNG crew will be radiating out from the yacht club from 9am on Sunday 4th March and also assisting around the Lions Park from 8-10am. You can register here.

In the near future TASNG will be hosting a bag making workshop in preparation for the transition away from single-use plastic bags.

How Convenience is Killing Our Plant – An infographic by the team at Arte Ideas

-->

Beyond Plastic Pollution

Nico Marcar and Steve Dewer from TASNG provide the following report from the recently attended 3-day Beyond Plastic Pollution conference. The event was organised by the Boomerang Alliance and focused on the impacts of plastic on the marine environment.

Around 6 to 12 million metric tonnes of plastic pollution enter oceans annually worldwide, with small and micro plastics being an increasing concern.

One trillion plastic bags are produced worldwide and used for an average of 12 minutes each.

The key to marine health is to reduce entry of plastics into rivers, creeks and lakes (and reducing the amount of stormwater as well).

Behavioural change is needed, especially in lower socio-economic areas, to cut down on plastic litter. Some councils have banned balloon events, others plastic utensils, etc. This pollution is very obvious with the increasing number of severe storm events. There are an increasing number of organised clean up actions and educational events targeting tourists, cafes, markets and fetes.

One Perth company, UST, is implementing a basket system for regular collection of plastics from stormwater drains called Catch Basin Insert. Along with the plastics the company found that blocked drains are a breeding ground for mosquitoes!

Scientists around the world are working with various groups (e.g. Globelet, Tangaroa Blue) and citizens to assess the extent and distribution of pollution. Governments are working on policy via UN forums.

A key focus throughout the conference was on the Circular Economy and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which may take the form of a reuse, buy-back, or recycling program. Examples of recycled products include plastic pallets, plastic-bitumen materials for road making, biodegradable plastic made from cassava, seaweed and palm oil (Indonesia), use recycled plastics to make new products (e.g. clothes/fabrics (e.g. Waste2Wear), shopping bags (e.g. Onya), computer cases (Dell) and sculptures.



New recycling initiatives being investigated in Australia include child car seats, solar panels, textiles, building materials, energy storage materials, automotive recycling.

Choose to Refuse!

The War on Waste is being won in Toronto with all but three local cafes having now switched over to biodegradable coffee cups instead of the plastic lined variety. Not only that but all cafes will now allow you to bring your own cup in for a refill and some are offering a discount if you do. Steve Dewer, the TASNG Waste Champion, has recently followed up on the cafe survey of November 2016.

Are you in for the Plastic Free July Choose to Refuse challenge? A couple of weeks of noticing how much plastic you encounter makes for an interesting experience.
Sign up at http://www.plasticfreejuly.org

Is this the last straw?

There is a problem. The plastic bottles, bags and takeaway containers that we use just for a few minutes use a material that is designed to last forever.

These plastics break up, not break down – becoming permanent pollution. Every bit of plastic ever made still exists and in the first 10 years of this century the world economy produced more plastic than the entire 1900's!

Plastic Free July aims to raise awareness of the problems with single-use disposable plastic and challenges people to do something about it. Joining the challenge is quite simple...choose to refuse single-use plastic during July.

We are part of the solution and can act by:

• Avoiding products in plastic packaging by choosing alternatives
• Reducing where possible by opting for refills and remembering those shopping bags
• Refusing plastics that escape as litter e.g. straws, takeaway cups, utensils, balloons
• Recycling what cannot be avoided

Are you in for the Plastic Free July Choose to Refuse challenge? Sign up at  http://www.plasticfreejuly.org

TASNG Talk

A bright beginning on Brighton Ave

Soon you’ll be able to walk to Toronto from Carey Bay in safety along a new stretch of concreted footpath along Brighton Ave from Ambrose St to Jarrett St, thanks to a Community Building Partnership grant and the generosity of LMCC. 

The original concept for the grant was to trial an alternative surface of crushed gravel for areas that were not able to have concrete, however LMCC preferred to cover the additional cost of a concrete path. Stage1 will be in place this financial year and Stage 2 completed soon after.

Linking Kilaben Bay to Rathmines- a pipe dream or a bridge to reality

A TASNG team recently chatted with a local landholder and LMCC Officer to scope the idea of a bike-walking trail linking Kilaben Bay to Rathmines. The route would require the acquisition of some environmentally sensitive foreshore land, the construction of two bridges, collaboration with Hunter Water and a lot of community support and but the benefits would be huge. A pedestrian friendly link joining Rathmines and Kilaben Bay-Toronto that would enable off road recreational activities, boost the tourist potential of the area and support the non car owning community to enjoy all that the western Lake Mac foreshore suburbs have to offer. If you have scoping skills please contact Nico Marcar to get involved nico.marcar@gmail.com

So long single Use plastic bags

The Sustainable Neighbourhood Alliance is hosting a series of information stalls on the issue of single use plastic bags. The first event will be at Toronto Town Square on Thursday 6/4/17 4-6pm.

Happy Consumer Conscious Christmas

Australians are predicted to spend $48.1 billion over the Christmas period according to the Australian Retailers Association. That’s a lot of gift giving, decorations and feasting.

But what happens to the products of our festivities? Councils experience a 30% increase in waste over the Christmas period. To lighten the planetary load Planet Ark has The 12 Do’s of Christmas that can make the festive season linger longer in the memory of your nearest and dearest.

• Buy quality decorations that can be reused, or make some 
• Check your work Christmas party has recycling stations, warm and fuzzy feelings are good at this time of year 
• Find out what your gift recipient really wants or choose an experience (e.g movie cards, event, museum membership) or charity gift 
• Choose reusable or recyclable wrapping, like paper, cloth or children’s artwork 
• Download the free RecycleSmart app for recycling needs 
• Prevent food waste- Plan ahead and compost/worm farm food scraps 
• Sort and flatten food and drink packaging to fit more in the yellow bin. Check what festive packaging can be recycled
• Recycle e-waste- Printers, ink cartridges, mobile phones 
• Give a recharger pack with battery powered gifts 
• Lots of visiting…Give your car a treat.Inflate the tyres and tune the engine to run efficiently and reduce fuel costs 
• De-clutter and recycle to make room for the new things 
• After the giving your live Christmas tree can still give the gift of compost via the green waste bin 

Reducing consumption and minimising waste are actions that reduce our carbon emissions in many ways. Yohoho!

On behalf of the Coal Point Progress Association and TASNG a warm and community caring Christmas and Festive Season is wished for all.

TASNG Talk

Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group

Coffee grounds are great for the ground

The TASNG Waste group has been nose to the grindstone about coffee grounds. A survey of 12 coffee providers around Toronto has shown a definite trend in the move away from single use plastic cups and also the provision of coffee grounds for gardeners to boost organic matter and nitrogen in the compost heaps. Coffee grounds in the garden have other purported uses such as fertilizer, ph adjuster, mulch, slug ‘n snail deterrent and cat repellent.

	Plastic-free takeaway cups	Can fill your own  cup	Discount for own  cup	Coffee grinds for garden if pick up is set
Tinto Espresso Bar		Yes		Yes
Nabo’s	Yes	Yes		Yes
Double Take		Yes		Yes
Coffee Essence	Yes	Yes	0.50c	Yes
Belluno’s		Yes	Yes	Yes
Bean 2 Go	Yes	Yes
Queen of Tarts		Yes		Maybe
Miranda’s Cakes & Pies	Yes	Yes		Yes
Boulevarde 7	Yes	Yes		Daily
Michel’s Patisserie		Yes		Maybe
Greg & Audrey’s Ice Cream	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Char’s Cafe	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes