Clean up Australia Day and my anti-pollution policies

I went over to Mott Park in Holland Park on Sunday for Clean Up Australia Day, organized by the Victor Street Scout Troop, where my son has just started attending. His sister is at the Wynola Guides up the road, which is kind of handy. Anyway, it was a great day with much rubbish collected, which means it was also a bad day beacuse there was so much rubbish to be collected. I didn't see the breakdown of what was collected, but I can say with some certainty that the largest volume was recyclable bottles and cans, and one of the most common items was plastic shopping bags.

We also announced some anti-pollution policies and initatives to go along with the day:

Container deposit legislation

Modelled on the ong-standing and highly successful South Australian system, the Queensland system would offer cash back on glass, plastic and metal containers. Reducing litter, doubling items recycled and creating green-collar jobs in the recycling industries. Nationally, the recovery rate for non-refillable soft drink bottles is 36%, whether glass or plastic but South Australians recover 74% of plastic bottles and 85% of glass ones. Why? There's a financial incentive! I remember as a kid taking Tristram's bottles back to the shop for money. It was a good idea then and it's a good idea now

Banning plastic shopping bags

Queenslanders used nearly one billion plastic shopping bags last year last year, most of which end up in landfills or our waterways, presenting a serious threat to wildlife. Fewer and fewer people want them, shops are less willing to give them out, it's time to get rid of them.

An Environmental Protection Authority

A statutory authority with the responsibility to enforce environmental regulation, independent from the government of the day and better able to take on the big polluters. This will create many economic opportunities for companies and environmental experts who will be needed to clean up the acts of many enterprises. Pollution is a huge problem, just look at what's happened with the floods in Queensland picking up toxic waste from the mines. No one likes pollution, everyone wants to reduce it. Waste is unsaleable production, stuff business is paying to produce, but cannot sell. The EPA we are proposing will help businesses better understand what they are produce and provide incentives to reduce the pollution.

If I'm elected, these are three of the pro-active reforms I will be working to introduce. You can help make it happen by voting 1 Darryl Rosin to Put a Green in Greenslopes on March 21