The Sunshine Coast is a stunningly beautiful part of the world and is the envy of many other regions in Australia. While much of the beauty is natural, there is also a lot of work that goes into keeping it looking good for both residents and visitors. In recent years, there has been an effort to make the Sunshine Coast as environmentally friendly as possible, and the city of Noosa is the latest to jump on board with another excellent plan to bring that Eco-friendly mindset to town.
What Noosa are introducing is a two-pronged scheme to help with their environmental efforts. Councillor Joe Jurisevic, who has long been an anti-litter advocate, announced that the State Government will be implementing a container refund scheme, as well as a ban on single use plastic bags. If these new rules are passed, which they almost certainly will be they will be added as amendments to the existing Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011. It’s a move that has been deemed necessary by those in favor of an environmentally friendly Sunshine Coast, especially since the plastic bags in particular have been a major cause for concern for quite some time.
Once both of the new schemes have been approved, they will be put in effect starting on the first of July next year. All of those people in favor of these moves feel that while they have been a long time in coming, the positive impact that both will deliver to the region will have made that wait worthwhile. Cr Jurisevic points to the success of the container deposit program that has been in place in Queensland for a while now, feeling that the same level of success can be achieved in his region once the new rules go into effect.
The councillor has long pushed for stricter environmental controls, with the single use plastic bags being a specific area of concern. He has also accepted that the city will have to play some sort of role in making sure that the implementation of the new rules goes as smoothly as possible. He believes that the city will still be actively collecting public rubbish but also said that this is an opportunity for community groups to get involved and potentially use the collection of these harmful materials as a way to raise money for specific causes.
While there are always some people who are against the addition of new legislation, this is one that is going to have very few detractors. The Sunshine Coast is a vibrant region that relies heavily on the tourist trade, the 4WD and caravan community, so there is a concerted effort to keep the area as beautiful as possible and these new rules will help. There is a very delicate ecosystem in this part of the world, and we are sure that the birds and sea turtles that make home here will be as pleased as the humans with these changes, as it also makes for a better place for these wonderful creatures to live in.