Reuse it or lose it

The power of preferences lies
in the pencil of the people.

The whole election process is an interesting affair. I've been able to learn a whole lot more about what State governments do...and don't do. I've had the chance to meet lots of interesting people who I wouldn't normally bump into, let alone get to hear their perspectives on life and I’ve had the chance to try and put across The Greens policies through the mass media.

What has become glaringly obvious is that it is really hard to get the message out what Greens policies are. Thank goodness for the internet I say, as more people are taking personal responsibility to look at the policies for themselves they can see that often what is reported can be so far from the truth you wonder how it can be called ‘journalism’.

Towards the final stages of this election it is also becoming apparent how the process of electing representatives also gets sidelined.

Everyone wants to know who are you preferencing? What is not made clear to the voting people is that it is their choice, their preference not any party ‘ticket’. In the State election there is no registered preference ticket. The How to Vote cards are a recommendation only.

What ever someone marks on their voting slip, that’s what is counted. If you only mark one box, your vote stops after that vote is counted. If you mark 2 or 3 or more boxes then your vote keeps on getting counted over and over again until it stops at the person with the most, or second most votes, it is the most powerful reuse strategy about.

In Lake Macquarie numbering the squares is the best way to make sure you get the government you want.

After much consideration about the merits of the other candidates The Greens are recommending on their How to votes that Greg Piper, a progressive independent be preferenced and then the Labor Party. Following this strategy sends a clear message to the Labor Party that this electorate does not want to be taken for granted anymore but it also is saying that if it came down to Labor or a Liberal coalition, we’d be better off under a Labor government.

Media Release: Have they missed the ‘tipping’ point?

Suzanne Pritchard, Greens candidate for Lake Macquarie wants climate change to be the number one issue when votes are cast on Saturday.

”Whilst the election has been a chance to highlight all the issues that a State government deals with the most pressing issue of our time, the Climate Change point has been underplayed, overlooked and avoided by the major parties who are committed to business as usual with their coal companions” Suzanne said

“Our future can only be assured if we start looking beyond coal, not just our immediate future in terms of jobs and regional security but we are in a critical time for implementing decisions for the future of the planet, and it starts where the coal is dug out of the ground, and the energy is produced”

The Greens support a just transitions package, funded through carbon taxes, that would mean coal industry communities will have access to renewable energy jobs of the future.

The Greens want to make NSW a leader in the manufacturing and export of renewable energy technologies.

“We can be at the forefront of this new age of renewable energy, it could be a very exciting future with real promise and action to address the most pressing issue humanity is facing.”

The Greens support a moratorium on any new coal infrastructure. A one kilometre exclusion zone around water sources must be applied to all long-wall coal mines. Protecting our catchments is crucial.

"In Lake Macquarie campaigning for fairer and more sustainable communities will be vital otherwise we may push our environmental gains to the point of no return. You can’t have development without infrastructure or services, a point that has been missed in the regional strategy.

“The Lower Hunter Regional (development) Strategy proposes massive increases in the population over the next few years. This will be nothing more than a developer’s land grab if there are not suitable processes in place to allow the community to respond. If the Minister has undisputed powers of approval the community will be exhausted and silenced by having to continually fight the same battles.”

The Greens have a credible record of keeping the government accountable to the community not the corporations with the fastest EFTPOS machines or fattest chequebooks.”

Donations to political parties from developers must end and the powers of the Planning Minister to approve development without due process repealed.

Voting in the State election is optional preferential. Every number that is placed on the ballot paper makes a statement about what the community wants. A Green primary vote can send a very strong message to the major parties that they need to raise their environmental credentials. The vote then gets counted again and again depending on how many numbers are marked. A Green vote is not a wasted vote it is reused, adding value to the election process

Confessions #5 The things you never get to say

Today was my final 'forum' live to air on the ABC. The topic, general issues affecting Lake Macquarie, this was good I thought, pure Green policies. So after a good night sleep, which I found to be the best thing for being able to think clearly I put together some notes, the big points I wanted to mention, the 'here's your last chance to bring it home baby' speil.

Alas not being public speaking savvy enough to twist questions to include my answers no matter what the question, and missing the opportunity when it arose to get in a few key points as well as the whole forum running out of time when it got to the really big issue of Life after Coal, I didn't get to mention a few things I really wanted mention so I'm putting what I wanted to say here.

• There is a need for who ever is in government to start doing something about climate change, and our role in its perpetuation and expansion.
  We live on the coast and many of us live around a Lake rising sea levels will affect us all.
• In Lake Macquarie we are complicit in climate chaos, and as the residents of this electorate we have a chance to say we want to start to look at a different future.
• We can’t keep doing things the same way because that’s what’s got us into this predicament in the first place and unless we start planning and making a pathway towards a different energy future we are up the creek without a paddle and floating on a rising sea of uncertainty.
• The thought of trying to relocate people or even to move back the building line because the cost of holding back the oceans has the potential to bankrupt our community.
• We need to keep a watchdog in the Upper House that is beholden to the community not a company with a fat chequebook, or fast EFTPOS machine. Policies from a people’s perspective not for profit.
• The Upper House crew Lee Rhiannon, Ian Cohen, Sylvia Hale have done a great job in keeping community issues in the spotlight. Lee Rhianinon has been supporting the Coal Communities to fight against the effect of coal extraction, dust and social dislocation on the communities around the Hunter, and highlighting the problems with the public private partnerships which results funding infrastructure to run at a profit not for people.
• With John Kaye on the Upper House ticket we are giving people a chance to put someone in to the house of debate that actually has credentials and knowledge about renewable energy options and has spent his university career looking for solutions, he’s found them too, he has something to offer.
• The Greens stand out from the rest because we don’t accept developer donations, it compromises the political process when one entity has more clout than thousands of individual voices.
• The Greens are also a party that has policies, processes and the resources of a team of people who are all abiding by the same principles.
• A Green vote is about making a statement to whoever is in power that you want the major parties to do something about climate change, you want the infrastructure and services to make living in Lake Macquarie viable for the future, that want your society to be more socially just.
• It’s an opportunity to send a clear message that the electorate doesn’t want to be taken for granted anymore. Lake Macquarie provides a significant amount of state revenue through coal and energy production and what we have to show for it is one of the most impoverished health services in the region, ineffectual public transport and an environment that increasingly compromised by massive development proposals.

We have reached a critical point in time where every year of political indecision and inaction digs us deeper into a black coal hole that’s going to be harder to climb out of.

We need political leadership to set a new agenda and support innovation.

We need to do things differently.

The Greens are thinking and doing politics differently.

Vote for tomorrow, today

The Potential of the Preference- Media Release

The Greens will be recommending voter preferences be directed towards Greg Piper and then Jeff Hunter in the Lake Macquarie electorate on Saturday 24th March.

“The Greens have historically always preferenced progressive independents and although we may not agree on everything, after discussions with Greg Piper we have concluded that he has progressive views on several key issues,” Lake Macquarie Greens candidate Suzanne Pritchard said.

The Greens support a ban on developer donations and Greg Piper stated he would support legislation to level the playing field on political donations by developers.

The Greens oppose the development of any new coal mines and Greg Piper also supported this stance and the need to ‘close the loophole’ in the LEP to ensure the prohibition of new open cut mines.

The Greens are committed to protecting workers from the socially destructive WorkChoices legislation; Greg Piper has stated he would not support the Federal Government’s Industrial relations package.

“At the end of the day every individual will have the choice to preference as they choose, we have identified an order on our ‘how to vote’ cards that rates the views of the candidate’s in relation to the Greens policy,” Suzanne said.

In many seats across the State Labor will be preferencing the Greens in the NSW Upper House on their how to vote cards, but not in Lake Macquarie.

“The agreement that was entered into by the Greens and the Labor Party identified key seats where Labor wanted the Greens primary preference. Lake Macquarie was one of those seats. After much discussion a decision was made by the local group that we preferred a progressive independent to a constrained Labor candidate.”

The recommended preferences put Labor ahead of the Coalition. The Greens acknowledge that Labor is better on issues like workers' rights, protecting national parks and a little better on climate change.

Greens MP and Lead Upper House candidate Lee Rhiannon said: "The Labor government has been very disappointing, but a Debnam Coalition government would be a living nightmare."This gives NSW a good chance of avoiding a Coalition government while maintaining a strong Upper House that will hold the government to account."We have also agreed with Labor to establish a preferencing framework for the Federal election in NSW to both defeat the Howard government and rescue the Senate from Coalition control."We will work towards Greens recommending preferences to Labor in key federal marginal seats and Labor directing preferences to the Greens in the Senate.”

More forum fun...Hunter Business Chamber Forum

I have a business. I’m the major share holder, company director, and have been voted employee of the year for the last 10 years. It’s a small business, actually it’s a micro-business but even so I have all the reporting requirements of being in business, I understand what it takes in time and human resources to keep a business viable

At this forum a list of 9 issues were provided to address which the three Greens Candidates present shared in discussing. I covered Regional economic stability in light of environmental pressure on coal and Reliable public infrastructure.

It was interesting that not one other candidate even mentioned Regional Economic Stability in the light of environmental pressure on coal and yet our future depends upon considereing it.

If you had to identify the major point of difference between the Greens and the other parties it is we believe whole heartedly there is a future beyond coal, a viable, jobs rich, skilled manufacturing industry based around renewable energy technologies.

The Stern Review and the IPCC both made it clear that we must reduce emissions from coal now, not in ten years time. The renewable energy industry offers a larger and more resilient source of jobs. Each unit of energy generated by wind creates four times more jobs than coal. A planned transition to renewable energy would swamp the number of jobs lost in a phase out of the coal industry and would address high levels of youth unemployment.

Between the mid 1980s and 2004 the coal industry shed 18,000 jobs largely because of technological changes. Based on the experiences in other countries where governments have taken responsibility to ensure a planned transition from coal to renewables, a conservative estimate is that 25,000 additional jobs could be created over the next 10 years.

The Greens are about providing a future, not only for people but for the planet. The impacts of burning coal are changing our world and this region is making quite a contribution to that change. We need to accept some responsibility and provide leadership, the business community needs to be supported in this transition, if we don’t start now, in the next 4 years we’ll miss the boat and the opportunities that were on board it.

Reliable public infrastructure was a big issue. A viable interchange with a bridge to provide better access for all users and an integrated transport plan drew lots of questions.

Whether it’s hospitals, housing, buses or bike tracks, reliable public infrastructure can maintain quality employment, lead to reductions in energy and protect the public interest.

Public infrastructure is vital not only to pick up the pieces that for one reason or another don’t make the corporate cut but to provide services for all people so that everyone can continue to live comfortably and therefore contribute to and feel a part of society.

A strong public sector use to be the prime training ground for apprentices and trainees, with the decline in the public sector we have also seen an increase in the skills shortage. The role of government is to prepare for the future not plunder the good planning of the past.

It has become increasingly apparent the there is a conflict in allowing profit driven corporations to provide necessary public services for example ABC Learning, Child Care Corporation Last year received 44% ( $278 million) of its revenue from taxpayer funded subsidies for child care. The Australia Institute found corporate centres provided poorer quality care than community based centres. ABC Learning staff expressed concerns about low food budgets, onerous cleaning duties and paperwork. Only 15% of ABC staff said their centres hired more staff than the legal minimum, compared with 40% at non-profit centres.

The Greens support

• public funding, ownership and control of public schools, hospitals and transport;
• provision of core government services by government enterprises, not out-sourcing;
  a complete ban on PPPs for essential infrastructure and services including school buildings, roads, transport and prisons;
• public ownership of the NSW electricity industry and water utilities; and
• where possible, a return to public ownership of privatised public services, infrastructure (e.g. motorways) and enterprises.

A regional transport strategy was discussed and the Greens position was to implement the Five Point Plan to improve public transport in the Lower Hunter .

1. Integrate the ticketing between the buses, trains and ferries for everyone, so commuters can buy a single ticket for their entire journey. Currently this is available to some pensioners, so it can be done and it can be expanded to include all commuters.
2. Integrate the timetables between buses, trains and ferries, so commuters can catch the bus to the train station and know that they won’t have just missed the train. This is not rocket science but it does require good planning.
3. Establish a locally-controlled Hunter Transport Authority to look after roads, rail, buses, taxis and ferries. Too often decisions about the transport in our region are made in Sydney. We need local control. If the budgets of the Roads and Traffic Authority, State Rail and the Buses and Ferries were combined into a single authority then we could truly get integrated decision-making.
4. Develop an Integrated Transport Plan for the Future developed by local expertise, encompassing the whole of the Hunter, with the Newcastle rail line as the spine of the system. With a population of 500,000, the Hunter is a genuinely self-contained regional area. The Plan needs to include public transport to the airport from Newcastle and Port Stephens.
5. Set a public transport patronage target of 20% by 2020. The current level is about 5%. The new Hunter Transport Authority would need to develop cost-effective strategies to increase the patronage level by 2020. Especially with the climate crisis we need to make transport more efficient and that means getting more cars off the road. There’s a big benefit in having less cars on the road. It not only saves the individual in petrol, parking and other costs, but also saves the community in lives, health impacts and environmental benefits.
   

Confesssion... Forums are fun

I guess it depends on your idea of fun though. If you enjoy hearing about other people's perspectives then forums are fabulous. If you like to get a deeper understanding on what the real issues are from the people with the concerns then forums are informative.

I attended two forums today, The Lake Macquarie Teachers Federation and the Hunter Business Chamber, I learnt a lot from both.

The Teacher's Federation attendees were all experienced teachers, many of whom were the ones that are going to be leaving the system over the next 5-10 years, one of the questions this raised was who will carry their representative flag? The Greens Education policy has had a large degree of teacher input into its development and so there was some consolation on this front.

We were supplied with a list of issues that needed addressing and what became obvious was that the solutions offered by the Greens are real, practicle and would help strengthen public education and therefore the social cohesiveness of society.

Some of the isssues I addressed were:

Preschools, I work in the preschool industry and see first hand the difference that quality preschool education can make.

The Greens NSW are committed to 2 years of free universal public preschool for all children in this state. We believe that this is best achieved by locating preschools on the same sites as existing public primary schools where land is available. The development of universal public pre-schooling should begin with communities with high concentrations of socio-economic disadvantage, where it will have a significant impact on the progress of children through school and into later life.

School Counsellors; It became apparent when my children needed to access school cousellors how inadequate the numbers were to be able to adequately address the issues and provide real support in a time of crisis.

The Greens remain committed to achieving the Vinson recommendation of increasing the number of school counsellors by 700 to achieve 1 counsellor for every 500 students. The increasing counselling needs of students and changing family structures suggest that the number of counsellors may need to be further increased beyond this target.

The Teaching Service:I was once a beginning teacher and have been High School Science trained, I understand how important mentoring for beginning teachers is and the need to capture the know how of the expereinced and give due recognition for the amazing job that teachers do.

The Carr/Iemma government has failed to plan for the rejuvenation of the public education teaching service. Large numbers of teachers are planning to retire in the next 5 years and 33% of beginning teachers do not expect to be in the profession in the next 10 years. Public education is facing a teacher shortage and a depletion of experienced teachers.

The Greens are also concerned that concentrations of new and recent entrant teachers are occurring in hard-to-staff schools. These teachers are beginning their careers in difficult classrooms, often without a the benefit of a large number of experienced teachers to advice, support and mentor.

Managing the teacher workforce is not just about protecting public education. It is also about delivering workplace justice.

The Greens welcome and endorse Lyndsay Connors’ report “Time and Tide ….”, which makes a number of valuable suggestions for investment in the renewal of the public school teaching service.

In particular The Greens would work for:

• increased Commonwealth investment in teacher education in universities
• funding for professional learning for new and recent entrant teachers, including online induction and support, and a time allowance for new teachers to develop their professionalism;
• programs in hard-to-staff schools, including an additional leadership allowance;
• incentives to recruit and retain teachers;
• the establishment of 50 professional practice schools in areas with concentrations of beginning teachers; and
• massively increase the resources for teacher mentoring, so that more experienced teachers can engage in the process. The current number of 50 is inadequate and will become more so as the proportion of beginning teachers increases over the next 5 years.
  
  In addition, we recognise that many older and experienced teachers have made personal sacrifices over many years to compensate for the under-funding and poor resourcing of public education. They are tired and worn down. As a matter of priority, The Greens would fund programs that increase the number of teachers to reduce class sizes and face to face teaching times to relieve the pressure on teachers and enable them to remain in active service longer.
  
  The Greens are opposed to “performance based” pay. It is not only impractical but would also put pressure the cooperative relationships which are essential to public education.

Campaign Launch-Health in Lake Macquarie

Today was the official campaign launch for the Newcastle Green's six candidates across the region. The event was held at the GUOOF Hall in Hamilton. Each of the Candidates had a topic to cover and mine was health. This is what I had to say.

Health in Lake Macquarie is a dichotomy. One the one hand, people choose to live in the area because of the rolling hills, the glistening lake and the fresh air, now Pasminco has closed. The mental health and active lifestyle benefits are considerable. Bit on the other hand the aging population, the physical isolation of many communities and the semi rural infrastructure that exists throughout western Lake Macquarie and Wyong make servicing the needs of the ‘not getting any younger’ community a challenge that requires a unique approach.

The Greens, as a party, are full of creative thinkers that work on a different political paradigm than the major parties. The Greens take a long term approach on all issues and health is no exception. Unless there are long term strategies put into place the projected population expansion of 60,000 people and minimal infrastructure will put this electorate in a desperate situation.

GP access in western Lake Macquarie is the 6th worse for GP shortages in urban NSW, 37th in urban Australia, and there has been a constant decline in bulk billing in Lake Macquarie over the past 5 years. The Greens support training more medical people and providing support for health professionals in rural and remote areas, like Lake Macquarire. The Greens also support the expansion of the community health Centres. This strategy seems one of the most realistic options to enable health services to be provided throughout the electorate close to the people to reduce the travelling time by patients.

Mental Health services are pitiful in Lake Macquarie. The closure of the Morisset hospital, with limited thought to accommodation and support services required to address outpatient care, has resulted in mental health issues becoming social issues within the western Lake Macquarie community. The Greens support accommodation, community care initiatives to support the needs of the people who need support.

Disability associated with an aging population is a social equity issue and as such a foundation principle of the Greens ethics. Safe pedestrian to be able to walk to the local shops and services are essential. Ramps, rails, toilets in public places and appropriate public transport options are all policy initiatives the Greens feel will make our communities remain accessible to all.

And let’s not forget about our youth. The health of our youth needs to be addressed. High unemployment and the remoteness of many Lake Macquarie suburbs, means that local ‘partying’ with excessive alcohol consumption is one of the main entertainment outlets. The Greens are committed to harm minimisation, exploring approaches which treat drug use as a health and social issue.

These are just some of the strategies and issues the Greens have on health within this electorate. Lake Macquarie has its own unique set of challenges, resourcing a geographically large electorate requires an innovative approaching I believe that the Greens have strong social and community ethics that will ensure the needs of people come first. If you have your health, whether its physical or mental you can deal with most other things.

Vote for you health tomorrow, today.

Confessions of a Clean Up Oz Day candidate

My confession is that I'm a big fan of the warm and fuzzy feeling.

Clean Up Australia is one of those events that you can’t help get a warm a fuzzy afterglow from. This Sunday ranked highly on the Clean-upometer. We cleaned up a wetland, nature’s filter. This wetland had been filtering plastic bottles and Styrofoam. We collected bags of bottles and plastic bags full of plastic bags. No matter when you decide to do Clean-Up, you’re always guaranteed of finding a plastic bag to put the rubbish in.

As I was carefully and creatively swinging through the mangroves (to avoid damaging the roots) I was thinking about the beauty of these amazingly diverse ecosystems and wondered where would we be without our wetlands?

Wetlands are fish nurseries. Some of the items we considered cleaning up had been in place for so long that they had become habitat, a plastic bottle with a hole in both ends is probably considered quite an up market crevice in the Piscean community. There were lots of little fish flitting between the mangroves, and this was just a small patch of wetland. In Lake Macquarie where recreational fishing is a major pastime, wetlands contribute to the local economy too.

Another item which was left for habitat purposes was a length of silt-mesh, a fabric designed to stop soil particles from entering the stormwater system or water ways, it had been in the water for some time, the mangrove roots were growing through it and there were a few crustaceans clinging on. The irony here is that wetlands are the best sediment stoppers we have. Wetlands trap the soil, that’s why they grow on the edges of rivers and lakes and why in some places they are becoming more abundant. As sediment stabilisers, wetlands contribute to the water quality of Lake Macquarie.

Wetlands also act as natural flood mitigation devices and foreshore protection. They slow the peaks flows and hold the water. These wet patches of paradise provide abundant food and shelter for a huge variety of animals. Wetlands, because they are a combination of wet and land mean that birds can nest and dine alfresco as they desire. Wetlands are some of the most biodiverse and productive ecosystems around, they contribute to the abundant wildlife we have in Lake Macquarie and they also have a role in preventing the foreshore from disappearing.

Wetlands have had a hard time in the past though. They have suffered from ‘reclamation’ for residential, commercial and recreational purposes. The Toronto Workers Club and the fields use to be a part of the local wetland system. Wetlands have suffered agricultural and industrial pollution and invasion by exotic species and mining, some of these impacts are now being addressed by the Coastal Wetlands Park proposal in eastern Lake Macquarie.

Wetlands continue to cop a bashing too. At Teralba they are being treated as dumping grounds by a local industry who thinks pushing mountains of dirt into a wetland is a good way to gain a few extra meters of space. Many wetlands are now severely stressed by the drought, you can see the high and dry not-so-wetland from the Five Island bridge that is feeling the heat.

The Greens recognise wetlands as a vital component of our environment and the policy identifies areas that we will work towards including

• action against land use which results in degradation of wetland areas such as grazing, stormwater pollution and nutrients from runoff and other sources;
• increasing the participation of local communities and community-based groups in wetlands management;
• education of the broader community about the important functions of wetlands;
• encouraging management and recovery plans for all degraded wetlands with funding to implement plans prepared under the NSW Wetlands Management Policy;

On a role?

Greens MP and Upper House candidate Lee Rhiannon has joined Suzanne Pritchard candidate for Lake Macquarie to urge young people that time is running out to make sure they are on the electoral roll to vote in the upcoming NSW election."The electoral rolls will close 3 working days after the election ‘writ’ is issued, that’s very soon, so people need to register to vote before it is too late” Suzanne said

The electoral roll is continuously updated, however, following the issue of the ‘writ’ for an election , which sets the election timetable, the roll for the election is closed. The roll for the election closes at 8.00 pm local time on the third working day after the writ is issued and cannot be updated after that date.

"AEC data shows that only half of all 18 year olds are enrolled to vote yet it is young people that will inherit the legacy of foot-dragging by this government on climate change.”

“Now is the opportunity for the young to force the older generations to take more responsibility for the environmental mess which they have created and will be leaving for future generations to clean up”

Suzanne Pritchard said: "Each election, there are more young people voting for The Greens. We are a party that is committed to making sure there are opportunities for all young people in our state.

"The election is really soon, so I am urging all young people in Lake Macquarie to get down toany post office or get on line and register to vote” "Young people are being totally ignored by the major parties.

The Greens are committed to improving services and transport for young people to make sure they have the best opportunities in the years to come," says Suzanne

10 cent deposit scheme would help Clean Up Australia

A 10-cent deposit on drink bottles and cans would dramatically improve recycling rates in NSW and force industry to take more responsibility for the waste it creates, according to the NSW Greens.

”Clean Up Australia Day is very satisfying, you find somewhere with rubbish, you pick it up and then next time you look it’s not there, so simple but it seems to work. This year the area around Stoney Creek near the Lions Park is the target. Plastic bottles and cans around the Lake edge are always a big pick up item because they float” Greens Candidate for Lake Macquarie , Suzanne Pritchard said

“Clean Up Australia Day this year is the 11th I’ve participated in with the Coal Point Progress Association. When we first started we tackled rubbish that had been dumped in the reserves for years, then we circumnavigated the roads in the area, we spent a few years at Trade Fair Lookout, truck loads came out of there, and more recently we’ve cleaned up the Woolies carpark garden”

Survey figures released last week by Clean Up Australia show that 83% of people in NSW believe a ten cent deposit and refund scheme would encourage more people to recycle bottles and cans, and that 89% think drink manufacturers should be involved in setting up such a deposit and refund scheme.

A container deposit scheme (CDL) would create a level playing field where consumers and producers shared responsibility for dealing with waste. Landfill space is fast running out and more effective ways of recycling are urgently needed.

In South Australia, where they have a deposit scheme, the recycling rate is over 80 per cent. ”The ratepayers of Lake Macquarie already pay for waste removal via council’s kerbside recycling. The businesses that profit from these products should be prepared to pay their fair share as well” she said.

“If you provide businesses with a greater incentive to find an even better solution it’s amazing how innovative industry can be, especially if they feel they can make a profit out of something when society demands it.”

Council recycling can’t help reduce the large amount of waste consumed outside the home. A 10-cent deposit scheme would increase recycling rates and force industry to be more responsible for its own waste, said Suzanne

It is also a good way to raise the issue of waste and litter with children. People who grew up in the seventies would remember cash a can encouraging kids to recycle both their own litter and that of others. CDL creates an extra incentive for the community to recycle their waste. This would be a vast improvement on the current situation, where manufacturers profit and ratepayers foot the bill, said Suzanne