Write to your local newspaper editor telling them about World Toilet Day

The Editor,

The Courier-Mail

Dear Sir/Madam,

It’s World Toilet Day (WTD) on 19 November! In Brisbane, I will be celebrating WTD at the Brisbane Arts theatre (BAT) at a production of the play - "How to be a Man". How will you celebrate WTD?

The BAT is teaming up with the South-East Queensland chapter of Engineers Without Borders, to raise awareness and funds of their work providing critical sanitation for some of the world’s most disadvantaged communities.

$2 from every ticket sold at How To Be A Man on 19 November will go to EWB, as well as proceeds of a large raffle and casual donations.

Most people don’t like to talk about toilets but the World Toilet Organization & Engineers Without Borders Australia love to talk about them and we’d like more people to spare a thought for the toilet on this year’s World Toilet Day.

Could you imagine not having a toilet? What if for one day only, no-one in our country had a toilet - it’s pretty unthinkable isn’t it? Yet for 2.6 billion people in the world having no toilet is a daily reality.

Children are literally dying for the toilet, in the developing world a child dies every 15 seconds from water-related diseases.

So , I invite you to consider how vital toilets are, spare a thought or campaign for 40% of the world’s population who have to live without the basic necessity of somewhere safe to go to the toilet.

World Toilet Organization helps to eradicate this sanitation crisis and I urge you to get in touch with them to make the world a better place for everyone.

Please visit www.worldtoiletday.com or www.worldtoilet.org or ewb.org.au to help make a difference.

How To Be A Man - World Toilet Day performance

Sat 19 November 2011 8pm

Tickets $31 adults; $25 concession; $20 members

Book online: www.artstheatre.com.au

Yours sincerely,

Rowan Barber

Toilet Humour for World Toilet Day

Brisbane Arts Theatre helps Engineers Without Borders with special fundraising performance

The Brisbane Arts Theatre’s latest production - How To Be A Man - has its fair share of toilet humour.

But on Saturday 19 November - World Toilet Day - it’s all for a serious cause.

The BAT is teaming up with the South-East Queensland chapter of Engineers Without Borders, to raise awareness and funds of their work providing critical sanitation for some of the world’s most disadvantaged communities.

$2 from every ticket sold at How To Be A Man on 19 November will go to EWB, as well as proceeds of a large raffle and casual donations.

“We want people to come out and have a laugh, as our play contains high levels of toilet humour,” says director Natalie Bochenski.

“But it’s a great way to get across the serious message of the world’s sanitation crisis, and do our bit to help.”

“2.6 billion people do not have a designated, sustainable place to poo or wee,” says Rowan Barber, a Brisbane engineer and member of EWB.

“The statistics are unfathomable - every 8 seconds, a child dies from easily preventable, fecal- related illness.

Rowan says even the word “sanitation” fails to convey the gravity of the situation. “People are dying because they live and breathe poo. Children suffer malnutrition, not because of a lack of food but because their food passes through them. Dysentery. Diarrhea. Vomiting. These are the symptoms of the crisis.”

The good news is Engineers Without Borders DOES make a difference. All funds raised from the BAT’s charity performance will support the organisation in projects such as building latrines for floating villages along the Tonle Sap river in Cambodia; or closer to home, a culturally-appropriate amenities block at the Murra Murra indigenous homestead past St George, in South-West Queensland.

Rowan says we’ve become a “flush and forget” society; and it’s a good time to think of the local impacts of our waste.

In 2010/2011, 149,198 ML of poo, wee and wastewater was generated by 1.3 million Brisbane residents and 4,700 tradewaste customers,” says Rowan.

“That works out about 164 Olympic size swimming pools a day.”

How To Be A Man

Charity Performance for World Toilet Day

Saturday 19 November

$2 from each ticket sold will go to Engineers Without Borders

Warning: Production contains explicit content & adult themes

TOILET TRIVIA

World Toilet Day was founded in 2001 by the World Toilet Organisation, and is celebrated

every year on 19 November. (http://www.worldtoilet.org/wto/index.php/our-works/world-

toilet-day)

Many organisations support this day with fundraising/awareness efforts; including Engineers

Without Borders (www.ewb.org.au). This is where the BAT’s charity efforts will go.

"EWB cultivates long-term relationship with communities, both here and overseas, and we

focus on building on the strengths of those communities, so that they are more able to

manage their own future. Most of us here in Australia take things like clean toilets for

granted. We want people everywhere to be able to live their lives free from diseases and

disadvantages that are easily preventable by having appropriate and well-designed sanitation

systems." - Kat Healey (EWB SEQ Chapter President)

The World Health Organisation has a great list of 10 quick facts about sanitation. (http://

www.who.int/features/factfiles/sanitation/facts/en/index.html). One of the most revealing is

that a lack of safe, secure toilets can often disrupt girls’ schooling, particularly as they reach

puberty. Better toilets equals better education!

The Brisbane Arts Theatre has a urinal named after author John Birmingham and playwright

Simon Bedak, after the success of our previous productions He Died With a Felafel in His Hand

(2009) and The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco (2010).

The Brisbane Arts Theatre is an independent community organisation that receives no

ongoing government or corporate sponsorship.

How To Be A Man

Plays Thurs to Sat nights from 8pm

12 November to 17 December

Tickets $31 adults; $25 concession; $20 members

Book online: www.artstheatre.com.au

Sustainable Business Weekly QLD Edition [Green Tape, The Digital Economy, Green Infrastructure, Gas]

Green Tape

Environment Practitioners from other jurisdictions are looking on with envy at the recent reforms of Qld's environmental approvals system.

ASBG has made submissions to the consultation process & has lobbied for reform.

Amendments to the Environmental Protection Act were designed to increase the efficiency of the environmental approvals system & cut green tape while at the same time maintaining Qld's environmental standards.

Since the Environmental Protection Act was introduced in 1994, environmental regulation had grown significantly at both a State & Federal level. The Qld Government has an opportunity to consolidate the system and make it more efficient. Green tape reduction is about reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens, such as time wasted in lengthy application processes. The introduction of standard applications would reduce costs & increase certainty in application processes for low environmental risk operations.

Businesses will be able to hold corporate licenses to manage their environmental authorities for multiple sites in an integrated way. The reforms will simplify the relationship between environmental licenses & development permits meaning an operator will only need to pay for their annual fees once their development permit is approved.

All businesses, including waste management, manufacturing, extractive industries & intensive livestock industries, who are currently required to be licensed under theEnvironmental Protection Act will probably benefit from these improvements.

The Digital Economy

ASBG was recently represented at the 3rd NBN Broadband Forum for industry associations held on the 3 November 2011. One can view the presentations at DEEDI’s website.

Green Infrastructure?

The Australian Green Infrastructure Council (AGIC) is holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM)on Wednesday 30^th November 2011 at U Block – Room U214 QUT Gardens Point Campus - 1 George Street Brisbane QLD. The AGM will commence at 5.00pm.

In the mean time, the Qld Premier launched the Qld Infrastructure Plan setting out the state's infrastructure needs for the next 20 years, as the Government faces a State election.

The QIP has been developed alongside the Queensland Regionalisation Strategy Key Initiatives aimed at improving Qld’s environment & natural resource protection include: finalising the Qld Coastal Plan & the State Planning Policy for Healthy Waters as well as releasing for public comment a draft Biodiversity Strategy & theStrategic Cropping Land Framework.

The Qld Government has mapped out nearly 1000 projects including more than 90 new schools, nearly 70 new police stations, more than 30 new hospitals or hospital expansions, 7 city-wide transit networks and 60 projects upgrading the Bruce Highway. It's estimated the Qld population will increase by over two million people over the next two decades (God help us).

BioCondition

Assessing areas of high biodiversity plays a vital role in determining key areas for conservation and establishing conservation priorities.

Biodiversity significance is a ranking of an area according to specified values to account for rarity, diversity, fragmentation, habitat condition, resilience, threats, and ecosystem processes. In the terrestrial environment, current vegetation extent and regional ecosystem mapping defines remnant vegetation and pre-clearing vegetation. This provides an exceptional basis for comparing Qld’s landscape before & after land-clearing & helps guide conservation efforts.

Regional vegetation mapping uses satellite imagery, in combination with recent aerial photography and field-based information to confirm data accuracy. BioCondition is a vegetation condition assessment framework developed by the DERM for Qld’s regional ecosystems.

Short Term Thinking: Gas

Brisbane businesses that are dependent on gas for their operations are set for a bumpy ride. The Brisbane gas Short Term Trading Market (STTM) is set to start from 1 December 2011.

In November 2009, the Qld Government announced a range of new measures designed to pave the way for an export gas industry. Based in Brisbane, trading will cover the Brisbane metropolitan gas market with participants including energy retailers, power generators and other large scale gas users.

In the second half of 2010 the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) established a project team in Brisbane to manage the STTM implementation. From September 2011, AEMO has been running a full scale market trial to bed down operations prior to a market start.

The Qld Government say that the STTM will encourage competition, improve the flexibility & transparency of the Qld gas market.

The reality of the situation is Coal Seam Gas producers need to dump cheap gas onto the domestic market, while they ramp up operations. The end goal is an export industry but the production rates & the infrastructure for liquefying & exporting gas are still not there yet.

Most of the Gas produced in Qld is a non-renewable fossil fuel, extracted from Coal Seams. It has at least half the green house gas intensity of coal.

The impacts of fugitive emissions & the accumulative impacts of the de-pressurisation of the aquifiers is still unknown.

Waste Levy, Green Tape, Compliance, Gas

The Waste Levy

Last week the Waste Reduction and Recycling Bill 2011 including a land fill levy was passed by the Qld State Parliament. The aim is to halve the amount of rubbish directed to landfill within a decade. After a slow start due to floods & a cyclone, the levy will kick in on 1 December 2011.

Qld has lagged behind NSW & Vic in introducing a Land Fill Levy on non-recycled commercial waste. Municipal domestic waste is exempt from the levy, adding a layer of complexity & an administrative nightmare. The waste levy will discourage waste generators in the southern states to cross the border to dump their waste in Qld. However, there still may be perverse incentives to export waste overseas.

Qld generates about 32m tonnes of waste every year. Materials that are recovered, reused or recycled won’t attract the levy. The wastes generated from recycling will still attract the levy but at a discounted rate. The majority of funds raised from the levy will feed directly into the four year $159m Waste Avoidance and Resource Efficiency fund to help companies avoid producing waste, sort their waste & recycle it.

Councils throughout Qld will this year receive an $11m boost for waste management facilities, following earlier assistance totaling $4.1m to help establish or improve infrastructure such as weighbridges and fences at landfills. Councils will also benefit from the $100m Sustainable Futures Fund to help them better manage waste.

New programs will:

· encourage recycling of organic waste

· a renewed litter prevention program will commence to catch and prosecute illegal dumpers.

Qld’s waste levy will commence at $35/t for Commercial & Industrial (C&I) and Construction and Demolition (C&D) wastes. There is a brief levy FAQ on the DERM website.

Green Tape Reduction

The environmental approvals system has been overhauled by legislation introduced into Qld State Parliament this week. The amendments to the Environmental Protection Act aim to increase the efficiency of the environmental approvals system & cut green tape.

ASBG has been campaigning for the reduction of unnecessary regulatory burdens, such as the time wasted in lengthy application processes & onerous reporting.

The introduction of standard applications aims to reduce costs & increase certainty in application processes for low environmental risk operations. The new regulations will corporate licensees to manage their environmental authorities for multiple sites in an integrated way. The reforms will simplify the relationship between environmental licenses & development permits meaning an operator will only need to pay for their annual fees once their development permit is approved.

DERM’s Compliance Plan

It would be prudent for businesses to review the Department of Environment & Resource Management (DERM) regulatory compliance program. The Annual Compliance Plan 2011–12 sets out proactive and planned compliance priorities in some of the following areas:

· Environmental recovery

· Indigenous heritage conservation

· Queensland heritage conservation

· Place names

· Land management,

· Quarry management

· Commercial native forests

· Vegetation management

· Water use and supply

· National Framework for Compliance and Enforcement Systems for Water Resource Management

· Environmental management

· Waste reform

· Energy resources, including minerals & minerals and mining, coal seam gas/liquefied natural gas, underground coal gasification

While the compliance plan provides an overview of DERM’s strategic compliance priorities; it does not represent all compliance activity to be undertaken in 2011–12.

Gas

The Qld State Government & TRUenergy have announced a multi-billion investment in two new gas fired power stations in Ipswich and in Gladstone, powered with gas from the Qld's south west gas fields.

The Qld State Government is still claiming gas power stations will emit up to 50% less CO2 than a coal-fired station, as if this acceptable.

TRUenergy have commenced the development application process for the two high-efficiency gas-fired power stations. The proposed power stations will be developed in stages with the initial units sized at around 500MW & have a total capacity of up to 1500MW each depending on energy demands.

The Ipswich Power Station will be located within an industrial park, near the existing Swanbank B coal fired power station which will close in April 2012. The Aldoga Power Station, will be located in the Gladstone State Development Area on land already zoned for heavy industrial use.

The permitting process will occur over the next 12 months. Subject to the receipt of all permitting & development approvals, construction could begin as early as 2013. Each power station will involve investment of approximately $1.8b.

Paul Hawken

Paul Hawken is in Australia over the next 2 weeks for a number of public & private events. There are seats still available at 3 public events in NSW and QLD. There are also places available at the Sustainability Leadership Masterclass events in Sydney & Melbourne aimed more at business/government/NGO's.

Click here for a list of all Paul Hawken events in Australia

Major overhaul of environmental approvals cuts green tape

Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for State Development and Trade

The Honourable Andrew Fraser
26/10/2011

Major overhaul of environmental approvals cuts green tape


The most significant reform to Queensland's environmental approvals system in the past 15 years has today been introduced into State Parliament, giving the economy the opportunity to save at least $12.5 million a year.

Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser said amendments to the Environmental Protection Act were designed to increase the efficiency of the environmental approvals system and cut green tape while at the same time maintaining Queensland's rigorous environmental standards.

"These amendments will streamline the process for Queensland businesses to obtain certain environmental approvals," Mr Fraser said.

"Today we introduce new, innovative ways of delivering environmental requirements - changes that will result in savings for business and government of at least $12.5 million a year and, for the average small business, savings of $20,000.

"They will significantly reduce costs for industry and government while upholding the rigorous environmental standards the community expects.

"Queensland's unique environment is an asset that requires a unique system of protection."

Environment Minister Vicky Darling said since the Environmental Protection Act was introduced in 1994, environmental regulation had grown significantly.

"But while this was out of necessity to protect our environment, reflecting increased public awareness and scientific developments, we now have an opportunity to consolidate the system and make it more efficient," Ms Darling said.

"Greentape reduction is about reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens, such as time wasted in lengthy application processes."

Ms Darling said the introduction of standard applications would reduce costs and increase certainty in application processes for low environmental risk operations.

"An average small business is expected to save over $20,000 in application costs from this initiative alone.

"Businesses will be able to hold corporate licenses to manage their environmental authorities for multiple sites in an integrated way just like they manage their businesses.

"These reforms will simplify the relationship between environmental licenses and development permits meaning an operator will only need to pay for their annual fees once their development permit is approved.

"All businesses, including waste management, manufacturing, extractive industries and intensive livestock industries, who are currently required to be licensed under the Environmental Protection Act will benefit from these improvements.

"However, these reforms are not at the expense of environmental protection and all businesses will have to meet the environmental standards expected by the community to protect Queensland's unique environment."

Following full rollout of the changes it is expected that more than half of the 2,500 applications the Environment Department receives annually - and most local government applications - will be standard, saving approval time for both industry and government.

The changes are the result of the government's Greentape Reduction project, a two-year overhaul involving comprehensive consultation with industry and the community.

Through the Queensland Government's Smart Regulatory Reform Agenda, the Government is committed to reducing the regulatory burden of business and the administrative burden of government by $150 Million each year by the end of 2013.

Press release by Society for Sustainability and Environmental Engineering

Engineers issue a call to action

Engineers at their national sustainability conference in Brisbane today issued a Code Red warning that the profession is prepared to take urgent action on climate change.

Delegates unanimously accepted the overwhelming evidence that the earth is warming and that it is linked to mankind burning fossil fuels.

According to Incoming chairperson Lara Harland, “If we accept the science on almost everything from heart surgery to aeroplanes, why won’t we accept the science of climate from the professionals who have studied it all of their working lives?”

Deane Belfield the outgoing chair said, “The Chinese use the same symbol for crisis and opportunity. We have both in front of us now, and must seize the opportunity. The risk of catastrophe is far greater than the risks of not acting.”

Engineers are eager to work with other professionals to use the tools at their disposal and bring about deep transformational change to sustainable living. A multi-state working committee has been formed with the goals of:

• Supporting the scientists to convey their expertise and the urgency of the matter
• Working with other bodies who understand the science and can contribute to solutions
• Providing solutions that will work

With the knowledge that we have now, the risk of not acting is far outside the bounds of anything acceptable to a normal society. We have the tools if we use them now.

Sustainabl​e Business Weekly QLD Edition [Transform​ation, Coal, SSEE Silo smashing, Legacy, Cilmate Adaption]

The Necessary Transformation
Paul Hawken – "The Necessary Transformation: Business, Industry, Government & Community in a Rapidly Changing World"

1 November 2011 from 10:45am to 12:30pm at Z-Block Auditorium Z-411, Queensland University of Technology, Gardens Point

At this not-to-be-missed special event: Paul Hawken, author of Natural Capitalism, Ecology of Commerce and Blessed Unrest and touted as the inspiration of John Anderson and Interface carpets; Al Gore and Bill Clinton.

Paul is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, and author. His work includes starting ecological businesses, writing about the impact of commerce on living systems, and consulting with heads of state and CEOs on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy.

Listen to the distinctions that Paul draws about the changes that are taking place around the world and how they are spreading internationally and here in Australia. Engage in a powerful conversation about what is possible rather than settling for what is practical.

Cost: Free, No RSVP required, Limited seating

Coal Mining a Nature Refuge
You are invited to have your say on the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Galilee Coal project, including:
• the project's potential environmental effects
• whether the EIS adequately addresses the terms of reference
• whether the strategies proposed by the project proponent will effectively manage the project's impacts.

The EIS will be evaluated by the Queensland and Australian Governments under a parallel process.

A massive coal mining project in central Queensland has set off a debate about the future of one of the nation's land conservation schemes.

If approved, the Galilee Basin proposal by Queensland billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer would be the first mine to be allowed in a nature refuge.

Half of it will become an open cut mine, while the other half will be significantly affected by long-wall mining.

Clive Palmer's Waratah Coal plans on exporting 40 million tonnes of coal a year from the Galilee Basin project, earning about $4.6 billion per annum.

It would also inject about $1 billion annually into the coffers of the Queensland and Federal Governments.

For public and administrative convenience, the Coordinator-General will receive all submissions on behalf of both Governments.

The Australian Government Minister for the Environment and the Coordinator-General will consider your submission as part of their evaluation of the EIS.

Submissions close at 5 pm on Monday 7 November 2011.

SSEE’s escaping Silos
This is your last chance to participate in Australia's first truely zero eco-footprint international conference.

Engineering has made the world an amazing place to in which live safely, enjoy good health and longevity, and build economic wellbeing.

However, society is facing some very serious challenges with climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, corporate governance failures and unchecked population growth in some of the most desperate countries on earth. These five issues together are severely testing our planet’s capacity to support life, and maintain our current economic paradigm.

In Paul Gilding's words "society is currently facing a great disruption". This disruption will turn current economic thinking upside down - we are coming to the end of economic growth based on material wealth.

Engineering lies at the heart of, or is impacted by all of these issues. As the world’s recognised problem solvers, engineers need to turn their attention to new ways of addressing, and finding solutions to these problems. Business as Usual is simply not an option.

Join us at Escaping Silos to hear Paul Gilding tell it as it is, but also show us how human ingenuity can bring us through to a new economic paradigm.

Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre 24 - 26 October 2011.


Legacy
I have often wondered, how will history treat our current crop of Political Representatives and how will they be remembered. What is the legacy that will be left to future generations in terms of the environment, economics & social structures?

AWA Climate Change Adaptation Planning Course
In response to a call from AWA members, this course on the 23 November 2011 will assist attendees in developing a better understanding of the adaptation risks their organisation face due to climate change. It will help them to take the first steps in developing a climate change adaptation plan and identifies tools that will support them in implementing their plan.

This is to be achieved by stepping through a complete planning process, demonstrating application through scenario's and real life case studies.

At the completion of the course, attendees will have developed a plan of action to build upon once back in the workplace. For further details please see the AWA website