Saturday 8 November 2008

Saffin urges NSW North Coast business to take advantage of 'green' funding

The Far North Coaster online magazine reports:

Federal Member for Page Janelle Saffin says local commercial building owners can take advantage of the Rudd Government's new $90 million Green Building Fund which offers dollar-for-dollar support up to $500,000.

Ms Saffin said the fund will help businesses tackle climate change by reducing the energy consumed in the existing commercial office buildings.

"I know local people are serious about tackling greenhouse gas emissions," she said.

"After the Government announced its Green loans and grants for households in the Budget, I had a number of people asking about green initiatives for businesses.

"The Green Building Fund is aimed at owners of existing commercial office buildings, and will support retro-fitting projects that reduce energy consumption.

"Eligible projects can include upgrades to common area lighting, and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems and improvements to building fabric through glazing and shading."

It's good to see Ms. Saffin making use of the media to inform her electorate.

The North East Waste Forum in conjunction with local government in the Northern Rivers also offers residents and business an opportunity to reuse, recycle or rent to reduce the high turnover of goods:

Repairing goods, from shoes to computers, is no longer seen as an option when times are good and we are cajoled by advertising to believe that products are obsolete as soon as they hit the shelves.

The result of this is the increased depletion of resources, particularly metals, and the problems of disposal of electronic and electrical equipment.

There are over 45 million major appliances — 9 million computers, 5 million printers and 2 million scanners — in households and businesses across Australia, of which 2.5 million are being discarded each year.

Of these 2.5 million discarded units, 1.4 million are computers; of which more than half, equating to almost 20,000 tons, are sent to landfill.

The Reuse Directory online

No comments: