2019-02-18 GC Agenda Att 1 to Item 8 - Draft Environment Strategy

Sustainable Living
Goal: By 2030 the Noosa community is living in an increasingly sustainable manner and is
carbon neutral.

The natural environment sustains and fulfils human life through ‘ecosystem services’. Ecosystem
services are the benefits provided to humans through the transformation of natural resources into
the flow of essential goods and services such as clean air, water and food. The sustainability of
communities and economies depends upon our ability to maintain or restore the ecological
functions of both urban and rural landscapes. Yet our current lifestyles are impacting on the very
ecological services that sustain us. If everyone lived like the average Australian we would need
around 5 planets to support us – but we only have one.

Sustainable living means moving from a “take-make-waste” society to a circular economy that is
based on renewable energy sources, eliminates waste and pollution, and keeps products and
services in use. Sustainable living means living in built and natural environments in a way that
reduces and minimises impacts on natural resources, and contributes to the preservation and
restoration of ecological services on both a local and global scale.

Noosa Shire has an ongoing role to play both locally and globally in promoting sustainable living.
Noosa’s shared community vision for the environment, as well as strong community partnerships
that successfully advocate for and improve the environment, will continue to be important for
driving an ecologically sustainable approach to Noosa’s prosperity.

Our focus on Environment and sustainability action will need to move beyond locally and
regionally-focused actions to a deeper sense of responsibility for our global environment. Noosa’s
resource consumption, energy use and carbon pollution contributes to global environmental
impacts. Noosa Council and the Noosa community have a responsibility to ‘think and act globally’.

We have the capacity to influence change by proactively doing our bit.


This theme is progressed through the following 3 strategies:
    Reduce waste to landfill
    Encourage incorporation of more sustainable building elements
    Adopt sustainable agricultural practices.

Other sustainable living issues, such as transport, tourism, housing accessibility and affordability,
and urban design, are closely interrelated to the issues covered here. They are the focus of
existing Council strategic documents such as the Transport Strategy, Local Economic Plan, Social
Strategy and the Noosa Planning Scheme.




Noosa Shire Environment Strategy                                                              Page 28