Gympie and District Sustainability Alliance acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout our region and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
GADSA is a group of concerned citizens who are aware of the urgent need to reduce the adverse effects of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions at the local and national level. We believe every individual, household and business can make changes to reduce our respective impacts.
Global levels of greenhouse gases are increasing, as shown in the charts on the right. Global CO2 is now higher (~420 ppm) than it has been for 3 million years. This is driving devastating climate change around the world.
Internationally, the commitments for 2030 are insufficient to keep the world at or below 1.5 degrees of warming, as per the Paris Climate Accord. At this level, Australia would be about 2.7 degrees warmer. However, current commitments will cause the world to be about 4 degrees warmer. Australia will be around 8 degrees warmer. Imagine the heatwaves, droughts, fires and floods this will drive.
We need to urgently:
- Stop the expansion of new and and existing fossil fuel mines;
- Reduce our dependence on and use of fossil fuels;
- Accelerate the deployment of renewable energy technologies;
- Reduce energy use by making buildings more energy efficient; and
- Use best practices in Agriculture to absorb greenhouse gas from the atmosphere, and adopt technologies that reduce methane emissions from livestock.
Some simple lifestyle changes can make this happen.
Technologies, old and new, are available to do this now and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. It would make our community sustainable.
Aims
GADSA aims to:
- Engage with our local community, specifically: our citizens, civic entities and businesses, with the express goal of promoting sustainable communities;
- Advocate for the adoption of best environmental and social practices with respect to water conservation, renewable energy, clean transportation, energy efficient housing design, agricultural management and waste recycling;
- Ensure social equity is achieved in our community by ensuring all sectors of our community can benefit from the changes; and
- Encourage recycling within the community. GADSA has a Container for Change account, CID 10217318. Any donations of recyclable containers under this scheme are credited to the GADSA account and fund our activities.
What GADSA can do for you:
- Encourage you to draw on the experience of households and businesses that have adopted renewable energy, electric vehicles and sustainable practices so that you can make more informed choices;
- Inspect your buildings, to assess their energy efficiency;
- Analyze your energy bills and make recommendations as to how to save costs;
- Suggest a solar power system that would suit your situation and budget and demonstrate the potential costs and benefits to help guide your decision and discussions with solar installers.
- Invite you to visit our key events – sustainable or solar house open days, which are held periodically through the year, and Envirotech Day Gympie held annually in April. Go to our Events page to see what’s on;
- Point you to experts and other sources of information to help your decision making and enable you to achieve your sustainable lifestyle objectives;
- Support community groups in the social housing sector gain access to solar systems.
Committee
The Committee is elected at the Annual General Meeting held annually in August.
President: Jamie Dodd:
Vice President: Murray Keys:
Murray installed a solar hot water system in 2009, a 4.5 kW solar system in 2010 and purchased a Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicle in 2017. This reduced his daily energy use and bills, Electricity by 15 kWh, Petrol by 3.2 litres, which is a saving of over $10 day now. Murray’s garden is an urban forest with minimal lawns and gardens, a carbon sink.
Treasurer: Chris Bowman:
Secretary: Marion Pedler:
Membership
New members are always welcome to Join. The annual fee is currently $10. Complete the linked Membership Application and return it to GADSA.
Containers for Change
CID 10217318
Help your recycling make an even greater difference! Use our code at Containers for Change to donate your refund: CID 10217318
