Plea for people to tread gently on fragile earth

PREACHES: Gayle Russell, of Mullumbimby, with some of her home-grown organic produce. Ms Russell will be speaking at the All Natural Expo in Bangalow on Saturday.

David Nielsen

AUSTRALIA is one of the largest producers of waste with one of the largest carbon footprints in the world, according to Gayle Russell, of Mullumbimby.

“Our footprint is huge,” Ms Russell said.

“In Australia it is 7.9 hectares of waste per person. While not beating the US, that is higher than most parts of Europe.”

Ms Russell will be presenting a workshop at the All Natural Expo in Bangalow, which runs from Friday to Sunday.

Her workshop will be held on Saturday and is titled, 'Your carbon footprint. How to make a difference'.

Ms Russell believes that while we can do a number of things around the home, it will take a change of mindset to stop destroying the Earth's resources.

“Our consumer needs have led to more destruction,” she said.

“Before buying more, we should ask ourselves, 'do I need this?' or 'how can I do this differently'.

Ms Russell cites the example of a recent birthday present she gave her two-year-old grandson.

“He was given so many presents. So I bought him one square metre of rainforest in the Daintree. I didn't want to ply him with stuff,” she said.

Ms Russell also believes that as shareholders and consumers we should ask big business to make a difference.

“We don't need to attack businesses. We only need to ask them to perhaps do something a better way. As well as reducing our carbon footprint, we can save money,” she said.