Together, we can change the world!

INTERVIEW WITH THE MINISTER

A few days ago I was fortunate enough to have an interview with the Western Australian Environmental Minister, the Honorable Stephen Dawson, MLC (You might want to know, if you don't already, that MLC after a parliamentarian's name means Member of the Legislative Council and MLA after a parliamentarian's name means Member of the Legislative Assembly!), and I spent nearly 45 minutes talking to him and inquiring about the future plans of WA and general initiatives. I was also lucky enough to gain permission from his Senior Media Advisor to tell you that I got to interview him! I thought it would be great for you to find out a little bit about what I have been up to! 

Here is some info about what I got up to! It was so inspiring talking to him and I would love to interview him again to find out what has evolved in Western Australian Sustainability and what they are working towards!

I had the honor to meet with the Minster for the Environment on Wednesday. COVID-19 prevented us from having a face to face meeting but we overcame this hurdle with Zoom and Microsoft Teams. It was pretty relaxed and Minister Dawson was really easy to talk to and made the process very easy. I was really excited. 

The main reasons I wanted to meet with him was because I wanted to know what the current government was doing and had planned for the future and also if they had any plans for the banning of the plastic straw. So, I started off the interview with my most pressing question.  

Are there any plans to ban the plastic straw in mainland Western Australia, as there have been banned in Rottenest and legislation has been drafted in South Australia to have it banned?

Minister Dawson explained that last year a discussion paper was put out called “Let's not draw the short straw”. This discussion paper was formulated to ask the community what single use plastic items we should look to phase out next. A huge response was received with about 9500 people responding. Isn't it great so many people are interested in saving our environment and are happy to contribute to it too? The paper asked people about their concerns on straws, balloons, and single use plastic items like plates and cutlery. Of course, this pandemic has made things a bit more challenging and delaying things. The Minister pointed out that there needs to be recognition for the disabled people in our community and some have no option than to drink from a bendy straw so a blanket ban would be impossible, however a phasing out is more achievable. So, the plan is to work out how to keep these straws and phase out the others to enable the disabled to still access the straws they need. The government is planning to keep some of these straws behind the counter for the disabled and lay a blanket faze out for the general public.

The government will be releasing the results of this later in the year.  Once it is published I will be sure to post a link in the comments to keep you up to date with where the government is going with all this. Be sure to keep a look out! You won't miss a thing if you subscribe and follow. Just click the three lines in the top left corner of the homepage!

We did so well with the blanket ban of the single use plastic bag! Do you think that Western Australia will accept the faze out of the plastic straw? 

We chatted about how WA embraced the ban on the plastic bags. We laughed when we thought about how many people were convinced “the sky would fall in when the plastic bag was phased out”. But what do you know? It didn't! Did you know that 670 million plastic bags were given out in WA every year and 70 million ended up in our waterways and littered? It's really hard to fathom how that many plastic bags lying around and never decompose. This initiative was instigated by Minister Dawson and he is very proud of it, rightly so! It is a very beneficial achievement. It must be very satisfying to have achieved such a huge milestone in the history of WA! It's amazing how well humans CAN adapt to changes and change their behaviors. It's really NOT that hard!

Waste is such a big issue so I asked the Minister if he thought that waste management alone is sufficient to preserve the environment.

His answer was a resounding NO! We talked about managing waste and discussed the initiatives being put forward in relation to the FOGO system. Minister Dawson said it was a very important part of the puzzle, but there are many other strategies that also have value. For example, he mentioned recycled materials from demolished structures were being reused in road bases. So...the next time you see a demolition of a building, it just may be going in to extend that freeway or repair that road. I never knew that and I am sure there are lots of people in the community that have no idea this is happening! We also spoke about cars and the impact they have. MetroNet is coming so this should reduce the cars on the roads and create jobs as well, which is vital in today's pandemic situation. One of the most exciting initiatives sees new National and Marine parks across the state on 5 million hectares of land to help the environment. So, with all these pieces of the puzzles put together, it works towards sustaining our environment!

I have heard about a new recycling initiative for old sneakers. I thought it was so good, but barely anyone does it. Do you think that more industries should get involved in this?

I got to speak about the recycling of old sneakers to form new objects. Minster Dawson had given me so much information that I didn't know about and now, to my my delight, I discovered I was giving him some info he didn't know about! How cool is that! But being the highly informed person the Minister is, he did know about the sneakers initiative put in place by Nike and how you can bring them in to stores, for example Rebel Sports, and they take them back to recycle them into new sneakers. He also was very knowledgeable of the other Australian based company that take your sneakers and distribute to those in need around the world...

I took the opportunity to mention that COVID-19 has made a short term impact on our environment causing a reduction oil and coal demand and emissions. I wanted to know if there was anything we could learn and put in place from our experience to reduce emissions in the long term?

Minister Dawson is very keen to keep working on initiatives but also is very aware that we can not shut down industries on a long term basis as we need people in jobs. COVID-19 has put tens of thousands of people out of work but he also acknowledges that there are many opportunities that could come out of this pandemic. He currently feels that there is a real opportunity for building new houses to the highest of standards to make them as sustainable as possible. They are currently looking at trying to encourage all new builds to have solar panels. There are talks between the Minister for housing and the Minister for planning infrastructures to see how environmental standards in the building industry can be achieved and that in turn will have a significant impact on our environment. The Government seem to be looking at all different avenues to achieve some great outcomes.  Passion is one thing that comes to my mind when talking to Minister Dawson!

I also asked, what programs are in place for schools and children?

The minister outlined two really great Government programs that are available now. Waste Wise Schools was one of them. This programs involves a wide range of initiatives undertaken by the schools involved in the program from recycling to organic gardens to having chickens! By being a Waste Wise school, it doesn't just benefit the environment, but it is also such a great opportunity for students to experience the full power of nature! Some are selling their produce as well to fund some extra bins and programs like the pen recycling organisations! The link just here is one of the many organisations (TerraCycle) that you can recycle pens with. you need to buy the box (if you want to) and when it is full of pens and markers,  you can send it off to a company that recycles them! Minister Dawson said there are about 500 waste wise schools in WA! It is so great to hear that many schools are jumping on the opportunity of being part of an organisation that saves the environment! It's all about joining together and doing your bit! You can even apply for grants through this program. It is worth encouraging your school to get involved on this exceptional opportunity, as it is wonderfully salubrious and advantageous for both your school and the environment!

"When kids learn about reducing waste at school, that information is often passed on to their parents which results in changes in waste reducing behavior at home. I think that educating children and young people is one of the keys to getting the community to change what they do."
-Minister Dawson, Environment Minister

I wanted to know what he thought was the best decision he had made in relation to waste reduction and environmental conservation, so I asked him, and got an extremely fascinating answer from it!  

He was on a winner with this one! So, it was Minister Dawson to make the decision to phase out the single use plastic bags. A monumental task and the West Aussies have embraced it. The other initiative which is yet to commence is the Cash for Can scheme. Which is...10 c for every bottle or can you bring to the recycling facility! Mum talks about how they had this when she was a kid and it was a great way to get pocket money.  It was to start on the 2nd of June 2020 but is postponed due to COVID-19. It will also create around 500 - 800 jobs in WA, which is vital for reviving the economy! But, even more importantly, it will stop a significant amount of material going into landfill. You can start collecting those bottles and cans now! Another proud moment for the minister is the creation of 5 million hectares of national marine parks which will aid in preserving the environment. Like the Cash for Can scheme, this is yet to be instigated, but it will be put into action soon enough! When I hear about it more, I will let you know where some of these are! Parks make for great family venues to enjoy the benefits of nature!

So how does a person get attracted to the environmental portfolio? Is it by chance?

Well, it doesn't seem so. Minister Dawson was a policy advisor to the environmental minister in Victoria and in WA. “When I was at high school, I got involved in an environmental group and was active in doing stuff around my school, so it's been a passion that I have had for a very long time.” He wants to encourage young people to get involved in groups like Millennium Kids. It's a WA based group that gets involved in sustainability and environmental projects. Also, Plastic Free July is another organisation started in WA and is now worldwide. We in WA are leaders in this domain…we really need to get behind all this stuff! The government provide funding behind Plastic Free July to help get it out there in the community. I have some information on this so if you want it, let me know in the comments and I can send it to you! I am going to put it to my school and hopefully we can get it off the ground for 2020, and I encourage you to also get it off the ground at your school too! A challenge for all my blog followers is to get this information out to YOUR school. Let's do it, and get Plastic Free July out there. See the links below and let me know in the comments if you have go tit going in your community or school! I would love to hear about it! Do your bit and say NO to the plastic straw and NO to the plastic cutlery. We can change the world…Small steps at a time! 

“You just have to do what you can. It’s not about immediately saving the world and doing all these initiatives straight away but you just have to do what’s possible and incrementally you can change the world. It’s not about not having dreams and aspirations to change the world but it’s the small changes that we can all do…”
-Minister Dawson, Environment Minister

I have always wondered if Minister Dawson ever aspired to be the environmental minister, so I took this great opportunity to ask him if he ever did!

No, I never did aspire to be the environmental minister. I did, however, want to be a member of parliament. I wanted to get my voice heard in the community and effect social change. he environment; I was always passionate about, and I am so grateful that the premier (The Honorable Mark McGowan) appointed me as the Environmental Minister! he role holds me responsible for Perth Zoo, Kings Park and the Swan River Estuaries, and I get to protect some pristine areas. It is a good job to have!

I also asked Minister Dawson about one piece of advice he would give to young people!

We can all do our bit and we should all do our bit. You can make the slightest change and if we all made the slightest change, it would have a significant impact on the environment. i encourage everyone to do their bit! Don't drink out of plastic water bottles, bring your own and refill it. If somebody is having a birthday party, don't buy plastic plates and other single use plastic items. here are some great alternatives out there! Do a bit of research, find out what is achievable in your household, and GET IT DONE! Collectively we can make for a better world!

Our grade 6 Cohort visited parliament house at the beginning of this year and we had the great pleasure of spending time with the Premier,  The Honorable Mark McGowan.  I was impressed that he spent time chatting to us all and it has inspired me to become more active in the community!

What does your school and family do to save the earth? Let me know in the comments below! Can't wait to find out!!!