Long-time Futuremakers lead the charge
It no longer takes a Sting daubed in body paint to inform us of the threats to Amazonian rainforests, or a Brigitte Bardot to glamorise the plight of the seals.
For Australia's long-term Futuremakers, a new hard-won credibility has come with prolonged drought, declining species and fears of climate change.
Pioneers of a sustainable future
The sustainability revolution means business to many long-term Futuremakers - Sunpower Design plans sustainable buildings for a growing list of customers
© Sunpower Design
These days, conservation is about as fashionable as famine or civil war - that is, it's an issue that's not going away and there are only so many images of droughts and landslides we can take.
For the few hardy souls who've laboured at their visions of a sustainable society for years in small eco-enterprises around the country, business has picked up.
Once dismissed as 'niche' or 'alternative', these pioneers now find they are riding the crest of a sustainability wave that promises to revolutionise the way we live our lives.
The green design revolution
Andreas Sederof from Victoria-based Sunpower Design has been drawing up plans for sustainable buildings for over quarter of a century, since the oil shock of the 1970s inspired him to focus on energy efficiency.
At that time a deterioration of the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East led oil rich countries to quadruple world oil prices with devastating consequences for the world economy.
"The 1970s oil crisis forced the world to reconsider the way we used fossil fuels, much like the crisis in global oil supplies and the looming threat of global warming is making us rethink the way we use energy today," Andreas says.
Andreas integrates sustainable features such as rainwater collection, alternative power sources, grey water recycling, solar hot water and water efficient landscaping into the fabric of a building's design. Most of his homes have a minimum six-star energy efficiency rating.
He now has over 30 national and state awards for energy efficiency and sustainable design but for the first 20 years his business was nothing more than a labour of love.
"It was a hard grind when I started and for the first 15 years we nearly starved," he says.
"It wasn't until 1998 that we started making a living out of it. In early 2000 it really started taking off and now we employ five people full-time dedicated solely to sustainable design."
More and more people are seeking sustainability credentials when designing their homes. For Andreas, this has translated into a 15% growth in business every year.
"Even over the past year and a half I've noticed a dramatic shift in the way people are approaching this idea of living sustainably," he says.
"I was even approached to design a green backpacker hostel north of Brisbane recently. That would never have happened a few years ago.
"It's really being taken seriously for the first time and people are not just sitting around blaming the government anymore. They realise that it's up to us and they're taking personal responsibility."
In search of sustainable wood
Scott Coppin, director of a third generation joinery business in Lismore, NSW, agrees. Demand for his sustainably-sourced timber products is increasing and is being driven by the customer rather than the industry.
"We're finding that it's the customers who are really driving this move towards sustainable products rather than the individual builders," Scott says.
"And there's a sense that it's really snowballing. These days 50% of the work we're doing is FSC certified."
Scott's company Hampton and Larsson last year became the first joinery business in Australia to achieve Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification.
This means all the wood used to make Hampton and Larsson's windows and doors is guaranteed to have been sourced from forests managed according to a strict set of environmental, social and economic standards.
Illegal logging around the world contributes to major environmental and social problems, including the habitat destruction of such species as Sumatran tigers, orang-utans, rhinos and elephants.
Last year, the Australian Government said (PDF 172 KB) around $400 million worth of illegally harvested timber was imported into the country. This represents about 9% of our total timber imports every year, with most of this from Asia Pacific countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma and Papua New Guinea.
"This was my wife's grandfather's business and when we bought it the first thing we did was look at where the timber was coming from. We found some of it was from Indonesia and some was from New Guinea where we knew illegal logging was a major issue," Scott says.
"My wife and I had seen some of the images of deforestation around the world and were wondering how we'd be able to sleep at night knowing we were supporting that. So we decided we'd do something about it and seek out FSC certification."
Scott says that the number of forests around the world that are certified as responsibly-managed has increased dramatically in recent times making it easier to find high-quality sustainably-sourced timber. WWF-Australia, through the Australian Forest and Trade Network (AFTN), is actively encouraging Australian forest managers to pursue FSC certification.
"With the way things are going we're hoping to significantly increase the amount of timber products we can offer that are FSC certified over the next couple of years."
Let your fingers do the marching
From green plumbers and electricians to eco-nursing homes and architectural firms, there is a thriving world of environmentally focused businesses that are now able to make a living from being sustainable.
Katie Patrick from the soon-to-be-launched Green Pages - a list of sustainable services in Australia that now has thousands of businesses on its database - says it is now an asset to be green in this climate of enhanced environmental awareness.
"Ten years ago, when the CEO of a company made green claims in the media their share prices would drop immediately. These days it's an asset and this is reflected in the market's reaction to claims of sustainability," she says.
"Being a sustainable builder or a green certified plumber is now a viable career and a profession in itself rather than a sideline."
It's a long way from the dismissive culture Andreas Sederof encountered when he started 30 years ago.
"From what I've seen in recent years, I've got very good reason to be optimistic about the future - not just for my business but for the whole planet," he says.
"Five years ago I would hardly ever be called on to put a solar power system on a client's roof, now we're doing it 70% of the time. As people change, politicians will follow and that's how we save the day."
Your story
These are just three of the many great stories about Futuremakers around Australia. Perhaps you are, or know, of someone working for a better future?
Tell us your story - we'd love to hear from you.
How you can help
Here are three things that you can do to help create a better future:
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- Sign our petition urging Australian governments to set firm targets and timelines for reducing greenhouse gas pollution by 30% by 2030.
- Consider investing your superannuation in an ethical investment fund - invest for a sustainable future.
