King Island crowned National Sustainable Community and Tidy Town

   King Island is soon hosting the State Tidy Town awards on the 8th December 2022. The National Awards presentation in six months, mid year 2023, will also be hosted by King Island, being the overall winner of the 2022 Australian sustainable community and Tidy Town. 

   How do we feel? 

   My belief is these awards are dedicated to the current and past King Islanders, who always care for and about our lovely island, kudos and sincere thanks to each and everyone of you. 

   Congratulations to all entrants Australia wide who care and are proud of their town, keep up the great work. 

   ♡ hh♡ | happy heidi made with ♡ on King Island.

******* ABOUT-KEEP-AUSTRALIA-BEAUTIFUL-TIDY-TOWNS-AWARD

These awards have evolved to encompass projects and initiatives with a focus on environmental sustainability and resource management to reflect a growing awareness of the importance of community-led environmental action.

The Tidy Towns name has always been synonymous with community pride, cohesion and above all community action. The awards reach beyond tourism to encourage, motivate and celebrate the sustainability achievements of grassroots rural and regional communities across Australia.

The finalists in the Australian Sustainable Communities Tidy Towns competition, who are largely volunteers, are some of the most dedicated, passionate and colourful people in all the Keep Australia Beautiful Sustainable Communities awards programs across the country. Year upon year we see a calibre of community action that allows all Australians to aspire to be tidy Aussies.

Each year, state and territory winners from the Keep Australia Beautiful network are announced between August and November. They then receive a visit from the Australian Sustainable Communities Tidy Towns judge, with the Awards presented between March and May.

The awards event, often hosted over two days, consists of networking with sustainability leaders around Australia, finalist presentations showcasing their entries, as well as highlights and suggestions from the Australian Sustainable Communities Tidy Towns judge. If the event is hosted by the town of the previous winner, attendees are invited to tour their projects, sustainable solutions and initiatives to learn firsthand what earned them the iconic Australian title.

In addition to a healthy dose of competition, the Australian Sustainable Communities Tidy Towns awards bring together community leaders, environmental champions, young legends and waste warriors from every corner of our great country to share experiences, learn from and inspire each other

*******KEEP-AUSTRALIA-BEAUTIFUL-NATIONAL-JUDGE-BIO

   Gail Langley, is the National KAB Judge.

Gail’s formal training lies in agriculture, banking, education, and counselling with international and Australian involvement in agriculture, building social rural entities, working as an Australian Counselling Association member dealing with children, youth, families and health within the school education system.

Gail has lived and worked in small rural and larger regional areas – working at different times on the land and professionally employed in towns.

She has held numerous positions for the local NSW Farmer organisation’s, was a Board Member on the local Lyndon House Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre and belonged to the local Aboriginal Education Council.

Previous judging experience includes judging for the Sydney Royal Agricultural Show Society in regional and rural areas. In turn, Gail is familiar with the other side of judging – being awarded 3 Carbon Cocky Awards in 2014: Finalist National Carbon Cocky of the Year, Outstanding Innovation/Invention and Outstanding Performance in Carbon Sequestration.

********* KING ISLAND WINS FOUR NATIONAL AWARD CATEGORIES

King Island is rich in history, with shipwrecks, lighthouses and jagged reefs, bountiful with long stretching sandy beaches and lush green pasture. This tiny piece of paradise is idyllic in every aspect.

Nonetheless, King Island community and Council are also realistic, acknowledging their future challenges of managing growth, enhancing the environment and balancing services.

King Island demonstrates an enormous passion for their unique environment and ancestry, with the community exemplifying the concept of sustainability. It is a resourceful place, with the island’s services mostly run by volunteers.

The King Island community lead by example and embrace their quest to become more sustainable in the future.

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Environmental Sustainability – Energy Award

WINNER: WAVE SWELL King Island, Tasmania

This award recognises leadership and innovation in energy conservation and management in the face of a changing environment.

Wave Swell Energy is an innovative Australian based renewable energy technology company that selected Grassy Harbour on King Island as the location for deployment, trial and operation of its world leading propriety technology that converts wave energy into electricity. WSE’s technology produces clean, sustainable electricity from waves, and in cooperation with Hydro Tasmania, the electricity is exported to the grid to power homes and businesses on King Island.

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This award recognises the protection, conservation and enhancement of the natural environment.

One of the many ways in which to monitor the health and sustainability of an area and its natural environment is by observing birds as an indicator species.

The King Island Landcare Group began the ‘Wings on King’ project, which identified King Island to be experiencing some concerning environmental degradation issues by identifying three critically endangered and two endangered bird species. As a result, a King Island Bird Conservation Action Plan has been set up to manage the recovery of these species.

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This award recognises achievements by an individual or group/s of young people (under 25) who have demonstrated significant commitment to the environment and/or have made significant contributions to any of the other categories.

From humble beginnings, the Green Team has grown to become a significant environmental group on the island, with over 50% of the island’s school population volunteering to join the team in 2022. Over the years, the Green Team has worked to reduce litter on the island, implement a voluntary single-use plastic bag ban since 2011 and run clean-up days. Most notably, the team worked with the local council to divert more than 100,000 glass bottles from landfill, with crushed glass now used in the island’s roads construction.

****** NOMINATE-YOUR-BEAUTIFUL-TOWN 

Tag your town if you think it's beautiful and encourage Council to nominate and enter in Keep Australia Beautiful 

Kabtas.com.au

******* SUSTAINABLE-COMMUNITIES 

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