The Sustainable Hour

07/09/2026

Fears are growing over the safety of drinking water in southern Riverina communities after repeated detections of potentially harmful “forever…

07/09/2026

Today is the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies 🌤️

Clean air is not a luxury. It is a fundamental human right and vital for health.

Air pollution is a major environmental threat to the health of Australians - especially our children. It's linked to:

🫀 Cardiovascular and respiratory disease
🎗️ Multiple cancers
🤰 Poor antenatal outcomes
🧠 Impaired neurocognitive development in children

Smoke kills, whether it comes from a cigarette, a car exhaust or a coal mine. To protect the air we share, we must urgently phase out coal, oil and gas.

07/09/2026

Few organisations have so consistently campaigned to stymie climate action – possibly anywhere on the planet. So why is News Corp so worked up about the recent CCA report?

06/09/2026

Electric Vehicles now cost ~85% less in energy per kilometre than petrol and diesel cars in Australia:

'The graph below compares the 10 bestselling cars in each category, using official WLTP consumption figures and Melbourne energy prices.

The gap is fairly consistent across the models:

➡️ Petrol/diesel: between 13.1 and 19.8c/km, averaging 16.3c
➡️ Electric: between 1.8 and 2.6c/km, averaging 2.3c

In other words, even the least efficient EV in the comparison still costs around 80% less in energy than the cheapest petrol or diesel car.

There are a few points worth clarifying.

Petrol and diesel prices remain somewhat elevated, although even if they were 20% lower, the average EV would still cost around 82% less in energy.

The EV calculation also assumes smart home charging at 14.6c/kWh. Public fast charging can cost considerably more, which matters for drivers who aren't able to charge at home.

But there's an important flipside here too. EV drivers can benefit from flexibility that petrol and diesel drivers don't have: charging when electricity is cheap. Many retail electricity offers include cheaper overnight or midday charging windows, while households with rooftop solar can potentially charge for very little.

This is only an energy cost comparison, not a full comparison of the cost of owning a car. Purchase price, depreciation, insurance, servicing and financing are all factors too.

Historically, one of the tradeoffs with EVs was fairly straightforward - you pay more upfront, then over time recover that premium through lower energy and servicing costs.

But as the upfront price gap narrows, that calculation is changing and the economics of electric cars are becoming even more compelling.'

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gavinmooney_electric-cars-now-cost-around-85-less-in-activity-7501152844218191873-C7E6/

https://elitre.com.au/dollar

03/09/2026

→ Listen: https://climatesafety.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/sustainablehour606_128kbps_2sept2026.mp3

→ Notes: https://climatesafety.info/thesustainablehour606/

ZERO WASTE IN AN AGE OF HUNGRY MACHINES

What does “zero waste” mean in 2026?

It still means repairing things, reusing what we have, avoiding unnecessary packaging and keeping clothes and materials in circulation.

But increasingly, it also means asking questions about the things we can’t see – the minerals, metals, electricity, water and discarded hardware behind our rapidly expanding digital world.

In The Sustainable Hour no. 606, Kirsty Bishop-Fox from Zero Waste Victoria joins us ahead of Melbourne’s Zero Waste Festival at Fed Square on 12 September.

We talk about the new ReWear Runway, repair cafés, clothes swaps, food waste, plastics – and a fascinating new festival discussion about the hidden environmental footprint of AI and data centres.

We also hear how an invasive aquatic w**d in Kenya is being turned into biodegradable alternatives to plastic, while Colin Mockett takes us west to ask whether Western Australia will seize its extraordinary clean-energy opportunity – or remain tied to diesel, gas and last century’s thinking.

The underlying question running through the Hour is a simple one:

How much do we actually need?

And can we design a culture where using less, repairing more and wasting less becomes normal?

→ Listen to The Sustainable Hour no. 606:
https://climatesafety.info/thesustainablehour606
. .

03/09/2026

Anger about renewables will not be fixed by scrapping, burning or burying. If political leaders listen carefully, they may discover what regional Australians really want.

02/09/2026