Now, imagine the whole world doing that.

Landfill is filling up quickly.

I now want you to think about what would happen when landfill fills up completely.

Like in the movie wall-E, we would need to move off Earth.

Coffee cups are the second biggest contributor to litter in Australia, first is plastic bottles.

Most people think that coffee cups are made of cardboard, but it has a plastic lining which doesn’t bio-degrade.

“The ocean is turning into a plastic soup,” says green senator Peter Whish-Wilson.

There are some bio-degradable coffee cups being made, but it costs more to buy them, so not many cafes use them.

The other option is to just take your own cup along.

Oliver Bruno, age 9

Leeton 

NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is conducting inspections across the Riverina as the rice growing season gets into full swing to ensure duck hunters are properly licensed.

Officers are assessing hunter compliance as part of the game bird management program, which was helping deliver some great outcomes for landholders wanting to protect their crop from potentially devastating duck damage. 

Recent compliance operations have resulted in three men facing fines of $500 each for hunting native ducks in the Moulamein area without a licence, and a number of other matters are currently being investigated.

Rice sowing is in full swing for the 2016.

It has been great to see that the overwhelming majority of hunters are in possession of their NSW game hunting licence, correctly endorsed for hunting native game birds.

However, it was disappointing to see a number of hunters not complying with some of the conditions associated with their licence.

It is essential hunters read and understand the conditions of their licence to ensure they know their responsibilities.

Many of the rice growers, which compliance officers spoke to expressed their appreciation for the volunteer assistance they were receiving from hunters.

Good conditions for rice growing this season have led to almost 500 landholders acquiring a Native Game Bird Management licence this season.

Landholders who have yet to sign up for a duck licence can still do so by contacting the Native Game Bird Support Team located at Tocumwal. Penalties for illegal hunting include fines, court action and seizure of equipment including firearms, watercraft and motor vehicles.

For further information on native game bird hunting go to www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/hunting. 

Troy Hogarth

NSW Department of Primary Industries 

NSW Health has announced the start of a major review into NSW Health’s Personal Health Record, known as the “blue “book”, and is inviting comment from parents, carers and health professionals.

The book is a key resource for every parent and/or carer of newborn babies in the state and has been produced by NSW Health since 1988.

The content in the Blue Book had evolved over time to reflect current evidence and support families raising children in NSW and would continue to do so into 2017 and beyond.

Doctor Elisabeth Murphy

Senior Clinical Advisor

NSW Health