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Total Environment Centre

Cool, calm, connected - you can count on TEC to work with you to protect Australia's ecosystems as we transition to a fairer greener world

TEC has been working with communities to defend our natural assets from short-sighted development and industry for more than 50 years - saving trees, protecting water, fighting pollution, and pushing governments to formulate strong policy and efficient legislation and infrastructure in our cities and rural areas.

24/07/2026

Our Sydney Basin Koala Network is urging the community to speak up for koalas.

132 koala feed trees are at risk of being cleared.

This proposal threatens an important section of the Georges River koala corridor and critically endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland.

The consultation is open now, and every submission counts. Please show koalas you care by taking a few minutes to have your say before Wednesday 29 July.

17/07/2026

Good news for Sydney's green future.🌱

After years of advocacy, we're pleased to see the NSW Government take another important step towards delivering Sydney's Blue-Green Grid.
On 8 July 2026, the Government announced the establishment of a Blue-Green Grid Committee of agencies with urban landholdings to help implement a connected network of parks, waterways and green corridors across Greater Sydney.

It follows the inclusion of the Blue-Green Grid in the new Sydney Plan and reflects growing recognition that investing in nature is essential for healthier communities, cooler neighbourhoods and a more resilient city.

Our work isn't finished. We'll continue advocating for stronger planning rules, healthier waterways, increased tree canopy and better connections between Sydney's parks, wildlife and people. 🐨

Thank you to everyone who supported our campaign, made a submission and helped keep this vision on the agenda.

👉️Read more about what this announcement means and what comes next.
🔗 link in comments

07/07/2026

🎉Happy 8th Birthday, AUSMAP !

Eight years ago TEC set up AUSMAP to answer a question nobody else was asking: how much microplastic pollution is really out there, and where?

Today, thanks to over 1,300 trained citizen scientists, we have real answers, including 70+ new pollution hotspot sites identified across Australia and a recent detailed report combining all of our data in NSW.

This includes a case study into Kai’ymay/Manly Cove where AUSMAP was launched 8 years ago yesterday, 🌞and we have since collected over 90 samples, the longest running microplastics database in the southern hemisphere, and quite possibly, the world! 🐳

"This is what community powered science looks like," says Dr Scott Wilson, AUSMAP's Research Director. "To everyone who's sampled a beach, helped us process and log data, or simply cared enough to ask questions: thank you."

"Our research such as the recent NSW Microplastics Report is now shaping real policy conversations", says TEC Executive Director Jeff Angel: "That's the difference this community, advocacy and persistence makes."

Here's to the next 8 years. 🌊

28/06/2026

54 years of fighting for nature.

Koala corridors being mapped and secured. Microplastic data reaching the government. Battery stewardship laws through parliament. Rights of Nature being advanced in Australian law.

None of it has happened alone.

Tomorrow is 30 June. If you have been thinking about giving, this is the moment. Any donation of $2 or over is tax-deductible in this financial year.
Help us make nature a priority in every decision.

Donate today https://www.tec.org.au/donate

19/06/2026

🚫 SBKN encourages objections to Alkoomie Place Planning Proposal in South Wilton – 450–550 houses in core koala habitat in an area planned for 50! Submissions close 5:00pm Thursday, 25 June 2026.

* Koala population under threat: South Wilton has a long standing koala population and a critical primary corridor recognised by the NSW Government.
* 10x overreach on Council’s plan: Cell 3 was planned for ~50 rural lots in a low-impact rural setting; this proposal seeks 450–550 dwellings, a massive intensification inconsistent with Council’s own land use plan.
* Indirect intensification of Avoided Land: Dense housing beside CPCP Avoided Land will degrade habitat via edge effects, dogs, noise, weeds and fragmentation without clearing.
* Will contribute to the vehicle strike crisis: 175 total strikes since July 2022 in South West Sydney, driving local declines.
* Cumulative growth pressure: Adds to Wilton’s existing development and infrastructure stress, undermining corridor connectivity across the broader landscape.

🛑 SBKN calls on Wollondilly Shire Council to refuse this proposal – it conflicts with Cell 3’s vision, threatens koalas, and intensifies biodiversity loss.

Have your say here (our full submission in comments): https://www.yoursay.wollondilly.nsw.gov.au/proposed-rezoning-alkoomie-place-south-wilton?fbclid=IwY2xjawSE1gRleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFMY2dlUlVmMnUwaUFPYThJc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHv98kZsPtn8yK_L5D25oWNsiKdEMKE296ylNNs9Ze8bLD5Xcw1Ds-TdHYXBY_aem_oRsmb9a2EO0mVsHYiwK8KQ

Wilton Action Group Save Sydney's Koalas Total Environment Centre

18/06/2026

Microplastic pollution in Metropolitan Sydney has tripled since 2018.

That is not a guess. That is seven years of data collected by citizen scientists sampling our waterways so governments can no longer claim they do not know what is happening.

The evidence is in front of decision makers. Now we need the laws to match.

If you have been thinking about giving before 30 June, now is a natural moment. Any donation of $2 or over is tax-deductible in this financial year.

Help us make nature a priority in every decision.

Link to donate in comments!

16/06/2026

WIN FOR THE COMMUNITY & NATURE: Planning Panel rejects plans for waterfront artificial turf

Inner West Council submitted a development application to the Planning Panel for two synthetic turf soccer fields in the grounds of Callan Park. This proposal was widely criticised by community groups due to the lack of adequate community consultation, the conflict with the aesthetic of the historic park, the disruption of cricket and other public use of the field, and the environmental and human health risks associated with synthetic turf.

Research by Total Environment Centre’s AUSMAP project demonstrated that synthetic grass is an increasing source of microplastic pollution in our waterways. TEC raised this evidence in our submissions to the planning panel, along with evidence that synthetic fields regularly contain PFAS, heavy metals, carcinogens and endocrine disruptors, noting that the proposal would create water pollutants, particularly during flood events.

The Inner West planning panel approved the higher-ground proposal on Balmain road, but rejected the proposal on the waterfront of Iron Cove, predominantly due to pollutant risk during flood events.

You can read more about TEC’s microplastic campaign here:
www.tec.org.au/microplastics_too_big_to_ignore

02/06/2026

No corridors. No connection. No koalas.

Without biodiversity corridors, koalas and many other species face local extinction. Secure their habitat and you shelter powerful owls, gliders, reptiles, and dozens of other species that share the same bush.

Our Greater Sydney Koala Corridor report mapped these critical links for the first time. Corridors are being secured. But the development pressure has not stopped.

If you have been thinking about giving before 30 June, now is a natural moment. Any donation of $2 or over is tax-deductible in this financial year.

Help us make nature a priority in every decision.

Donate today https://www.tec.org.au/donate

25/05/2026

54 years in. The work continues.

The bush is fragmenting.

Plastics are breaking up into micro particles that make their way into our rivers, our food, and our bodies.

The laws designed to stop this aren't strong enough.

For 54 years, TEC has been fighting to change that. Citizen scientists in the field. Representing the community in council chambers. Making politicians listen. Pushing for the laws nature needs.

30 June is approaching. A tax-deductible gift before then keeps this work going. Any donation made before is tax-deductible in this financial year.

https://www.tec.org.au/donate

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Surry Hills, NSW
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Website

http://www.tec.org.au/

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