Australia - Prohibiciones

Bucanero escribió:

Un pequeño pueblo australiano prohíbe la venta de botellas de agua

La localidad de Bundanoon, Australia, logra prohibir la venta de agua embotellada, tras haber votado mayoritariamente a mano alzada, a favor de la iniciativa durante una asamblea de los ciudadanos en la plaza municipal, según informa BBC News.

Sólo un residente votó en contra de esta decisión, junto con un representante de la industria del agua embotellada local.

Los comerciantes de esta pequeña comunidad, en Nueva Gales del Sur, promovieron esta campaña, renunciando a los beneficios por las ventas, para combatir la fuerte producción de gases nocivos asociada con el embotellado y el transporte.

Sin embargo, los bares de la ciudad no podrán obligar los turistas a respetar la prohibición, pero les animarán a llenar un contenedor reutilizable de la fuente de agua en la calle principal. Las botellas reutilizables llevarán el lema 'Bundy on Tap' (Rellena en el Grifo), según informa ABC News.

Bundanoon con esta decisión se ha convertido en un caso ejemplar y tuvo el efecto de impresionar hasta el gobierno del estado de Nueva Gales del Sur, con capital en Sydney. El presidente,

Nathan Rees ordenó a los departamentos y agencias estatales no comprar más agua en botella, contándose con el agua de la canilla.
¿Por qué pagar por algo que se puede tener gratis?

El caso australiano no está aislado: también en Canadá se apoyaron campañas similares, aunque todavía no llegaron a bloquear la venta de botellas de plastico.

Toronto fue la primera ciudad en prohibir la venta de botellas de agua en los departamentos gubernamentales en el 2008. Tras esto, 21 entre universidades e institutos de la región de Ontario participaron al proyecto.

Como en el caso de Bundanoon, Toronto sirvió de ejemplo para convencer la entera Federación de los Municipios de Canadá (FCM) a proponer esta campaña a todos los ciudadanos del estado canadiense, según informaba la red local CBC News.

El presidente de la FCM, Jean Perrault, subrayo que esta no es una prohibición autoritaria, sino un intento de educar la gente a consumar el agua del grifo, en el respecto del medioambiente.

"Comprar una botella de agua cuesta casi dos dolares y cincuenta. ¿El coste para producir el agua en la ciudad? Puedo rellenaros 6000 botellas con agua de grifo por el mismo precio", declaró Perrault a los microfonos de CBC News.

Fuente: web

Bucanero escribió:

La gente que presta vehículos para bodas podría acabar en la cárcel

People who lend cars for weddings may face jail

A MP says a threat has been made to prosecute people who have lent their cars to family or friends for weddings.

Family First MP Robert Brokenshire says several of his constituents in Adelaide have received warning letters after their cars were photographed being used for weddings.

He said a letter from the Transport Department claimed anyone running transport passenger services without accreditation can face penalties of up to four years' jail or a $15,000 fine.

The owner of a vintage car said he was shocked to get a letter threatening to prosecute him for lending it to a family friend for a wedding.

Kevin May says he had been warned of the risk of jail or a fine for lending his 1969 XW GT Falcon to a bridal party.

He is demanding the warning be withdrawn immediately, saying it is an infringement of his human rights.

"I was quite upset about it at first - I thought it was a joke - and then when I studied the letter properly, you could see it had numbers on there and it was definitely an official letter and I thought 'God, blimey charlie, I was only trying to help someone out'," he said.

"I wasn't trying to get a fine - $15,000 is a lot of money."

Mr Brokenshire said the SA Government had gone mad.

"It's one thing to be out there catching rogues ... that are impersonating accredited hire car companies but when a family friend lends the Subaru or the Ford Falcon to a friend for a wedding and they receive a demanding prosecution letter, it's absolutely outrageous," he said.

"Are the Government so tight with financial management at the moment that they're hitting innocent people with significant fines?

"I mean this is absolutely wrong. A person should be able to lend their car legitimately to a friend for a wedding without intimidation or fear of a fine or prosecution."

Transport Department manager for passenger transport, Bill Gonis, said the letters were only to inform people what was legally allowed.

"It's a letter of warning and advising them if they want to speak to someone at the office we are more than happy to help them with any inquiry they may have," he said.

"If they're simply just providing that service for a friend of theirs that's fine, that's the end of that. Again I just have to make that clear that we're not prosecuting people who are simply driving their friends around.

"This is just really about ensuring public safety if some of these vehicles are going out, [ensuring] that some of these vehicles are roadworthy."

Fuente: web