Natural resources are natural, useful materials from the earth. We use these valuable raw materials in production processes for man-made goods. Humans, plants and wildlife also rely on these resources for ecosystem services and survival.

The following natural resources provide us with a range of goods.

• Oil, coal, natural gas, petroleum - plastic and fuel
• Trees - paper, timber, furniture, fuel
• Cotton plant - clothing, packaging, shelter
• Silica, soda ash, limestone - glass
• Bauxite ore - aluminium products
• Iron ore, coal, limestone - steel products
• Gold - jewellery, dental materials
• Copper - wire, coins, electrical equipment
• Manganese - steel, cast iron
• Cobalt - steel, jet engine parts, cutting tools
• Platinum - air pollution control, telecommunications equipment, jewellery
• Chromium - stainless steel, green glass, gems, leather treatment
• Diamonds - jewellery, mechanical equipment

It is important to use natural resources carefully to preserve them for future generations.

Threats to natural resources

Growing populations and demand for energy is placing natural resources under pressure. Threats include:

• Using virgin natural resources over recovered resources. For example, making new glass from silica instead of from recycled glass.
• Using non-renewable resources over renewable resources. For example, burning fossil fuel instead of using solar power.
• Using renewable resources too fast. For example, overfishing, deforestation, and destruction of the world’s rich biodiversity and ecosystems

These threats:

• reduce our store of non-renewable resources
• use energy and water through extraction and processing
• reduce biodiversity
• create pollution
• release greenhouse gases, leading to global warming, rising sea levels, desertification, damage to coastal land, increase in disease and extreme temperatures and weather events.

How we can protect natural resources

To safeguard our natural resources, we need to use them sustainably. This means extracting resources at the same rate that at which they replenish.

Your choices can help protect natural resources:

• Buy products that are:
  • made locally or in Australia
  • made using renewable resources, like solar power or timber that has been managed sustainably
  • packaged with recycled content, use minimal packaging and create the least waste
  • sold in bulk
  • multi-use items – avoid single-use items
• Reduce - take reusable bags with you when you shop and say no to plastic bags.
• Reuse - donate goods to charity, hold a garage sale or give items to friends.
• Recycle – help us save resources, conserve water and energy and reduces pollution.

Definitions

Virgin natural resources - resources used for the first time. Extracting and processing virgin resources uses a lot of energy and often creates pollution.

Recovered resources – materials recovered from the waste stream then reprocessed for reuse. Examples include recovered paper, glass and metals. Resource recovery conserves our existing natural resources.

Renewable resources – we can replenish renewable resources as fast as we use them up – for example, sun and wind used to generate energy.

Non-renewable resources – deplete faster than they regenerate. Examples include:

• Iron ore - once mined and used, it is gone forever because it takes millions more years to regenerate new iron ore.
• A forest of 400-year-old trees – when we cut down an old-growth forests it takes many generations for replanted trees to mature and replenish. Old-growth forests are considered non-renewable resources.