The Total Environment Centre (TEC) believes in a fairer, greener world for all. We’ve worked with you for over 50 years to preserve the ecosystems that support living landscapes and healthy communities across Australia. With over 100 eco victories behind us, and more community-focused campaigns ahead, TEC has the roadmap for our journey into the future. Come with us!
Originally TEC was formed by the save the national park and rainforests movement of the 1970s, which naturally segued into our work to preserve clean air and stop coastal sand mining. Today we still care about trees, supporting communities as they struggle to conserve precious parks and bushland. We also push for recycling infrastructure to protect our waterways and oceans from plastic pollutants, and sturdy legislation around native animals and plants to ensure food and water security for future Australians. We advocate for renewable energy by encouraging innovation, a more flexible modern energy market, and incentivising government investment. These are the building blocks of a sustainable Australia.
Under the stewardship of our executive director Jeff Angel, TEC has remained a lean, independent and campaign-focused not-for-profit, with a reputation for calm measured policy advice, persistent campaigning and integrity, equal to none. Jeff is also the Convenor of the Boomerang Alliance, one of Australia's most successful recycling campaign groups.
As NSW MP, Michael Daley, said in Parliament in mid 2016 – "You can’t buy Jeff Angel."
In recent years TEC’s award winning educational communications projects – the documentary film Waste Not, the mobile Ocean Action POD, and the HotHouse event series - have expanded our traditional campaign activities across social media and other platforms into schools, universities, art galleries and public festivals.
Total Environment Centre is an incorporated non-profit association and a registered charity. We rely on donations to keep campaigning for a fairer, greener world. All donations $2 and over to TEC are tax deductible. Do you believe in our campaigns? You can make sure that this vital work continues by donating today.
Meet the team
Jeff Angel – Executive Director
Jeff is famous for both his uncompromising integrity and his ability to reconcile people and interest groups with no apparent common ground for the good of us all. Softly spoken, diplomatic and scrupulous, he is also a dogged and fearless campaigner. Jeff has forged alliances between countless factions in government, industry, business, and community, producing one constructive outcome for the environment after the other, since becoming involved in the campaign to protect the rainforests 36 years ago when he was at university studying Economics.
Jeff’s achievements range from pushing policy and legislation to protect clean air, restore urban rivers, conserve our coasts, wetlands and wilderness, combat climate change, reform business and government to embrace environmental sustainability, prevent broad-scale land clearing, save our common green spaces, and more.
He is also Convenor and Director of the Boomerang Alliance of 53 groups, which has won the container deposits campaign and is tackling marine plastic pollution.
Jeff published 'Green is Good' (ABC Books) in 2008 and is a regular and highly respected media commentator.
Saul Deane - Urban Sustainability Campaigner
With degrees in architecture and law, Saul's legal and architectural practice experience crosses the spatial, representational and governance dimensions involved in Urban Sustainability. He also lectures in Communications, and has taught in Landscape and Architecture at UTS and UNSW. His PhD research in the 'mechanics of public foreshore dispossession within Sydney', has allowed him to develop his interest in natural and early Australian history. Saul's campaign focus is on Sydney’s Koalas and Green Spaces.
Mark Byrne - Energy Market Advocate
Mark is a former urban planner who also has a Masters in International Law and a PhD in the humanities. He has been TEC’s Energy Market Advocate since 2012. His achievements include project managing three iterations of the Green Electricity Guide (with Greenpeace), and being a proponent in four requests to change the National Electricity Rules — three more than from any other small consumer group — to improve environmental outcomes. He is passionate about the role of distributed energy resources like solar, batteries and demand response, especially in making the energy system resilient to the accelerating impacts of climate change.
Lisa Wriley – Community Campaigner
Lisa has a rare gift for working with communities, and an awesome commitment to recycling which has seen her travel all over Australia dressed as Bev the Bottle. Bev has been dedicated to achieving a container deposit scheme for used bottles and cans for over 5 years, and a big part of the win which has seen CDS legislation sweep across Australia. But Bev is just one way Lisa works to help people take action towards zero waste and greater resource efficiency. She loves animating the campaign world with characters and creative sculptures, running random refund days, and connecting with other people who are passionate and active on litter and waste issues through countless stalls. With her background is in Education for Sustainability, Lisa also helps schools to set up Worm Tubs for their organic waste, and teaches composting skills at Kariong Eco Garden, and Central Coast schools. "Working with great volunteers and carting giant bottles around to MP's offices is great fun!"
Jenn – Office Manager & Donations Administrator
Jenn keeps us all on track, managing the office with meticulous care and efficiency, organising our databases, connecting with donors and supporters, making sure TEC runs smoothly so our campaigns do too. She has been with us for over 10 years, multitasking and multiskilled. We really couldn’t get by without her.
Virginia Rose - Accounts Manager
Marijs Vrancken - Deputy Director / AUSMAP Marketing Manager
Dr Michelle Blewitt - AUSMAP Project Manager
Alex Swanson - AUSMAP Admin & Events Officer