Can you imagine living in a city that sustained its environment? Have you ever wondered what Melbourne might be like if we all lived in a way that preserved and enhanced our native ecosystems and the plants and animals which they support? Or if our industries, businesses and homes did not produce excessive amounts of greenhouse gases and air pollutants? Consider the possibility of a waste free society where renewable resources were used wisely and we reused, recycled or treated all products and materials at the end of their useful life. Our waterways and bay would be always safe for swimming if they were always clean - and even safe for drinking in the case of freshwater. Unfortunately we are still a long way from living in a way that sustains the natural systems on which we depend. The Environmental Indicators for Metropolitan Melbourne Bulletin was born in 1998 from a realisation that most people did not have easy access to data about the city's environment. Instead, data had to be gleaned out of scattered sources from our many government departments, non-government organisations and academic institutions. Without up-to-date environmental data we cannot effectively gauge the condition of our local environment, or our impact, or when and where to best initiate change.

The Bulletin provides at-your-fingertips access to a wide spectrum of environmental information. The environmental information is divided up into themes that have been chosen for their relevance at a local level: Air Emission, Air Quality, Beach and Bay, Biodiversity, Buildings, Greenhouse, Litter, Open Space, Transport, Waste and Water. Every second year half of these themes are revisited and updated. A range of environmental indicators are reported on in each theme, to provide a measure of the pressures on, condition of and responses to a theme.

Data is often presented by local government area. This is not for the purposes of direct comparison, because each local government area and its community are unique and will have its own priority issues and means of tackling them. We do hope however that this information is useful for Councils and communities in monitoring environmental trends and assessing the impacts of the many very positive projects that are being undertaken to contribute to environmental protection and enhancement.

The 'Envirometers' give an overall subjective assessment of the condition of each of the themes and clearly indicates that despite all of this good work, much more care and effort is needed to ensure that our lifestyles are sustainable and our environmental systems are healthy.

We hope that the information and knowledge gained from the Bulletin helps you understand how your city lifestyle affects the natural environment. All your actions have an impact on our environment - for good or for bad. We hope that the Bulletin will help inspire more people to engage in more action for the environment.

The Bulletin is an independent and collaborative production of the Australian Institute of Urban Studies and the City of Melbourne, and supported by over half of Melbourne's local councils.