Cause of WA oil spill revealed

An oil spill off the WA coast regarded as one of the worst-ever environmental disasters in Australia was caused by poor decision making and corporate greed, a senior industry source claims.

The man, an installation contractor part of the drilling team at the West Atlas rig, said it happened after drillers did not cap the associated Montara oil well properly, causing it to burst.

PTTEP Australasia, the company responsible for the spill at its Timor Sea operation, is facing a Senate inquiry into the disaster, which so far has cost $5 million to clean up - and $170 million for the loss of the well - and caused untold environmental damage in the sensitive Kimberley area.
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Eco design job in Europe

o2 Member Ursula Tischner from econcept, Agency for Sustainable Design is looking for a part to full time expert in Ecodesign and Design for Sustainability.

MUST: Some experience in Ecodesign and Design for Sustainability and fluent in English AND GERMAN

They wish to employ or subcontract as a freelancer an energetic enthusiast, who likes to help them making design more useful and the world a better place.

The position would be assistant of the manager.
You should be willing to help carrying out all activities necessary to run a small agency like econcept with 2 to 5 members.
Your special interest should be in research/ development, conceptualizing and consulting rather than detailed product design and styling.

They offer an exciting field of activity and space to develop own skills and interest.

Please apply with your CV and portfolio by email. Please include an estimate of your salary expectations for a full time equivalent position.

Prof. Ursula Tischner
econcept, Agency for Sustainable Design
Alteburger Str. 32
D-50678 Cologne, Germany
Tel.: +49/(0)221/ 420 26 -76 Fax: -74
u.tischner@econcept.org
www.econcept.org
powered by green energy

This November, join us at a special screening of 'The End of the Line'

Our State’s unique marine life is an important part of our great local lifestyle.

Did you know that up to 90% of marine life in the south west is unique, and yet less than 1% of our waters are currently protected?

Right now the Federal Government is considering the future of our amazing marine region, we could see the establishment of large marine sanctuaries to protect our marine life.

Join The Wilderness Society WA at this special pre-release screening of internationally acclaimed film ‘The End of The Line’, including a short introduction to the Save Our Marine Life campaign (prior to the screening).

South Perth - Perth Zoo Theatre, Labouchere Road, South Perth
When: Wednesday 18th November, 7pm
Tickets: $12 adults, $8 children (under 16yrs)
Bookings: The Wilderness Society on 9420 7255 or email wa@wilderness.org.au

Fremantle - Fibonacci Centre, 19 Blinco Street, Fremantle
Please note this is a community screening in an art space, you will need to bring chair / cushions & refreshments
When: Friday 20th November, 7pm
Tickets: $10
Bookings: The Wilderness Society on 9420 7255 or email wa@wilderness.org.au

Kalamunda - Town Square Hall, 5 Barber St, Kalamunda
When: Thursday 26th November, 7pm
Tickets: $12 adults, $8 children (under 16yrs)
Bookings: The Conservation Council of WA on 9420 7266

New machine turns office waste into toilet paper – right in the office

Tokyo-based Nakabayashi offers everything from bookbinding services, child car seats and office products. But the newest (and certainly coolest) product of the 2,000-man company is an in-office machine , which turns used copier paper into toilet rolls, right there in the office. Brillant.

The toilet paper machine is able to produce two rolls per hour from around 1,800 sheets (or 7.2kg) of used A4-sized paper, which would have usually been just thrown away. At 600kg, it seems to be a dangerously massive piece of hardware.
Read article and don't forget to read the comments!

Pesticide-Soaked 'wallpaper' cuts Malaria exposure

To lower mosquito exposure in malaria-prone places there are two basic pesticide use strategies. The half-century old approach - a remnant of 1950's era thinking - is to spray entire towns, as well as the surrounding countryside, with a pesticide such as DDT or pyrethrin.
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Trash to treasure - recycling warehouse pulls in the crowds

This week is National Recycling Week!

CIRCUIT board lamps, reams of fabric and a sofa made from a 44-gallon drum are just a few of the reused items at Reverse Garbage, a Marrickville warehouse attracting increasing numbers of people on tight budgets.

The warehouse sells discarded odds and ends and is popular with people looking for art-and-craft supplies or items for do-it-yourself home projects.

But the financial crisis and a focus on sustainability has led others on tight budgets to the second-hand emporium, said its public relations co-ordinator, Christine Harris-Smyth.
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Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip

by Leo Murray on Vimeo.

Union battle over sustainable timber codes

THE independent Green Building Council is under pressure from state and federal governments to support an industry-backed sustainable timber standard alongside a strict international code.

A motion at a meeting of forestry ministers today, backed by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, will seek to push the council to accept the alternative standard which certifies 90 per cent of timber cut in Australia as 'green'.
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Talk about green washing...

The head of the union's forestry division, Michael O'Connor, said yesterday he wanted ministers to 'pressure' the Green Building Council to accept the forestry standard. He said most of the forestry council's accredited timber was imported and was costing local jobs. And the limited supply of forestry council-accredited timber meant builders were turning to steel - which has other environmental effects - as a replacement to achieve green-star ratings.

What's wrong with working according the international standards to get FSC certified as well???

Drink container recycling

The WA Greens are again urging the Federal Government to establish a national scheme to recycle drinking containers.
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No national bottle refunds, say environment ministers
Conservation Council WA spokeswoman Jessie Cochrane said WA had Australia's worst record for recycling drink containers. Just 15 per cent of cans and bottles were recycled, compared with 80 per cent in SA.

"Not only will a 10 cent recycling refund scheme increase WA's embarrassingly low rate of recycling but it will create new jobs, investment in the recycling industry and most importantly reduce the amount of litter going into landfill," Ms Cochrane said.

Update 10 Nov: Drink scheme canned for now

Revealed: polluters' fear tactics on climate

BIG greenhouse polluting companies around the world, employing thousands of lobbyists, are exerting heavy pressure on governments to weaken climate change laws at home and slow progress on an international climate agreement in Copenhagen, a global investigation reveals.

In Australia, 20 companies who have already won the most concessions from the Rudd Government's emissions trading scheme employ 28 lobbying firms with well over 100 staff, many of them former politicians, political advisers or government officials.
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MISS EARTH 2009

I wasn't even aware of the Miss Earth 2009 until I saw it today on the Dutch news website. And Miss Earth Australia has even its own website like many other countries!

For Miss Earth Australia there are only 2 candidates from WA on the list, Risa and Sara but 24-year-old Australian beauty Melinda Heffernan (NSW) won the Miss Earth Australia 2009 in Sydney on 19 Sept.

On 22 November Miss Earth 2009 will be chosen in Boracay, very exciting for lots of beautiful girls who are working on a better earth. The winner of MISS EARTH will serve as the Ambassador to environmental protection campaigns worldwide.

Liar, liar, your scheme's on fire

I like the way Olga Galacho wrote this article for the Herald Sun today:

That's when I finally understood why the climate change debate in Australia had been so counter-productive -- too many deniers, too many greedy types telling lies about the costs to their bottom line of efforts to cut carbon emissions and too many politicians claiming their policies can achieve meaningful cuts to emissions cost-effectively, when in fact their policies will allow emissions to balloon.
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WA to get glass recycling plant

The State Government has committed close to two million dollars towards building a glass recycling plant.

Western Australia has been without a glass recycling plant for the last five years and local councils have been forced to send their glass products to South Australia for recycling.
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Pert Green Drinks 10 November 6-8pm

You are invited for the Perth Green Drinks on 10 November 2009.

Green Drinks is for anyone involved in the environment and related fields. Green groups / NGOs, Freelancers and consultants, Companies, Students, Academics, Government departments, Local Authorities, Younger as well as older people so please forward this invitation to anyone you think might be interested in meeting other people related to sustainability.

Green Drinks is a self-organizing network of professionals, students and enthusiasts working in sustainability who meet up in cities around the world for drinks once a month, or every second month in Perth. Everyone is invited to come and have fun, make contacts, get ideas, share information, find inspiration, and of course, to drink!

Green Drinks is GLOBAL: active in more than 630 cities worldwide!

When: Tuesday 10 November 6.00 – 8.00 pm

Where: At the UWA University Club
Club Café - ground floor / outside terrace

How: The University Club is providing one voucher per person for a choice of “green cocktail” or “green beer” + nibbles on the table. Following drinks = cash bar.

What: Network, interact, talk, laugh, debate, drink, have fun!

SPEED GREEN:
Shell leader, representative for Sustainable Living Fabrics is going to lead Speed Green after a short introduction on SLF. Sustainable Living Fabrics is an Australia owned upholstery and screen fabric company, with GECA certification on all of their products and Greenhouse Friendly Carbon Neutral certification for their entire supply chain.
Speed Green will be fun and interesting as you are going to meet a lot of new people in a short time, spending 4 minutes chatting with other sustainable enthusiasts before moving onto the next, then you can find the most interesting people at the end to drink with. Bring a small piece of information with you but in case you are lost for words, a couple of ideas . . .

1. What is the most important thing/issue you want to see happen in 2010 in Perth?
2. What is the biggest difference you are making for the environment?

RSVP: Before Monday 9 November 5pm
email / phone 6488 8770
Make sure your name is on the list for the name tags!

Hope to see you there!

Wilma van Boxtel
02 liaison Western Australia
o2 global network for sustainable design

Meet international Green Drinkers and become a member of the Perth Green Drinks group at NING

Job opportunity from the o2 forum:

Hi,
Artica Technologies Ltd is marketing an innovative low energy alternative to air conditioning. The company and its products are based on sound environmental principles. We are looking to recruit two design engineers with mechanical or thermodynamics backgrounds, HVAC Industry experience useful but not essential. Offices in SW London. Be part of the solution, not the problem... See job descriptions here
Many Thanks
Will Penfold