The story of stuff

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns.

Click on the website, put your speakers on and listen to Annie, I promise you, it's worthwhile!

The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

I think they are right...

Greenwashing...

...Ms. Warner admitted to a kind of overall green ennui, an irritation caused by what she called the “relentless greenwashing of products.” “People use the word like it’s the low-carb label of the furniture business, just slapping it on everything,” she said. “A company says it’s ‘green,’ and then you ask about their manufacturing and they have no idea.”
Perhaps that is why Ann Mack, trend-spotter in chief for JWT, one of the world’s largest advertising agencies, has proclaimed blue to be the new green in her list of 10 trends that will shape consumer behavior in 2008. “Blue is a state of mind,” Ms. Mack said. “Environmentalism 2.0 is all about the planet and water. Those are blue images. We’re not saying green is going away — it’s just going to be a subset of blue. And also there are negative connotations to green — all that greenwashing. I think the word has lost a lot of its meaning.”
Another coming trend pinpointed by Ms. Mack is about “commitment and rethinking instant gratification.” “Because everything is so instantly attainable — you can get what you want, when you want, wherever you want — there will be a premium placed on waiting, on thinking twice before you click ‘buy,’” she said. “Custom-made and one-of-kind are rising above the mass-produced din of ‘now.’...

Read the whole article in The New York Times

Perth Green Drinks

You are invited for the Perth Green Drinks on 8 January 2008to celebrate the start of the New Year.

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! And, no, the cocktails aren't green, though if someone wants to come up with a recipe...

Green Drinks is GLOBAL: active in 230 cities worldwide! UK - USA - Canada - Australia -Germany - Sweden - The Netherlands - Argentina - Belgium - Brazil - Chile - China - Czech Republic - Denmark - Finland - France - Hong Kong - India - Ireland - Italy - Japan - Malta - Mexico - New Zealand - Poland - Puerto Rico - Singapore - South Africa - Switzerland

When:
Tuesday 8 January from 5.30 pm

Where:
KINGS PARK at Rotunda 1 (right behind State War Memorial) It’s a nice walk from Perth city or you can take the bus (route no. 37 and 39) to the main car park opposite the rotunda.

How:
It’s BYO and I suggest you wear a name tag, so it’s easier for people to interact with each other.

What:
Network, interact, talk, laugh, debate, drink, have fun!
Two speakers:
- Glenn Clarke – Envious landscapes
- Wilma van Boxtel – o2 WA – System Reload

For more information check the international Green Drinks website (Australia – Perth)

Hope to see you there!

Stop whaling

Whalerevenge is trying to get a million people to sign a petition to stop whaling.

Free whale watching trips for Japanese visitors
A Sydney company is to offer free whale watching trips to all Japanese tourists if the Japanese government bans whaling. Read more.

Sustainable brand

Following the presentation of Scamper, the pioneers in sustainable brand strategy, at the Sustainable Design conference in Nottingham, UK, last week, here is the video version of that presentation on the future of brands in a sustainable world. It gives a brief introduction to brands, sustainability and the relationship between the two.

If you rather like the printed version, click here.

Water Forever

Go to the Water Corporation website and get involved! Fill in your contact details to register your interest in Water Forever. Registrants will receive information updates and be invited to participate in a range of activities ranging from online surveys through to community forums- your level of involvement is up to you.

Lush Cake of Soap

Looking for a great Christmas present with a low ecological footprint? Have a look, or do I say better, have a smell, at the Lush products. My whole office is smelling of fresh soaps because my friend from New Zealand send me a whole stack of little soaps yesterday, I've tried the Karma one today, yummy!
Lush started producing hand made bath products from fresh ingredients in 1995 and is trading in 42 countries now, also in Australia. They belief in making effective products out of fresh fruit and vegetables,the finest essential oils and safe synthetics, without animal ingredients.
They only buy from companies that test for safety without the involvement of animals but test their products on humans. They believe in making fresh products by hand, printing their own labels and making their own fragrances. All Lush products are still handmade; when they expand they employ more people not machines.
And best of all; you buy a slice which is wrapped in paper and closed with a sticker with the ingredients on it and how to use it, like if you buy a slice of cheese. No waste on packaging! I use their solid shampoo bar for a year now and I am very satisfied, one bar of 100 grams lasts me for half a year while I normally needed a bottle a month; shampoo and conditioner. So I save a lot of plastic bottles. And the solid deodorant lasts for a year! You are getting used to wash your hair with a solid piece of soap in no time, after a few weeks you don't even want to go back to the slimy stuff out of bottles! Unfortunately Lush has only one shop in Perth; Garden City Shopping Centre in Booragoon, but you can order by mail.
There is also the company Cake of Soap in South Fremantle and on the Fremantle markets. I haven't tried any myself yet but they look great on the pictures. Cute cakes and even some soap candy! They are organic and natural, and handcrafted. All soaps are gift wrapped and do not contain SLSs, EDTAs or detergents. There is a Christmas special on the moment: Buy 2 soaps and get the 3rd for half the price to the value of the lowest price soap.

Change your Google into Blackle

"…If Google had a black screen, taking in account the huge number of page views, according to calculations, 750 mega watts/hour per year would be saved."

In response Google created a black version of its search engine, called Blackle, with the exact same functions as the white version, but obviously with lower energy consumption:

www.blackle.com

Christmas spirits

There is a lot of info coming from all kind of news rooms, news papers, magazines and blogs about keeping your Christmas carbon footprint small. It is good to see so many people are aware of the extra impact on the environment during these festive days and they come with heaps of interesting tips.
Like for example if you are one of the people who really enjoy having all these Christmas figures lightning up your house, do it only for a few hours and don't leave them on all night. Give eco presents and wrap them in reusable gift bags or be creative with other materials such as leaves and textiles. Don't buy all these plastic gadgets which you throw away the same day. Buy local produce for your Christmas lunch/dinner, take your own bags instead of adding more plastic to your kitchen drawers... and serve it on real plates, not on the plastic disposable ones. Or if you really don't like doing the dishes afterwards, serve in the biodegradable ones. And have a look at this feature from Channel 31 on a green Christmas. It takes a bit of time to download, about 5 minutes, so be patient because about halfway is a nice feature on the design Christmas tree from Buro North.
There are heaps of more tips, click on the links above.
Amazing Perth Christmas Lights...

Lights out please
(click on the article to get a readable version)

Climate change to curb exports: ABARE

Thursday Dec 6 18:24 AEDT
The impact of climate change will chisel five per cent off Australia's economic output by 2050, says the nation's commodity forecaster.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE), releasing its Australian Commodities quarterly report, urged the development of policies encouraging climate change adjustment in vulnerable agriculture sectors.
It also called for more research and development in both climate change adaption and mitigation technologies. Read further

Two-thirds of Australian agriculture production is exported.

Agriculture accounts for about 17 per cent of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions.

ABARE said the impact of climate change could be lessened by better farm management practices, diversification of crop varieties, changing livestock breeds and improved farming technologies.

Vegie Cars

I am not sure if there are enough fish and chips shops for this system, but you can give it a go, especially when you are close to one. According to this website about Vegie Cars you can convert your diesel consuming car to use vegetable oil from about 450 $. ABC TV series Carbon cops had a program on it in July, I missed it, but here you can read about it. "This is not Biodiesel, it is converting your fuel system instead of the fuel, allowing you to pour waste vegetable oil directly into your fuel tank at the takeaway shop and drive away! No mess - no fuss - no chemicals - no lengthy processing!" Is what they advertise but I know from friends who are doing this that they have to sift the oil before they use it. They might be fussy or their fish and chips shop isn't that clean... Anyway, it's a good way to get rid of the waste, it's cheaper and it's cleaner!

Trajectory 2008

Trajectory 2008 is scheduled for June next year and again is aimed at Students and those graduating in 2007. If this is something you’re interested in, or know someone who might be, please note that the closing date for entries is January 31, 2008.

This year we’re hoping for more prototypes in the product field. These exhibits get to show an A2 presentation board to help them stand out in the company of furniture. A full run-down and entry forms are available at this link

Kind Regards,

Team Trajectory

Steve and Mark

Australia ratifies Kyoto Protocol- YAY!!!

About time!

Hopefully we will see drastic and sweeping changes occuring throughout Oz and the industrial world in the next 90 days (since "Under United Nations guidelines, ratification comes into force 90 days after the instrument of ratification is received by the UN, making Australia a full member of the Kyoto Protocol by the end of March 2008" [http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=224899])

Woohoo!







Cheers to the Kyoto Protocol!

LPG

Before I came to Australia I always drove a car on LPG. In Australia I cycle and take the train or combine these. But you need a car here if you want to go a bit further than the city, special when you like to go camping in the bush. So we finally decided to converse the petrol car into LPG and it's very beneficial because you get a Government rebate up to 2000 $ and are eligible for a State grant of 1000 $. This covers almost all costs!
The only disadvantage I remember from driving LPG was the smell of the LPG on your hands after closing the pump. It always sprayed a bit on my hands; a nasty fart smell. I never understood why they didn't add a fresh pine smell or something like that, because LPG is odorless and the smell is added so you can detect it in case of leakage.
Driving with a gas tank in your car is as safe as driving with petrol, even in The Netherlands some people were afraid of LPG tanks, but there is no reason for it. I had a bad car accident in 1991, someone crosses the road were I was on (I drove 80) and the driver hadn't seen me and I couldn't brake in time so we had a collision, the gas tank, which was installed behind the front seats, (I had a two seater) came loose a bit and pushed me into the steering wheel but nothing happened. Yes, I had a huge scar on my forehead (nicely repaired by some plastic surgeon) and a soar back for months. The car was total loss, it was a dark blue one, my next car was a bright purple one (so everyone would see it from far) and the first thing I did was installing LPG!

Article Furnisthing International

Click on picture to read the article

Where to "Recyle It!" in WA

http://www.wastewise.wa.gov.au/pages/hazardous.asp

This website lists all the kinds of waste that can be safely disposed of and recycled in WA, its a good reference for finding out where to go if you want to recycle things like old computers, white goods and even mobile phones

Biodegradable Plastics

Bio-Plastics can be defined by one of two of the following characteristics:
1) They consist of renewable resources or
2) they can be harvested directly from nature.

Some bioplastics even fulfill both requirements. Bioplastics are suitable for numerous applications: for example mulch film for agriculture or bags which can be used to hold your household biowaste after shopping. On compost heaps bioplastics completely decompose within a few weeks without leaving any residues behind.

For more info checkout:
http://www.corporate.basf.com/en/presse/podcast/?id=GpAB5BS25bcp0tG
http://www.plasticsportal.net/wa/plasticsEU~en_GB/portal/show/content/products/biodegradable_plastics/biodegradable_plastics

Night - Light

....

“Waste Equals Food” [William McDonough and Michael Braungart]

There is currently a National Packaging Covenant target to recover 65% of post consumer packaging in Western Australia by 2010. It is a voluntary joint initiative between industry and government designed to reduce the amount of packaging waste going into landfill by conserving resources through better product design, and re-using or recycling packaging materials.

Though it may still seem a long way away from the concept of Waste=Food and Cradle to Cradle design, these recycling initiatives are a start in the right direction for designing and recycling responsibly in WA.

For more info checkout these websites:
http://www.packagingcovenant.org.au/
http://www.responsiblerecycling.org.au/
http://www.zerowastewa.com.au/

Hi there,

This is my first time 'blogging' or doing anything that contributes to the cyberworld of technological exchange apart from the usual email exchange and current obsession with facebook that seems to be happening to most people in my demographic. I am usually quite the introverted person when it comes to things I really care about and wish to see change in the world, and usually just share my thoughts with close friends and people of like minds, which I’m sure many people do. So I am thankful to Wilma for starting this Blog up and setting up a platform for this kind of forum and information exchange. Thanks Wilma

I have so far only attended the one Green Drinks event at Kings Park, but was convinced enough that there are really enough people in the world who care about the important things. And as the results of this years election goes to Labour and not to the deaf ears of the Liberal Party, that’s enough encouragement to know that there are enough people out there willing to change.

And so as Julie the speaker from the second Green Drinks quoted Gandhi:
“Be the change you wish to see in the world” I would just like to take this opportunity to just start blogging

Survey outcome Perth Green Drinks

The outcome of the survey was even, 12 people for every month and 12 people for every two months. So I decided to keep it every two months with the possibility to do an extra one if there is a good opportunity. On the right side you will find the list of dates for the Perth Green Drinks in 2008. The first one will be on 8 January (I know that the first Tuesday is a week earlier but I suppose anyone of us has better things to do on the first day of a brand new year!

Graphic designers might be interested in this newly launched survey report made by Becky Green. She has just completed this research project as part of her Master of Design degree into sustainable design practice of Australian graphic designers.

Lab.3000 - Best of the Best Award

Lab.3000 is pleased to announce 07 Best of the Best Award for Victoria’s most outstanding final year tertiary design students in 2007. There were three categories; communication, fashion and product design. It was good to see that two of the three winners in product design were sustainable! Have a look at the entries and winners here.

Dance till you light up the floor

Nina, a good friend of mine, send me this article:
A sustainable dance club that uses dancing to run lights and sweat to flush toilets is on the cards for the Netherlands next year. Prototypes of an energy-generating dance floor have been tested at various events, including Live Earth, earlier this year. As well as using technologies such as recycled grey water, renewable materials, wind turbines and solar panels, the Sustainable Dance Club aims to rethink clubbing to minimise its environmental impact.

I had a similar discussion a few months ago with my friend Pat from NZ, she was wondering why all energy used at gyms wasn't captured to cover for the electricity of the airco, light, TV....

System Reload

o2 Global is in the proces of creating System Reload.

System Reload is to be launched at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, 16-21 April 2008, to celebrate 20 Years of Action by the o2 Network, which began as a conversation in a coffee shop in Milan in 1988! System Reload was formed after several o2 Liaisons thought it was time to unite our collective expertise, experience and affiliated networks to maximize authentic opportunities for positive change.

System Reload is open to all eco creatives and organizations. It is a not for profit, multi-disciplinary initiative, to be hosted by o2 and Tuttobene in a Recycled Rail-yard space in the heart of Milan! System Reload will be a meeting point for the Eco Design Community and a melting pot of Eco Innovation and Collaboration!

Click on the pictures to be able to read the pages.

o2 in Australia

o2 Perth started only a few months ago but I like to share with you that I dream of a big network with having Green Drinks in Bunbury, Albany, Geralton and as far as Broome.
O2 is open to all eco-creatives in, fashion, interior design, graphic design, product design, furniture design, engineering, architecture, landscape architecture, urban design and planning, education, consulting and all the areas in-between. And of course the Green Drinks are open to everyone with a green mind set!
So if there is anyone out there willing to join me in this process to become an o2 liaison, please start doing it now, this is the time to do so!!! o2 is a global organisation and we in WA are part of it!

Clean Life

Most of us want to reduce our chemical intake; few of us feel we have the time or knowledge to do it. Cleanlife does all the hard work, providing simple, yet effective strategies to enable the conscientious consumer and their families to lead a CleanLife. Doing so by for example send out weekly email tips to make eco-living fashionable, fun and effective and are easy to integrate into busy modern lifestyles.

Foam

As I mentioned a few weeks ago on this blog I am looking for a sustainable cushion filling which is Eco friendly and doesn't mould or get insects crawling in it. And the answer I found on GECA in the certified product register! Joyce Foam Products manufactures the largest range of polyurethane foam products in Australia and GECA found them to be part of the list: "Good Environmental Choice Australia recommends these products to green purchasing officers, specifiers, and every day Australians seeking to purchase products and services on the basis of functional and overall environmental and human health performance".
For more information and specifications click here. They also have an interesting foam for outdoor use which doesn't get mouldy so it's not thrown away after one season used along the pool area, although it's not a green foam yet.

Art

I've a sustainable friend... Patricia van Lubeck... She is an artist in New Zealand, born in The Netherlands, like me, and also migrated Down Under a few years ago. We've never met each other in real life, only via the world wide web. But we can see a little bit of her real life here in Perth this month. Five of her paintings and her first sculpture are exhibited at Gallery O in Perth from tomorrow. She is the most sustainable friend I have; they even gather old cooking oil at the local fish and chips shop which they mix with the diesel in their car.... Anyway, when you are in the city, just have a look at her artwork in the gallery!

Curtin Design Graduate Show

Good Environmental Choice Australia

GECA, Good Environmental Choice Australia, is committed to credible product information for sustainable development. They have a certified product register and a green procurement database.