Make your home efficient

Interest is growing in converting established houses to make them water and energy efficient.

Martin Anda will present present options currently available in a talk for the Permaculture Association of WA. Dr. Anda, senior lecturer in environmental engineering at Murdoch university, will talk about simple and inexpensive options through to complete retrofits. Dr. Anda is involved with waste water treatment and recycling projects in several WA urban village developments as well as remote and indigenous communities.

When: Wednesday 3 October

Time: 7pm

Where: St. Mark's Hall and community garden,

Parker Steet

Bassendean

Entry: $ 5.00

No time but interested in permaculture, check this link.

Play the game:

I just played this energy game; you have to power a city economically and safely, while also safeguarding the environment. It's a challenge! Click on the picture to do the game.

12 sustainable design ideas from nature

Extra Green Drinks opportunity in October

A good idea from Sian (Conservation Councel WA):

"We are having a fundraiser for the Walk Against Warming at the luna- screening the 11th hour. I was wondering if with their bar and outdoor area if we could combine a green drinks and movie session....prehaps movie then drinks? Could make a nice evening...what do you think?"

So come to Luna Cinema in Leederville on 11 October from 5.30 pm for a drink and a chat before the movie starts at 6.45 pm

Call 9420 7266 to book or email me when you plan to come so I will forward the bookings to Sian.

Click on the poster for a readable version:
Luna Palace Cinema - Leederville: Info

Movie: Info

Date: 11 October

Time: from 5.30pm - movie starts 6.45pm

Life of an industrial design student

The Banksia Forum

The Banksia Foundation’s Mission statement is to recognise and reward environmental excellence, promote best practice principles and contribute to action learning and education.

The inaugural Banksia Forum draws upon its 265 winners and over 1,000 finalists and their wealth of experience and knowledge, along with local and international speakers, to further realise the Banksia Foundation’s mission.

HOW? By the bringing together of the Banksia winners and finalists, local and international experts – who are “walking the talk” in an informal setting to generate discussion, debate and the sharing of knowledge.

WHEN? 21 & 22 November 2007

WHERE? Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, Sydney

More information click here

William McDonough: The wisdom of designing Cradle to Cradle

Be Green

Be Green is an Australian website about the environment. Run by Adam McDean and based in NSW but aimed on the whole of Australia, Be Green gathers all information about being green.
Whether you are designing a new house and looking for "Green" products such as insulation, a business looking to become more environmentally to gain competitive advantage, or a school child wanting to research environmental issues, BeGreen.com.au will be the place to start. It's Adam's aim to build Australia's most comprehensive information source (portal) to assist all Australians in learning about and sourcing environmentally friendly products.
You can list your environmentally friendly business at the Be Green website for free and your listing links to your very own page.
There is also a button to a news press with all the latest news regarding sustainability and the environment. Click here.

The site is a bit difficult to navigate because there is so much information on it that it's sometimes hard to find. But it's worthwhile to have a look, especially when you are looking for information!

"cradle to cradle" certification

Three of the leaders in corporate consulting on sustainable design announced Sept. 19 an international partnership aiming to further the reach of the "cradle to cradle" design protocol. Joining forces are McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), a Charlottesville (Va.)-based consultancy that focuses on environmentally friendly product-and-service design and development (with clients such as Nike (NKE) and Ford (F)); the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency (EPEA), a scientific research institute based in Hamburg, Germany; and Material ConneXion, a New York-headquartered consultant that advises Fortune 500 companies such as Whirlpool (WHR) and Procter & Gamble (PG) on high-performance materials. Each company will remain independent, but the three will collaborate on a series of workshops, share research resources, and conduct "cradle to cradle" certification.

Read on

The new o2 Australia website is online, not official yet, but I want you to show already a very interesting list of resources; Guides to ethics and environmentally friendly design

In April 2007 o2 Australia joined forces with SRD - Society for Responsible Design, to further increase awareness and the accessability of Sustainable and Regenerative Ethical Design to the Mainstream consumer. Damien Melotte is liaison Australia and set up the national network. He was sourcing for people in every state that's how I got involved (see start of this blog) And apparantly he is very happy so far with WA involvement, see some sentences I copied from a few emails I've received lately where he sticks some nice feathers up my bum:

"as far as green drinks - check out wilma's blog - fantastique - Wilma can give you some tips on how to start off a green drinks - it was really successful and fun - wish i was there! Wilma your work is so awesome!!! You should be australian leader!"

"o2 Australia now have green drinks going strong in WA, (check out Wilma's wonderful work in WA - puts us all to shame!) and green drinks planned for NSW and SA, as well as here in VIC as part of the o2 Australia Eco Creatives Network."

"Check out Wilma van Boxtel's email below - this is the kind of thing i would love to see here in Melbourne!"Thanks to everyone who made the first Perth Green Drinks a great success!

I was hoping for about 20 people to show up and was mesmerized when a good 80 people came to the first Perth Green Drinks. The diversity of the people who came was great; professionals, students, university, independent organizations, institutions, government bodies, council, industry, consultants and of course designers.

There are plenty of organizations and companies working on sustainability but there is nothing to link all the different bodies. Perth Green Drinks might become the covering network for everyone as well as the breeding ground for new ideas and innovations.

Next Perth Green Drinks will be on Tuesday 6 November from 5.30 pm probably in Kings Park. You will get an invitation a few weeks before but please note it in your diary already.

For more information check the international Green Drinks website: www.greendrinks.org (click on Australia and Perth)

For photos from the first Perth Green Drinks in Claremont or other interesting information on sustainability go to: www.o2wa.blogspot.com

I hope to see you all in two months!

Best regards,

Wilma van Boxtel

If you want to be removed from the Perth Green Drinks mailing list please click here.

Stupid Design

Environmental Jobs Network

Did you know there is something like an environmental jobs network? I didn't until I got in contact with France Pitt, Office Manager at EJN. If you want to change carreer or want to know what kind of jobs are available after graduation; check it out!

EJN is Australia's leading online resource for environmental job seekers, professionals and career changers. We also offer a unique and expanding range of services to the wider environmental sector.

EJN was initiated by a team of young people who were dedicated to providing a comprehensive website where job seekers and employers could share valuable information on environmental organizations, education, careers and jobs. From our base in Melbourne, our team of volunteers and employees continues to service the whole of Australia with our innovative website, and to provide an expanding range of other services, including seminars and facilitated panel discussions.

For more info, click here.

Walk against warming

The Conservation Council of Western Australia is coordinating a walk against warming Sunday two weeks before the 2007 federal election to halt climate change in WA.

Walk Against Warming brings together people in cities and towns right across the country for Australia's largest community day of action on climate change.

A very colorful lady on the Perth Green Drinks was handing out leaflets about this walk.
Find out more about this walk here in WA click here.

The walk against warming is sponsort by the Conserveation Council.

Renewable electrity

I met Eloise at the Green Drinks last week and she mentioned something to me I didn't know yet, and I suppose there are heaps of people who do not realise this that's why I like to share this with you:

Dear WA resident,

Do you buy renewable electricity (NaturalPower) for your home – or were you thinking of doing so?

Did you know that from 1 October, NaturalPower users will be forced to pay an increased tariff for this environmentally-sound option – but people buying conventional, polluting fossil fuel-based electricity will continue to pay the same low prices until 2009?

People helping to 'Beat the Peak' with SmartPower will also face a price hike.

It is bad enough that 20,000 NaturalPower and SmartPower residents will be unfairly hit at the hip pocket, but worse, this is about Synergy and the WA Government undermining the community's attempts to address climate change.

Annoyed? Want to do something? Here is something quick and effective:

1. Find out your electorate. If you like using maps, go to http://boundarieswa.com/2003/Boundaries/Metropolitan-Area/ and zoom in until you find your area. If you don't like maps, visit http://www.waec.wa.gov.au/frames.asp?section=info&content=checkForm.asp , fill out your details and it will tell you.
2. Check your MP and their email. Identify your electorate MP and their email address from the attached list.
3. Email your MP . Email your MP the proforma letter attached below, ensuring you update it with your name and address – easy!
4. Email Synergy . Email Synergy's Managing Director Jim Mitchell using the second letter, again inserting your name and address, then email to jim.mitchell@synergyenergy.com.au .
5. NOTE - Cc both emails to Smartandgreen@gmail.com . This will help us keep track of the number of letters sent.
6. Forward this email!! We're hoping to reach as many Synergy customers as possible so that we can send a strong message to Synergy and the WA Government!

Background:
Synergy's price hike from 1 October will see NaturalPower customers paying 4.4 cents extra per kilowatt hour for electricity compared to conventional electricity users, instead of an extra three cents/kwh, as currently. This represents a 146% cent increase in the Naturalpower tariff. SmartPower customers will pay up to 25% extra.

For an average household using NaturalPower, this price hike will mean paying an extra $77 a year on top of the $165 they were already paying extra to be environmentally-sound!

Synergy (which is owned by the State Government) has justified this by calling NaturalPower and SmartPower "additional products", which are exempt from the WA's Government's cap on household and small business electricity prices until 2009.

In other words, WA residents who are doing the right thing by either buying renewable energy (NaturalPower customers) or helping to "beat the peak" (SmartPower customers who pay stepped tariffs according to time-of-day usage) are being penalised as if they are buying a luxury product.

Synergy has provided no proof that the price of supplying renewable electricity has gone up to justify this hike - and neither has it provided any explanation as to why SmartPower prices are increasing.

In fact, while the NaturalPower and SmartPower tariffs have remained the same since 2000, the tariff for conventional fossil-fuel-based electricity has remained the same for the past 15 years!

Meanwhile, WA lags well beyond all other States in the number of people buying renewable electricity. Our current uptake rate is one of the fastest – however will it remain so after 1 October?

Want to share your views, ideas or questions? Email SmartandGreen@gmail.com

This price hike sounds expensive – I might stick to fossil fuel electricity!
We can't tell what you do, but we can tell you that even with this price hike, NaturalPower is competitive with other green power providers in Australia. Synergy is offering customers ways to adapt to the extra costs – but this may involve reducing your renewable electricity use. We suggest looking at your unit (kilowatt hour) usage on your bill and calculating difference the extra 1.4 cent/kwh will make to you. The new NaturalPower rate will be 18.34cents/kwh (incl GST), compared to 13.94 cents/kwh for electricity sourced from polluting coal and gas.

Who are SmartandGreen?
We are two concerned NaturalPower customers, Eloise Dortch and Jasmine Horobin, who also happen to be students of Sustainable Development at Murdoch University 's Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy.

I will forward the email with the letters and the list of MP's to everyone on the mailing list of the Green Drinks. If you are not on there please send me an email if you want these letters/list.

What is industrial design?

The First Perth Green Drinks were a success!

Thanks to everyone who came tonight!!!

I was positively surprised by the huge turn up for this first Perth Green Drinks in Claremont hotel. I must admit that I was a bit afraid that I would be the only one there although I had some very positive reactions by phone and email. There were about eighty people in total with different backgrounds but all for the same cause; the environment. It was good to see everybody mingle and talk to each other; students, consultants, people from councils and government bodies as well as professionals. It was the ideal mix to set a great environment to start talking!

"Everything big has started small, so why not gather all kind of people who are aiming to make this world a better world and start talking!The next step is to act!"

I hope next Perth Green Drinks, first Tuesday in November, will be as successful as this one so Perth Green Drinks can compete with cities all over the world!

Click on the photo to see a bigger version

The first Green Drinks in Perth!!!

Half of you wanted to meet in the pub and the other half in the park so that was easy for me. The winter meetings will be in the pub and the summer meetings will be in the park.
Winter is from April -September and Summer is from October - March.

And as I didn't got many suggestions on which pub I decided to keep it close by; between Perth and Fremantle.

So I went to the Claremont Pub to ask if it was possible to gather there on a Tuesday night.

They are happy to fence of the lounge area for us and they will even put the fire on when it's cold.

Drinks are on your own expense and when getting hungry next doors Bellisimo is serving pizza's in the pub. The first hour they have drink specials.

Bus and train station are in front of the pub and there is plenty of free parking in the area.

The Western Suburbs Weekly community paper is going to write an article on the Green Drinks in the next week edition to attract more interested people.

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 in this area.

Green Drinks is started by the o2 liaison for Western Australia and is a voluntary gathering to meet people that you may otherwise not get a chance to interact with. Many interesting conversations start this way and may grow to something more. Green Drinks international is supported by people who think talking is important.

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 South Africa Switzerland

When:
Green Drinks Perth will be bi-monthly on the first Tuesday of the month: September – November – January – March – May – July.

Where:
Winter: May – July – September in the pub in Claremont (see map below)
Summer: November – January – March in the park: Kings Park preferable in one of the rotunda’s (information provided later)