Green Drinks in other states

If you are in South Australia, please check out the first Green Drinks over there. They even have a few artists performing at the place! Give Ben a call or send an email if you want to come or just show up at Sarah's cafe on 2 November from 6pm.

When in Melbourne:
2007 Green Drinks Melbourne Eco Creatives, related business and industries.Thursday 8th of November -6pm till 8pm - Green Grubs Chillout - 8pm Onwards - Horse Bazaar - 397 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne - (Between Queen St and Elizabeth St near the corner of Hardware St).

When in Sydney:
EnviroDrinks
Wednesday 7 November 6pm – 9pm
Join fellow Environmental Professionals for a relaxed and social evening - & all for a good cause!
CARGO BAR (Upstairs) 52-62 The Promenade King Street Wharf - Complimentary drink on arrival with pizza’s
Thanks to CARGO, $600 worth of door prizes to be drawn around 9pm
EnviroDrinks is a social event planned for those who work in environmental and related fields and is a great opportunity to network with like-minded people in your industry.
Entry is only a $10 donation, and please bring a business card to enter the lucky door prize.

For more information check the international Green Drinks website.

Volunteers wanted

We are 2 weeks away from the Walk Against Warming and the time has come to rally the troops and build our wonderful team for the day!

We are expecting record crowds and hence...we need a massive team of people to work with us. We need a team of 70 volunteers on the day to get involved in a range of different roles.

As this is going to be a big event, it is important that everyone understands certain proceedures and protocols not just for the running of the event..but also incase of an emergency.

With this in mind, we have organised volunteer orientation sessions , in order to familiarise yourself with the logistics on the day.

We have 2 sessions planned, it is imperative to attend at least one of them. It will only take an hour or so.

The first one will be Thursday the 1st of November at 5:30pm - Conservation Council, 2 Delhi Street, West Perth. The second is on Monday, 5th November at 5:30pm same address. Nibblies provided :-)

It is essential that you RSVP (to me - ELIZE - either email or phone will do) so that we can cater for you.

Thanks and looking forward to seeing you!

Elize Steynberg
WAW Volunteer Coordinator
043 490 7116
elize.steynberg@gmail.com

Sian Churcher
Walk Against Warming State Coordinator
www.walkagainstwarming.org

'When the world warms by one degree and we begin to see the mass devastation and ecological loss - how many people will realise we could have done more?'

Conservation Council of WA - Commitment to environmental protection since 1967

Walk Against Warming

Date: Sunday 11 November
Venue: Fremantle Esplanade Park
Time: 1:00pm

In support of the contribution Walk Against Warming makes to raising awareness on climate change and the environment, the Public Transport Authority is pleased to offer free travel for passengers on the Transperth train network between 11am and 5pm on Sunday 11th November 2007. Fremantle Line services stop at Fremantle Train Station, which is 600m from The Esplanade.

We want all political parties to get serious about climate change. Help us make the Walk Against Warming even bigger this year! 2006 Perth’s Walk Against Warming saw 4500 people take to the streets of Northbridge, showing our leaders that WA citizens, groups and organisations all want serious action taken on climate change. One year later, and not much has happened to reduce our emissions. That is why this year the Walk Against Warming will be held 2 weeks before the federal election, drawing key attention to the issue of climate change during this critial period. Last year our venue was not large enough to hold all the people that walked with us. Learning from last year, in 2007 we will have a venue capable of fitting in at least 20, 000 people! Put quite simply, this year will be bigger and better!

Perth Green Drinks

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 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. Perth Green Drinks might become the covering network for everyone as well as the breeding ground for new ideas and innovations.

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:
6 November from 5.30 pm

Where:
KINGS PARK at Rotunda 1 (right behind State War Memorial)














How:
It’s BYO and I suggest you wear a funny hat because it’s also Melbourne Cup Day :)

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

Four speakers:
Ray Wills - WASEA Western Australia Sustainable Energy Association
Tarrin Buttimer – Student Product Design Curtin University
Scott Ludlam – Australian Greens Lead Senate Candidate for WA
Julie Grundy – Go Greener Australia










Booking of venue kindly donated by WASEA.

Gardening

During winter our patio tiles were covered with weeds and last weekend I had the great plan to get rid of them. And because I avoid all poison I started the tiring manual job of cleaning the tiles. Until I remembered my mother pouring hot water from boiled potatoes on the weeds at our farm garden in Holland. So I boiled a few kettles of water for the hardy parts and poured it on the weeds. It smelled like boiling vegetables but nothing much seemed to happen. Untill a few days later, the weeds were yellow, dried out and easy to remove or sweep away. The patio looks well maintained now!
This is my environmental friendly gardening tip for today. Do you have any?

Plea for help to be in local newspaper about unfair tariff rise for NaturalPower and SmartPower

Hi all
Thanks to your fantastic response to our recent plea for help, as many as seven local Community Group newspapers across the metro area are expected to publish stories on this unfair tariff rise for NaturalPower and SmartPower next week. Each newspaper article features a resident from different areas covered by each newspaper. Now staff at Community Group have asked me if I know of any residents in areas covered by: the Wanneroo Times, Weekend Courier (Rockingham), Midland and Kalamunda Reporter or Comment News (Kelmscott) willing to be in an article on this issue. They have told me that their newspaper group wants to "go big" on this issue. Please let me know if you, or anyone you know, living in these additional areas might be willing to be in a story. I am very happy to explain what it might involve first before you or you friends commit. Call/text me on 0428 768 803 (I'll call right back) or email me
Thankyou!
Eloise Dortch

Printer cartridges

While I am a computer nerd and didn't refill my printer cartridges since ages, most people still need paper prints. So my attention fell on the flyer in the letterbox this morning;

Re-use your empty ink or laser cartridge and win!

Bring your empty ink or laser cartridge into your local Cartridge World store and have it refilled or manufactured and enter the draw to win one of two 5 night stays at the Daintree Ecolodge and Spa.

Most printer cartridges can be remanufactured, refilled or reloaded. Here are a few good reasons to recycle printer cartridges:
- More than 3.4 litres (3/4 gallon) of oil are needed to make one new laser cartridge
- About 1,500 tonnes of toner cartridges are sent to landfill in Australia each year
- In just 12 months, cartridge recycling could save 4.3 million litres of oil in a country of 22 million people
- Laser printer cartridges account for over 90% of all throw-away cartridges
- A laser cartridge thrown into landfill can take up to 450 years to decompose
- Buying a new cartridge uses more resources with a higher cost to you
- Cartridge World cartridges are locally, refilled or remanufactured on site, supporting your local community (compared to new cartridges which are mass produced overseas and sold by local dealers) By bringing your used cartridges to Cartridge World you can help protect Australia's environment. Refilling… makes $$$ and sense!

Workshops

Tim Hanlin, Managing Director of Australian Climate Exchange, contacted me about a few two-hour workshops he is doing in Perth next week and asked me to bring it to your attention. The titles of the workshops are "Emission Trading Fundamentals " and "Trading as a Tool for Managing the Issue ". If you are interested go to their website for more information.

Blog Action Day

Today is Blog Action Day, which means that participating Blogs should write a topic about the environment. But this whole Blog is about the environment... That's why I want to tell you about my way of working and how I try to be good to the world:
I work at home, which is very friendly for the environment because I don't drive a car to work. When I go out to see clients or to the university or TAFE do my lectures I take the train and often a combination of bicycle and train. I do almost everything digital to save paper (= trees) and started a class Blog with one of my classes to see if it works to work paperless. I remember that clients looked a bit weird when they met me for the first time when I came to the appointment with only a memory stick instead of a big portfolio with drawings and sketches. Now I have a laptop which makes it a bit easier to meet everywhere I want. I reuse and recycle everything around me. We have a couple of chooks in the garden who eat all scraps, next to the pen is a compost pile for clippings, coffee and teabags. I mix chicken poo with the compost for the vegie garden. The garden is mulched twice a year and don't use the reticulation on the lawn in summer. When I go to the supermarket I try to avoid certain packaging because they are too damaging to the environment. I buy bulk instead of everything wrapped separate and have nice glass jars at home. Go to the markets for nuts, dried fruit and beans and of course fresh produce. Bake my own bread (not always but at least once a week) Use the dishwasher when it's full and wash clothes once a week. Save the first few liters of cold water in the shower for the pot plants and don't use the airco in summer but put the doors open when the sea breeze is coming in. Put an extra sweater on in winter when it's getting cold and go outside in the sun regularly to warm up my freezing hands (when working behind the computer) I am not very materialistic, I prefer a good meal and a hike in the bush to all kind of electronic gadgets. When I need to buy something like a washing machine I make sure it has all the Eco friendly star's and have a water saving shower head. I think there are heaps more to improve specially because I work behind the computer which is on all day and often to late night...

What about your way?

Digital Eskimo on sustainable design

Info Digital Eskimo

Sustainability Week

Caroline Minton, Environmental Coordinator at Murdoch University, told me that the university is hosting a ‘Sustainability Week’ from Monday 15th October to Friday 19th October, with a different theme each day – Sustainability, Resources, Environment, Society and Culture, and Economy. The week is aimed at educating the community about sustainability issues and how we can all impact less on the earth. There will be seminars, documentaries and other activities to attend throughout the week, related to each theme. A token gold coin donation for attending seminars, documentaries, walks and tours is requested to help raise funds for solar panels, to generate on-campus renewable energy. The whole week is powered by Natural Power, courtesy of Synergy.
Key activities:
Monday 15th
o Traditional welcome and smoking ceremony (9:30-10:30am);
o Stall day in Bush Court (10am-4pm);
o Tour of the Environmental Technology Centre (11am-12pm).

Tuesday 16th
o Tour of the renewable energy demonstration and biodiesel display (11:30am).
Wednesday 17th
o Wildflower walk (10am);
o Night walks through campus bushland (7pm).
Thursday 18th
o Pilates (12-1pm) and a laughter session (1-1:30pm) in Bush Court;
o Indigenous tour of campus bushland (2:30pm).
Friday 19th
o Sundowner with entertainment including Day of kingS, Mo Wilson & the Drivers, Aiden Varro, DJ Mintox & Andy Meiosis. Tickets $12 from the Guild Shop. (4:30pm-late so come when you’re ready!)
More info click here

Slow food

Sustainability starts with your own body, if you are clean of chemicals you will have a healtier approach to the world. Have a look at Slow Food for example:
Slow Food is good, clean and fair food. We believe that the food we eat should taste good; that it should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; and that food producers should receive fair compensation for their work.

I know it's difficult and you need plenty of time to gather all the right ingredients, but you can make a start and do whatever is convenient in your case.

To help you with a healty lifestyle in Perth there is an interesting book "The BIG 5 is alive" from Stephen Hooper with lots of info on local produce and places were you can buy them. The book is self published and the ISBN no. is 0-646-45482-x

Extra Green Drinks at 11 October - Luna Leederville - from 5.30pm - more info click here

The 11th Hour

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Conscious Living Expo

From 1 to 4 November at the Claremont Showgrounds:
Visit Australia's leading exhibition and forum for your health and wellbeing and the environment. From organic food, diet and nutrition to natural healing therapies you'll find holistic lifestyle choices to reduce stress and enhance your wellbeing and happiness .
Find out how you can save money and reduce climate change by cutting your carbon emissions and making more sustainable lifestyle choices.
Explore over 150 displays alongside an impressive and inspirational program of events including lectures, seminars, workshops, experiential meditations, live entertainment and demonstrations.
More information click here

Blog action day

SmartandGreen: Update and plea for help

Hi everyone

Below is an update on the SmartandGreen campaign against the unfair price hikes for NaturalPower and SmartPower. Unfortunately, we must assume that it did not stop the tariffs from going up last week.

However first a quick request. Are any NaturalPower customers among you willing to be in a local/community newspaper article about these price hikes? It would require you to being willing to be in a photo (something like you and/or your household, pictured holding yoru electricity bill in your backyard) and willing to be quoted, with your name and suburb in the article. Jasmine and Eloise (Smartandgreen) will also probably be quoted, along with your MP and Synergy and/or Fran Logan's office. We can give you an idea in advance about what you might be asked about (Eloise is a former journo) - but it is likely to only a be a few lines; the other interviews will take up the rest of the article.
If you are a NaturalPower customer and are willing to be quoted in your local paper on this topic, please call/text Eloise asap on 0428 768 803 or email mailto:eloisedortch@yahoo.com.au.

Update:
The good news is that as a result of at least 40 emails flooding Synergy managing director Jim Mitchell's inbox and at least 25 letters being sent to State MP's we have captured Synergy's attention - sufficiently for them to suggest a meeting with us. At this meeting, they told us they planned to soon begin a reinvigorated promtion of green power. We had some reservations about aspects of their approach and are now seeking a meeting with Energy Minister Fran Logan.
It seems that everyone who wrote to their MP is still awaiting a detailed response however at least one MP (former Environment Minister Judy Edwards, Maylands MLA) has written to say that she shares our concerns. Other MP's have stated they have contacted the Energy Minister Fran Logan and are awaiting his response.

We intend to provide you with a full report on this campaign within a few weeks.
THANKYOU for your involvement and feedback so far! It's the collective efforts of people like you that will get WA on track to addressing the very pressing issue of climate change.

Regards,
Jasmine Horobin and Eloise Dortch

China manufacturing demand

I bought the book a few weeks ago, Cradle to Cradle, and because of lack of time I started reading today and while reading the first chapter suddenly thought of the news I read a few months a go on the Dutch news website I daily look up. There was a story about products from China who were send back due to high concentrates of lead, formaldehyde, dychloorethane and benzene. Dutch companies refused to accept dolls, mattresses, clothes, baby stuff and jewellery.
Big producer of toys like Barbie has recalled a lot of products due to high lead concentrates. There are lots of Blogs (and another) with titles as 'China is murdering us, starting with our children". Mainly from the USA, but it's a worldwide fenomen. China has a high demand on production and a shortness of materials combine this with lack of quality control and you get yourself a 'nice' harmfull product. Substandard Chinese products have been found in a number of countries, and Beijing is having to defend Chinese-manufactured exports. Unsafe goods have implications not only for foreign trade and international relations, but also within the domestic market. "A good system for guaranteeing quality control simply doesn't exist in China," says Wang, who has spent more than 10 years trying to clean up the Chinese marketplace.
Even Wikipedia has an overview of recalls from China 2007 stored in their system...

Diesel launched its Global Warming Ready campaign, a thought-provocative, international advertising concept designed to ignite debate while raising awareness of the issues surrounding climate change. One of the largest in Diesel's Canadian history, portrays the potential look of this new world while representing it in an aesthetically beautiful way.

The shocking effects of Global Warming are not immediately noticeable but are subtly revealed through details in the ads depicting ordinary scenes in a surreal, post-Global Warming world.

Who on earth cares?

I just became an extra green dot on the map around Perth. When all of you are doing the same we might make this map of Australia a bit greener on the western part!
Check out Who on earth cares and listen to the sexy voice of Kate Blanchet who was the first member. Who On Earth Cares is a campaign that brings together Australians from all walks of life who are concerned about climate change and want Australia to reduce its greenhouse pollution. By putting yourself on the map, you’ll be part of a growing community of Australians showing they care about this important issue.

Drive smart

By choosing a greener vehicle, you can make a real difference.
The Green Vehicle Guide helps you by rating new Australian vehicles based on greenhouse and air pollution emissions.
The rating is calculated using data provided by manufacturers from testing the vehicle against Australian standards.

More Cradle to cradle

Leaders Must Become Designers, and Designers...Leaders



William McDonough's fabric