Put another log on the fire

YOU don't have to contribute to greenhouse gases to keep cosy in winter. The design of your home, energy-efficient heating and sensible steps to keep the heat in can make your winter a warm and environmentally friendly experience.
Read the article full of information

Crystals shed light on solar energy

Affordable solar energy for every household has moved closer to reality thanks to a ground-breaking discovery at the University of Queensland (UQ).

"We have grown the world's first titanium oxide single crystals with large amounts of reactive surfaces, something that was predicted as almost impossible," Professor Lu said. "The crystals absorb sunlight and convert it into electricity."

Read article

O2 Playground

More information on o2 Playground, click here.

SomerVille Ecovillage

SomerVille Ecovillage, located just 2 kilometres from the centre of Chidlow, is the state's premier example of how to develop property. Just some of the initiatives in place at the ecovillage are:
- every building will be North facing and achieve a 7 star thermal efficiency
- the ecovillage is self sufficient for water and sewerage and will be a net exporter of solar power
- to reduce car usage the village centre is car free and at least 80 jobs will be created on site. There will also be a car share service available
- those choosing to have cars will have to pay an annual fee for road upkeep
- the strata company will own several enteprises, which will generate an ongoing income stream for the community
- the project developer offsets 100% of their carbon emissions

To celebrate the availability of the lots, SomerVille is hosting a launch event in Perth, with guest speaker Peter Newman. You can find out more about the SomerVille project, register your interest and RSVP for this event at the website.

Aussies spend $5b on electronic gadgets

In fact, Australians bought more than $5 billion worth last year, spending up big on flat-screen televisions, digital cameras, games consoles, MP3 players and more.

Many of these new toys replaced old models and some telecommunications experts say we are now replacing our mobile phones every 18 months or sooner. Read article

And every verge collection again I see so many computers, printers, televisions and other e waste... instead of bringing it to one of the depots for e waste... Check 1800EWASTE Australia for more information.

Waste is Food - A revolution in The Netherlands

After showing the documentary in The Netherlands about Cradle to Cradle in October 2006 William McDonohough and Michael Braungart got busy. Dutch industry was very interested and after a lot of seminars, workshops and meetings projects started rapidly. This is the documentary in five parts made a year later:





The documentary is in Dutch but most of the related topics is in English with Dutch subtitles. It's worth watching.
In 3/5 you see a designers innitiative of 100% sustainable design.

Rebate rules ‘disaster’ for solar power industry

WA’s fledging solar energy industry fears it could collapse following the Federal Government’s surprise Budget decision to restrict an $8000 rebate for installation of solar roof panels to households earning less than $100,000 a year. Read all.

There is a lot of commotion around this issue and I wonder why they've decided to restrict the rebate as the price of solar power is still pretty high and the first people who are able to buy these are the more fortunate. Restricting the rebate lowers the market drastically... as they say in the article; about 70% of the customers are over the 100.000 bracket... and they are cancelling orders fast!
Anyway, the newspapers are full with it: more here, here and here.

Green support: New solar bra can power your iPod

Ladies, take your battle for the environment a little closer to your heart with a solar-powered bra that can generate enough electric energy to charge a mobile phone or an iPod.

Lingerie maker Triumph International Japan unveiled its environmentally friendly, and green coloured, Solar Power Bra in Tokyo.

Read more about this underwear which needs sunshine to power....

Bicycle hire scheme in Brisbane

BRISBANE looks set to become the first Australian capital city to join several European centres in introducing a public bike hire scheme, with the city's council launching a call for proposals for the project at the weekend. Read all

In Holland we know this concept for years, for example in the Kröller-Müller Museum are about 1700 bicyles available to use for free.

Sustainable Energy Now

Jeremy, one of my old students, attended me on SEN, a local initiative "To promote practical, affordable strategies for the adoption of renewable energy and a sustainable global future"
Their goals:
- Promote to the general public, existing renewable energy technologies appropriate for Western Australia.
- Research renewable energy technologies for their potential to meet WA's electricity needs.
- Create a 3-D computer simulation which demonstrates how WA's electrical energy can be provided from a mix of energy sources. This will show locations and sizes of the wind farms, wave farms and other technologies, and allow the user to zoom in on these virtual power plants in operation. Graphical illustrations will show energy supply vs. grid demand, and electricity costs. A later development could allow the user to create their own simulation as an educational tool. The underlying mathematical model will use real-time or historical natural energy data and the results of our research.
- Present the simulation to the general public and schools via DVD, website, and other media.

Plastic Garbage Island - We eat this!

World biggest garbage dump - plastic in the Ocean



Oceans becoming a garbage patch



Update 14 June: Read the Article in the Brisbane Times

Food waste increase

The cost of food is rising around the world, and yet billions of dollars worth of goods are still being thrown away every year.

An investigation in the UK has found 60 per cent of the food that's binned is completely untouched. In the UK, one third of all food purchased is thrown away, even though it is perfectly edible.

Each day, 13 million uneaten cartons of yoghurt are binned and an average family with children throws out around $1,500 worth of perfectly good food a year. Read all

2 Free Energy Saving Lightbulbs!

Green Energy Watch is giving away 10,000 FREE Energy Saving Light Bulbs to save energy and reduce green house gas emissions!
Fill in the form

Upcoming Events

WASEA
Hon Paul Llewellyn and WA SEA present a breakfast with Hans-Josef Fell, German Member of Parliament.
Date: Saturday 17th May 2008, 8:45am - 10:30am
Location: Fraser's, Kings Park
More info click here

Concervation Council
World Environment Day
A selection of Perth's top comedians and special guests.
Date: Thursday 5 June - 8-10pm
Location: Charles Hotel - North Perth
More info click here

Water forever
Options Workshop
Date: Wednesday 11 June 2008
Location: Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre
More info click here

Climate change action belies fears

AUSTRALIANS see climate change as the nation's biggest problem but appear unwilling to change their lives to reduce their large environmental footprint, an international survey has found.

Roughly a third of Australian consumers surveyed had nine rooms or more in their homes and most had air conditioning (70 per cent).

More than 90 per cent had one or more vehicles per household, second only to US consumers, and six out of 10 drove alone daily.

Australians ranked among the lowest in using public transport, with only 22 per cent catching a bus or train at least once a week.

Australians were among the least likely of the nations surveyed to believe global warming would worsen their own way of life (18 per cent), had low levels of guilt about their own environmental impact (nine per cent), and rated average in their belief that people need to consume a lot less to improve the environment for future generations (29 per cent).
Read all

The Designers Accord: A conversation with Valerie Casey

The Designers Accord is a grassroots movement aiming to integrate sustainable thinking into design practice.
Core77's Allan Chochinov invited Valerie Casey, founder of the Accord, to discuss the initiative, how it got started, and how it all might end. (Well, in a good way.)

"My argument was that as designers, we are driven culturally and economically to make radical change, but much of the necessary work in the green movement is based on incremental improvements".

Read the interview here.

Couch surfing

Yesterday evening I met some interesting people during the Green Drinks at Claremont Hotel and we even got a few visitors from the Seatle (US) Green Drinks group. One of the interesting people I met was Jon who told me about couch surfing and send me the link to this fenominous website which distracted me from work for the last couple of hours... It's amazing to see a world wide network sharing hospitality!

CouchSurfing is a worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit.
Check it out!

Regulation of all green claims

How is it possible that manufacturers can call their products 'green' while they are far from it???

CONSUMER advocates are calling for mandatory regulation of all green claims made for household cleaning items, paper and tissue products after an investigation revealed that current standards for environmental marketing were largely ignored.

A nationwide consumer education program and website should also be established to help shoppers determine what green labels could be trusted.

An investigation by consumer advocate Choice of non-food supermarket items found that there were more than 630 green claims ranging from "natural" to "biodegradable" on 185 items including paper and cleaners.

"The majority of those items had claims that were vague, poorly explained or unsubstantiated," Choice chief executive Peter Kell said. "The two biggest problem areas emerged as household cleaning products and paper/tissue products."

Only 3 of the 185 products claimed to meet the voluntary Australian Standard for Environmental Labelling.

Mr Kell said the voluntary standard for labelling was largely ignored and should be made mandatory. "It's ignored by big brands, small players and even supermarkets with their own label brands," he said.

Investigations by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission have already accused Origin Energy, Energy Australia and Saab of greenwashing.

Info from The Age 7 May More examples here and here

Milan 2008 - Salone Del Mobile - The Lab - Tuttobene

Perth Green Drinks - 6 May

You are invited for the Perth Green Drinks on 6 May 2008 for the fifth Green Drinks in Perth.

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 349 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 6 May from 6.00 pm

Where: At the Claremont Pub, they are happy to fence of the lounge area for us and they will even put the fire on when it's cold.

How: 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.

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

Hope to see you there!

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

Green is the New Black - Comedy

Click on picture to get a larger version.