System-reload for eco-designers

Designers meet in London to show how sustainability and environmental issues are re-shaping their work.

Two of the event's organisers, Damien Melotte and Cindy Kohtala, say they hope to create a worldwide network and a means of communication where eco-design ideas and experiences can be shares in an open-sourced manner.

More information on System Reload click here.

Green spells growth in WA market

Almost half of WA’s fastest-growing companies are in the green sector, cashing in on consumer demand for clean technology in areas such as waste water treatment, wind power and aquaculture, according to a new report.

The Ernst & Young report on the State’s 10 fastest-growing small-to-medium industrial companies found that four focused on environmental areas, including green cleaning technologies and alternative waste management.
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Proponent of geothermal energy to explore nine WA sites

An energy company has announced plans to drill nine sites to potentially develop "hot rocks" technology in regional Western Australia.

Hot rocks technology harnesses steam from heat producing granite deposits below the ground and converts it into a low-emissions source of renewable energy.
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Food for thought

Food for thought: Are we some of the world's worst wasters?

We Aussies like to think we're a "green" nation but still, three million tonnes of food are being wasted every year. That's 145kg per person and collectively, is enough to feed the entire nation for three weeks. Apparently the most wasted foods are fruit and veg, followed by meat, bread and dairy, and the main problem is that we buy or cook too much.
Once we throw out food, it rots in landfill and produces methane, an extremely harmful greenhouse gas. So we're all wasting good food and money, while also adversely affecting the environment. Here's how to be more economical with your nosh.

I like to add to this article that I was shocked to hear how much food is wasted from canteens and restaurants in Perth. When I worked at a bakery in my teens (in The Netherlands) all the stale old bread was gathered by a pig farmer. And I know that the left over meats from the pig factory went to the dog pound. Grown up on a farm were in some parts of the year we had an abundance of certain fruits and veggies we used to freeze them or make jams. Here I go to the markets once a week to buy my greens and we eat first what is not lasting for long. It's the way you shop, if you go only once a week, like me, than you need to know that you can keep the carrots for a while but not the lettuce! I have the idea that many people are thinking differently and need to learn again these basic skills.
And also the laws are not making it easier for people, as I remember asking the lettuce leaves discarded by the fresh market to take home for my chooks and they told me they couldn't do this in case there was something harmful in it and my chooks would die... But they could sell me the lettuce were they had just pulled the outer leaves from....???

Meat...

To be sustainable you shouldn't eat too much meat, even better, no meat, but than you need to know a bit more about how to complete your diet so I try to eat less meat, at least one day a week we don't have meat, but nowadays more often it's a few days a week I cook without meat and I know more about delicious substitutes.
But I love the tender kangaroo meat, even the minced meat is nice, and very healthy too. It's local and sustainable!

While first more than 70% of the culled kangaroo meat went to petfood now half of it is for human consumption.

All kangaroos are killed in their natural environment by licensed cullers, who operate under a quota set by the Federal Government.

About 12% of each year's population is culled, which means kangaroo numbers will never drop below replacement levels.

Ironically, the meat is not certified organic because kangaroos are everywhere, not just a testable area.
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Computer business recognised for eco-friendly initiatives

An Osborne Park computer business has been rewarded for its environmentally friendly initiatives. EDsys Computers won the inaugural Green PC Competition 2008 for building energy efficient PCs.

Computers were independently judged by measuring power consumption when not in use and the final score was calculated using a formula based on Microsoft research for “real world” usage models for PC activity breakdown in the workplace.
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Scientists Develop Plastic-Producing Bacteria

Scientists at Genomatica Inc. recently announced that they have developed strains of bacteria that are able to produce plastic without the use of oil or natural gas. The sustainable process utilizes little more than sugar and water to produce butanediol (BDO), which can be manufactured into everything from plastics and fibers to pharmaceuticals. Genomatica estimates that within a year the energy-efficient process will cost less than current hydrocarbon-based processes - a revolutionary development since close to 3 billion pounds of BDO manufactured each year.
Read on

Rubber ducks...

I am not sure what it is with the Americans and rubber ducks... the yearly Rubber Duck Regatta's all over the place were they dump thousands of rubber ducks in rivers for prices... are they all getting out or is a percentage heading to the big plastic sludge island in the pacific?
And now I read that even NASA dumped rubber ducks in Greenland as an experiment...

Rubber ducks are made from PVC which contains chemicals which may be harmful if released into the environment.

World Carfree Day 2008

Did you leave the car at home yesterday?
I did, but I left my car at home the last couple of years and take the train or bicycle to work since. It saves a lot! Not only carbon emissions but also calories and money ;-)
Every September 22, people from around the world get together in the streets, intersections, and neighbourhood blocks to remind the world that we don't have to accept our car-dominated society.

But we do not want just one day of celebration and then a return to "normal" life. When people get out of their cars, they should stay out of their cars. It is up to us, it is up to our cities, and our governments to help create permanent change to benefit pedestrians, cyclists, and other people who do not drive cars.

More info

Feet are made for walking

Walk Week - 3-9 November 2008

Each day Perth residents make more than 250,000 private car trips of less than one kilometre....

During Walk Week people are invited to leave the car at home and walk instead. Register a school, workplace or community walk online and those received by 3 October will receive a free event kit, including posters and giveaways.

Battery free camera

Resembling a magnifying glass or flower, Sony's Twirl n’ Take’s rolling head provides power by transforming kinetic energy into electricity. The device apparently takes decent photos, although it takes about 15 seconds of rolling to charge for a picture The camera is installed in the handle, and as the device has no screen, one uses the hole as a viewfinder.

As an extension of the Twirl n’ Take’s floral form, Sony decided to create a cute flowerpot to act as the camera’s docking station. In addition to its battery-free design, the camera is composed of biodegradable vegetable-based plastics.
Read article.

Interested in more sustainable Sony stuff, check this website.

Thursday, 25th of September, 5:00pm

Come along to celebrate the end of Sustainable September with fellow colleagues, friends and members of the passionate and ever-growing sustainability community. Click on the picture for more information.

Chicken Manure to power 90,000 Homes in the Netherlands!

Last week Dutch agriculture minister Gerda Verburg announced a groundbreaking development for the field as she unveiled the world’s largest biomass power plant to run exclusively on poultry manure. The plant will convert a third of the nation’s chicken waste into energy while running at a capacity of 36.5 megawatts - enough to power 90,000 homes.
Read article in English or in Dutch.

SmartBurn WINNER of 2008 Australian Environmental Award

SmartBurn would like your vote!!!
SmartBurn is a National Finalist in The Green Awards

If you have a spare minute during the day could you please go online at and vote in the "Scientific Breakthrough" category for SmartBurn!!!

Voting closes 5.00pm EST Friday

Its an environmentally friendly product which cleans chimneys as well as reducing smoke haze and emissions by up to 50% from domestic wood heaters!!
If you agree this is a cool device please lend your support by voting!

Kind Regards
Peter

Paperless classes

Since a few years I am a casual lecturer for Curtin University and TAFE and since this semester also at the School of Fine Wood in Dwellingup. Everyone knows how much paper the education area turns over...
Last year I had enough of the piles of paper I had to distribute to my classes, so I started with a test with the "Design Professional Practice" class for interior designers at TAFE. We started a class blog, everyone participated and we saved at least a kubic meter of paper by doing everything online.
This year I started to lecture Sustainable Design at Curtin and the first thing was of course the class blog. The blogs are closed for outsiders, only members have access. The blog functions as a back up for all information gathered during the unit. In the mean time I've started another Sustainable Design Class blog for this semester.
Next to having a class blog for all information students hand their work in by email or using a memorystick. This of course is only possible in case of reports and research, some design projects still need prototypes and sometimes hand drawings while most students nowadays design online with CAD programs.
When possible I let students hand in their work digital to avoid printed paper, both students and me are happy with this solution, they because it saves them money and time, me by having less paper to carry around. And the main thing is we save heaps of prestine trees and loads of water to manufacture paper!

Southern Metro Regional Resource Recovery Centre

Last week we had a site visit with the Sustainable Design class from Curtin University. We went to see the recycle center in Canning Vale where they make compost from garbage after they've taken out the plastic, metal and glass. They work with a two bin system, one for the kitchen waste which is composted and one for all other waste which is recycled. Garden waste is a seperate collection. It's very interesting to see how it works, when interested, they do free facility tours! Check the website.

Perth Green Drinks - 1 YEAR!!!

Perth Green Drinks started exactly one year ago and I am happy to tell you that Perth established a solid Green Drinks community. Tonight was again a success, around 30-40 people of different backgrounds gathered in Claremont pub to have a chat with other green minded people and a discussion about global warming after Jim's introduction. That's the aim for Green Drinks, to meet people from all kind of disciplines, to know what's on and learn from each other, to network and to create even more awareness.