The top sustainability book?

The Top 20 in order

An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It, by Al Gore, 2006

Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, 1962

The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review, by Nicholas Stern, 2007

Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, by E.F. Schumacher, 1973

Capitalism as if the World Matters, by Jonathon Porritt, 2005

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive, by Jared Diamond, 2005

Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins, 2000

Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, by James Lovelock, 2000

Our Common Future, by The World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987

Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business, by John Elkington, 1999

The Limits to Growth, by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows and Jorgen Randers, 1972

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, by William McDonough (A) and Michael Braungart (A), 2002

Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits, by C.K. Prahalad, 2004

The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, by Jeffrey Sachs, 2005.

Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning, by George Monbiot, 2006

Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, by Janine Benyus, 2003

The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability, by Paul Hawken, 1994

Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the battle Against World Poverty, by Muhammad Yunus, 1999

The Turning Point: Science Society and the Rising Culture, by Fritjof Capra, 1984

Development as Freedom, by Amartya Sen, 2000

info

Water, power use soars in heat

Searing heat and a lack of rain have sent water and power use soaring while households reliant on rainwater have run dry.

The temperature at Swanbourne peaked at 42.2C at 1.14pm yesterday, although the official Perth maximum was 41.5C at 3.15pm.

The sweltering weather is set to continue today with temperatures tipped to reach 40C.

The heat has come at the end of a long dry spell and is of concern for the 44,000 Perth households who use rainwater tanks.

Water carting business owner Shirley Fernihough said she was delivering nearly double the amount of water to Perth homes compared with last year.

Dams across WA were 42.5 per cent full yesterday, which was still 56.89GL higher than on February 25 last year, due to strong winter rains.
Read article

Prepeat inkless and tonerless rewritable printer

The PrePeat Printer uses a new kind of technology which achieves “printouts” without using either ink or paper, thanks to a heat sensitive plastic sheet alongside a precision thermal head that “prints” out both gray scale text and images. The 'paper' which it is printed on can be reused simply by feeding the sheets through the printer again, where a different temperature removes everything or rewrites over it.

Of course, with most of us printing documents out simply because we want a hardcopy, the PrePeat Printer isn’t exactly cost effective with a price tag of $5,500, not to mention that each sheet of special plastic paper costs $3.30 which you have to buy per 1,000. This special paper can be use up to 1,000 times before it wore up.

And what if those plastic sheets end up at the paper recycle...???
But it's good to see people inventing new methods!

Bloom Energy Shifts Power via Fuel Cells

Launching today:
Bloom Energy is one of 26 companies named on 3 December by the World Economic Forum as 2010 Tech Pioneers offering new technologies or business models that could advance the global economy and have a positive impact on people's lives. Through its cutting-edge work with fuel cell technology, the Sunnyvale (Calif.) company aims to help homes and businesses generate their own electricity and fuel their own vehicles—bringing power and light to remote villages and even reducing dependence on today's electricity grids in the developed world.

Around 1.5 billion people, or nearly a quarter of the world's population, live without electricity today.
Read article
or
Watch documentary on 60 Minutes

Fuel-saving device does not work

A so-called fuel-saving device sold in WA and which claims to improve efficiency and reduce emissions does not work, a consumer protection investigation has found.

The Fuelstar Combustion Catalyst, distributed in WA by Major Auto Technics in Bellevue, claims to reduce fuel consumption by 6 per cent and tail pipe emissions by 20 per cent.

However, an investigation by the Department of Consumer Protection found that the device, which is fitted inside the engine bay of a car, does not deliver any improvements.

"The results of the testing showed that in petrol cars there was no significant improvement in either fuel consumption or exhaust emissions, proving that this product is ineffective," Consumer Protection Commissioner Anne Driscoll said.
Read article

More info here and here

Still 4 volunteers wanted for Super Tuesday - 2 March

The Super Tuesday Bicycle Count is taking place next Tuesday.

Volunteers will be stationed around the City of Perth between 7am and 9am counting the number of commuters on bikes. The data collected will be used to develop improved bicycle infrastructure in and around the CBD. If you work in the CBD make sure you ride and get yourself counted on March 2.

Each volunteer will earn $50 for their effort which they can donate to the club, school or community group of their choice. If you would like to help to, please sign up to register now.
The red spots are still open, register now and join me, I am on spot no. 8!

UPDATE 2 March: On my way up to the city along the railway from Claremont I already counted 49 cyclists!
I was on spot 8, corner of Wellington and Barrack street from 7-9am and counted 287 cyclists there!

LeNS - Learning Network on Sustainability

LeNS, the Learning Network on Sustainability is a project for curricula development and teaching diffusion on Design for Sustainability focused on product-service system innovation.

LeNS Student Design Competition 2009-2010

The LeNS Student Design Competition invites student teams to design a sustainable product-service system (SPSS) that addresses key environmental and social problem(s) in the sectors of Food, Health/Well-being, and Mobility. The LeNS Student Design Competition opens in 2009 and is targeted to all design schools worldwide.

Entries of students from courses in design schools are accepted from May 2009. The competition is open for student entries (SPSS) created during courses that are held in the competition period and that are enrolled to the competition by their teacher (see “Competition Announcement” below). The competition closes in June 2010, and courses during the spring term 2010 are accepted if they end before the end of May.

One representative from the winning entry team will be invited and his/her expenses paid to the exhibition and award ceremony in 2010, which will be held at a conference – SUSTAINABILITY IN DESIGN NOW! – from the 29th September to the 1st of October 2010, at JN Tata Auditorium, Bangalore, India.

Check out the website and become a member!

GM free

Don't forget about the rally tomorrow lunch time! If you can't go please check here to take action online.
If you want to see what GM can damage watch this video about the gigantic bio-tech corporation Monsanto is threatening to destroy the agricultural biodiversity which has served mankind for thousands of years.

Or reed the book Genetic Roulette - Seeds of deception by Jeffrey M. Smith

AnaeCo - The Jim McGeogh Resource Recovery Facility on Brockway Rd, Shenton Park

Yesterday evening there was a session organised to discuss the project at Mt. Claremont Community Centre to hear more about AnaeCo DiCOM® Alternative Waste Treatment Technology Community Consultation

The trials of Stage 1 of the AnaeCo DiCOM® alternative waste treatment technology at the JFR (Jim) McGeough Resource Recovery Facility in Shenton Park, culminated in a full load trial completed just before Christmas. The results of the trials are promising and plans are now underway to proceed with Stage 2.
I went there to have a chat with one of the guys, I've spoken to Sean. It was good to hear what they are doing and they are hoping to be working in full space by end of 2011. The big cylinder is an enclosed bioconversion vessel in where the organic waste is made into compost. It's tested for every batch to prevent contaminated soil. They are going to add two more vessels and add an extension to the materials recovery facility.

I was invited to come by and have a look at the plant so I will take up that offer soon as I was comparing it to the Canningvale centre which I've been to twice, but it seems to work totally different so they won't expect any trouble with oudor and other problems.

Which personality types make the best designer?

Do designers share personality traits that make them successful? Even more specifically, can personality types indicate a likelihood that one will be a better manager, researcher, or stylist?

You’re not familiar with it, the Jung Myers-Briggs Type Indicator documents 16 personality types based on four categories: Extroversion vs. Introversion, Intuiting vs. Sensing, Thinking vs. Feeling, and Judging vs. Perceiving.

The ideal designer is
Introverted – likes to work alone, seeks to understand the world, prefers depth over breadth
Sensing – trusts facts and data, accepts the world as it is, prefers practicality
Feeling – seeks harmony, considers the feelings of others
Judging – gains control through planning, focuses on results
Read article

I am a ENTJ type... Take the test

What is Design for Disassembly?

Afterlife: An Essential Guide To Design For Disassembly, by Alex Diener

Design for Disassembly is a design strategy that considers the future need to disassemble a product for repair, refurbish or recycle. Will a product need to be repaired? Which parts will need replacement? Who will repair it? How can the experience be simple and intuitive? Can the product be reclaimed, refurbished, and resold? If it must be discarded, how can we facilitate its disassembly into easily recyclable components?
Read the article on Core77

THE NEXT IDEA - competition

Since 1987, the Prix Ars Electronica has served as an interdisciplinary platform for everyone who uses the computer as a universal medium for implementing and designing their creative projects at the interface of art, technology and society.

The competition is organized by the Ars Electronica Linz GmbH and ORF’s Upper Austria Regional Studio in collaboration with the OK Center for Contemporary Art and the Brucknerhaus Linz, and the prizes are awarded during the Ars Electronica Festival each year.
Online submission by 5 March.

Want to know more about it click here.

Sustainable design school

Bond University on the Gold Coast has today announced its plans for a new school of architecture that will focus on ecology and social sustainability.

The school will be funded by a gift from Sunland Group founder Soheil Abedian. Announced today and named after its patron, the Soheil Abedian School of Architecture will open in January 2011.

Abedian’s donation will enable Bond to build a “unique” architecture program at a time when sustainable design is critically important, he said.??Abedian said he was “delighted” that the school was going ahead.

"It is my ardent hope that the graduates will receive an education that will be fundamental in shaping the urban built form in Australia as well as contributing to international design innovation and excellence," Mr Abedian said.
Read article

Toxic sludge washes up in Fremantle

SLUDGE-LIKE sediment containing lead, copper, chromium and mercury is washing up onto river-side rocks in East Fremantle, activists say.
Concerned residents calling themselves People Against Dredging say independent testing by a Perth lab found lead, copper, chromium, Tributyltin (TBT) - banned in Australia since 2008 - and mercury in the thick cement-like deposits.

A group spokeswoman says the toxins have been washing ashore since dredging to expand Fremantle Harbour began in January.

The group took samples from near Stirling Bridge in East Fremantle and had them tested by an accredited Perth chemistry lab.
Read article

Update 1 March: Sampling finds alarming levels of lead in Fremantle
Air and dust sampling for lead in the Port of Fremantle has found alarming levels of the toxin with readings up to 40 times higher than baseline levels.

Liberty Resources Clean Energy Project

Liberty is working towards supplying affordable gas and power, and at the same time offering a unique opportunity to reduce Australias level of CO2 emissions. This video animates the energy extraction process and highlights the potential business opportunities provided by the clean energy industry.

Debut Project @ Free Range Gallery 19 Feb - 7pm

The Debut Project is a youth arts initiative that is to involve an exhibition, featuring seven artists aged from 16 to 18 and a submission art zine, untitled(YOUTH), that is to feature the work of young artists aged 13 to 25. The purpose of the project is to provide exposure and support to young artists and to help develop the Perth youth arts scene.
Check blog

FREE to a good family

NSW Government want family to live in new hi-tech green home in Newington

A brand new hi-tech green home complete with its own power generating sources, electric car, state-of-the-art TV - and even a kitchen worm farm.

All rent and utilities will be covered in exchange for the family testing the new technology and sharing their experience in blogs or other media.
Read article

Interested families can go to www.tenderlink.com/energy
Applications close February 22

Baited camera catches rare marine life on film

VIDEO: WA's underwater wonderlands
RARE species, the amazing marine life of underwater canyons near Rottnest and submerged mountain ranges off WA's coast have been captured on film.

Researchers at the University of WA recently dropped 12 baited video cameras up to 500m underwater to attract and film animals lurking deep in the sea.

The cameras were dropped in waters from Broome to Esperance.
Read article

or visit Save our marine life

Earth Hour is happening again in 2010.

In 2009 Earth Hour became the world’s biggest mass participation event ever. The official Earth Hour shows just how big this phenomenon has become.
This year, Earth Hour is on Saturday 27th March at 8:30 PM
More info here

Manufacturer goes in to batt for wool insulation

A wool insulation batt manufacturer say the Federal Government has missed the perfect opportunity to support Australia's wool industry.

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett is still under attack over the Government's botched home insulation program, which has led to deaths and house fires.

Geoff Aldridge, from Higgins Insulation, says while wool batts are more expensive, they're better for the environment.

And he says if the government paid more attention to wool batts, they may have avoided a lot of political problems.

"Wool at the end of its lifetime is actually biodegradable and can be used as a fertiliser," he says.

"In this country we have a good, wool farming community and they need support and this is the perfect opportunity to support them."
ABC rural
When we bought our house in 2004 the first thing we did was putting wool insulation in, not batts but loose wool which was fed in via huge tubes and sprayed over the ceiling under the roof. Having an old house with high ceilings of 3.40m combined with the insulation it stays cool summer.

Project Survival Pacific

Despite being hit by Climate Change earliest and hardest, the Pacific islands are extremely under resourced in international climate change negotiations. Project Survival Pacific works to put the Pacific on the map, both at international negotiations and by working in environmental education in the Pacific.

Project Survival Pacific are seeking talented leaders, organisers, designers, logistics people, IT people and more for their 2010 Team.

Team members may get the chance to travel to the Pacific and the UN Climate Change negotiations in Mexico.

For more information on the project and to apply visit Youth Project Survival.

Applications close on Friday 26 February.

Building Big Plans - 26 February

Click on images to enlarge.

Design in the Park 2010 is coming soon!

Planning for the second annual event to showcase the latest in Design available right here in Perth is underway. On Friday the 26th March this year, businesses across the Osborne Park precinct will open their doors to the industry to showcase the best and latest in design, including the best in premier furniture, fixtures and finishes.

This year DITP promises to be even bigger and better! Running for a longer time between 1pm and 8pm, guests are given an extended opportunity to see all the showrooms and what’s on offer. And with new showrooms, product launches, guest speakers, and industry experts on-hand, the evening is set to be another fantastic event.

Design in the Park is an event that is not to be missed for those involved in the architecture and design industry. Last year’s attendees called it “thoroughly enjoyable” and “a very successful event!”

You can register online to attend Design in the Park 2010. It is a free event that offers guests an invaluable evening of entertainment and information.

Complimentary shuttle buses will run on a pre-arranged route throughout the afternoon and evening to provide hassle free travel for participants. Use the Schedule of Events to help plan your evening, and simply jump on and jump off as you make your way around the Design in the Park precinct.

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Design in the Park 2010
Friday 26th March
1pm – 8pm

So many bikes, so little space

The Dutch like riding their bikes to the train station. But railside parking space is running out.

Anybody who has visited the Netherlands won’t be surprised to learn the Dutch are up to their ears in bicycles. But those bikes have now began to encroach on public space so much, municipal governments are left with few other options than to remove some of them by force.

Train stations in major cities especially are burdened by the number of bikes parked there, the deluge of rusty steeds threatens to clog throughways for passengers and traffic.

Wim Bot, of the Dutch Cyclists’ Union, says the shortage of parking spaces has been a long time in the making. “In the last ten years, we have seen the percentage of train travelers arriving by bike at the station increase from 30 to 40 percent.
Read article

WA drought 'could be worst for 750 years'

If you thought the drought affecting south-west WA since the 1970s was extreme, you were right.

But just how extreme has been a matter of contention.

Now, scientists believe it could be the worst of its kind in 750 years, after making an unexpected discovery.

Researchers from the Australian Antarctic Division and Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Co-operative Research Centre have identified a link between the drought, which began in the early 1970s, and snowfall at a site in East Antarctica over the same period.
Read article

Community Gardening DVDs available to order

Growing Communities WA has two DVDs recorded during Ben Neil’s 2009 Perth visit available to order now.

“Getting Started in Community Gardening” and “Growing Local Capacity through Community Gardens” are free for interested community members, groups and organisations and $10 for government and private sector organisations.

Please click on the form for more information about the DVDs and instructions for ordering.

Feed feral camels to crocodiles and kill plague, says Aboriginal leader

AN Aboriginal community leader came up with a unique solution to the nation's feral camel plague which worsens each year.
Times Online reports that Tracker Tilmouth, an Aboriginal leader who works with Arnhem Meats, said that the meat from the feral camels could be provided as food for the nation's various crocodile farms.

"They (aboriginal communities) will definitely be able to supply camels to the crocodile farms," Mr Tilmouth told the ABC.

He added that there are many uses for the camels.

"If we can get camels to an abattoir, there’s definitely a market for hides and for the hump," he said.
Read article

No government support for Perth Sun fair this year...?

Well it looks like SEDO/OOE will no longer help to support the Perth Sun Fair - see below - the reason?. This is a dismal state of affairs.

The Perth Sun Fair is the premiere sustainability event in WA. 15,000 people turned up at the Fair last year, there were 100 organisations with marquees and 4 seminar venues running half hour seminars all day.
These seminars alone were overflowing all day at last years Fair. The event is held on a shoe string budget and in terms of value for money must be one of the best winners that SEDO ever backed.

I convene the Fair (with no payment at all) and one project officer does and enormous amount of work (which would be worth well over $50,000 if charged at a regular rate) for something like $15,000. This is just a fraction of one salary at SEDO.

I would like you to email the Premiere and the Minister for Energy to express your dismay at this dismal performance of SEDO/OOE funding for the Fair.

I would like you to cc this to any other ministers either state or Federal as well as radio, TV and newspaper media.

Minister.Collier@dpc.wa.gov.au - cottesloe@mp.wa.gov.au

Thanks
Jonathon Thwaites
Perth Sun Fair - Convenor

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Hi Jonathon,

As you are aware, the Sustainable Energy Development Office has been integrated into the Office of Energy (OOE), and as such, no longer assumes a separate SEDO identity, logo or branding.

The Clean Energy & Community Programs Directorate within OOE has reviewed the previous SEDO commitment to Perth Sun Fair and decided that OOE sponsorship will no longer be extended.

However, OOE wishes to participate in the Sun Fair as an exhibitor and a registration proposal has been submitted for an OOE display on Sunday 28th March with our staff and resources fully committed to the project.

We look forward to OOE's going involvement in another worthwhile and rewarding Perth Sun Fair in 2010.

Kind regards

Ian

Perth Green Drinks

We had the first PGD tonight at our new venue for the coming year, sponsored by Central Institute of Technology. They did a great job, very good preparations with signs to show the way to the theater which was big enough to fill the 80+ rsvp's and a great catering for after the talks.
Jamie Mackaway explained the sustainable course Central Institute of Techonology is going. Alex Jones from Save our trees told us about her petition and Shane Parker presented the history behind Greenseekers.
Here some photo's of the night:



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Click on the pictures to enlarge

Year of the Tiger spurs bid to save world's biggest cat

TAKING turns to act as human ploughs, Liang Jianmin and his tiger survey team forge through kilometres of knee-deep snow in the mountain forests near China's frozen mountain border with Siberia.

From dawn to dusk they track, looking for droppings, paw prints, bark scratchings, scraps of fur caught on twigs and fences, any sign that the Amur tiger - the biggest cat species in the world - is still alive in the wilds of China.

Next week, China will start the Year of the Tiger with fireworks, feasting and a new drive by the government, the World Bank and conservation groups to halt the perilous decline of Asia's most powerful wildlife symbol.

Since the last Year of the Tiger, in 1998, the wild population of the animal worldwide has almost halved to about 3200 due to habitat loss, economic development and poaching for hides and traditional medicine.
Read article

Being a tiger myself, a water tiger, I feel this will be a good year, this metal tiger year, or what the Chinese say, the Golden Tiger Year 2010!

For all of the Chinese horoscope signs, this year is one to be active – seizing opportunities and making the most of our personal and very individual talents. Everything happens quickly and dramatically in a Tiger year – blink and you could miss an important chance of a lifetime!
Drama, intensity, change and travel will be the keywords for 2010. Unfortunately, world conflicts and disasters tend to feature during Tiger years also, so it won’t be a dull 12 months for anyone.

o2WA on Facebook

To explore the possibilities setting up the vibrant network of creative people with a sustainable mind in Western Australia I've created a Facebook profile.
Check it out here.

Vote Now to Choose a Sustainable Solution for the Greener Gadgets Stage

The top entries have been selected and now you must choose who will make it to the Greener Gadgets Design Competition finals. Vote now to pick the design you think best reduces carbon footprint, supports sustainable lifestyles or aids in energy conservation.