Perth Sun Fair this Sunday, 1 April

The Sun Fair is aimed at introducing the people of Perth to sustainable living concepts, technology and lifestyles. Major themes of the fair include renewable energy, energy efficiency, environment conservation and natural living.

On Sunday 1st April 2012 people from all walks of life will come together on the Oak Lawn at the University of Western Australia to share information and experiences so they can return to their homes with a knowledge that they can make a difference to the future of the welfare of this planet and all its living systems.

The fair demonstrates that sustainable lifestyles are environmentally sound and cost effective and are very much an attainable reality.

Environmental change is a challenge facing all of us and will only be addressed when government, business and individuals act together to achieve a common goal of sustainable living.

Where: University of Western Australia - Oak Lawn
When: 1 April 2012
Time: 9.00am to 5.00pm
More info here

Come along, I am there, volunteering for the Earthcarers, in the morning.

Native Plant Subsidy Scheme

Native Plant Subsidy Scheme is on again for western suburbs residents - Purchase up to eighty plants per household at the subsidised price of $1.50 each from the APACE Nursery from 30 April and 27 May

The conversation: population and the environment

For all our schemes and mantras about making this or that part of our lives environmentally “sustainable”, humanity’s assault on the planet not only continues but expands.

The conservation movement dates back centuries and our technological prowess grows day by day, but even so the wilderness is shrinking, species dying out, and on and on we spread, build, and plunder. It’s easy to see our schemes and mantras as ultimately little more than fiddling while Rome burns.

What are the deep problems that we don’t talk about in terms of our relationship with nature? What, so to speak, are the elephants in the room?

When we’re talking about the relationship between humans and the environment, the most obvious elephant in the room is human population growth. This is rarely discussed in the Western media nowadays, especially compared to the 1970s, but it is central to what we’re doing to to the planet. We reached an estimated 7 billion people last October, and the OECD estimates that will climb to more than 9 billion by mid-century.

....

Why doesn’t the West discuss population?
The West does not discuss population numbers partly because the market is thought to favour growth. Business finds growing numbers attractive because it mean more consumers for their products, and more labour to compete for jobs and to support an aging population.

Read this conversation and participate, click here



I can only ask this; What makes you happy? What lifestyle would you want if you could get it? One of consuming lots of stuff or one of enjoying nature? I know what I prefer!

First solar car charge station opens

On the day that the Government is assisting the traditional car industry, Australia's solar car industry is also getting a boost.

The not-for-profit CERES (Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies) Environment Centre, in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, is switching on the first energy charging station for electric vehicles.

The cars will take power from the grid, but solar panels will generate electricity to help offset that power.
Read article

WA goverment blocks plastic bag ban

The State Government has knocked back a bid to outlaw single-use plastic shopping bags.

The Government yesterday used its numbers in the Upper House to defeat a Labor Bill which proposed to ban non-biodegradable, lightweight plastic bags commonly found in supermarkets.

Shadow environment minister Sally Talbot said there was strong public support for a ban on plastic shopping bags and it was disappointing Liberal and Nationals MPs had not supported her Private Member's Bill.

"The Bill had a transition time so people could get used to the idea and there were various penalties for retailers who didn't comply with the new law. It was a very straightforward Bill, it wasn't particularly costly or complicated and it's a scheme that's worked well in other parts of the world," she said.
Read article

I must say I am not surprised... unfortunately, as when I go to the supermarket still the majority of shoppers is loading up the trolley with plastic bags filled with only a few items per bag. And if that's the same kind of people we have in government it will take a long time to get any improvement in trashing this beautiful part of the world... they should be ashamed of themselves!

Butterflies

When I was about 7, in the 1970's, my family went on a walking holiday. On one walk we strolled across a meadow where lots of butterflies flew up around us - blue, orange, white, red, brown - it was wonderful - I loved it and expressed my pleasure as only a 7 year old can - by rushing around dancing in pure joy.

My grandfather (bless him) made a comment that really made me stop and think - he said,

"This is nothing! When I was your age, the sky was filled with butterflies at this time of year - not just a couple of dozen - thousands and thousands - clouds of them for weeks on end."

Our experience of the world only goes back as far as our earliest memory - but our understanding can reach back further if we listen to our elders.
Heather White

Last Call at the Oasis

Last Call at the Oasis, a new documentary exposing the world’s growing water crisis, is using digital means to take the film’s message beyond the theater.

Last Call at the Oasis is the latest documentary from Participant Media (An Inconvenient Truth, Food Inc, The Cove), a film company focused on creating social change via its digital division takepart.com.
More info here

On a wing and a prayer

Playful, mischievous and highly intelligent, Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos are adored by thousands, hunted by many and saved by few. Endemic to the south-west region of Western Australia, only a small pocket of these large, gregarious birds remain and these are permanently under threat.

Some are still being poached and smuggled for private collections. Many are illegally shot. Together with land clearing, loss of native food habitat and injury from man-made structures, the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo is plummeting towards extinction.

If you haven't watched the documentary tonight on ABC1 please check it out on iView! It's beautiful to see how those birds try to survive in less space and how they grow up.

And check out the website On a wing and a prayer or the website Cockatoos Need You
Photo: Margaret Owen

Cocky carnage
FIVE years ago, black cockatoos were so common that Baldivis resident Anne Bellman saw the sky darken every evening as hundreds of them came to roost in trees on her property.

Now she’s lucky to see a group of 20, after hundreds were displaced in 2009 and 2010 when the Karnup Road and Eighty Road pine plantations were cut down.

Results of the 2011 Great Cocky Count, which were released this week, paint an even more dire picture.

Statewide survey figures indicate a 37 per cent drop in the number of Carnaby’s black cockatoos.

The joy of wood - workshops in April 2012

Greg Miller, a multi-skilled person, has two common threads running through his life – a passion for working with people, and a passion for working with wood. Since January 2009, he has returned to the making of custom furniture and joinery and his passion for teaching traditional hand skills. It is the delivery of woodworking activities for groups of people, bringing together those two common threads again, which brings him the greatest joy.

I met Greg in 2008 while doing some teaching at The School of Fine Wood in Dwellingup and a few years later met him again when doing the wood workshop run by Greg and facilitated by the Earthcarers and had so much fun working with wood making chopping boards and wooden spoons just using hand tools! I can only recommend to try it!
(Click to enlarge)
Read more about the workshops, click here

We can recycle plastic... but do we?

Less than 10% of plastic trash is recycled -- compared to almost 90% of metals -- because of the massively complicated problem of finding and sorting the different kinds. Frustrated by this waste, Mike Biddle has developed a cheap and incredibly energy efficient plant that can, and does, recycle any kind of plastic.

Discarded plastic, too often, ends up buried or burned, not recycled (it's just too complicated). But Mike Biddle has found a way to close the loop.

Mike Biddle sees mounts of what we call waste as above ground mines! A good way of thinking, watch the video!

Power Shift Perth Flash Mob Dance

A video by AYCC WA
Hundreds of young people took part in a flash mob dance at the Power Shift 2011 youth climate summit in Perth. The creative stunt was designed to draw attention to the urgent issue of climate change, which will greatly impact the future of young Australians, and to call on our government to repower Australia with 100% renewable energy.

The dance was the culmination of a 3 day summit in Perth, with more than 200 young people coming together from around WA to hear from the IPCC and key politicians, learn campaign skills in training workshops, attend a youth concert and connect with hundreds of other incredible young people.
Watch the video and see how beautiful Perth and it's youths are!

KONY 2012

KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice....

Or just another American scam?

The point is this: we should ALL question Kony 2012. Take the Red Pill, let it settle in, and try to look at the Kony 2012 movement with a little more objectivity. Try to separate yourself from the emotional content of the video. We all want freedom, liberty, and rational equality for the people and children of Uganda. But what we don’t want is another military occupation that is funded by the corporations who seek to ravage the land at all costs—to save their costs…

Dismantle

Click to enlarge

On the 18th of March Dismantle will be kicking off Bike Week with the opportunity for some good olde' fashioned community involvement & a good olde' fashioned BBQ cook up!
More information on Dismanltle click here

I kicked off Bike Week by my yearly volunteering for Bicycle Network Australia's Super Tuesday 2012. I counted 333 cyclists opposite UWA entrance 1 along the Swan River this morning between 7-9am. That's 45 cyclists more than last year on the same spot!

Launchpad: From prototype to production

More info here

Perth Carrot Mob

Carrotmobs work by getting a business to commit a portion of its profits for a set day to making environmental improvements. Realising the potential of Carrotmob, four Perth restaurants (Frisk! Espresso, Oliver’s On James Street, Bar 138 and The Secret Garden), have jumped on board to compete against each other, each being able to present its environmental improvement vision to the public who are then able to vote online for the one they deem most worthy.

With advice from the Carrotmob specialists, the restaurants have all chosen which changes they would like to implement, and we look forward to seeing who the Perth public vote for.

Voting is NOW OPEN! To watch the interviews and cast a vote, visit the website

This is a wake up call !

We are nothing
Open your eyes y'all

This is a wake up call !

For those ignorant people of the world

Malaysian Chinese rap by Namewee

VIVID 2012 - Melbourne Design competition

Furnitex is pleased to announce applications for VIVID 2012, Australia’s longest running design competition and innovation showcase for new and emerging furniture designers, are now welcome. Professional designers in business less than 5 years and students of design are invited to submit their new furniture or lighting products.

Celebrating its 10th year in 2012 and highly anticipated, VIVID at Furnitex is again hunting for Australia’s best new design talent. 100 of the best new products will be shown at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, Southbank, from Thursday 19 July 2012 until Sunday 22 July 2012. Furnitex is Australia’s largest furniture and furnishings trade fair, attracting over 17,000 qualified national and international trade visitors.

With no application fee and no participation fee for selected finalists, VIVID provides a much coveted industry platform for new design talent from across the country. Award categories include student, concept and commercial and since 2008 a fourth award for the most sustainable product across all entries. A lucrative prize pool awaits the winners, including cash prizes for student and concept entries, a stand package valued in excess of $4,000 at Furnitex 2013 for the commercial winner and highly valued industry recognition. Suzanne Trocme, curator London Design Festival, will lead the judging team.

VIVID 2012 is a design event not to be missed. Applications now welcome.

Applications close 5pm AEST Monday 30 April 2012

Click here to download the application form.

Further information can be found on the Furnitex website

I look forward to receiving applications from your students and graduates.
Feel free to contact me if you have further questions.
Kindest regards
Uli Hasel