Fracking Industry Myths Busted!

A range of highly misleading claims are being pushed out through various channels by the gas fracking industry. It is important to be wary of them. In this email, we examine some of their claims:

1. The depth of shale deposits in WA means fracking is safe. FALSE.
The depth of gas bearing rocks has no bearing on the two main causes of water contamination from shale and tight gas development.

2. WA has a lot of experience with shale gas fracking. FALSE.
This claim is highly misleading – only a handful of shale or tight gas wells have been fracked in WA to date.

3. Opponents of shale gas fracking are confusing it with Coal Seam Gas. FALSE.
This claim is untrue – although similarities exist, there is no confusion between the two.

4. Shale gas is a ‘clean’ source of energy. FALSE.
This claim is based on selective accounting – shale gas is likely to be as polluting as coal.

5. There is a robust regulatory framework for shale gas in WA. FALSE.
This claim is highly questionable – the regulator lacks the powers necessary to protect the environment.
More details online or download PDF here.

From Clean Water Healthy Land

Take action here

GASLAND Part II Official Trailer

Ready for Plastic Free July?

Only two more days before Plastic Free July starts. And I am ready! This is the third year I am participating and in the past years a lot of habits have changed for the better. I only put my bins out once a month instead of weekly, and even then my 'normal' bin isn't even half full.

We purchase mainly basic food staple what you can buy in bulk and create a lot ourselves, which is less time consuming then people think! And way more healthy! And of course we have a veggie patch, chickens, a compost heap (worked by the chooks) and worm farm.

We use solid soaps, shampoos, deodorants and shaving cream wrapped in paper instead of plastic bottles, besides that it last much longer and there is no plastic waste it's also cheaper!

We cycle everywhere and take public transport rather then the car, this doesn't save plastic but it does save on petrol of which plastics are made.

And of course there are the 4 famous plastic wasters which are so far from us; as we never purchase water or drinks in plastic bottles! Ever! Perth tap water taste o.k. and there are more water refill stations around every day. We never use straws (the benefit of not having children), we don't do take away coffee but rather sit down and enjoy the moment and get it in a real porcelain cup or glass. And we always have our own shopping bags with us! Even the homemade fruit and veg bags.

So the challenge for us this July is to improve our skills and go even further...
Are you joining? Register here

WA finally gives up on dirty, costly fossil plants

The WA government has finally given up on the controversial refurbishment of units 1 and 2 of the ageing and highly polluting Muja coal-fired generator, and its attempts to extend the units 47-year old life. More than $266 million has been spent on what many perceive to be a half-baked attempt at upgrading old and dirty infrastructure.

The news comes as the WA Government also announces the closure of another ageing and dirty fossil fuel plant, the Kwinana C generator, from October 2015, saying it was too expensive to extend the life of the plant’s final unit.

But at the same time, a private developer, Tesla Holdings, has unveiled plans for a diesel-fuelled peaking plant in the south of the state.

‘It’s high time to make way for more efficient, low-carbon generation – specifically renewable energy.”

WA has some of the best solar resources in the world, and many developers are keen to develop solar PV and solar thermal plants with storage in the state – if they can sign power purchase agreements with the state-owned utility.
Read article

Half glassed

Glassware made from used wine bottles.
Half-Glassed upcycles used wine bottles - creating a unique, eco-friendly, and practical range of glassware.

Glenn was a student of mine, at least five years ago, at Curtin University and I am very proud to see he has started a sustainable business. You can help him grow his business, check it out at Indiegogo

Human-Centered Design for Social Innovation

Join IDEO.org in theur mission to bring human-centered design to the people who need it most — those facing poverty every day. They’re teaming up with nonprofits, social enterprises and foundations to create solutions to the world’s most dire poverty-related challenges. Imagine a world without poverty. Now let’s create it.

And read this article: What Is Design If Not Human-Centered?
The explosive growth of interest in human-centered design raises bigger questions about traditional design education, training, and practice.

Waste Not Want Not

I've organised another exhibition with my students from both Curtin University as Central Institute of Technology. In my Sustainable Design class students create a prototype of a product designed according the DfE (Design for Environment) principles which can be Cradle to cradle for example.

Students decide if they want to use virgin materials or recycled materials and surprising most of the students chose for the lather. They have to explain why their product is more sustainable than the average and where it still has environmental impacts during its PLC (Product Life Cycle)

Why this exhibition? To make people aware that products are either designed for obsolescence (for the dump) or designed to have a long life cycle.
And if it's designed for obsolescence it shouldn't be harmful for the environment after disposal.

Design is part of the solution to a more environmental lifestyle and has a huge impact on the world. Decisions on which materials to use, where it is produced and how it's manufactured are all important factors to create a sustainable product.

So if you are in the area, pop in a The Grove library in Peppermint Grove WA next week and have a look at these products.

Repair Manuals

Fix your own hardware with our free service manuals.
Step-by-step photos and instructions make it easy.

Repair Mac's, game consoles, phones, Ipods, camera's, appliances, etc.
www.ifixit.com/Guide

Perth Green Drinks - July - Creating Change‏

If we wish to move towards a more sustainable society, we need to go beyond rewriting laws and start changing behaviours: the way people get around, where they live, what they eat, how companies and governments go about their business.

Changing habits, however, is one the biggest challenges for sustainability advocates. To explore what is being done to help individuals, businesses and governments change, join Perth Green Drinks’ panel; Jane Genovese, David Beyer and Jane Bryant.

Where: Lecture Theatre 1, Central Institute of Technology, 25 Aberdeen St, Northbridge, Entrance via Museum St. Follow Perth Green Drinks signs

When: Wednesday 3 July, Registration from 5:45pm (for a 6pm SHARP! start)
For more info and RSVP, click here

Petition against dangerous chemicals used in our parks

A Royal Commission into the use of pesticides and harm to public health.

If you are, like me, not very keen to come across spayed parks and river sides here in Perth, while walking the dog or having a picnic, please sign the petition. Click here.

An alarming new study finds that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup weedkiller, is estrogenic and drives breast cancer cell proliferation in the parts-per-trillion range. Does this help explain the massive mammary tumors that the only long term animal feeding study on Roundup and GM corn ever performed recently found? Read more

Politics...

Garbologie in Perth

Garbologie is a business in formation in Perth, Western Australia. It is a business that will disrupt waste management to create a world without waste, and builds out of the entrepreneurial vision of Adam Johnson.

The first waste processing facility is a mattress recycling plant in O'Connor (WA), and that is now open for business. The address is 5/30-32 Stockdale Road, O'Connor.

A new website is coming to explain just how the mattress recycling will happen.
More info here and here

Plastic debate - 20 June

Interested?

Come along, but you have to rsvp. More info here. 

Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe 2014 call for artist submissions

Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe 2014 Call for Submissions are now open!

Applications to exhibit in Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe are welcome from artists across Australia and the world.

The 10th annual Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe which is being held from 7 - 24 March, 2014. In 2013 over 200,000 people attended the exhibition during the 3 week exhibition period and over 65% of indoor and outdoor works sold.

Submission forms and a Poster can be downloaded by clicking on the following links:

• Cottesloe 2014 Artist Application Form
• Cottesloe 2014 Entry Form & Map

Holly Pepper

Please note that the deadline for all submissions is 6pm, Friday 2 August, 2013.
More info here

Baked fresh in store???

No way! Coles imports bread and muffins etc from Ireland. How can they preach it's baked today??? It takes a day to fly to Ireland (highest ecological transport footprint) and weeks by shipping container...

The only reason they do so is to force local bakers to reduce their margins and eventually go out of business.
Read the article

I am baking my own sourdough and kefir breads for years now, and very happy with it, I know exactly what's in it! And nothing better than the fresh baked smell of bread in the house!

3 Lies About Food You’re Used To Hearing And Might Even Believe

Watch message here  It's worth watching!
Food Myth Busters http://foodmyths.org/

Still buying Nestle?

The directors of Nestle must be breathing a sigh of relief as the world targets Monsanto with a barrage of negative publicity, global protests, and grassroots campaigns. While we’re all distracted by Monsanto’s GMO corruption of the food supply, Nestle is taking steps to profit off of the natural world with patents on breast milk and medicinal plants, and the privatization of water,and giving the seed company a run for the title of The Most Evil Corporation in the World.

Monsanto and Nestle are firmly on the same team - Nestle donated over $1 million to the campaign against GMO labeling in California and their CEO has claimed that in 15 years of consumption, no one was every harmed by eating GMOs.
While the world’s attention has been on Monsanto’s corruption of the food supply, Nestle has been quietly draining water sources around the globe and marking it up a mind-blowing 53,908,255%, while the rest of us must deal with droughts, regulations on wells and rainwater, and rising prices.
Poisoning The Well? Nestlé Accused Of Exploiting Water Supplies For Bottled Brands

Nestle wages war against breastfeeding.
Nestle is the number one producer of baby formula in the world. (Formula is an $11.5 billion dollar industry.) The company has received sharp criticism for its inroads into third world countries, where they have created massive demand for baby formula in a place where the poverty is so intense that mere survival is a struggle. Presented with the idea that formula was healthier for their babies than breast milk, the destitute mothers began watering down the formula and, as a result, millions of infants around the globe died of malnutrition.

Nestle’s war on breastfeeding didn’t stop there, however. Patent US 8012509 B2 for the compounds in human breast milk was granted to Nestle in 2011. According to a paper in the International Breastfeeding Journal in 2006, there were over 1200 patents currently pending on the components of human breast milk in the United States alone.
Read article
Luckily I hardly buy processed foods, but I have to find an alternative for my cat if I want to boycott Nestle brands in Australia

Australia's Wheat Scandal

I have to import my flour from GM free wheat sources soon... What are they thinking in Canberra????

Sign the petition here

Join planting sessions at Lake Claremont

The FOLC (Friends of Lake Claremont) will be hosting 4 major public planting sessions this winter to continuing our project to create native woodland.

Please join in one or all of the sessions (9:00 – 12:00 pm):

 -  Local Residents’ Planting Day: Sunday June 9th
-  Church and Community Day: Saturday June 22nd
-    Planting for the Birds: Sunday July 14th
-  National Tree Day: Sunday July 28th

Meet at 9:00am the south end of Strickland Street, Swanbourne. Refreshments will be served. Stay for an hour or all morning if you can! Please bring hats, sunscreen and sturdy footwear. We will continue planting if it rains so wet weather gear may be appropriate.

 

For more info contact:  folc.wa@gmail.com