Walk against Warming

The Walk Against Warming is WA’s biggest climate change event that sends a strong message to decision makers that climate change is serious and requires bold action. This year the walk will be held at one of Perth ’s most popular beaches to highlight the vulnerability of the WA coastline in the face of climate change.

Join it to spell out a giant human message calling for climate change action on Cottesloe Beach. Stalls, entertainment and special guest speakers will be on the beach from 10am.

To find out more, or if you would like to help volunteer, contact Carolyn or Owen at the Conservation Council of WA on 9420 7266 or email

The price of convenience...

- Disposable paper coffee cups aren’t made from recycled paper. Instead, most cups are manufactured using 100% bleached virgin paperboard.
- During the manufacturing process, cups are laminated with a plastic resin called polyethylene.
- The process involved with manufacturing paper cups is extremely resource intensive.
Read more about it here.

eWater workshops

eWater Cooperative Research Centre is a technology development initiative set up by the Australia's water resource management and research sector through the Australian Government’s CRC Program.

eWater’s core business is building water management tools and bringing these tools to Australian and international markets. All our products (except one MUSIC, which has a nominal licence fee) are available free to use.

MUSIC Model for Urban Stormwater Improvement Conceptualisationis utilised by urban stormwater engineers, landscape architects, environmental scientists, planners and managers in consultancies and state, regional and local government agencies to predict and evaluate:

· the quality of urban stormwater from catchments of varying land use and characteristics;

· the performance of alternative stormwater management scenarios, in terms of water quality improvement, flow attenuation, and lifecycle costs; and

· ecosystem responses to alternative stormwater management scenarios.

Essentially, MUSIC is utilised to help design stormwater quality improvements within a development (existing or retrofitted).

As Western Australia has a history of WSUD we are bringing the MUSIC Training Workshop to Perth end November. MUSIC is utilised extensively in the eastern states of Australia and was developed from Australian research. This is the first time this training will be offered in WA.

Regards

Luke McPhail
Manager – Catchment Modelling Toolkit

Look out for cyclists!

Youth travel habits revealed

Gen Y not as green as it thinks

Contiki is the biggest youth travel company in Australia and it takes the pulse of the market with an annual survey. This year the much-talked-about issue of green travel is the focus, with Contiki attempting to find out whether talk about responsible travel is just hot air.
Read the report

Better Place partners to bring electric vehicles to australia

Better Place, a company seeking to implement an electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure around the globe. Together with AGL Energy and Macquarie Capital Group, Better Place announced today the deployment of an Australian electric vehicle (EV) network powered by renewable energy. As the world’s sixth largest country, Australia was selected to show that the Better Place model works in any country, regardless of size. If Australia can do it, so can others.

AGL will provide all of the renewable energy—from wind and other sources—needed to power the electric vehicles and work with Better Place to optimize the network. Macquarie will provide financial advice to help raise AUD $1 billion for the initial network build.

Ban Formaldehyde

As we know Formaldehyde exposure is not a good thing. It gets worse; a new study links it to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease. As we know energy efficiency is a good thing, which is why they promote Energy Star houses, which have effective insulation, high-performance windows and tight construction.

One would think that a standard coming from the EPA would care about health and air quality instead of energy (isn't that another department?) but no, they recommend tightly sealing houses to reduce air leakage, the biggest energy loser. A leaky old house might change the air once an hour; a tightly sealed house designed for Energy Star might be as little as 1/100 of an air change per hour.

What happens when you don't change the air enough? The concentration of toxic chemicals gets higher. Formaldehyde, as an example, found in particle board, MDF, (medium density fibreboard) fabrics, glues and paints, and most fiberglass insulation.

Read more about formaldehyde in wood here.

Did the state kill my cat?

Fire-retardant chemicals required by California in furniture may be poisoning us.

My beloved cat, Midnight, died a few days ago -- possibly because of toxic chemicals in my furniture. In two years with hyperthyroid disease, Midnight went from a plump 14 pounds to a skeletal five. A year ago, a veterinary epidemiologist found that Midnight's blood contained among the highest levels of PBDEs documented in animal research. That's when I learned that the chemicals in my cat came from my couch. And that my furniture is uniquely toxic because I live in California.

Since the 1980s, fire-retardant chemicals such as PBDEs have been added to furniture to meet a California-only requirement that the foam inside resist a 12-second exposure to an open flame. The chemicals evaporate from the foam, settle in dust and coat walls with a thin film. Cats that groom themselves and toddlers who crawl in dust show especially high levels of PBDEs, but everyone with this chemically treated furniture gets some exposure. Read article

I know this is not in Western Australia but in the US, although, working in the furniture industry myself I am always alert hearing these stories and I remember when I was stil working in The Netherlands and we had furniture shows in England where the demand for fire retartant was so much higher that we couldn't use our mattresses, dunas and pillows on our beds at the show in the early nineties and already than I was alarmed with the amount of poison in English bedding and didn't like sleeping there as I was sure I could smell it... and therefore breath it...

HEINEKEN WOBO: The brick that holds beer

Upcycling is a 21st century term, coined by Cradle to Cradle authors William McDonough and Michael Braungart, but the idea of turning waste into useful products came to life brilliantly in 1963 with the Heineken WOBO (world bottle). Envisioned by beer brewer Alfred Heineken and designed by Dutch architect John Habraken, the “brick that holds beer” was ahead of its ecodesign time, letting beer lovers and builders alike drink and design all in one sitting. Read story
It never happened, so Buddhist monks from Thailand's Sisaket province took matters into their own hands and collected a million bottles to build the Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew temple. It puts every other bottle building we have shown to shame. Read story

Recycling office stuff in Perth

Don't know where they find me, but among other questions I got this questions about where to recycle office stuff like cartridges in Perth. So I thought I better mention it on the blog as well so you don't have to throw them in the bin anymore or if you where one of them not knowing what to do with this stuff and just saving it in some dusty corner of the office you know now where to bring them!
Check here for your closest location.

4 November - Perth Green Drinks

You are invited for the Perth Green Drinks on 4 November 2008 for the Perth Green Drinks.

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 402 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 4 November from 6.00 pm

Where: At the Claremont Pub, they are happy to fence of the lounge area for us.

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!

Extra: Presentation by Dipl.-Ing. Thomas Brandner – Evecto Energy Solutions
Topic: Lighting and the environment
In most buildings, lighting is one of the largest wasters of electrical energy. Fortunately, lighting is also a field in which improvements can be achieved much easier than in many other building aspects such as insulation, heating, etc.
Evecto Energy Solutions designs and markets energy saving lighting controls which are suitable for retrofitting into existing lighting installations as well as for new buildings. Most of Evecto's solutions are based on the simple concepts of Occupancy Sensing (switching lights - or aircons- off when a room is not in use) and Daylight Dimming (automatic, continuous dimming of artificial light depending on the available daylight).
Thomas will bring a few demos and samples so we will be able to see some of the solutions in action.

Hope to see you there!

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

Earth from Above

A spectacular outdoor photographic exhibition in Perth to promote sustainability

Earth from Above: an aerial portrait of our planet – towards sustainable development by Yann Arthus-Bertrand features 120 spectacular large-scale photographs.

Each photograph captures a particular perspective of life, human endeavour or the natural environment and is accompanied by information about the significance of the image and a brief, thought-provoking sustainability message.

Earth from Above has been brought to Perth by DEC and BHP Billiton to enhance community awareness of and promote involvement with sustainability. The Water Corporation and City of Perth are associate partners.

This internationally acclaimed free exhibition, which is open 24/7, is on display outdoors at the Perth Cultural Centre, Northbridge (between the Art Gallery, State Library and WA Museum) until 21 January 2009.

Check this website for more information

Second waste plant sparks odour fears

Moves to build a second waste composting plant in the southern suburbs has sparked fears of a repeat of odour problems that have plagued the $60 million waste plant in Canning Vale.

A key report on odours from the Canning Vale facility is yet to be released.
Read article

I don't understand what the problem is... If there is an odour problem, why do they build this kind of facilities in the suburbs and not in empty areas a bit further out of town?

I've been to the Canning Vale Resourch Centre with my Sustainable Design Class and was impressed how it worked and a bit annoyed that the Western Suburbs don't use a facility like this one...

UPDATE 31 Oct: The Department of Environment and Conservation will today order a controversial $90 million waste plant in Canning Vale to find a solution to serious odour problems within 21 days or face closure. Read more

Another UPDATE 3 Nov: AUSTRALIA'S only recycling plant for climate-friendly fluorescent light bulbs has said it may have to close because of a lack of business — a sign that most globes are going to landfill. Read it.

Perth council

I was very disappointed in the organisation of the garbage bins by the Perth Council last weekend for the 'festival of lights' at the foreshore.

Behind the Bell Tower was a stage were multi cultural groups displayed national and international music and dances which was great!

There were several food stalls, manned by volunteers from Annalakshmi Restaurant with delicious vegetarian food, some dishes served on paper plates others in plastic containers with plastic cutlery.

When I asked if there were any recycle bins for the plastic the answer was that the council organised the waste bins from which were non of them recycle bins! It would have been a good example for the council to provide recycle bins at this kind of festivals as there is a lot of materials dumped which could have been recycled...

Or is it that most councils in the Perth region don't recycle but dump everything in wasteland?

Pedal power the way to be green, fit and free

Are you cycling to work or school/university?
I DO! Even today when it was pretty hot, I cycled the almost 20 kilometers to Curtin University. Luckily they have facilities to shower and I ride a sturdy Dutch bicycle with bags on the back so I don't have to carry a sweaty backpack. This gives me some disadvantage in speed compared to the sporty racers who pass me all the time, but hey, I do it for my fitness because if I take public transport (which I do when it rains) it takes the same amount of time.

Cycling is the fourth most popular physical activity for Australian adults, after walking, swimming and aerobics. More than 400,000 Australian adults cycle more than twice a week, but it's mostly for exercise rather than transport. Although bike commuting has increased by 22 per cent since 2001, less than 1 per cent of journeys are by bike. In relatively flat Melbourne, where bike commuting is up 42 per cent since 2001, there are still only 20,000 people riding regularly to work.
Read article

Keep WA GM free rally 30th October

For those of you who don't want our food manufactured by scientists and have the time to attend...
Thursday 30 October at 11.45 at the corner of the Esplanade & Barrack Street in Perth.
Or check website

Folding Bikes and Bike Racks

In many cities, also in Perth, regular bikes are not allowed on the train in rush hour. Also in many suburbs, the train station might be too far to walk but the bus service is sparse or erratic. Now, more and more people are using folding bikes for multi-modal transport: cycling to and from the train station and avoiding the feeder bus.
Read article

Recently a fresh crop of innovative bike racks sprung up in New York, and Core77 was on the scene to document the affair with some great photos! The 10 racks on display were selected as finalists in the CityRacks Design Competition, which issued an international challenge to re-think the hum-drum bike racks interspersed throughout our city streets as opportunities for public art and the promotion of bicycle awareness.
Read article

Digital papers and magazines

Scientists in Cambridge, UK, plan to develop fully interactive, full-color newspapers and magazines that exist on thin, portable, and paper-like readers.
The e-Paper of Today, like the Kindle, Sony e-Reader, iLiad by iRex, Astak's EZ Reader and so forth all are lovely and use e-Paper technology to make the screen feel more like paper to a reader’s eyes. But, they’re still relatively bulky gadgets.

Plastic Logic has come up with a cool prototype for newspapers that includes a flexible screen that you can bend upwards and it turns the newspaper page. Cool stuff. Except that it takes awhile to load, isn’t all that flexible, and is black and white.

Read more of this on Treehugger.

Business urges renewed nuclear debate

South Australia's business lobby is warning against Australia going it alone on a carbon trading scheme in 2010. Read article

Reading more and more about nuclear energy I want to show Scott Ludlums "Climate of Hope" documentary to you:



The threat of climate change is widely accepted in the community. The potential for a host of nuclear power stations in Australia has raised questions about the best strategy for our country to move to a low-carbon economy.

This documentary takes viewers on a tour through the science of climate change, the nuclear fuel chain, and the remarkable energy revolution that is under way.
By Scott Ludlam for ANAWA

Wild camels at record numbers in rangelands

Feral camel numbers in WA have reached record levels as conservationists and pastoralists battle to minimise damage to the environment and pastoral leases.

Camel numbers are estimated to have reached 400,000 following three years of aerial surveys by State environmental and agricultural departments across a 300,000sqkm region through the interior rangelands.
Read article