Recycle your lights bulbs!

The western suburbs have collected 140kg of fluoro lights from 6 recycling stations in less than 12 months. 
Locations for where you can drop off your globes and tubes (as well as batteries, mobile phones and printer cartridges) at Bunnings in Claremont and Cottesloe. Claremont Aquatic centre, Lords in Subiaco, Subiaco library and UWA refectory.
And of course at the resource recovery centre in Shenton Park. 

Laws to veto GM crops set to be scrapped

The Safe Food Foundation:
Concerned to see this story emerging from WA as the state government moves to repeal existing GM crop free areas law. Interesting that is it very difficult to find any more information online beyond the very brief story from The West Australian. 

Is this being done behind closed doors, away from the public's eyes? 
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/24679007/laws-to-veto-gm-crops-s/

Let’s talk about population.

Australia's current population is around 23.5 million.

Between 2007 and 2012 Australia’s population grew by 9 per cent while the average for other developed economies was under 4 per cent.

The ABS projects that by 2061 Australia will have a population of 41.5 million people.

A growing population means more economic activity and more public revenue. But the faster our population grows, the more we need to spend on new services like roads, public transport, hospitals and schools.

A 2014 Australia Institute survey found Australians were worried about the ability of our governments to meet the challenges of population growth. Eight in ten (81%) Australians are concerned about population growth impacting on traffic congestion, almost two thirds (64%) were concerned about stretched public transport services and 69% about a shortage of schools and hospitals.

Given public concerns about the government’s preparedness for population growth, it is unsurprising then that one in two Australians think we need to have a “national conversation” about population growth.

Join the conversation

Hungry Planet

International Business Guide just launched a new infographic that shows the staggering amounts of energy and food that countries around the world consume – and how much garbage we produce in the process.

More then 4 months before the year ends we have already consumed all resources available for that year, we overshoot already since 1970 but it's going faster and faster now with the growing population; scroll throuhg the picture below:  

For a bigger picture, please check out the 1 million women website.

Can we trust Adani with the Great Barrier Reef?

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Environment Minister Greg Hunt has caved to the mining industry and approved Indian mining giant Adani's monstrous Carmichael Mine, threatnening the Great Barrier Reef. 

The coal mine will be the biggest in Australia. It will pollute our climate with massive CO2 emissions for decades. It will mean massive and continual dredging and dumping in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and will fill the Reef with thousands of coal ships every year. 

The good news is that while Adani may have the approval, it still needs to find up to $10 billion before it can proceeed. This means the battle to protect the Reef from Adani is down to who can persuade investors, us or them. 

Read more on GetUp

Or read Robyn Lawley’s naked protest against Adani Group’s Carmichael Coal Mine approval

Australia's Sustainable Seafood Guide is the first online sustainability guide for seafood consumers in Australia. 

It was developed in response to growing public concern about overfishing and its impact on our oceans and their wildlife. 

It is designed to help you make informed seafood choices and play a part in swelling the tide for sustainable seafood in Australia.
More info on Australia's Sustainable Seafood

Avoid toxic furniture; Buy Australian

The dangers of buying imported furniture will be highlighted at the high profile Australian Furniture Association Conference in Melbourne tomorrow.

International expert in product safety, Stephan Pesch will outline the dangers that Australian families are facing from imported furniture that is commonly found in Australian homes.

Tests have revealed that the same harmful AZO dyes that sparked nationwide recalls from major Australian retailers, may be commonly found in imported household furniture items. Australian-made furniture, which is subject to some of the world’s most stringent safeguards, does not pose any risk to consumers.

Stephan Pesch heads the furniture division of TUV Rheinland China. TUV Rheinland are highly regarded experts in safety and security, with international experience in testing materials, products, plants and machinery.

Mr. Pesch says that in addition to the AZO dyes, carcinogenic flame-retardants and formaldehyde are commonly used in imported furniture. Buying these products is putting Australian families’ health at risk.

Stephan Pesch, will take to the stage at The AFA National Furniture Industry Conference at the Royal Exhibition Building tomorrow, 10 July, at 1.45p.m.  Mr. Pesch’s will detail the dangers associated with these chemicals and will take questions from the audience.

Buy tickets to the conference

Formaldehyde exposure

Cheap Chinese furniture 'may poison you'
CHEAP imported furniture and shelving containing high levels of toxic chemicals may be endangering the health of Australian workers and families.

Tests by Australian furniture manufacturers have shown flat pack furniture and shelving imported from China may be emitting very high levels of formaldehyde, known to cause cancer.

200,000 plastic bags dumped in landfill every hour

People who are still accepting plastic shopping bags in supermarkets should be ashamed of themselves! Is it that much to ask to bring your own bag? There are about a million alternatives when you go shopping like for example the handy small packed reusable bags made from PET bottles by local company Onya Innovations 

Plastic bags are one of the most obvious displays of our throw-away society. In Australia alone, we use over 4 billion single-use plastic bags every year, that’s over 10 million each day! Plus, the life of a plastic bag once it’s in the hand of a shopper can be counted in minutes, and because only 3% of them are currently being recycled, 200,000 bags are dumped in landfill every hour, and they take between 15 and 1000 years to degrade.
More info on 1 Million Women

Coogee ECO Barrier - Underwater Footage

Coogee ECO Barrier - Underwater Footage (HD) v2 from Simon Blears on Vimeo.
The Eco Shark Barrier not only provide a safe barrier for water users, the structure has encouraged marine animals to take refuge on it. 
Check out this clip shot by my friend Michele Kwok, (Ocean diver). Hundreds of tailors, tarwhine, herrings and other species thrive on the barrier! One could engineered a marine trail and put the beach on a tourist hot spot!

Don't Risk The Reef

Coal companies want to build the world's biggest coal port right next to the Great Barrier Reef. But first they need to raise the money. We thought we'd see if everyday Australians would help them out. After all, who wouldn't want to destroy the Reef?

Go to http://www.riskingthereef.org.au and sign the petition asking our banks not to fund the destruction of the Reef. If you wouldn't fund it, why should your bank?

Plastic Free July is almost there

Plastic Free July: if refusing ALL single-use plastic sounds too daunting you can register for the Top 4 challenge on our website (www.plasticfreejuly.org).

"Think about it, why would you make something that you are going to use for a few minutes out of a material that's basically going to last forever...What's up with that?" - Jeb Berrier, Bag It. 

The economic hitman

A great illustration on how corporations take control of countries, and how capitalism drives the expansion of the Military Industrial Complex. Made by Studio Joho.

The light bulb conspiracy

Full movie

Planned Obsolescence is the deliberate shortening of product life spans to guarantee consumer demand.

As a magazine for advertisers succinctly puts it: The article that refuses to wear out is a tragedy of business - and a tragedy for the modern growth society which relies on an ever-accelerating cycle of production, consumption and throwing away.

The Light Bulb Conspiracy combines investigative research and rare archive footage to trace the untold story of Planned Obsolescence, from its beginnings in the 1920s with a secret cartel, set up expressly to limit the life span of light bulbs, to present-day stories involving cutting edge electronics (such as the iPod) and the growing spirit of resistance amongst ordinary consumers.

This film travels to France, Germany, Spain and the US to find witnesses of a business practice which has become the basis of the modern economy, and brings back disquieting pictures from Africa where discarded electronics are piling up in huge cemeteries for electronic waste.

Watch movie here

Seeds Of Death

Full movie

The problem with those documentaries is that it's always about the health issues, never about the far more dangerous way on how those big companies are patenting everything around us... which possible has far more consequences than eating the chemically enhanced foods...

My motto is to grow your own and stick to basics, stay away from all processed foods if possible.

Workshop: A Taste of Green Woodworking

Saturday 28 June. It’s a full day workshop offering “A Taste of Green Woodworking”. 

“A Taste of Green Woodworking” is an exciting opportunity to experience the ancient skills our ancestors took for granted, as we make functional and beautiful items from wood obtained fresh from garden prunings and tree loppings.  A warning: Doing green woodcraft can be addictive and great fun!

Greg Miller

PO Box 2063, Carlisle North 6101.

Ph. 0427 770 339

Email: adventure@wn.com.au 

Australia should be number one!

Australia’s electricity is largely generated by ageing, inefficient coal-fired power plants and there are currently no plans, nor a national discussion on the future of the electricity sector and options to significantly reduce its emissions. Delaying the shift to a low carbon future increases the likely risks and costs of transition to a low carbon future in the electricity sector, where it typically takes a decade or more to plan, permit, finance and build major new power infrastructure.
Read more

D’SIGN Awards for young designers and graduates

Important: competitors may only enter if they are still in training or at school or have not worked as a designer for longer than 5 years.

Entering will close on August the 15th of 2014.There is no entrance fee.
Read more and sign up here

Humans “Are Part Of A Massive Experiment”

Geneticist David Suzuki Says Humans “Are Part Of A Massive Experiment”

… are seeds that are generated, not to produce more nourishment or be better tasting, but to allow these plants to be drenched with Monsanto pesticides. Normally those pesticides would kill the grain or the crop but now they engineered them to be resistant to those. And they demand to have them to put the Monsanto product on them. So it’s a business excuse, it has nothing to do with improving the quality on earth.
Read more

Eucalyptus genome could unlock the tree's biofuel potential

The genome of Australia’s Flooded Gum (Eucalyptus grandis) has been sequenced, and scientists are searching it for information that could help revolutionise the fibre and biofuels industries, and provide insight into how to help the species survive climate change.

The research on the trees, which are one of the world's leading hardwoods and home to Australia's koalas, has been published in Nature. 

It’s hoped the genetic sequence will help scientists work out how to grow eucalypts more sustainably and efficiently, as well as unlock the potential of the trees and their oil.
Read article

Are you ready for this year's

Sick of chucking out so much waste? Want to minimise your ecological footprint? 

Refuse all single use plastic packaging this July.

You will discover it isn't easy so you might like to start with the obvious few like plastic shopping bags, take away cups (No, those eco ones are not compostable as they are plastic lined, and that starch based plastic is only compostable in an industrial environment), plastic water and soda bottles and plastic drink straws. You will find that will already go a fair way!

If more motivated or already joined last year you  might like to dig a bit deeper, find alternatives for plastic packaging in the supermarket,  for take away food, doggy poo bags, bin liners, diapers, menstrual pads etc.

Be innovative, creative and join us in July to make a statement. It might even change your habits for much longer!
Sign up at www.plasticfreejuly.org