Consumption Atlas...

The Australian Conservation Foundation has a new tool on their website: the Consumption Atlas (Flash). It has the greenhouse gas emissions, water use and environmental footprint for each suburb in Australia. Why not see how your suburb compares to the rest of Australia by typing in your postcode? The ACF’s report Consuming Australia (pdf) has the details of the study used to create the Consumption Atlas. It shows...

Offset your car’s pollution...

For a couple of years now, we’ve been buying carbon-offsets for our car through Greenfleet. Each year we pay for them to plant 17 native trees in areas that used to be forested. The trees “offset” the carbon-dioxide emissions put out by our car, by using up carbon dioxide in their process of transpiration. This isn’t the most precise way to do things, because there are issues with sorting out...

Live Earth photos...

For those of you who couldn’t make it to the Live Earth concert in Sydney, take a look at the photos on Flickr to get a taste of what it was like: Live Earth Crowd Originally uploaded by dreadfuldan Flickr search for Live Earth, Sydney Flickr search for Live Earth

The Great Global Warming Swindle...

Last night the ABC aired The Great Global Warming Swindle, a documentary that claims nature, not humans, is causing climate change. ABC Science Online has a debunking at The-Great-Global-Warming-Swindle Swindle which explains the science in layman’s terms. If you really want to nerd it up, you can see more details at RealClimate.org and the Australian Science Media Centre. I’m not sure why the ABC aired such...

Oz in 30 Seconds...

Are you sick of the negative campaigns run by politicians during election season? If so, you’ve got something in common with the members of GetUp!.org.au. They decided that this year the public should have their own political ads describing what they want for Australia’s future. They’re running a competition called Oz in 30 Seconds, where people make their own 30-second advertisements about political...

Live Earth, Sydney...

[Note: it seems like some subscribers to this blog are receiving repeats of old posts - sorry! I'm working on fixing it asap.] Live Earth concerts are happening around the world today. The Australian one is in Sydney, featuring the John Butler Trio, Crowded House, Missy Higgins, Wolfmother and other music acts (news.com.au has the entire line-up online). G Magazine interviewed some of the artists appearing: some told...

Beginner’s Composting...

Last year my husband and I started a compost bin: we wanted to improve the soil in our garden, which is sandy like most of Perth, and stop adding food scraps to landfill. We bought a standard compost bin from Bunnings. Our local council sells them at a discount, but they have to be picked up during office hours on a weekday and we both work full-time. There are fancier ones available, but ours is just a black tub, no...

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver...

I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: Our Year of Seasonal Eating last weekend. Barbara Kingsolver writes about how her family spent one year eating only local food: they had to either grow it themselves, find a local provider, or do without it. Her family made the change for environmental reasons, and found social and health benefits too. By eating locally and seasonally, less food needs to be transported from around the...