My green(ish) wedding...

A wedding day is about making promises for the future, about what you as a couple think is important - since Dave and I care a lot about the environment, it seemed logical to make our wedding as green as possible when we got hitched last year. I’ve seen articles about people who had proper environmentally-friendly weddings, with hemp suits, hybrid cars and all-vegan menus. We’d never organised a green party...

Some weekend reading...

I was going to get into the city today to try the organic jeans at Just Jeans, but the weather is miserable. So instead I’m staying inside with a cuppa, and sorting through the green news and bits of interest that came my way this week. Two Blog Action Day posts that I didn’t see at first: Zen Habits discusses 5 Ways to Save the World, While Getting Fitter, Saving Money, Simplifying, and Becoming Happier -...

From kitchen waste to fresh eggs...

On the weekend we visited my in-laws, who have a fantastic vegie garden, fruit trees, a few sheep and a lot of chickens. At home we put our kitchen waste in the compost bin, but when we stay with the in-laws, most of it goes into the ‘chook bucket’. I like feeding the chickens - they’re very soothing company, even if they are a little stupid. When they see you coming with the chook bucket they get...

Taking the Prius on a road trip...

On the weekend we took the Prius out for it’s first long-distance drive. We travelled about 450km to the town where Dave’s parents live, taking about 5 hours (including a couple of stops). We’d been told that a Prius wasn’t as efficient on country drives, but our experience showed it being only slightly less fuel efficient than it is on our regular city routes. It did very well on the long drive:...

Brownes vs Just Jeans...

On the weekend Dave bought a Brownes Choc-Chill and was annoyed to find that they’re currently running a competition where you can win a Hummer, the ultimate poseur vehicle guaranteed to waste your money and pollute the world. We were going to email them to complain, but found that Brownes no longer has its own website. They have been bought out by multinational dairy company Fonterra, who are pretty light on product...

Blog Action Day follow-up...

Here’s some of the Blog Action Day posts that I enjoyed reading (after making my own post!) and thought might be relevant to Go Greener readers: 50 quick, painless ways you can help the environment today at the Blog Action Day blog. Deserts need people at the Transient Languages and Cultures blog. It’s about how indigenous ranger jobs can provide employment in the outback while being a way to pass on knowledge...

4 ways the next Australian government can help fix...

Today is Blog Action Day, with the topic of the environment. I blog about the environment anyway - about what I do to live a greener lifestyle, and the places in Australia facing environmental problems. But today I want to look at the big picture… Sydney Opera House mark 2 Originally uploaded by Elfike Prime Minister John Howard called the federal election yesterday - this means we’ve got 6 weeks to decide...

Using green bags...

Last week we actually remembered to take our green re-useable shopping bags with us when we did our grocery shop! Dave took a picture to celebrate the occasion. Normally we’re pretty good at making green changes, but this one has been an uphill battle for us. We’ve tried leaving the bags near the door or keeping them in the boot of the car, but we always seem to remember just after we walk into the shops....

Blog Action Day...

Next week I’ll be participating in Blog Action Day 2007. It’s one day a year when bloggers around the world all blog about the same topic, and this year the topic is the environment! The point of the action day is to get the world discussing the same issue - we probably won’t solve fix the environment by posting about it, but we can all talk about what’s important to us, learn some new ideas,...

Gunns gets the go-ahead...

Turnbull has approved the Gunns pulp mill in Tasmania. After rigorous scientific assessment, he’s increased the number of conditions imposed on the mill from 24 to 48. This’d be great if they were actually going to monitor any of those conditions after the mill is built. Since Gunns has always ignored regulations in Tasmania, the extra conditions will make any difference at all. Turnbull says the mill will...