‘just THINK ABOUT IT’

2 or 3 small items (like a magazine, a bag of chips, a t-shirt, a new dvd, etc.) can be carried in the hand easily to your car/home/office.  

You don’t need the bag to carry your lunch & chopsticks from the shop. Soft drinks are designed to be held in the hand not in a bag.

Some of us cart around handbags that could easily accommodate a small re-useable & washable bag.

Say no thanks or I don’t need a bag before, during or after they give it to you. It saves the retailer money too.

Do you know plastic is made from oil – more plastic can help push up the price of petrol!

‘Greenhouse emissions can be cut by reducing plastic bag use

A 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics article revealed that the nation consumes approximately 6.9 billion plastic bags, or 36,850 tonnes of plastic, each year, which equates to just under one bag per person per day.  Although requiring less energy than a paper bag to manufacture, recycled plastic bags and fabric bags such as calico compare more favourably.  If one person using 520 plastic shopping bags per year switched to calico bags they would reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 3.6 kg in a year.’

- carbonneutral enews

Too many people

Interesting documentary on recently, by Sir David Attenborough, about the growth of human population and it's impact on the earth.
I couldn't agree more, there are too many people on this planet to live sustainably.  At the rate we're growing there won't be much left for the human race to use and enjoy - water, land, biodiversity.  This is my main reason for not having my own children, and it is a hard topic to bring up with all my friends and family who want the enjoyment of spawning and raising their own kids.

My question to them is, do you want to bring children into this dying world, especially when your having a family makes such an impact?  Harsh I know, which is why I've never asked one of them this question directly.
Their answer may be, why do I have to forfeit having kids to save the earth, when there are so many people in third world countries having large families?  Shouldn't they abstain?
Every person has the right to have their own child, it is the most natural thing on earth so why should someone be denied the right.

As Sir David pointed out, education is the key. The underprivileged should be given access to education and to basic medical facilities, to improve their knowledge and reduce birth rates.  Absolutely, every person should also have this right.

But I do not believe this will solve the issue. The rate of consumption in the rich countries is appalling, and could be better utilised. However the more people with access to consumerist society, the increase in use of our natural resources.  There are too many rich people in this world, this is the problem

Sometimes I get mad, although I am not maternal I have given up the pleasure of having kids to reduce the human population, and put my life's work into improving our environmental impact, but not for myself, for the greater good of people and all those that do get to enjoy raising children, and their children and so on.  Yet these people who will benefit from my actions, do they care?

What are our choices for eating out?

Faced with the dilema of enjoying food & eating out but an environmental consciousness leads to feelings of guilt if you suspect the food is not ethically sourced.

Some of the concerns - overfishing, meat & egg production, unseasonal produce, food miles!

How do you consider all these when you just want to eat a tasty meal at a good restaurant. It is difficult and many of us don't want to be rude and ask questions about the source of the food.

But maybe a couple of things you can consider:

• There are some restaurants that will give a description if the food is free-range, local, in-season, organic.  Try to support these guys who choose to give you information.

•  Choosing fish - many of us love fish but don't cook it so see it as a good option when eating out
• do they say what sort of fish it is?  if not, it may be a standard species that is overfished or farmed
• salmon & barramundi are very common these days but will come from a farm, so avoid unless they're listed as 'wild'
• standard fish & chips is made with Flake - which is shark and very unsustainable
• make yourself familiar with better fish & seafood choices such flathead or squid, so if they're on the menu you can choose them 
•  
• You may feel like a food that is more suited to the season, and some places are more likely to serve more seasonal dishes, such as heavier, root vegetable type  in winter, or fresh salad or fruit in summer.
• Just because your eating out doesn't mean you have to eat meat.  
• Do you eat meat at every meal? we don't need to eat meat more than a few times a week to get enough nutrients from it.
• The more people that choose vegetable dishes, the more restaurants will provide them.  As someone who doesn't eat red meat, and doesn't like eating chicken & fish out unless I know where they've come from, I despise going to restaurants where there is only 1 or 2 vegetarian choices. Meat is not the centre of our lives.
• consider food miles.
• is the main ingredient from a country far away?  is there something produced locally on offer?
• Drink choice.
• imported wine and beer is nice, but there is often a good local option instead.  save trying the imported stuff for when you visit that country.
• and lastly, are you going to leave food on the plate?
• food waste is not sustainable. order what you know you can eat. you can always get something else if you are still hungry afterwards.

Potential business names

business names?
save some earth for me
enough earth for everyone
g-design (Good, green, goddess, gold, galant, gorgeous, gawdy, given)
find me happiness
find me splendour
find me a safe place

it ain't over...
healthy green livin'
plain & simple

it should say green, environmentally friendly, healthy design, touching the earth lightly. Temporarily, in harmony with the earth.

Christmas cheer, christmas rubbish

It now hurtling fast towards the end of the year, which can only mean - christmas is near.

I certainly love the idea of christmas, being a time to spend with family and friends.

It's all the other stuff that bothers me.
The expectation to give something, particularly something physical.
The need to spend more.
The ease in which people buy too much - gifts & food.
The excuse that 'it's christmas' it only happens once a year.

Of course my work place has not escaped, feeling the need to 'kris kringle', and spend a small amount of money on something unnecessary. In years passed I have tried to enforce a sustainable rule - the gift being one of perishable (food), recycled, raises funds for charity, donate to charity or even extends to a recyclable gift - like a book or notebook.  But too many people struggled with this idea, and items such as plastic banana carry cases or model planes (as a joke) where bought, and subsequently thrown in the bin.
So now I refuse to partake.

Then there is the notion that I must buy a present for someone, in case they buy for me.  Not just an unnecessary gift, but usually wrapped in paper or god-forbid plastic and with my other pet hate - an ordinary card with a well wish.  Don't get me wrong, cards can be great. But there is an enormous amount of crap cards produced in case someone rushes out and needs to buy a card quickly.

Cards. Well I haven't brought more than about 5 in the last 10 years. I reuse the nice cards people give me, or make one up. so much more personal that way.  Of the 5 I've bought, they've been by artists I admire, and not for the sake of buying a card. Better still, to buy a card from a market stall or gallery, and keep it for the time you need it.

I guess that's enough for christmas for now. I'm sure there'll be more to add sooner or later

The End... of the week

Well, Enviroweek ended when I was out crook. I tell you what, being home sick has a few good and back impacts environmentally.

The down side is, you've usually got a tv, maybe a heater running when you would normally be out. If you pay for Green energy this is less of an impact. You use more water with the toilet, drinking etc, probably not more that if you were elsewhere, that is unless you're throwing up a lot like I was.

The positives are you sleep a lot, so not using any appliances and conserving your energy; you eat less and you don't go any where to consume anything. The Good out ways the Bad I reckon, so you don't have to feel so down when your sick!

Anyway, in all seriousness, I did have a peak in my rubbish bin to see what was there after a week of trying not to produce any general waste at all. Recycling and compost fine, but I wanted to have zero waste beyond this. I mean, we generally don't have that much anyway. Pre-worm farm the 2 of us + cat only put the general waste bin out every fortnight and even then it's only half full. Our kitchen bin lined with biodegradable bags doesn't even get full before it has to go out for the smell.

At the end of the week, here are some things I found:

1. packets from Fish balls (that I thought caused the dodgy stomach) & puffed tofu for the homemade laksa that feeds for days. fish balls & tofu are locally made, other ingredients are canned organic coconut milk, scoop of laksa paste from a jar (long lasting not the add-the-whole-jar watered down stuff) and organic vegies. The rice noodles were bought in bulk so the packet hasn't been thrown out yet.

2. Tissues. I've made an effort to use handkerchiefs more, but they're not as convenient as tissues, and my bright red sesame street one gets some funny looks.

3. Scraps from the cat's food bowl. The worms can't eat fish.

4. Chicken Bones. When I get a bokashi bucket & compost they can go in, but not while we live here.

5. A couple ends of material & thread from sewing projects. These could compost aswell.

6. Wrappers from biscuits or snacks. Unfortunately there aren't many snacks beyond fruit, bulk foods you pack yourself and homemade goodies, that don't come in a plastic wrapper. Even organic, wholefood or similar items. When are manufacturers going to make biodegradable wrappers? Surely the Use By date is far shorter than the 'Degradable' date. And as for the foil lined for freshness crap? I've stopped buying certain brands because metal sheet around a food packed with preservatives is unnecessary.

7. Onion skin & lime rind. The worms don't like these either.

I think this was about it. I'm sure if there was more, it wasn't mine ;)

Enviroweek - everyday hero @ 1:1

so it's already day 3, and how have I done to better my impact on the earth?
well I started the week with:
- buying & setting up a WORM FARM!
Then I followed by:
- making DINNER with items already in the cupboard, and extra portions for the week's lunches!
Adding to this (or deducting from it)
- limiting the general WASTE I dispose, like:
- using and reusing paper & plastic bags.
- creating a COMPOST pile to feed the WORMS
- buying bread from the markets in a paper bag
- using my HANDS to carry seedlings home
- making COFFEE at work instead of buying in a disposable cup (even though I now have a keep cup I don't carry it around with me everywhere I need coffee!)

what's in store tmw?