Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
That is Dirty! Put it in your Mouth: Healthy Immune Systems Through Dirt | Care2 Healthy & Green Living
Playing in the dirt is something children love to do - and research now shows health benfits as well an great joy. Read about it here.
Palmwoods Piccabeen Celebration | TreeLine - people, art, science, nature
TreeLine invites you to celebrate trees and their stories and inspire others to take action for the environment through art.
Treeline will:
Celebrate trees that are significant to you personally or your community, culturally or ecologically. •Raise awareness of local and global issues through the arts.•Encourage environmental action.
Palmwoods Piccabeen Celebration TreeLine - people, art, science, nature
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Clean Air - Cool Planet Climate Solutions - what we can all do!
This group site offers 10 ways we can all reduce our own impact on the planet and in so doing live more harmoniously with nature and other species.
Riding a bicycle is an important way to help our communities move away from our car-centric developments.
Cyclists who brave the hazards of road traffic have my utmost admiration. Please consider them and commend them for their efforts.
Visit the site to read more about saving enery, offsetting driving travel, recycling, being a wise consumer, telling your government representative that you care about the healthand future of the planet, and get involved.
Clean Air - Cool Planet Climate Solutions
Friday, March 26, 2010
From Pyramids to Paris, landmarks to go dark for Earth Hour | Grist
Sydney's iconic Harbor Bridge and Opera House will help kick off the energy-saving marathon, with Egypt's Pyramids and Sphinx, the Trevi Fountain and Tower of Pisa in Italy, and all major landmarks in Paris to take part, led by a five-minute blackout of the Eiffel Tower.
World-famous landmarks including the Pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, and Beijing's Forbidden City will go dark Saturday as millions turn out the lights for "Earth Hour," a rolling grassroots movement aimed at fighting climate change.
Now in its fourth year, the event looks set to be the biggest yet with thousands of cities and towns in 125 countries -- 37 more than last year -- pledging to take part.
Despite December's fractious Copenhagen summit and recent controversy over climate science, the public still wants meaningful action to avert catastrophic global warming, according to Earth Hour founder Andy Ridley. "There appears to be some fatigue to the politics around it ... But people are far more motivated this year than they were last year," he told AFP in Sydney.
Now run by the WWF, Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007 when 2.2 million people switched off the lights in their homes and businesses for 60 minutes to make a point about electricity consumption and carbon pollution.
The campaign went global the following year, and this Saturday, more than 1,200 of the world's best-known sites will kill their lights at 8:30 p.m. local time in what organizers describe as a "24-hour wave of hope and action."
A raft of multinational companies including Google, Coca-Cola, Hilton, McDonalds, Canon, HSBC, and IKEA have endorsed Earth Hour 2010 and pledged to darken their offices worldwide in support.
Sydney's iconic Harbor Bridge and Opera House will help kick off the energy-saving marathon, with Egypt's Pyramids and Sphinx, the Trevi Fountain and Tower of Pisa in Italy, and all major landmarks in Paris to take part, led by a five-minute blackout of the Eiffel Tower.
Read complete article here. From Pyramids to Paris, landmarks to go dark for Earth Hour Grist
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Property Council of Australia - Property Council submission on Koala Planning Legislation
Survival of the koala in its natural habitat is threatened by our increasing expansion. What will be the cost?
Every species on the planet has basic needs such as clean air, clean water, clean food, followed by a safe place to shelter. All species share but one planet - with finite resources. As a species modern western man has yet to learn to live in harmony with other species on the planet.
The demand for more land to clear for our shelter or housing will impact on the earth's ability to provide our other needs.
Business as usual will not sustain us all. It is a furphy that we must have economic growth in order to survive. There is now some debate about this - we need much more debate to be well informed 21st century citizen's who are not motivated - or driven by greed.
If we develop - we must pay the full cost. In the end the planet will take its dues. It may not be easy for some of us to understand how to balance the scales for the planet.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Rack 'em and stack 'em: a silly solution to population growth
Lining roads with multi-storey flats flies in the face of clever planning.
Dr Peter Fisher is an environmentalist and teaches a planning for climate change course at RMIT University. Len Puglisi is an urban planning consultant.
Rack 'em and stack 'em: a silly solution to population growth
Dr Peter Fisher is an environmentalist and teaches a planning for climate change course at RMIT University. Len Puglisi is an urban planning consultant.
CARS floated in King Street during the recent deluge as the city's acres of concrete and asphalt turned on its occupants. Such impervious spaces - capable of being sizzling hot one moment and producing walls of water at another - continue to spawn in Australian cities (consider the new South Wharf precinct in Melbourne). This underscores the need to reconfigure our built environments to cope with weather extremities. It is crucial to examine each new city development to gauge the extent to which the buildings and the spaces around them will be affected by these extremes and how liveability will fare.
Notable here is an ambitious plan, titled Transforming Australian Cities, to line tram and priority bus corridors with multi-storey apartments. The intention is to absorb an extra half to 1½ million people.
Lines of buildings to the edge of the street could result in more torrents of water as well as urban heat-island spikes of 4 to 6 degrees on hot days. With radiation from masonry and other hard surfaces, air-conditioning looks set to dominate.
The greenhouse gas burden on the state's already stretched power-generating capacity cannot be lessened by cooling from shade trees or surrounding lawns as exists with detached houses.
Large-scale apartment building can also produce nasty wind-tunnel effects, direct exposure to hazardous fine particulates from congested traffic, and limited ability to combat increased water run-off via percolation and tree leaf and root absorption.
As for diverting people from cars to public transport (and cycling), thus cutting emissions, economic geographer Kevin O'Connor has reminded us that only 27 per cent of jobs are currently within inner Melbourne; most involve cross-town commuting. Hence, even some success in boosting employment along the corridors might still see a sizeable chunk of car trips between them, especially as people switch jobs.
Recent American research reported in the book Driving and the Built Environment concludes, among other things, that ''if the residents of compact developments drive only 5 per cent less, the savings in fuel use and carbon dioxide emissions would be less than 1 per cent compared with the base case, even in 2050''.
With the possibility that there may be only a small reduction in driving - a form of contrariness featured in Edward Tenner's 1997 book Why Things Bite Back - there's scope for some ''what if?'' accounting.
Previous efforts to achieve medium-density developments by governments since the 1980s saw strong pressure by big developers to ignore their good intentions. It might be hoped that controlling this market outcome can be achieved by prescriptive zoning conditions - putting downward pressure on land prices and keeping smaller builders in the game.
But will this happen? The most notable earlier attempts at managing ''a major transformation of Australian cities'' - as some proponents are calling this new phase - occurred during the Whitlam era of the early 1970s. It was found necessary to develop a land-price dampen-ing mechanism and to use strong land acquisition powers and inter-agency co-ordination backed by a substantial budget.
Large sums would be needed just to upgrade infrastructure, such as old and inappropriate main drains, as more hard-surface spaces are constructed, not to mention heavy investment in transport - areas in which the government is already struggling. The proposals are likely to require yet more stringent tools. It is one thing to allow developers to build on such sites as they can assemble, but quite another to have a targeted sub-suburb in your range for redevelopment, as Planning Minister Justin Madden is finding in a small way with his call-in projects in Coburg and Geelong.
More generally, there's an assumption that mushrooming national and metropolitan populations can be accommodated simply by being smarter and innovative and harnessing technology. But the large numbers spoken of aren't a fait accompli. Better that planners and governments turn their ingenuity to ways of limiting that growth and thus the spread of cities and calls on our already damaged natural resources. Is packing up to 1½ million into apartments a formula for "a sustainable future", with the inhabitants losing further contact with the stuff of the natural world - perhaps missing out on the tangible health benefits of pet ownership or those of local food production?
These are sobering thoughts indeed for a nation that treats the land as some incidental substrate for unfettered human and economic domination.
The comments are flowing in at http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/rack-em-and-stack-em-a-silly-solution-to-population-growth-20100317-qfj2.html#comments
Rack 'em and stack 'em: a silly solution to population growth
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Streetfilms Fixing the Great Mistake: Autocentric Development - New York is changing
Fixing the Great Mistake: Autocentric Developmentby Elizabeth Press on February 25, 2010
"Fixing the Great Mistake" is a new Streetfilms series that examines what went wrong in the early part of the 20th Century, when our cities began catering to the automobile, and how those decisions continue to affect our lives today.
In this episode, Transportation Alternatives director Paul Steely White shows how planning for cars drastically altered Park Avenue. Watch and see what Park Avenue used to look like, how we ceded it to the automobile, and what we need to do to reclaim the street as a space where people take precedence over traffic.
Streetfilms Fixing the Great Mistake: Autocentric Development#more-27221
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Australian farmers sold short by cheap food - Eureka Street
How much do you pay for tomatoes? Bananas? What about for your garlic?
This article by Sarah Kanowski has been sourced from the folllowing link.
Australian farmers sold short by cheap food - Eureka Street
Her essay on FOOD AND FARMING IN AUSTRALIA is published in Griffith Review Edition 27: Food Chain and online here
If you are one of the 90 per cent of Australian shoppers who buy garlic imported from China you're spending around $2/kg. Buying organic, locally-produced garlic on the other hand, can set you back $38/kg. But don't be fooled about which is really cheaper.
...
Around 70 per cent of the 500 million hectares of land used for agriculture in this country is degraded. The remarkable gains in agricultural productivity, which have helped make food so cheap, have been dependent on clearing, poisoning native grasses, draining swamps, and intensively fertilising.
The former chief of CSIRO Land and Water, John Williams, has put it bluntly in official reports on the environmental impact of Australian agriculture: 'business as usual is not an option'.
Patrice Newell is a biodynamic farmer of garlic, olives and beef cattle. She is adamant that cheap food is a furphy, as prices fail to factor in environmental expenses. Australia's industrial agribusinesses do not pay for their real water use or soil degradation: the big profits are a mirage.
For an industry that exports 70 per cent of its product (for some crops, such as wheat, the figure is more like 80 per cent), any changes to the way food is costed will have significant economic impacts. But Newell insists this dependence on exports is what we should be giving up, rather than small, independent, environmentally sustainable farms. 'What's the point of destroying the Murray-Darling Basin to export food? I mean, why?'
The real cost of food is not what politicians want to talk about, but we must. So how much do you pay for your garlic?
This article by Sarah Kanowski has been sourced from the folllowing link.
Australian farmers sold short by cheap food - Eureka Street
Her essay on FOOD AND FARMING IN AUSTRALIA is published in Griffith Review Edition 27: Food Chain and online here
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
ABC The Drum Unleashed - Climate debate: opinion vs evidence
Stephan Lewandowsky is a Winthrop Professor and an Australian Professorial Fellow at the University of Western Australia. He comments here ......
The laws of physics will relentlessly assert themselves, unswayed by public opinion, political shenanigans, or elections. Ultimately, the laws of physics will speak so loudly that no amount of wishful thinking can prevent them from being heard; but because any delay in taking action against climate change will increase the human and financial burden on future generations, it is our responsibility now to cease tolerating lies, misrepresentations, puerile accusations, and conspiracy theories that are unworthy of public discourse in a mature democracy.
Many spirited conversations about climate change can be had that examine the likely consequences for Australia and evaluate the best course of action — but those conversations must be firmly rooted in the core scientific principles of scepticism and falsifiability and they must not be contaminated by ignorance and denialism.
The whole article is available at this link.
ABC The Drum Unleashed - Climate debate: opinion vs evidence
Pedal-powered taxis potential congestion solution in QUT News
Pedal-powered taxis potential congestion solution
Brisbane city planners should take note from London, New York and Berlin and look more closely at eco-friendly pedicabs as regular CBD transport for short trip lengths, says a Queensland University of Technology transport planning PhD student.
Velotaxis, cyclos, bicycle taxis, or cycle rickshaws, they have many names but Mamun Rahman, from QUT's School of Urban Development, say pedicabs - three-wheel, bicycle driven cabs carrying up to two passengers - are picking up speed as a CBD and surrounding area transport option in major western cities.
"Pedicabs are making the transition from novelty to serious transport because they offer fast, cheap, emission-free transport. It makes sense to investigate regulating and integrating them into the Brisbane CBD transport system," Mr Rahman said. He is part of a research team investigating the use of pedicabs with Professor Glen D'Este and Dr Jonathan Bunker.
"CBD congestion will increase in future. Many cities are introducing higher parking charges and considering the use of road pricing or a 'congestion tax', especially for city inbound private vehicles to combat the changing traffic conditions.
"Eco-sustainable modes like pedicabs could have a role in the public transport system of Brisbane and other Australian cities.
"A pedicab service would of course have to be licensed and regulated like other vehicles for safety and smooth operation. A separate payment system would also probably be the better way rather than integrating with bus/train/ferry ticketing."
Mr Rahman's paper titled Is There a Future for Non-Motorized Public Transport in Asia? won the Outstanding Paper Presentation award in November 2009 at the 8th International Conference of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, in Indonesia.
His paper highlighted the re-emergence of non-motorised public transport such as pedicabs in the developed countries of Japan, England, Germany, Holland and parts of North America. The paper also looked at the ongoing role cycle rickshaws have in the transport systems of some developing countries such as Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Columbia and Cuba.
"This shift is due to factors such as eco-sustainability and operating flexibility because pedicabs can go where motor vehicles are discouraged or restricted," Mr Rahman said.
He said that a tourist-oriented pedicab service - Green Cabs - was already operating in the Brisbane CBD on weekends from Friday evening to Sunday night.
"Green Cabs usually run between West End and the Valley and along the Brisbane River, and are proving pretty popular. But in future pedicabs might have the potential to grow and merge with the regular transport system in specific parts of the network," Mr Rahman said.
"Pedicabs are particularly suited for short trips of two to three kilometres long around town. For someone at QPAC who wants to get quickly to, say, Roma Street Station a pedicab would be ideal, especially on a hot day when walking is not much fun and they can go in a breezy cab.
"Pedicabs are non-polluting and they add a separate dynamic to the urban fabric. They might fit right into Brisbane which is a walk-friendly city and has the strong endorsement of the city council for active and green transport modes."
QUT News was source of story and other information.
What a great idea.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
If Norway can prosper with a stable population, why can’t Australia? - On Line Opinion - 22/2/2010
The question of population - how much we will grow as a country does not seem to be questioned by most of our governing representative bodies. This topic is explored at this site linked here.
As a society and community we are not paying the real cost when we exploit the natural resources of the land.
Monday, March 8, 2010
South East Queensland Regional Plan gives developers powers to trample upon residents' rights | (We) can do better
The CANDOBETTER website is one where many citizens write about issues - government policies plans and actions - that will have an enormous impact on the future of our home in South East Queensland. The property industry appears to have a disproportionate influence on government decisions. More land for more houses is not the mantra we should accept.
Ecological and social costs and implications must be considered beside the profit to be banked. The contributors to this site are providing a great service for us with their digest of happenings in South East Queensland.
There is strength in numbers - please try to make time to take part in planning our future. Lots of informative articles from this link.
What you can do
Attend public forums against population Growth.
Brisbane: 8:30AM - 12:30PM, Saturday 13 March,
Queensland Museum Theatre, South Bank.
Cost $10. Phone Queensland Conservation Council on
(07) 32297992.
South East Queensland Regional Plan gives developers powers to trample upon residents' rights (We) can do better
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
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