THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2009


CARBON FOOTPRINTS


It's my intention to complete a mini-project as part of my blog which will:-

1. Establish the carbon footprint of our current lifestyle; and
2. Review all kinds of methods that I can use to reduce our carbon footprint.

To track posts directly relating to this project only, hit the label "Carbon Footprint"....

Saturday, March 21, 2009

"Climate Code Red" David Spratt & Philip Sutton

Frightening!!!
You need to read it now... went to a talk by the author, David Spratt

A real wake up call!
I've only read 20 or so pages and I can't put it down...

Twitter

Getting side tracked by twitter.... neglecting my blog.
Recognition is the first step in putting things to right!

Monday, March 2, 2009

A Worm Farm for Como Children

Having got involved with the Daycare Centre that looks after my daughter, Cate, I offered to help them with some environmental projects, the first being a worm farm.

ok, ok, it's a bit rough around the edges but it's a start!

Looking to make some progress with it this week if Joe, the owners' partner is around to assist.

Will keep you posted!

The Green Debate cont...

.... Had a quick chat with Stephan and Alan after the "debate". I was disappointed in the numbers that attended and also in the feeling I get living in Australia, that is, that public awareness and active participation in environmental issues is pretty non-existent. The Aussie phrase, "she'll be right" springs to mind.
It was heartening to hear that Stephan thought that Australia was better informed than most places he had visited and the subject was clearly important to a lot of people.
The flip side could be equally dis-heartening, that the rest of the world is so out of touch....!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

"The Green Debate"

Went to the WA Writers Festival yesterday, at the UWA campus to see the Green Debate.
Disappointing. Only because time ran out and the actual debate never took place. There was only time for 3 or maybe 4 questions from the floor I think.

What was interesting was to hear 3 opinions from specialists in the field.

So, in a nushell:

Stephan Faris
Reminded us of the huge gap between those who have and those who have not and how a solution that satisfies both is needed. He described an instance in Mozambique where a plantation of trees created for carbon sequestration had been burnt to the ground by farmers to make way for crops to feed the local community.

Clive Hamilton
Told us about how those scientists who are in the know about the future of our planet are wandering around in a constant state of terror over what's to come. He put across (very well) how we've been let down by a government that has renaged on promises made pre-election (what a surprise!) and described eloquently how Rudd has missed the point entirely. It's not about finding a compromise between science and the fossil fuel lobbyists. Science is science. It is a base of knowledge that is as close to fact as we can possibly get in terms of modelling the effect of climate change. It needs to be addressed by strong policies, there is no satisfactory middle ground!

Alan Weisman
whose latest book is the World without Us, in which he says that it will take 100,000 years for the Earth to recover from the damage we have done. His view seemed to be that we will make some miracle scientific or technical breakthrough that will save the day.... because that's what has always happened in the past. Not really sure what else he had to say other than pick up on points made by the rest of the panel....