It is Summer in Australia. The mercury is soaring, cicadas are singing, BBQs are cranking and icecream stands are making a brisk trade.
Summer is also the season of festivals with promoters capitalising on clear skys to host large scale outdoor events. Next week, it is the massive Big Day Out touring festival’s turn as it makes a 2 day pit stop in Sydney exciting music lovers with fantastic music spread across 9 stages and 13 hrs/day. Along with 50,000 others, I’m looking forward to going and hopefully not getting too tired – old lady that I am 
Festivals can be all about convenience (ie. disposable) and ultimately fun so sustainable practices are usually far from the mind when going. But here are some ideas of how you can have fun but also be considerate of the environment.
- Buy a green ticket – In the case of Big Day Out for a teeny tiny additional cost you can offset your carbon via funding the planting of Eucalyptus trees.
- Getting there – Go easy on carbon emissions and take public transport. Apart from the environment thanking you, it is a great way to soak up the pre-buzz of a festival and maybe have a chat to others about which bands are on their must-see list. For public transport timetables – http://www.131500.com.au/events/big-day-out-music-festival-2011
- Dehydration – Last year, temperatures peaked at a blistering 42degrees celcius (thankfully I was in air-conditioned comfort having just given birth!). Next Thursday, predictions are for a balmy 30degrees – not as hot as last year but definitely still able to cause heat exhaustion. So make sure you take plenty of water – yes there will be water stations but I’m sure they’ll be busy. Ideally in a reusable ecobottle (there are plenty around so no excuse really – SIGG’s a good brand). But if it all proves too hard, grab some Fiji Water as they have adopted some positive sustainable practices and are actively trying to reduce their carbon footprint.
- Toilet paper – thousands of people drinking lots of water (not to mention alcohol) = toilet paper running out early. Don’t find out the hard way. Take your own paper – and of course make it sure it is an eco-friendly brand – a reminder from an old post on things to look out for
- Use the recycling stations available – don’t be lazy
- If you haven’t yet bought tickets to a festival and are tossing up between a couple – have a look at their green credentials as your deciding vote. The Greener Festival Awards is a “non-for-profit company that assesses festivals for their environmentally friendly practices and provides information and education for those interested in upping their level of sustainability”. In 2010, Peats Ridge festival was the only Australian festival to receiving an “Outstanding” award with Falls, Southbound, Womadelaide and Island Vibe securing a “Commendation”.
I’m sure there are a great deal of other ways to be conscious so please comment and add to the list!
Have you ever seen an obese eco-warrier? A gargantuan person living off the grid, who grows their own vegetables, rides their bike for commuting and makes decisions on food to eat based on carbon miles or organic principles?
Thought not.
Obesity tends to be associated with excess consumption, a sedentary lifestyle and lots of meat. Not many vegetarians I would wager are obese.
As most of us know, meat production has a significant environmental impact versus growing vegetables/beans. In fact the land used for production of vegetables or beans produces 10 x as much protein as land used for beef production. By foregoing one meat meal a week and switching to vegetarian will both aid your waistline and the environment.
Some great vegetarian recipes
And for those who don’t/can’t cook and live in Sydney, model Annalise Braakensiek runs a vegetarian catering business that cooks and delivers an organic, low fat, dairy, gluten and meat free meal once a week to Sydneysiders. I had the pleasure of seeing Annalise speak briefly at a recent GreenUp event and hear about her life growing up on a biodynamic farm and being a vegetarian from an early age. Her glowing good health is testiment to the benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle.
As the year staggered to an end, the media flooded their outlets with stories and advertisements regarding weight loss and quitting smoking
Either weight loss or quitting smoking invariably end up on most people’s New Year’s resolution list as a new year is such a great catalyst to think about transformation. And yes I’m one of the many in hoping to lose a little (or a lot!).
For today, apart from the obvious health reasons I’ll thought I’d share with you some of the environmental consequences of the smoking industry in the hope that it might provide some further incentive to keep your quitting dream alive!
- More than 5000 billion cigarettes are manufactured worldwide each year. China, with around 350million smokers puffing away on an average of 15 cigarettes a day, is a global giant in the tobacco world with the state run producers accounting for more than one third of global market share of cigarettes as well as being the world’s leading grower (the US a distant second). Whilst across the board, China’s incidence of “food poverty” has decreased (in 1995, in rural areas 28% of the population were considered in ”food poverty” ) from a layperson’s perspective you have to worry that the lure of the tobacco dollar ($77billion in taxes in 2009) will encourage the government to place an greater emphasis on tobacco farming to the detriment of food production and thereby threaten the gains they’ve made in reducing food poverty. Not a particularly palatable thought knowing that the production of your cigarette may have made someone go hungry.
- Another tree bites the dust - I kinda like trees, they sort of rock in a critical nourish the earth way… What doesn’t rock is second-hand cigarette smoke. To hear that one in eight trees felled every year are due to tobacco growing or curing (most of the tobacco cured is done by burning wood) is therefore not a statistic that makes my heart soar. A double environmental blow considering in the first instance this cleared land could have continued to be used as our environmental lungs (ironic really) or cleared for other agriculture crops. And in the second instance, adding insult to injury, that trees are burned to produce something that is again burned boggles the mind.
- Soil degradation – Tobacco uses up nutrients from soil faster than any other crop which in turn forces growers to compensate with fertilisers. As a consequence, land used for tobacco growing is unfit for a number of years for any other crops.
- Butts, butts and more butts. Not a fan of removing butts from the crawling path of my baby at the park not to mention the accumulated litter issues that millions of butts cause.
- Cigarette packs – here’s a novel idea. If you have to smoke how about re-usable / re-fillable packs. My hubby smokes and as I type this post there are two empty packets sitting on the computer desk along with a third nearly empty. Why not bring back the old tobacconist seller from whom you had to go to to refill your own cigarette case. Might mean a bit of forward planning though as there would be no late night refills when drunk at the pub!
Of course tobacco companies, like most other multinational corporations, are loudly proclaiming their sustainability credentials to make smokers feel OK about their addiction but really the best thing is to not smoke at all!
If you’re one of those people who have quitting smoking on your resolution list I hope I’ve helped give you some further incentive to stick to your goal. Good luck!
It’s New Year’s Eve! And along with a few million or so of my fellow Sydneysiders I will be watching the Sydney Harbour fireworks spectacular from one of the many vantage points dotted along the foreshore.
Currently the sky is a perfect blue, the temperature is sitting at 27degrees and the wine is chilling. Earlier, up the street for my morning cappucino, I got excited by the definite buzz in the air. We are very fortunate to live within walking distance of some of the best & popular vantage points (8 in total!) in Sydney for the fireworks and as a result of popularity the whole Balmain Peninsula is closed to vehicular traffic (expect buses & emergency vehicles) from 3pm to midnight. This results in a stream of jovial people walking, cycling or public transporting throughout the day with the numbers steadily building throughout the day.
The NYE event (pre-show entertainment, 9pm family fireworks, midnight fireworks etc) is a Carbon Neutral Event (and has been since 2008) achieved through the following measures:
- Buying carbon credits to offset all emissions from the event.
- Recycling 80 per cent of all rubbish collected (about 20 per cent is non recyclable waste).
- Using recycled water to clean the streets.
- Distributing personal ashtrays on the night to help reduce cigarette butt littering.
- Reusing props and scenic designs
- Encouraging everyone to take public transport or walk to events and leave the car at home.
- Partnering with World Wildlife Fund, the official charity of 2010 Sydney New Year’s Eve
Post event a Carbon Audit will be conducted to measure emissions to ensure that the objective was delivered upon and any emissions are offset.
I think it is really encouraging that the Sydney Council and event organisers have woven sustainability practices into such a large event as it would be all so easy to dismiss something that adds added complexity to an already enormous task. It also shows that more Sydneysiders are expecting and demanding environmental accountability.
But enough about seriousness. It’s NYE.
So crack open that champagne and celebrate.
Happy days
xx
Tonight I’m going to a GreenUp event, by myself, to listen to a few speakers talk about how to enjoy the festive season with sustainable food. I’m feeling a little nervous as I won’t know a soul and I will be coming across people who have the credentials to claim a “green” mantle.
For those not aware, GreenUp events are a once a month event put on as an opportunity for people interested in organic/green/sustainable living and wanting to meet those on the same wavelength. Apparently not necessarily for professionals in the industry (which is a little off putting for newbies like me). If you’re interested in attending an event sign up on Facebook and the details will be sent to you. With more than 500 cities around the world hosting Green Drink events you’ll be sure to find something locally to you.
I’ll let you know how the event goes, if anyone talks to me (or conversely if I talk to anyone) and I’ll share the words of wisdom from the speakers.
I love riding my bike … cruising around the bay’s bike track which is predominantly flat and non taxing to those not accustomed to rigourous exercise. On hills (OK gentle downward slopes) I apply the brakes with a fierce grip determined to not lose control and ensure that I maintain a steady snail pace. Going up hills with an incline greater than 5 degrees invariably results in dismounting and walking the bike as I haven’t mastered the art of standing whilst pedalling.
So perhaps I have taken leave of my senses with a recent decision to ride to work when I return in late January. According to mapmyride.com the distance is 3.83km (2.38m) with a max elevation of 148ft so an easy ride for most riders but presents a challenge for my rudimentary skills. To add further difficulties to the decision is the absence of any female shower facilities at work (strangely there is only one shower that is accessed via the men’s toilets) and two children I will have to deliver to daycare and school.
But I really want to try and make it happen. It will keep the car off the road (saving $ and carbon emissions) and provide me with a simple way to get exercise into my daily routine. And I feel that I’m doing my bit to acknowledge Sydney City Council’s investment of $75 million in building a 200km bike path network (although the majority of my journey, whilst on designated bike paths, is part of an older track.)
I’d be interested to hear tips from other riders - will I need to shower? what do I do about clothes? how do I deal with helmet hair? how can I overcome my fear of letting go down hill? how in the world can I learn how to stand up pedalling? and what happens if it rains?!!!
“I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.”
As the poet Dorethea Mackellar so evocatively put it, we are a nation of extremes. When not in drought, (my state – NSW – just yesterday was declared drought free after 9 years of the worst drought in the states history) we are dealing with flooding – some parts of NSW have been declared disaster zones due to flooding in the past couple of days.
The storage levels of the main dam supplying water to Sydney’s 4.5million inhabitants is regularly reported on and water saving measures are often on the agenda of political figures as well as being top of mind for consumers.
I recently did my bit for water conservation by taking up Sydney Water’s offer of highly subsidised installation & purchase of a new water efficient toilet potentially saving up to 25,000 Litres a year of water. The offer involved having a licensed Sydney Water plumber come out to my house, remove our old inefficient toilet and replace with a brand new toilet. The plumber costs are waived and the discounted toilet cost can be paid over the course of a year as part of your quarterly bill. In addition, Sydney Water offers replacement of shower heads for flat cost of $22. As a result of these measures, my latest bill showed an average daily reduction of 100 Litres from last year (when I was working full time). Such an easy thing to do and great tangible benefits.
I’m hoping that the recent deluge and the drought free declaration won’t make some people complacent about water as if history serves correctly we’ll have water shortage issues once again and I firmly believe that we need to act as if drought conditions are the status quo.
Following are some tips on water saving borrowed from a variety of sources – let me know if you have any more tips.
- Install a rainwater tank
- Reuse your greywater
- Buy efficient appliances – minimum of 3 star/AAA rating, front loading washing machines, dual flush toilets etc
- Check for leaks in taps, pipes and dishwasher hoses
- Insulate hot water pipes
- Wait until you have a full load in your dishwasher before using it.
- Don’t rinse dishes before loading, instead use the rinse and hold settings.
- Put in the plug as soon as you start running water to fill the sink. Keep the water pressure low while you wait for it to get hot.
- Think before using the dishwasher.
- Use only as much water as you need in the kettle to cut your electricity costs at the same time.
- Use the load adjustment button on your washing machine to take into account the load volume
- Take short showers.
- Bathe your young children together
- Use a bucket to collect water while waiting for the shower to get hot
- Check the four-day forecast – If there’s rain ahead, let the rain do your watering for you
- Direct downspouts and other runoff towards shrubs and trees, or collect and use for your garden.
- Consider drought tolerant plants, which will continue to grow without excess water use.
- Avoid the installation of ornamental water features
- Use a screwdriver as a soil probe to test soil moisture. If it goes in easily, don’t water.
- Use a watering can
- Use a pool cover
- Compost your soil regularly as it helps the soil retain moisture
- When mowing the lawn don’t cut the grass shorter than 2cm.
- Plant during the spring or autumn when the watering requirements are lower.
- It’s best to water the roots and soil around plants rather than spraying the leaves and flowers.
- Water your garden in the cool of the early morning, or in the evening
- For hanging baskets, planters and pots, place ice cubes under the moss or dirt to give your plants a cool drink of water and help eliminate water overflow.
The glorious smell of new leather heralded the delivery today of our brand new, metallic grey Subaru Outback.
My first time behind the wheel was a test drive around the local streets and my driving resembled that of a grandmother on tranquilisers – which as anyone who knows me is not the usual way I drive.
Obviously this purchase is in complete violation of my stumbling attempt to not buy anything new this year but my husband had the overruling vote to get a new car.
As a one car family of four, we are in the company of the other 44% of the country who have only one car (this is including households with only 1-2 people). The majority have 2 or more cars, which in a sprawling country with lacklustre public transport infrastructure is not really that surprising but not fantastic on an environmental scorecard.
With the transport sector being one of the largest generators of greenhouse gas emissions in the country it is important to be cognisant of our choices and behaviour regarding our motor vehicles.
Here are 10 thoughts on what to do …
- Use sites like the www.greenvehicleguide.gov.au to compare different models of cars with regards to their greenhouse & air pollution ratings. Interestingly in Australia, of the top 20 selling cars only 1 (Hyundai Getz) appears on the top 20 performing cars. And yes I know our car isn’t in the top performing. I will await the condemnation …
- Seriously consider whether you really need that 2nd car. Run, cycle, walk and get an awesome body in the process (although we only have one car and I’m still awaiting the awesome body …)
- Try to have one car free day a week. And that doesn’t include Sunday when you’re too hungover to drive.
- De clutter the car. I’m notorious at accumulating junk in the car for those “just in case” moments but the extra weight does impact on fuel use. I realised that I kept a mini picnic pack (bottle opener, mini cheese board & knife) in the boot for a “just in case” spontaneous picnic but for 10 years never touched the thing.
- Look in your car’s manual for fuel economy tips – there are some obvious ones across all cars but your car might have nuances that you need to consider
- Shade your car when parked so you don’t have to turn on the AC full blast when you get in. Either use a shade cover or park under natural shade (and if that means parking a block away from your destination so be it)
- And on that point, don’t drive round and round in circles waiting for the car gods to give you a rockstar park. Just park in the first spot you see.
- Carpool. Saves the environment, money and best of all you get to chat, chat, chat…
- Switch off the AC and enjoy the fresh air instead. And sing loudly – so much fun when you freak out the pedestrians!
- And finally for those who have one car, seriously considering getting rid of that car and joining car share schemes like www.goget.com.au
All fairly basic things to do but sometimes we just need reminding 
I just read an article in the Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney’s broadsheet newspaper) regarding the successful outcome of the battle to save the remote Niyamgiri Hills in India (article here). The battle has been likened to an “Avatar” victory – the triumph of an indigenous community over a giant mining corporation.
This is a fantastic outcome and one everyone who fought for this community should celebrate.
As I wrote about in another post the blight of mining operations can scar a landscape for many generations. Yes I understand that mining is also an economic necessity and can contributes greatly to some countries wealth & prosperity but there needs to values put against ecological treasures as well.
