Aust Conserv

Industrial Revolution has been the key factor behind the modernization of human race. It has made our lives convenient simple and easy. Intelligent people always look at the other side of the coin as well, so it would be foolish to close our eyes on the negative effects i.e. it has made us lethargic, dependent and handicapped. Even for the simplest task we require the help of machinery; physical activity has almost diminished from our lives. This is one of the major reasons why existent are so many diseases like obesity, diabetes; blood pressure etc common in our lives these days.

Changing some basic little things in our lifestyles would make our lives so much better at different levels; a simple example would be riding a bike instead of driving a car to our workplace. To some people this may sound like a joke and to others an impractical solution, but I am afraid to say neither of the two is positive thinking. Riding a bike to workplace has a lot of benefits and I would be stating just a few.

The next Sydney Sustainability Drinks will be held on Wednesday the 13th April 2011.

Please note change of venue. Sydney Sustainability Drinks will now be held at CBD Hotel (Fourth Floor):75 York Street (Corner of King & York), Sydney 2000.

An open invitation is extended to all who are "passionate about sustainability"! Enjoy an evening of networking and a chance to find out about some of the exciting activities going on around Sydney in sustainability while winding down with a drink at CBD Hotel.

Thanks to Les Williamson who was our guest speaker in March.

Next Sustainability Drinks event is on Wednesday 6th April 2011.

Jennifer Lauber Patterson is a specialist in environmental and energy markets with over 20 years experience in the banking and energy sectors. 

During her time in the energy industry Jennifer held a number of senior roles before transitioning to banking in 2004, taking up the position of Director, Electricity, Emissions and Renewables at ANZ. In this role she established ANZ’s carbon and renewable derivative business.

In 2009 Jennifer moved to NAB where she is currently heading up the development of the bank’s carbon trading capability.

Jennifer will be presenting notes from a discussion paper that focusses on the business benefits of Australia moving to a low carbon economy.

Meatless Mondays Australia is a non-profit initiative that is part of an international campaign to encourage people to cut out meat on Mondays to improve their health and the health of the planet.

Reducing meat consumption by 15% (the equivalent of one day a week) not only lessens the risk of chronic preventable illness but also helps slow climate change.

Earth Hour 2009 is only 10 days away. On the 28th of March, homes and businesses around the world will join together to try and make a difference.

 

Earth Hour 2009 aims to reach more than one billion people in 1000 cities around the world, asking communities, business and governments to switch off the lights at 8.30pm on March 28th, for 1 hour. WWF want this historic, global event to send a strong message to our global leaders that, together, our small actions will represent a global vote for action on climate change, but we need your help!

Sign up and be counted. By doing this, you will help make Earth Hour the largest climate event in history. And once you have signed up, spread the word.

 

Nappies make up around 1% of urban landfill waste. Nappies are about 3% by weight of all domestic wastes landfilled, and domestic wastes are only about 34% of all urban solid wastes going to landfill. (By comparison, food and garden waste accounts for over 58% of our total domestic waste.)

Source: Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery in NSW – A Progress Report, NSW DEC Aug 2004

Landfill sites are engineered to be stable and low in moisture. In Australia, landfills are so dry and compact they tend to preserve the contents. As a result, nothing much breaks down in landfills – even newspapers, which are 100% degradable, remain intact and legible for decades. This means a biodegradable nappy in landfill is normally not given the chance to biodegrade.

There are many ways to help reduce the amount of nappies that go to the landfills and help the environment.

 

Recently the co-founders of Ecovative Design, who live by the cradle-to-cradle philosophy, have invented two revolutionary new products from mushroom roots, "Greensulate" and "Acorn".

These two products could be alternative products for energy conservation and waste reduction. "Acorn" is a compostable packaging material and "Greensulate" is an organic insulation.

To make "Acorn" and "Greensulate", the founders of Ecovative Design, Gavin McIntyre and Eben Bayer, use the roots" of mushrooms known as fungal mycelium. The fungal mycelium acts as resin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin.

The resin gives agricultural byproducts the ability to bond into "a rigid material" Because the mycelium is not allowed to grow long enough to produce mushrooms there is no risk of the production of spores and allergens.

With the success of Earth Hour around the world, it might be time to step up to the challenge of Earth Day.

It only takes a little bit of time to slowly build up habits that will help reduce our carbon foot print. If you can do without lights for an hour for one night of a year, why not try it for one night a week. Slowly you can build these habits up and reduce more and more of your dependance on electricty.