Some ideas you could consider to reduce your impact on the environment.
National Climate Emergency Rally 13 June 2009 - join across Australia on 13 June 2009 in a peaceful rally for urgent action and leadership to avoid catastrophic climate change. On Monday 5 May 2009, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd reneged on his 2007 election promise to take action to avoid catastrophic climate change. The clear majority of national and state conservation groups have jointly written to the Prime Minister, voicing their incredulity at this about-face. LACA joins these groups in condemning the Federal government's dilution of its Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS). Open and read the joint letter from the conservation sector to the Prime Minister. Joint_Statement_from_Conservation_Sector_to_Prime_Minister_5_May_2009.pdf 557.07 Kb 05/06/2009, 20:01
Join the rally on 13 June at 1pm Queens Park, corner of George and Elizabeth streets, Brisbane CBD.
More information go to http://www.climaterally.org/
WEAR RED to signify a climate emergency and bring banners and signs.
Vote for the earth on March 28th by turning off the lights for Earth Hour 2009! Now in its third year running, the event is an incredible display of solidarity among the green movement, and this year they're looking for 1 billion participants to turn off their lights next Saturday between 8:30pm and 9:30pm. Don't miss out on this chance to raise awareness for climate change and cast your vote for the earth in the fight against global warming!
THIS IS THE WORLD'S FIRST GLOBAL ELECTION, BETWEEN EARTH AND GLOBAL WARMING.
On March 28 you can VOTE EARTH by switching off your lights for one hour.Or you can vote global warming by leaving your lights on.
This classic Dr. Seuss story tells the tale of the Once-ler, an industrious new comer who exploits a beautiful paradise, and the Lorax, who "speaks for the trees, for the trees have no tongues" and warns the Once-ler of the perils of overuse.
"The Lorax" is an engaging and educational tale with a hopeful message for the future. Although it is intended to appeal to younger children its message is one we could all heed. Planet Ark's website contains the 24 minutes cartoon adaptation as part of its promotion for Get Growing on Schools Tree Day, Friday 31st July 2009. The book of The Lorax is published by Random House (ISBN: 0394823370).
There are many useful resources and links for schools - and everyone interested in planting trees.
Media Alert
Where do the major parties stand on the key environment issues at this State election?
Place: Queensland Conservation Office
166 Ann St Brisbane
Date: Tuesday 17th March 2009 Time: 1.00 pm
For Further Information:
Toby Hutcheon (QCC) 3221 0188/0419664 503
Don Henry (ACF) 0418 501395
Tim Seelig (TWS) 0439 201183
Nick Heath (WWF) 0418 885324
Simon Baltais (SPA) 0412 075 334
Compare election priorities scorecard for a safe climate, healthy rivers, nature protection and community future on this document. scorecard.doc 37.50 Kb 17/03/2009, 08:22
Read the media alert to see the 16 Queensland groups who are working together to protect our unique environment for our current and future populations. media_alertscorecard17march.doc 168.50 Kb 17/03/2009, 08:35
Do you want to see HIGH VOLTAGE POWER LINES criss cross the Logan River?
Do you want your environment affected by HIGH VOLTAGE POWER LINES?
Do you know whether your property will be affected by HIGH VOLTAGE POWER LINES?
Do you want to see your property devalued by HIGH VOLTAGE POWER LINES?
If you answered NO to any of the above questions you should attend this meeting.
For further information contact Maree Slingsby VETO's Spokesperson on 0408 765 847
SHADES OF KOALA WARS - VETO RE- GROUPS
Australians in dark on emissions effort are the headlines in today's Australian newspaper 23 February 2009.
Polling to be published by the Australia Institute this week found almost 90 per cent of respondents believe households and individuals should be able to contribute to reducing national greenhouse emissions. Read the article here.
Contact your local members for state and federal government and tell them what you want.
Personally I believe my own actions to lessen the pollution my actions have caused should be measured accounted and encouraged.
Water is vital for all of us. We depend on it for drinking, washing, recreation, agriculture and industry. Water controls the world's weather and sustains the natural systems above and below the earth's surface. But did you know that it is the water beneath our feet - something you can't see and may not even know is there - that is truly our hidden treasure!
Some Water Facts
Where does water come from?
Water spends time in the ocean, in the air, on the Earth's surface, and under it as groundwater. This water circulates endlessly in a kind of global plumbing system called the hydrologic cycle or water cycle.
Global plumbing!
The water cycle is controlled by the sun, which produces the heat energy that determines the way the earth uses and recycles its water. This heat energy evaporates water in the oceans, lakes and even backyard pools. When water evaporates, it rises into the cooler air, collects, and forms clouds. Eventually, the water droplets that form the clouds fall from the sky as rain, snow, sleet, or hail. When water falls to the ground, it doesn't stop moving. Some flows across the earth's surface into bodies of water like rivers and lakes. Other water seeps into the soil where it makes its way to becoming groundwater, and then may slowly flow into rivers and lakes, or back into the sea. Then the cycle starts all over again! More about the water cycle is available from this CSIRO website.
If you have an interest in hydrology this page introduces you to a Hydrogeologist and includes a video about his work. The links from this page have lots of information for students.
Many of us may wish for a return to a simpler way of life. Some have made that commitment - a return to their own values and they share their stories of the good life via XXI century letter writing - blogging. A 35 year old Australian mother of two throws in her job as a lawyer and comes home to raise her children thoughtfully, grow her own vegies, bake bread and live a more family oriented sustainable life. The question is, will she be able to balance it all and make enough income to afford her signature coffee - a vanilla latte on skim. These serious matters are explored in the pages of her blog http://avisionsplendid.blogspot.com/
Community groups in far north Queensland are very alarmed at the Premier's recent announcement that the draft FNQ2025 Plan would be amended to allow large scale tourism developments outside the urban footprint.
News reports state that accommodation for up to 250 people and accompanying facilities with a floor area of no more than 4000sqm will be allowed outside the Cairns urban footprint, as long as they are not in areas of high ecological significance or on good-quality agricultural land.
Small-scale developments such as backpacker hostels and farm stays, which are already allowed, will have the option of taking in up to 100 people and have larger facilities.
Community is very concerned at the watering down of urban sprawl constraints under the Plan and the potential damage to sensitive areas which warrant
protection. While the formal submission period on FNQ2025 has ended, CAFNEC wants to keep up the pressure for amendment of FNQ2025 so that it protects wildlife corridors and important habitat, especially for cassowaries.
Join the campaign by sending a letter to the Deputy Premier using the points suggested in this letter by CAFNEC here.
The full Living Planet Report 2008 goes into detail about the many ways humans are depleting our natural capital. The Living Planet Report, which is published every two years, is produced with the Zoological Society of London and the Global Footprint Network and I encourage readers to download and examine the full document. More information and report download link are available here.
But the good news is that we have the means to reverse the ecological devastation. The report outlines how we can put ourselves on a more sustainable path via global strategies.
For example, with carbon emissions from fossil fuel use noted as the greatest component of humanity's footprint, the report outlines how energy efficiency and clean energy generation can help deliver a more sustainable future. The global carbon footprint has grown more than 10-fold since 1961.
"We humans have been very good at creating problems - but we can be equally good at solving them. A sustainable world is not an unachievable goal. As the world looks to restore its economies we must build in long-term environmental as well as economic sustainability and social sustainability."
Sustainablity must be measured as ecological sustainability - not purely economic. Each one of us has a part to play in the future of our planet - our home that we share with millions of other species.
Write a letter to the editor of your local paper to help make the Government feel the pressure to endorse Garnaut's recommendations and get the positive aspects of the report heard. The Government are currently considering the Garnaut Report but it is the polluters' voices who are being heard in the media.
GetUp! have provided a handy tool to help to write to the paper of your choice. There is a Climate Solutions Info Sheet with the key findings of the Garnaut Review. Read that Info Sheet here. Go to this campaign page.
CSA programs operate in SE Queensland and even in the Scenic Rim region. Details will be posted on this website soon.
One of the cornerstones of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is shared risk. "The essence of the relationship," as Elizabeth Henderson states in Sharing the Harvest (see a review of the book below) " is the mutual commitment: The people support the farm and share the inherent risks and potential bounty."
When innocent farmer error threatens the harvest
Rachel Bynum and Eric Plaksin have used hay mulch on Waterpenny Farm in Virginia for many years, purchasing from the same trusted grower every year. Early in the 2007 season they noticed that many crops were doing poorly. The problem was finally traced to the mulch: the grower had used Grazon (with the active ingredient picloram), a powerful herbicide that contaminated all of the mulched crops-about half of the farm.
Even those crops that were not destroyed could not be distributed, even if they had wanted to: Selling produce contaminated with picloram, which is not rated for human consumption, is illegal. When the problem became known in the area, 60 people-including many of the couple's 150 CSA shareholders-helped to remove the 50,000 pounds of messy wet hay from 3.5 acres. The couple cancelled two months of their CSA deliveries and offered refunds.
Is this a different kind of case? Maybe, or maybe not. Though there is no suggestion of negligence on the part of the grower, it is a case of farmer-error, not natural disaster. Even so, many of their members seemed to "get it." They were given two options. Some took the 80-percent refund to cover the balance of the season. A 40-percent refund was offered to cover the loss of harvests until the re-start of harvests in August. About half of the membership took a third, unstated, option: They did not accept any refund. Some even complained that this option should have been stated.
At the time of the incident, the growers did not know how long the effects of the contamination would last, or the true extent of the damage. "It felt like a violation," says Rachel. They were angry with themselves: Should they have known, or suspected a problem? "We even got mad at each other. It was hard to know how to go forward." But members have been extra supportive, according to Rachel, which "helped us a lot to get through it...and now we are back in stride."
Rachel and Eric were careful to explain the problem fully and honestly to their membership - and to acknowledge what they didn't know. "Explaining things felt good, even cathartic," Rachel recalls. "It was best to just come to terms with it." This situation was not as obvious and simple as a flood or hail storm. There was a greater obligation to clarify the situation to farm members. Going forward, Rachel and Eric have a new sense of how interconnected the whole community of growers and eaters really is. One question that comes to mind regarding mistakes made by the grower: Where do you draw the line? Unprotected crops in a frost, inadequately irrigated crops in a drought, insufficient response to insect or other pests...any of these could be deemed farmer-error. CSA growers takes on a large responsibility for their members. We owe it to them to be good at it! (Statement by grower).
Rodale Institute is putting its 60 years of sustainable farming experience and extensive research to work to provide farmers with the know-how, tools and techniques they need to succeed; policy-makers the information they need to best support our farmers; and consumers with the resources they need to make informed decisions about the food they buy and eat.
Research from Rodale Institute's ongoing Farming Systems Trials, the longest running research trial comparing organic and non-organic farming in the United States, also shows that regenerative farming methods can curb global warming, improve the nutrient value of food and prevent famine when farmers use these affordable and sustainable techniques
Healthy Home is a unique online tool designed to help you reduce the environmental impact of your home, as well as offer information to assist you in protecting your house and family from from potential environmental hazards eg air pollution, toxic chemicals. In addition it also provide an online calculating tool to help you find out how much rainwater you can expect to harvest from your roof area. This website is provided collaboratively by Suncorp and Planet Ark.
Planet Ark runs a number of environmental campaigns and initiatives. Go to their website, click on any of the buttons to learn how to participate eg recycling, putting used printer cartridges into a ‘Cartridges 4 Planet Ark’ recycling box, recycling Aluminium Cans, and buying environmentally responsible products. You can even shop online.
Agriculture is a key example of how human activities have profound impacts on the ecosystems of our planet.This year's theme for the International Day for Biological Diversity (IBD), "Biodiversity and Agriculture," seeks to highlight the importance of sustainable agriculture not only to preserve biodiversity, but also to ensure that we will be able to feed the world, maintain agricultural livelihoods, and enhance human well being into the 21st century and beyond.
Reporting of wildlife sightings and personal recording is of vital importance. Community members play an essential role in monitoring widlife movements and populations - especially if we notice something out of the ordinary. Residents in the Kerry /Laravale /Tamrookum areas are currently witnessing more dead dying and vanishing wildlife than ever before.
The national body the Australian Pesticides & Veterinary Medicines Authority APVMA states on its website that it investigates all reports of adverse experiences with agricultural and veterinary chemical products. An adverse experience is an unintended or unexpected effect when the product is used according to the label instructions. This includes impacts on human beings, animals and crops, and damage to the environment. There are SEVERAL WAYS TO SUBMIT A REPORT - online, email, complete printed form and post, phone and fax. This page from the APVMA website has links for those options and other background documents. For your convenience the form to complete for human health issues is here. To report environmental issues use this form.
Parents from Darlington State School in the Scenic Rim area were interviewed by reporters from Channel Nine news Tuesday 29 April 2008. The school has been closed for over a week now and students relocated to Hillview State School to reduce any further potential health issues. The school is being decontaminated.
The reporters from Channel Nine news also interviewed a local resident whose property was also subject to a similar event earlier. There are potentially many unfortunate environmental outcomes arisng from using dangerous chemicals - even when used as directed. All families in this area of the Scenic Rim usually enjoy drinking the water which they harvest and store - but what water can they drink now? Roofs and tanks have to be decontaminated.
What are stock going to drink? How can we "clean the creeks" for the wildlife? There are many questions but answers?
Planning for a community public meeting to be held at Kerry Memorial Hall is well underway.
Look at the events page for latest update.
If you would like to make any comments suggestions, please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We look forward to meeting concerned citizens at this meeting.
Getup and express your opinion to add to the discussion on topics discussed at the Australia 2020 Summit. Although it has wrapped up its discussion, you can still contribute to Getup's! Get involved and talk about what you want our country's future to look like.
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