Relocalisation Works in the Burnett Inland (RWBI)

Transition Town Initiatives in SEQ

Sonya — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:23:37 -0800

Start: 2008-12-13 08:30

End: 2008-12-13 17:00

Transition Town Eudlo - A Relocalisation Group

Australia Pumping Empty - Film night & discussion panel

pekadillo — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 06:59:59 -0700

Start: 2008-10-17 19:00

End: 2008-10-17 22:00

Creating a Sustainable Sunshine Coast - Nambour to Mooloolah

State Govt Peak Oil discussion paper

Sonya — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:53:44 -0700

SustainaBundy

Funky Futures Festival

Grace13 — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:07:07 -0700

Start: 2008-05-29 11:00

End: 2008-05-29 15:00

Relocalisation Works in the Burnett Inland (RWBI)

Future Ready Expo - Building Better Soil

dino — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:34:59 -0700

The Future Ready Expo at Kawana was quite an eye opener. There was a lot to see and hear. Listening to Roberto Perez (from the Power of Community DVD) was a real treat. We all remember his quote about riding bicycles ;-) Then there was Geoff Lawton. Who hasn't been inspired by the "Greening the Desert" flash animation on the web?

But one of the most intriguing discussions I attended was regarding building soil in a sub tropical climate. As organic gardeners we're always trying to build soil using compost. It helps, but in a tropical and sub-tropical climate we can easily lose our nutrients to torrential downpours leaching it away. So much we read about compost is for more temperate climates in Europe and North America that hearing a new take on it for the tropics was fascinating. Due to the differences in climate in temperate gardens 80 percent of the nutrients are held in the soil. But in a sub-tropical garden this is only 20 percent. The rest is held in the plants themselves..

Having a layer of organic matter, mulch, continually shielding the soil from blasting sun and torrential rain is a natural way of protecting the nutrient levels in the soil. Frances Michaels from Green Harvest gave a great lecture on what we need to do in a sub-tropical environment to build great soil. Remember that soil is alive. Dirt is dead. So having an active layer of mulch, leaves and other vegetable matter, covering the soil promotes this in a sub-tropical garden. Grow plenty of plants that are good to "cut and drop" to provide this nutrient rich mulch layer. Remember, we're trying to create a rain forest in your backyard.

We don't necessarily want to have too many nutrients in the soil. We want a continuous slow decomposition of organic matter into nutrients. With the weather being warm enough for this to happen with out having to pile it high in mounds we don't need to work so hard at composting as those living in more temperate climates. Obviously if we have a no dig garden or raised bed these rules will change but the natural food forest concept at this latitude and rain fall really doesn't need us to work so hard at building compost.

One of the great additions to a backyard permaculture forest are chickens. Originally forest fowl, they have been bred for maximum plumpness and egg producing capacity but are still right at home in a well shaded food forest garden. They turn the mulch while looking for bugs and can reduce bugs and leafy greens to nitrogen rich manure.

So if you are thinking of having a food forest in your backyard, you won't need to think about where your kitchen vege scraps go. Feed them to your chooks under your fruit trees, no compost turn and you have the bonus of fresh free range eggs for breakfast.

Dean

SustainaBundy

US

Lori Scott — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:51:19 -0700

I have lost in cyberspace my first blog entitled US which was a rundown about how hubby and I had come to this point.

It was amusing, concise, interesting and informative.

No honestly, you can take my work for it - it really was but its gone now down the neck of the netmonster that eats unloved posts.

Just thought I should explain that the US was me and hubby and not the United States about which I know next to nothing.

So put in a picture instead. Seeya

Sustainable Maleny Project

Coloured cotton

Lori Scott — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:40:26 -0700

Elvira suggested that I should write about coloured cotton plants.

When we lived in the west, I grew lots of ordinary cotton just as a garden plant. We would pop a bush in anywhere in the spring and then they grew with quite an attractive flower a bit like a single hibiscus. When the bolls were full and cracked, the cotton fibre within would look fairly dry. We would hand pick the bolls and just pull the fibre out. You soon realize where the saying "cotton picking" came from because each boll would have ten or more seeds which we just picked out by hand. Any suggestions for doing this more easily would be welcome.

I then received some coloured cotton seeds which are naturally mutated into shades of green and brown. I had always known that these mutations existed but obviously they are relentlessly weeded out of commercial cotton crops because the slightest dark fibre in bales of cotton can cause endless trouble.

The greens went from pale green through to a teal green colour and the browns went from creamy champagne to an onion skin brown. When the fibre is sorted into greens and browns, blending with a card comber can make the colour more uniform when spun.

After picking the seeds out, all these seeds can be used the next year. In the west, I would plant them in spring for a long growing season. But since trying to grow cotton at the coast I have found that the wet season plays havoc with the quality of the fibre that a boll will produce. I have been thinking that I might plant them in mid summer so that they can do their growing during the wet season and by the time they have flowered and set bolls, it will have dried off a bit in autumn to make the fibre production more successul.

I would probably anticipate putting them in in late November or early December. I wonder how that will go?

And if you hand pick the bolls, your plants will keep producing for years unlike the commercial cotton plants where they kill/ defoliate before harvesting. I think a bit of frost might knock the plant back a bit but they seem fairly hardy and are certainly not soft little plants to look at - there can be a lot of hard wood in them so they may come through a hard winter for you.

Cotton is hard to spin unlike wool. Wool fibre has the natural little scales which cause the fibre to catch onto itself and spin into a nice yarn. Also, spinning wool in the grease before washing also makes it easier to spin. Cotton is not greasy and its fibrous scales are smaller so to spin cotton on a spinning wheel requires a very high tension and spinning speed to give lots of twists per inch.

I would like someone to try spinning cotton on a drop spindle and tell me how that works. I haven't tried it but it might be easier. Also, I wonder if adding an oil to it would facilitate the spinning.

I find the best use for home grown cotton is to blend with wool for spinning, thereby making a lighter yarn that is a bit softer and cooler.

Some australian cotton growers are growing coloured cotton organically and selling a woven fabric which is quite beautiful. Just google organic fabric australia and they will come up. They are using the coloured cotton with cream/ white to weave a gingham check and doing imaginative things with other organic fibres.

Have a look for that and enjoy.

Sustainable Maleny Project

US & Relocalization

Lori Scott — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:25:02 -0700

So we've skipped over the adventures in the bush. When we had had simply too much drought and floods and geographical isolation and intellectual isolation we headed back to the coast to our little hobby farm which had been rented out and we started again.

We were right. We had many more skills than before and were ready to make a real go of the self sufficiency thing. However, still lacked money. As a result I am now working 50 hours a week with nearly two hours of commuting each day and hubby is working full time.

We now classify as time poor.

But I really loved the idea of relocalization and jumped on the scheme when I heard about it. This is because I know that one day I will not be working and my local people will be my main group with whom I will interact. I need to start relationships now for when I am at home.

Also, I remembered the Joh electricity strikes. Does anybody else remember these? Joh went head to head with the electricity unions who then went on strike and power supplies were dramatically cut. We were supposed to get one hour one and 1/2 hour off electricity. In reality it turned out more like 3 hours off and 45 minutes on.

Now I was living in a largish country town and I can remember just laughing at the poor people in the south east corner. In our town we had an abbatoir, a dairy which did milk, butter and ice and a large small crop industry.

The council stepped in and made sure that priority electricity supplies went to the hospital, dairy, abbatoir and some cold stores. Health needs were centralised, we had plenty of milk and ice to keep food fresh, fresh meat and fruit and veg. We seemed to have plenty of local baked bread as well so they may have been working with gas ovens. We saw vision on the TV of how consumers in the south east were panic buying and running out of things.

So we were fine during what was a difficult energy supply time. But that town has since grown. And it no longer has a dairy. It has closed and all dairy production is centralised in Brisbane and freighted back to other areas. There are still a few local bakers but most bread is baked in Brisbane and sold through supermarkets. I don't know if the abbatoir is still there - I don't like to ask. The fruit and veg industry is still there but it is mainly grown under contract to the supermarkets. And a lot of the farms have been cut up for housing.

So if energy supply became an issue today, would we still be laughing? These things I have been through makes me understand the absolute necessity to decentralize production and services throughout the country. However, this is not government policy and it is not economically rational so these difficult times which may occur at any time due to production problems, supply problems or just simple accidents would have a much greater effect on our daily lives than it would have 20 years ago. We have made ourselves vulnerable to incidents which would impact on community security and stability of the necessities of daily life. This must be amended and if we have to start personally and one at a time to get the message happening, we will just have to do it.

One day, when I finish work......

Sustainable Maleny Project

Community Permaculture Project

Grace13 — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:08:27 -0700

Relocalisation Works in the Burnett Inland (RWBI)

Sustainable Maleny needs YOU

pekadillo — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 05:15:54 -0700

Start: 2008-03-29 14:00

End: 2008-03-29 16:00

Sustainable Maleny Project

The Case for a Sustainability Emergency

Andi Hazelwood — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:39:42 -0800

Creating a Sustainable Sunshine Coast - Nambour to Mooloolah

Bogota radical urban reform: Radio National

pekadillo — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:00:37 -0800

Start: 2008-02-16 21:00

SustainaBundy

Peak oil & Energy Descent Action Planning radio interview Melbourne Australia (also on podcast)

Sonya — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:46:28 -0800

SustainaBundy

World Environment Day Festival

Sonya — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 17:56:15 -0800

Start: 2008-05-31 09:00

End: 2008-05-31 17:00

Creating a Sustainable Sunshine Coast - Nambour to Mooloolah

Queenslanders the highest greenhouse gas producers in the world

Sonya — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 12:09:53 -0800

SustainaBundy

Australian Energy Descent Action Planning courses in 2008

Sonya — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 19:22:46 -0800

Sustainable Maleny Project

The Real Dirt on Farmer John - film night & meet him in person

Sonya — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 19:04:43 -0800

Start: 2007-11-30 17:00

End: 2007-11-30 22:00

Creating a Sustainable Sunshine Coast - Nambour to Mooloolah

Climate change is "severe and so sweeping that only urgent, global action" can head it off

Andi Hazelwood — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:20:47 -0800

SustainaBundy

Australian National Recycling Week 2007

Andi Hazelwood — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 00:23:52 -0700

Start: 2007-11-12 00:00

End: 2007-11-18 23:59

Creating a Sustainable Sunshine Coast - Nambour to Mooloolah

Who on earth cares?

Andi Hazelwood — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 22:14:05 -0700

The Australian Conservation Foundation now has a website, called Who On Earth Cares, where we can each put ourselves on a map of Australians who care about climate change. Over 11,000 of us have already signed up, and have committed to taking the equivalent of more than 16,000 cars off the road by reducing our personal greenhouse gas emissions. You can answer some short questions and input your address and it will generate a letter you can personalise and send to your local member of Parliament - it even creates it in PDF and gives you the name and address of your MP! I cruised around the map and saw that a number of people in my city have already signed up, and other members of relocalize.net have too (yep, I found you Sonya!) I asked the ACF to add functionality to allow people to message one another through the site to work together on community actions - hopefully they'll come through.

My local MP is Paul Neville. I emailed him my letter, rather than posting it, to save transport emissions and materials consumption. I also edited it heavily. Here's what my letter said:

Dear Mr Neville,

Climate change and resource depletion are the most critical issues we face today, bar none. As indicated in next month's IPCC report and recently discussed by Tim Flannery, because of our overconsumption, since 2005 Australia has already been producing the amount of greenhouse gases that weren't expected until 2015. We have very little time before climate change happens so rapidly and on such a large scale that it is irreversible. To reduce my greenhouse pollution, I:

- shop with businesses that sell local (instead of imported) products whenever possible
- will be installing solar panels on my home
- have installed a water efficient shower head and reuse my greywater in the garden
- always set my washing machine to wash my clothes in cold water, on a lower RPM setting
- always turn off appliances at the wall when they aren't in use, instead of leaving on standby
- eat less meat, grow my own vegetables
- work from home, and walk or bike instead of driving whenever possible

It is absolutely critical that we reduce our consumption of fossil fuels and unnecessary stuff. We must carefully conserve resources, and manage and recycle our waste. We must start treating the environment with the respect it deserves - we don't have anywhere else to go once we've used it up and left it for dead. I hope to see Australia become a leader in relocalisation: reducing consumption and producing all our needs locally, instead of polluting our air, water and soil to transport the latest shipment of iPods.

Ordinary Australians are doing what we can, but we also need your leadership. I would like you, as my political representative, to step up to the challenge of reducing Australias greenhouse pollution. What goals will you set to reduce our emissions by 2020 and 2050 as part of Australia's contribution to avoiding dangerous climate change? How will you ensure that 25% of Australia's electricity comes from renewable energy by 2020? Will you help Australia join the rest of the world by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol? I ask that you raise these important questions with your party and let me know your party's position on them.

Please acknowledge receipt of my letter, which I am sending via email instead of post to reduce transport and materials consumption. I look forward to receiving a prompt response to my questions.

Sincerely,
Andi Hazelwood
SustainaBundy
http://sustainabundy.org
(contact info removed)

Sign up, add yourself to the map, and send a letter to your local politician. Who On Earth Cares makes it as simple as possible.

Creating a Sustainable Sunshine Coast - Nambour to Mooloolah

Kinsale two years on

Andi Hazelwood — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:38:24 -0700

SustainaBundy

Tim Flannery on relocalization

Andi Hazelwood — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 23:57:57 -0700

Creating a Sustainable Sunshine Coast - Nambour to Mooloolah

Sunshine Coast recognised as a Transition Town

Sonya — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:20:19 -0700

SustainaBundy

Be Climate Cleverer

Andi Hazelwood — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 14:46:28 -0700

Creating a Sustainable Sunshine Coast - Nambour to Mooloolah

Leading the way down the energy path

Sonya — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 23:08:12 -0700

SustainaBundy

Climate Change forum - federal candidates

Sonya — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:00:15 -0700

Start: 2007-09-25 19:00

End: 2007-09-25 21:00

SustainaBundy

New Queensland Sustainability Minister on the future with less oil

Andi Hazelwood — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 02:54:33 -0700

SustainaBundy

New sustainability minister's challenge

Sonya — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 14:31:05 -0700

SustainaBundy

Govt warns of 'peak oil' chaos

Andi Hazelwood — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:29:08 -0700

SustainaBundy

Resilience in the face of the long emergency

Sonya — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:42:42 -0700

Resilience in the face of the ‘long emergency’

(With acknowledgement to JAMES HOWARD KUNSTLER)

My new mantra is ‘resilience’. It’s officially my new favourite word and I have a lot of favourite words as they are my tools of trade. But resilience is my absolute favourite as of now.

It perfectly sums up how we need to approach peak oil and climate change. It’s succinct, positive, definite and strong.

We need to build resilience, we need to be resilient. Our systems and infrastructure need to be resilient.

Our food gardens, water supply, lighting, heating, cooling – they all need to be resilient.

Our finances, our means of earning money, our health, even our psyches needs to be resilient.

To me, resilience means that if one thing ‘falls over’ not everything does, that there is diversity and strength in systems to weather a shock and still be standing. That something can ‘fill the gap’ left by a problem, life continues to some degree…you haven’t put all your eggs in one basket and subsequently backed over your basket.

The Macquarie Dictionary defines resilience as; elasticity, rebound, recoil, ready recovery, buoyancy, even cheerfulness.

But how do we go about it?

I’ve summed up what I believe is the start of a resilience plan. The Steps we need to take to build resilience in our communities. I’ve taken my years of working in media and communications for emergency services, where I responded to emergencies using communication as my tool on a daily basis, and I’ve applied the same ‘crisis management’ strategies to preparing for a post carbon future.

Aside from the topics raised in this article, now is the time for communities to carefully and thoughtfully examine how they can build resilience and preserve the following; society and social structures, law enforcement & justice, health, culture, bio-diversity, emergency response, insurance, and recovery.

This is a long emergency, as James Howard Kunstler has described. Most emergencies I dealt with in emergency services lasted a few hours, perhaps a few days – never weeks, never years, never decades – never like we are now facing with peak oil and climate change.

It’s going to be hard work, it’s going to be tiring, frustrating, exhausting, depressing, busy, draining. Our energies will be shattered and scattered as we look for solutions. We’ll respond and react to problem after problem, to crisis after crisis at a heightened level day after day after day after day… it could easily take a tragic toll among us.

You first
Firstly, YOU must become resilient. Build support systems, create networks, find your inspiration, TAKE TIME OFF, rest, eat well, keep in contact with Nature, support others, acknowledge, accept, celebrate, have fun, laugh, and cry.

Steps to resilience
Identify
Admitting and identifying the problem is a good first step and one a lot of people will struggle with. People honestly think nothing will change and everything will just keep going the way it is today. Discuss and identify the issues, ensure you include lots of diversity in the groups you discuss these problems with. Talk about vulnerabilities, what are they and how can they be managed, improved, changed, or accepted. Who’s in your community? What strengths do you have in your human resources? What skills are lurking in the masses? Do you know your neighbours?

Pre-plan & Pre-pare
Being prepared is a wonderful thing, it gives you such confidence. It’s not bad luck to talk about the ‘what ifs?’ In fact it’s a sign of good management to discuss scenarios and to talk about the ‘what ifs?’ Perhaps it may not be as bad as what you expect, if you think the worse, you might be pleasantly surprised. In all seriousness, table top scenarios, community discussions, acknowledging the possibilities and planning for them – they are all powerful tools of preparation and preparation is the key. Whether it’s a public talk you’re giving or laying a concrete slab, preparation pays off. It’s also good to underpromise and overdeliver. Preparation = information therefore information = empowerment.

Mitigate where possible
Is there something you can do today, right now to mitigate a problem? To reduce your vulnerability. To build resilience today?

Communication
Ah, my favourite subject. Communication is another powerful tool we humans have in the face of adversity. Communication = information, information = empowerment, When we communicate, people have an understanding (hopefully!). If we communicate before a situation arises, even better. If people are prepared and know what might happen, what might be expected of them, how others might respond, and where to get more information it often leads to less panic and mayhem when the incident actually happens. Communicate early and often. Communicate pre, during and post events. Keeping people informed reduces rumour, mis-information and problems later. PS there will always be someone who asks “why wasn’t I told?” no matter how thorough you are – it’s just one of the mystical laws of communication.

Have structures in place
Another current favourite topic. Google ‘peak oil’ or ‘climate change’ and see what happens. There is SO much information out there we can no longer excuse our ignorance and continue living in denial with “well I didn’t know that” or my other favourite “no-one told me” – another mystical law of communication that must be followed for the fabric of the universe to be maintained. Community groups, activists and even some leaders around the globe are telling anyone who will listen what is on our horizon. Leaders know – and they have an absolute moral and ethical responsibility to HAVE STRUCTURES IN PLACE. My personal aim is to lobby for the systems to be built around the people. Put the structures in place. Those of us who know have a responsibility to do this.

Resources
We will need resources. Now is a really good time to identify them, where they are located, who can get to them quickly, how many we have and how they can best be activated in an emergency. Are they readily available and easily accessible? Resources can be many things and should include people.

Build confidence in the community
Isn’t it just so much easier to do something when you know how to do it, what’s expected of you and what’s expected of others? That’s confidence! A confident community = an empowered community. Communication plays a key role as does education and practical experience in building confidence. Resilient psyches are very powerful!

Have a back up plan
Murphy’s Law – whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Take note of it and have a back up plan. If one road is closed does your plan fall in a heap? Have a back up plan.

Have more back up plans
The long emergency is a unique situation. Sure we’ve dealt with crises here before, but not of the intensity and frequency we will face in the future. Add to that the fact we will have less available ‘energy’ – power, electricity, petrol, goods, food etc – in the future due to peak oil. Increasing demands (for emergency response) in a depleting energy environment – who’s planning for that?

Have alternatives
When all else fails have an alternative plan – creativity, flexibility, responsiveness, the courage to accept feedback and make the necessary changes are all good things.

Diversify
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket – someone may drop it. Practice resilience in all its glorious forms.

Feedback
Factor it in, accept it, do something about it. If something isn’t working change it. If something is working keep doing it.

Identify
The closing of the loop… go back to the beginning and start working through it again.

So that’s my 13 steps to resilience.

But who is going to do all this? We need leaders and those leaders need QUALITIES…

Qualities needed for community resilience
Leadership
Isn’t it great when someone knows what to do? Someone who inspires you, someone you want to be around? Leadership is an innate quality. People are born with it (or not). It can be honed, but it can’t be ‘made’. Poor leadership has got us into this mess. Good leadership can get us out. The same bad leadership that got us into this mess is NOT the same leadership that will get us out. If ‘they’ had that foresight in their thinking, we wouldn’t be here in this mess in the first place.

Trust
‘Sigh’ so lacking in today’s leaders… Trust is the key. We need to trust our leaders because we will be following them. Without trust it’s all over. If I don’t trust you, I’m not going to do what you ask of me.

Ingenuity
Being ingenious! Inventive, talented, skillful. Excellent qualities to have and encourage in others.

Creativity
As it relates to flexibility. The ability to creatively look for answers, solutions, new ways of doing things, new ways of using things. Not being locked up by that “we’ve never done it like that before” type thinking.

Know limitations
One of the greatest qualities a leader or a community could have. It takes great strength and self-awareness to know, let alone acknowledge your limitations. A good leader surrounds themselves with good people who possess the skills that complement their own personal limitations. It also shows a lack of ego, which is a good thing.

Able to ask for expert support
See above

Community empowerment
An empowered community goes a long way toward a resilient community. Understanding, feeling ownership, being involved in the process and in decision making all lead to empowerment.

Established networks
Now is a really good time to build networks – not when the crisis is happening. Networks, whether physical or social need to be establish BEFOREHAND, not during, not after, but before. Now is a really good time to build networks, while we have the time, resources and technology to do it.

Understand skills base
In your community, in your leaders. A skills base of expertise is part of communication, networking and preparation. All important strategies for emergency preparation.

Identify inequities and those most vulnerable
‘They’ say the measure of a community is how it treats it’s most vulnerable. People who have nothing to lose – have nothing to lose. Identify and ADDRESS inequities. This is part of social cohesive and inclusiveness. People who feel isolated probably are isolated and they also feel desperate. Desperate people will do desperate things. Ensuring equity and support and caring for our most vulnerable is GOOD social management and will go a long way in the long emergency.

Things will change
Understand that things will change. We are living in an illusion of stability. Things will change. It is very likely that our future situation will be very different to our current situation. Things may never return to ‘normal’ and they will definitely not be ‘stable’ once the long emergency really kicks in. We need to define a new ‘normal’ and be prepared to redefine that too. We need to communicate this to people so they are prepared.

Responsive to and understanding of change
A fundamental quality we must all adopt. See above.

Communication
Back to my favourite subject. Communication. One I’m dedicating a thesis to in fact. But let’s just focus on one aspect of communication in society. How do a lot of people get their ‘information’? From the media. The television news, radio, internet and newspapers are their sources of what’s happening. When a disaster occurs there is a predictable pattern of reporting that newsrooms follow and it is timely for our leaders to understand this process – no surprises then. These stories and the process of reporting them will go something like this…

How the media will report a ‘disaster’
• Initial reports – media report what hard facts are immediately available and vision of the incident.
• Cause of emergency – more details, more information emerges of the incident
• Stories of individual courage – the ‘human interest’ of the story, in depth ‘features’ appear
• Effect of the disaster – financial costs, industry costs, ‘loss of’ costs, final fatality numbers, and more features of various aspects depending on the type of disaster
• Safety warning and inadequacies – the media (public) examination of the incident begins includes letters to the editor, more features etc
• Emergency response and inadequacies – media (public) examination of the emergency response
• Blame – who is to blame?
• Aftermath and recover – the one year on story, costs, losses etc, lessons learnt

This is my take on resilience, why it’s important and perhaps a few ideas and thoughts on how we might go about creating it.

I hope you find it useful and please ask yourself; ‘how can you build resilience in my community?’

SustainaBundy

New book lifts lid on Howard's 'greenhouse mafia'

Sonya — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 23:40:15 -0700

High & Dry by Guy Pearse
John Howard, climate change and the selling of Australia's future.

Guy Pearse's revelation about Australia's 'greenhouse mafia' made headlines. In High & Dry this Liberal Party insider shows why John Howard's climate change policy is reckless, how it came about, and who is behind it.

Released only a few weeks ago, this book outlines the reason behind John Howard's refusal to sign Kyoto and explains why he will never do anything to cut carbon emissions while he is in power. The story featured on ABC TV's Four Corners in February 2006.

If you wonder why our leaders are steadfastly refusing to respond to the greatest threat posed to our planet - read this book.

Not only are our politicians doing nothing to stop emissions, they are resolutely taking us in the exact opposite direction - one they know will lead to a very grim future for us all.

It's hard to understand how anyone could consciously do this, but Pearses' book explains the reasoning and the 'behind the scenes' very well.

Not a cheery read by any means, but an absolute must read for any Australian concerned about climate change, the future of the planet and future generations.

From the book jacket...

In this damning account, Liberal Party member, lobbyist and former Howard-government advisor Guy Pearse takes us behind the rhetoric he once helped write. He reveals that the government has no plans whatsoever to reduce Australia's emissions, and explains why this is bad for Australia's economy. He exposes a prime minister wilfully blind to Australia's real interests - a man who has allowed climate change policy to be dictated by a small group of Australia's biggest polluters and the lobbyists they fund.

Just as Tim Flannery's The Weather Makers explained the science of climate change, High & Dry explains the politics. You cannot understand the future of Australia without reading this book.

Published by Viking as an imprint of Penguin Books - ask for it at your bookstore

Visit www.highanddry.com.au for more information and updates.

SustainaBundy

Your say at State Govt level - last call!

Sonya — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 18:53:59 -0700

Have your say at State Govt level.

How can we prepare for climate change and peak oil?

On August 29 I have been invited to attend a roundtable discussion at Parliament House in Brisbane.

The forum will look at how we can best prepare for the long haul on these global issues.

As part of my role in the discussions, I have been asked to discuss these issues with my local community (geographical or virtual) and bring their input and comments to the table.

My interests in this are relocalisation, permaculture solutions, energy descent action planning and community education about these issues and the many solutions we have available to us to act.

I will be discussing the energy descent action planning course we have in place, the Sunshine Coast Energy Action Centre and the relocalisation groups I am involved with.

Could you please consider the following background information and questions and let me know if you have any suggestions or comments you would like to include;

Leading for the future…

Building resilience in social and economic systems to deal with sudden discontinuous change and uncertainty.

Strengthening our capacity to learn, adapt and innovate in businesses and communities.

Think ‘local’… think ‘dispersed’… think ‘diverse’…

Focus questions

What conditions allow people to collaborate across boundaries to generate social resilience and innovation?

What do we (as community leaders) need to do differently to meet the challenges of climate change (and peak oil)?

What support and resources will we need to be effective in this role?

What steps can we take in SEQ and NENSW to develop local leadership?

How can we support networking and learning between leaders?

Your comments would be most appreciated,
Sonya

SustainaBundy

New relocalisation group on the Coast

Sonya — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 13:40:07 -0700

SustainaBundy

Coming to understand "sustainable"

Andi Hazelwood — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 21:56:46 -0700

My husband and I keep a personal blog which is chiefly about our adventures moving from the US to Australia, buying a rural property, building a passive solar strawbale house and attempting to become self sufficient. The property is now for sale, because the price to finish the project has escalated beyond our reach. It's been a roller-coastery journey, we've made plenty of mistakes and learned an awful lot on the way- things that we take into consideration as we move onto the next stage of the adventure in Bundaberg. Our blog is read mainly by family, friends and acquaintances, and occasionally we get feedback from our readers.

Recently I received a two part email from a reader. She builds loft homes in Mexico with her church group, and after reading about the benefits of composting toilets on our blog, thought they'd be great in these constructions in Mexico- but they're so expensive! Aren't there any reasonable ones around? I replied, "Composting toilets are indeed expensive, and given the way our current culture and markets operate, they will remain so until the demand increases. And of course that won't happen until the general population gets over fear of their own waste and accepts responsibility for it! And though it's absolutely necessary for us to be responsible for our own bodily waste and ALL other types of waste, I don't have strong hopes for that happening."

The second part of the email was telling me of this article about a house in San Diego county (my hometown) that is one of only 40 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum certified buildings in the world. I replied, "The article about the house was interesting, and it's good to see some developers starting to think a bit less conventionally. But a 3,000 sq. ft. house in the likely price range of $600,000 to $2 million with a parking lot is a long way from sustainable - we learned our hard lessons in housebuilding with our own project: houses need to be small, inexpensive and easily repeatable (and with the increasing overpopulation of the planet, they also need to be stackable if we expect to have enough land to feed everyone). Every practical bit of land around the homes needs to be used to grow food, instead of gardens full of "drought tolerant" ornamentals. The houses you and my grandmother build in Mexico are a heck of a lot more sustainable than the mansion in the article, but those of us in wealthy countries normally wouldn't consider living in something like that ourselves."

"Sustainable has become a popular word, but the definition is rarely considered. One of the most comprehensive definitions of sustainable is something that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." (Brundtland, 1987) I think this applies not only to generations but also to countries - with our intensive use of resources, Americans (and Australians, and the English, and...) are compromising the abilities of developing countries like Mexico, China and India to meet their own needs. This isn't fair or sustainable. In the long term a sustainable global population is going to require a leveling of the standard of living between the rich and poor countries."

I don't know if the acquaintance who emailed made the connection between the first part of her email and the second, but it certainly jumped out at me: composting toilets would be perfect for quick, easy to build homes for the poor in Mexico, except they're too expensive - they cost more than the entire home itself. (I'm guessing those homes won't be the recipients of composting toilets.) Just over the border in San Diego, hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars are spent to build "eco-friendly" mansions that get called Leaders in Energy and Environmental Design - awarded for squandering resources. If anything, those Mexican whack-em-ups are the leaders of the future.

I imagine this kind of disconnect is common - I never considered "sustainability" before I learned about peak oil in 2004, and I don't know many people (greenies and non-greenies alike) who consider it - real sustainability - even now. As a culture we aren't taught (for the most part) to think critically about how we live compared with other countries or future generations. Even now, sustainability, to many, seems to mean little more than increased efficiency and a bit of recycling. True sustainability is just now finally starting to get attention, but not much action.

So how do we change this? I welcome your comments.

Creating a Sustainable Sunshine Coast - Nambour to Mooloolah

Energy Descent Planning begins

Sonya — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:00:53 -0700

SustainaBundy

WAG YOUR BELL for the GWOPO

Andi Hazelwood — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 16:55:26 -0700

SustainaBundy

Keep Australia Beautiful Week 2007

Andi Hazelwood — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 16:42:24 -0700

Start: 2007-08-27 00:00

End: 2007-09-02 23:59

Creating a Sustainable Sunshine Coast - Nambour to Mooloolah

On Farm compost workshop

Andi Hazelwood — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 20:53:06 -0700

Hey RWBIans, I thought you folks'd like to know about this workshop one of the SustainaBundy members found in the newspaper:

http://www.relocalize.net/on_farm_composting_workshop

Short notice I know, but could be a good group to start developing ties with at the very least!

Relocalisation Works in the Burnett Inland (RWBI)

SUNSHINE COAST COMMUNITY EDUCATION CENTRE WEEKLY

Sonya — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 21:34:41 -0700

Start: 2007-08-04 08:00

End: 2007-08-04 11:00

Coordinator HUB

RWBI changes and a new relocalisation group begins

Andi Hazelwood — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:25:51 -0700

Relocalisation Works in the Burnett Inland (RWBI)

Energy Descent Action Planning course

Sonya — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 12:53:49 -0700

Start: 2007-10-06 09:00

End: 2007-10-06 16:00

Coordinator HUB

Introducing SCReNE: Permaculture Noosa presentation

Andi Hazelwood — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 15:48:57 -0800

Thursday night I gave a presentation on oil depletion and relocalisation at the Permaculture Noosa January meeting (see the attached PDF of the presentation). The main purpose of the presentation was to introduce them to their new local relocalisation group, Sunshine Coast Relocalisation - Noosa Eumundi and Districts (SCReNE). The group is being auspiced by Permaculture Noosa. While I didn't think to count, I would guess there were at least 100 people in attendance. In October I completed a two week course to receive my permaculture design certificate with instructor Janet Millington, who is a Permaculture Noosa member and is now the coordinator for SCReNE. It was exciting to see that several students from my course made the effort to come to the meeting - it was like a homecoming!

Permaculture Noosa seems to be a tight knit group of people that are already well into the relocalisation mindset: many of them grow their own food, they have regular "PET" (permaculture energy transfer) days, where members get together to help with another member's project, such as constructing a chicken tractor, mass plantings, etc., and many of their members are involved with local political issues, global warming projects and the like. I spoke to members who had researched the ancient art of weaving and had even built their own loom from scratch. Another member (male, mind you!) was crocheting what appeared to be an Afghan blanket, like the ones my grandmother has made all my life, as he listened to the speakers. Relocalisation fits neatly into the permaculture group's existing activities, so my hope is that SCReNE will become a vital and active relocalisation group. There were some intelligent questions asked during the presentation and afterwards a few different people came up and let me know that they were keen on the idea and would be joining SCReNE.

I'd like to welcome SCReNE to the Relocalization Network, and look forward to seeing how they proceed!

Please join SCReNE and post your blog entries, events, news and articles, and make the most of the forums to brainstorm with other SCReNE members and to communicate with other relocalisation groups around the world.

For more information please contact SCReNE's coordinator, Janet Millington.

If you need assistance with using the SCReNE website don't hesitate to contact me.

Cheers!

Sunshine Coast Relocalisation- Noosa Eumundi and Districts (SCReNE)

Mobile Drought Assistance for Central Queensland

Andi Hazelwood — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 23:46:50 -0800

Sunshine Coast Relocalisation- Noosa Eumundi and Districts (SCReNE)

Woolworths National Drought Action Day: on the right track, but may lack sustainable commitment

Andi Hazelwood — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 23:16:19 -0800

Sunshine Coast Relocalisation- Noosa Eumundi and Districts (SCReNE)

Common Belief on Climate Change

Andi Hazelwood — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 19:11:40 -0800

Creating a Sustainable Sunshine Coast - Nambour to Mooloolah

Future Frameworks for Regional Railways Symposium

Andi Hazelwood — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 16:49:12 -0800

Start: 2007-02-01 10:00

End: 2007-02-01 16:00

Creating a Sustainable Sunshine Coast - Nambour to Mooloolah