Environmentality 3 December 2013, Paul Shelton, A Year of Treading Lightly

mobile phones, toothpaste, plastic food containers, paint, dvds, lip gloss, UV block out blinds, almost all products in a $2 shop, solar panels,  cleaning products, high chairs, flat screen tvs, upvc windows, bean bag fillings, lounge suites, microwaves,  bread bag ties, bread bags, most of your clothes if you shop like me, vegetable punnets, the list is almost endless - what am I talking about? All these things are made with bi products of petrochemicals!

Today's guest was Paul Shelton, check out Paul's blog. Thanks Paul for joining us, it was great to talk to you.  Paul has done a stirling job of trying not to buy or use anything that is derived from petrochemicals.

And guess what?  He, his wife and two children have done it!  And no they don't live in some idyllic country town with no food miles, farmers and greenies on every corner. They live in suburban Melbourne.  To hear their story and see how they taken living sustainably to another level Listen to the Show.

Why is it that in the here and now we are all excited to talk to people like Paul, no disrespect Paul!  We are amazed at his and his family's ability to get on and get back to basics.  Is it because we have essentially become so insular, so reliant on the big 24 hr one stop shop, is it because we are lazy these days?  It wasn't that long ago, 25 years maybe that my grandparents were self sufficient in a food sense.  They grew all their vegetables, had a small orchard and had lots of chickens and ducks, which they didn't name, but farmed and ate.

I guess I am preaching to the converted as whoever reads this blog and listens to the show is probably interested in sustainability in some form.  What Paul and his family have achieved is fantastic, but it is not something that everyone is going to want to achieve.  Maybe we could all start with something small.  Something like buying Australian, read the labels, where is your food coming from?

So what am I going to do?, because lets face it, I am one who could do a little more.  As my chickens have gone broody and the last of my broad beans eaten, I don't have anything apart from a few herbs to swap with neighbours, I am going to make a concerted effort not to use cling wrap.  That for me is a huge ask.  It means I will need to find all the lids to all those containers in the bottom draw!  

Now that is enough to make me cry!

Environmentality 27 November 2013, Robert Bender, Biodiversity and our Natural World

It is amazing the information you can find on the world wide web.  Instead of updating this blog I have been listening to the different calls from frogs all around Melbourne - boring some of you say?  No way, have a look at the Healthy Waterways Frog Census it a great site.  

(Spotted Marsh Frog)

Southern Brown Tree Frog

For those of you that live near major waterways like the Merri and Darebin Creek or the Yarra River you will have a great time identifying some of the more familiar calls.

You might wonder where all this talk about frogs has come from.  We had Robert Bender in the studio today.  Robert has a deep passion and incredible knowledge of biodiversity and aptly reminded me that our world is made up of so many important living things and it is vital that we all play a part in making sure they continue to exist.  

Robert has just come back from a scientific field trip with Earthwatch to the wet tropical rainforests of far north Queensland.  The area that Robert and the team from Earthwatch were collecting their information forms part of the great dividing range and is home to 80 species of animals that are only found in this area. 

Listen To The Show and find out what the lead scientist of this expedition, Stephen Williams of James Cook University findings tell us about the effect of climate change on the birds, reptiles and mammals of the wet rainforests of FNQ.

For those of you that are looking for a birthday or Christmas present that is a little different, not too expensive and very beautiful, take a look at Daylesford Nature Diary, Six Seasons in the Foothill Forest, by Tanya Loos Full of great photos and information exploring the 6 seasons around Wombat State Park.  Of course the 6 seasons are not only relevant to Victoria.  The original custodians of our beautiful country hunted, gathered and created a sustainable environment over six seasons of the year for 40,000 years, not four seasons that the Europeans believe exist.

The music played today was a mix of different ages and styles. Robert kicked us off with 

The Bonny Swans by Loreena McKennitt from the The Mask and The Mirror album

Fool by Sarah Blasko and the album Fool

Way out West by the Dingoes from the The Hits of the Seventies

I Can Make you Love Me, by British India, from their I can Make you Love me album

We leave you today with photos of yellow robin chicks as they grow and leave the nest that Robert was keeping an eye for a PHD student.  Make sure you listen to the show, to find out more. It was a great one!

 
 

Environmentality 20 November 2013, Jodie Jackson, My Everyday Garden

Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Chives, Parsley, Oregano, Sage, Lavender, AloVera, these are just a few of the herbs you can grow in your very own Melbourne garden.

Herbs have been around for centuries and used across the world for all manner of things.  They are medicinal; steep Sage in hot water for sore throats, culinary; stuff your roast chicken with lemon thyme to give it a beautiful flavour and aroma and place bay leaves in your pantry to ward off moths.

Thanks very much Jodie for coming into the studio today. We had a lively discussion about herbs, a few recipes thrown in and what to do with all those snails that are invading the garden.  Jodie suggests collecting them and feeding them to ducks at your local parkland - great idea!  You will have to Listen to the show  to find out more.....

 But if you like your snails why not whip some up with this Tasty Recipe but make sure you know what you are doing, don't just collect and cook them!  Jaime told us today that some snails carry tinea.

The weather has been so seasonally crazy of late that it is hard to imagine that anything that is supposed to be blooming in order for us to make relishes and pickles is going to provide any fruit.  We will have to keep our fingers crossed.

It is not too late to plant tomatoes, zucchini, capsicum, cucumbers, beans, chillies and lots more.  The ABC Gardening website has a great guide on what to plant when and where.

If you live in Melbourne, Brite Industries, a not for profit disability support service are having their annual plant sale on Saturday 23 November, Cnr of Belfast Street and Dallas Drive, Broadmeadows.  They have a huge range of flowers, herbs and vegies all at hugely discounted prices.

Jaime showcased music from Woodlock, a Melbourne band formally from Yarrawonga.  Jaime heard them busking in the the city.  Their album Lemons, sounds pretty good https://www.facebook.com/WoodlockMusic

Have a great week.

Environmentality 13 November 2013, Jason Kimberley, Cool Australia

If the Government's attitude toward the warming of OUR world is getting you down, check out Cool Australia's website http://coolaustralia.org/ for a tonne of inspiration and plenty of good news to put a smile back on your face.
Cool Australia are leading the way with their free interactive online education tools and resources for teachers and students.  Resources and curriculum cover topics such as energy, waste, water, consumption, biodiversity, climate change and sustainability, to name a few.

Thanks to Jason Kimberley, CEO and founder of Cool Australia for joining us on Environmentality today. Jason gave us a snippet of his former life as adventurer, author and photographer and what drove him to start Cool Australia, download the show to hear more.

You don't have to be a teacher or a student to make a change, check out the enviroweek site: http://www.enviroweek.org/ take the challenge and see how easy it is!



Smokey took us back to his formative days with his music selection today,

The Flaming Lips, Race for the Prize, from their album The Soft Bulletin
The Velvet Underground, Sunday Morning, The Velvet Underground & Nico album, and Heroin from the same album

Next week on the show we have the famous Jodie Jackson, garden guru, hopefully she will be updating us on all things green and the great melon challenge.

Environmentality, 6 November 2013

Good afternoon everyone,

Unfortunately due to conflicting calendars and events beyond our control the Environmentality team did not take to the air today.

Please join us next week 13 November when we speak to 

Jason from Cool Australia.

Environmentality, 30 October 2013, Sandy Dudakov, Fareshare

Hi Environmentalityists, I have got a few stats for you today.......

543.9 tonnes of food rescued

133,579,000 meals given away

460 charities helped

and they are only Fareshare's stats for what they have rescued and made into nutritious beautiful meals for our fellow Victorians.

Download the show to hear Sandy tell us about the incredible work being done by the hundreds of volunteers at Fareshare.

The National Waste Report 2010 estimated Australians threw away 4 million tonnes of food a year, or enough to fill 450,000 garbage trucks!

Every household throws out food worth over $1,000 every year!

According to CSIRO data, throwing out a kilo of beef wastes the 50,000 litres of water it took to produce that meat.

CSIRO also shows throwing out one kilo of white rice wastes 1,550 litres of water and discarding one kilo of potatoes wastes 500 litres of water.

National greenhouse inventory data tells us landfills contribute 2% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

When wasted food is thrown away and breaks down in landfill, together with other organic materials, it becomes the main contributor to the generation of methane – a gas 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.
What a nation of wasters! But what can we do?

Some suggestions I have had are;

Never grocery shop when you are hungry
Make a list
Shop more frequently, especially if you eat more salad items
Grow your own
Cook smaller amounts
Freeze left overs immediately, so they don't grow into moldy bowls at the back of the fridge
Shop at markets where produce tends to be seasonal
Check the fridge before you eat out
Plant a seed and ask where ever you shop what they do with their excess food? 

Thanks Sandy for the music played today;

Dad Do You Remember from the album Kasey Chambers, Poppa Bill and the little Hillbillies
For a Short Time, Mick Thomas from the album Riveresque 
Murder in the City, The Avett Brothers from the album The Second Gleam


Another great show next week with Amy Middleton from Australia Geographic.

Environmentality 23 October 2013, Rob Slaney, Global Climate Change Music Project

Amazing interview today with Rob Slaney who is the man with the idea and the motivation behind Global Climate Change Music Project.

The skill involved in getting 193 musicians from 193 countries to contribute an original piece of music to raise the awareness of climate change is truly inspiring.

You can hear a small sample of some of this incredible music by listening to the show and once you have sampled I am sure you will want more, which you will find by visiting Rob's site theglobalclimatechangemusicproject.info

Using music to raise community awareness is not a new conception, remember Bob Geldof back in the mid 80s.  It is however, not an easy feat to reach communities when you don't have the monetary backing as Bob did.  

Congratulations to Rob for sticking with his dream and I ask all of our listeners to download the show and get behind theglobalclimatechangemusicproject.info.

The C words are not going to disappear in our lifetime, it is obvious to all but a few in Canberra. We can all contribute in a micro way to minimising the impact we have on our environment.  Join the movement, talk to your kids, your neighbours and your friends about how you can reduce your footprint.  If you can't invent an emission free fuel source, below area few ways you reduce your greenhouse footprint at home

1. Change your light bulbs to energy efficient ones
2. Choose green electricity from your electricity provider
3. Turn your heating down 1 notch and shut the doors to the rooms you are not using.
4. Use fans instead of airconditioning 
5. Turn your appliances; TVs, coffee machines off, don't leave them on standby

these are just a few there are so many more ways you can make a difference, let me know what you can think of.


Next week we have Sandy Dudakov from Fareshare