My Final Thoughts

I will be honest, the hard part of this assignment for me was not doing my best to reduce my eco footprint, it was not even saving water, using less electricity and gas, buying eco-friendly products or using public transport. No it was not any of these, it was in fact reporting the changes I have made over the 3 months on my blog. It has taken me a long time to get here and as I look back on my first posts I am happy with my achievements throughout this assignment.

I have managed to reduce consumption of gas, electricity and water and maintained a reasonable amount of waste leaving the home.

I would like to point out that I have always been pretty conscious of how much water I use so the reduction was not huge however I have started to recycle the dishwater to use on the plants outside which I think is great!


The small changes in the bills I would say has a small part to do with being extra aware of how often electrical and gas appliances are used but I also believe the weather has played a part too. I have not had the heater on for a while so that has definately made a difference.


I have also been driving my car much less and as a result I have taken in more of what my local area has to offer! (Mind you public transport has made me loose a few hairs when trains are cancelled and I am running late for uni!)


Overall I have enjoyed this assignment and look forward to maintaining the practices I have put into place. 6/ 16 has gone GREEN and I plan to keep it that way!!

TIME TO REVEAL MY CURRENT ECO FOOTPRINT!

The time has come to see if I have been able to reduce my Eco -footprint over the duration of this assignment.

My initial Ecological Footprint according to the EPA website:

If everyone lived like me, we would need 2.6 Planet Earths to provide enough resource!

Food makes up 46% of my ecological footprint (I eat a lot of meat).

And to support my lifestyle, it takes 4.7 global hectares of the Earth's productive area.

Current Ecological Footprint

If everyone lived like me, we would need 2 Planet Earths to provide enough resource!  A reduction of .6 Planet Earths!

Food makes up 48% of my ecological footprint. I must admit I am surprised about this. I thought I had changed my diet enough to at least make a bit of difference here in a good way, instead the results show an increase of 2%. Maybe I did not accurately record my food breakdown in the initial footprint?

Goods 9%

Services 28%

Shelter 11%

Mobility 3%

And to support my lifestyle, it takes 3.5 global hectares of the Earth's productive area.

ELECTRICITY - ORIGIN

To come

GAS - ORIGIN

Account period: 27-8-2010 to 27-10-2010: 61 days

Usage: 2070MJ's

Average Daily usage: 33.9 MJ (2 people)

Amount: $46.73

Average cost per day: $ 0.92

Greenhouse gas emissions: 0.11 tonnes C02

WATER:

Unfortunately I have forgotten to bring my diary back to the farm so that I can type the water usage for most weeks in the blog. I know from memory that both Ben and I use  below 155litres per day. I believe this has a lot to do with the following: we do not have a washing machine, we have a flushing policy which you would have already read about, we only fill the bucket in the kitchen sink half way when doing the dishes and we try (and succeed most of the time) to only have 3 minute showers.  I will have to check my diary again to be positively sure but I think we only managed to reduce our water usage by a few litres as we have always been water wise even before this assignment.

LAST RUBBISH WEIGH IN.....

I have found it hard to reduce the household waste however I am much more aware of what I throw in the bin and what I can recycle. For almost three months the waste (for two people) has stayed at about the same weight each week, general waste at approximately 3kgs and recycling at approximately 2- 2.5kgs. I personally do not think this is too bad for two people however I know it is possible to go better and when I do I will post the results even after the assignment is finished!

Final weeks rubbish

Weight of general waste: approx 3 kg

Weight of recyling: appro 2.5 kg

Recycling!

Biodiversity Audit - Take 2!

OK - So my first attempt at completing the Biodiversity Audit at Ripponlea Estate was near impossible! The place is so big with far too many plants for me to count as you could see by the pictures I posted earlier in my blog. This time I decided to take a stroll to Alma Park to see what I could find. Below is a picture of the native plants I saw which were shadowed by much bigger exotic cypress trees and oaks. I believe that completing the Biodiversity Audit in schools would be great for students to discover more about the biodiversity of their schools and what improvements can be made.

Clean and Green

Cleaning product I purchased last week. It was a pricey $12.00 (well pricey for a uni student) so hopefully it works well. At least I know I am doing right by the planet!!

I was walking down the street just over a week ago and I finally decided to check out the local organic shop I always walk past. From the moment I stepped in through the door I felt good! Seriously, being surrounded by fresh, organic produce and environmentally friendly products made me feel relaxed and good about myself. I was one of the people who cares about our planet - it was like I had found a new hip club! And as I wondered down towards the back I was mesmorised by the yummy food the had on display. Although the prices were slightly above what I would normally pay for a salad or a foccacia they looked amazing - and so FREESH! When I had stopped gazing at the wonderfully vibrant food I was drawn to the eco friendly cleaning products. I knew we were almost out of bathroom cleaner so I purchased the Enviro Clean product that you can see above. I also bought Sukin Shampoo which is a natural and carbon neutral product. As I walked out of the shop with my bottle of Enviro Clean bathroom and toilet cleaner and Sukin Shampoo in my enviro bag I felt great!

 

http://www.glohealth.com.au/index.asp 

WATER Usage

From diary

To eat less meat!

Over the past two and a half months I have been trying my best to eat less meat. I am more conscious of how much meat I buy and how often I make meals that contain meat. I recently found this information on the website http://www.mygreenlife.com.au/

which I thought was very interesting.

In 2005 the University of NSW and CSIRO conducted "A triple bottom line analysis of 135 sectors of the Australian Economy" called "Balancing Act" from which it is possible to calculate the environmental impact derived from a dollar spent in any of the industry sectors analysed. Using the 'meat products' sector the environmental benefits of reducing your meat consumption by half (to the recommended levels) are as follows:

• Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions - 7,092.8 kg CO2
• Reduction in water use - 206,627 litres
• Reduction in land disturbance - 51,150 m2 or 5.115 hectares

These figures suggest that current meat consumption results in over a third of our ecological foot print. So eat well and help us move to a more sustainable and healthy diet.

One of the recipies I found online that I want to try is the  Summer Chili Stir Fry with Seasoned Potatoes

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

    1 teaspoon curry powder
    1 teaspoon sweet basil
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
    1/4 teaspoon chili powder
    1/4 teaspoon vegetable stock powder
    1/2 cup breadcrumbs
    2 large potatoes, peeled, diced, and boiled to soften - not to a mash (or try sweet potato for a lighter option)
    1 tablespoon + 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
    1 to 2 portabello mushrooms, chopped (a.k.a., field mushrooms)
    2 cups cabbage, cut into thin ribbon strips
    1 cup broccoli, chopped
    1/2 cup carrots, peeled and diced
    3/4 cup rice, prepared to package directions (I use long-grain brown rice)

Directions:

Potatoes:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Coat shallow baking dish with vegetable oil or non-stick spray.

2. In a bowl (big enough to stir through the potatoes), combine curry powder, basil, salt, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and vegetable stock powder followed with breadcrumbs. Stir well. Stir in potatoes until they are seasoned. Lay the seasoned potatoes into the baking dish and place in oven to keep warm.

Stir Fry:
3. Heat another tablespoon oil in another skillet. Add field mushrooms and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Toss in cabbage. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.  Stir in broccoli, then stir in mushrooms. Leave to fry on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, then turn down to low. Add carrots and whatever seasoning you like. (I used a sprinkle of chilli powder, a large sprinkle of sweet basil, 1 teaspoon of curry powder and half a teaspoon of vegetable stock powder.)

New discoveries in local area

Muku Organical Baby - 68 Glen Eira Road

Shop owners: Aya Okunoya and her husband

Oh this shop is so cute it makes me wish I had a reason to buy baby clothes.... Haha
Here is the run down about Muku.

Two years ago Aya’s young baby was severely affected by a rash from a

cotton vest. She was shocked to learn that today's cotton is often exposed to

chemicals such as fertilizer, herbicide, defoliant and dyes which can also

harm the farmers of cotton. She was inspired to create a range of baby wear

comprised of pure organic and mainly undyed cotton particularly to protect

new born babies.

Her shop is in tune with her and her husband’s desire to demonstrate the

changes needed to protect the future of the earth and its children.

How sweet are these booties!

Awwwww, cutest little bib!

Op-Shopoholic!

I LOVE OP-SHOPPING! Here a some of my recent finds just in time for the warmer weather! All 3 for under $20! I hardly ever by retail and I go through my wardrobe and donate what I don't wear anymore back to the op-shop.

what can you do with plastic bags?

Regrettably I had to have my groceries packed in plastic bags last night as I had forgotten my enviro bags. I felt so guilty I got to thinking - what is the best thing to do with the plastic bags I now have??

Plastic bag facts

• Australians used 3.9 billion plastic shopping bags in 2007
• Nearly half a million plastic bags are collected on Clean Up Australia Day each year. (source - CUA)
• It takes only four grocery shopping trips for an average Australian family to accumulate 60 plastic shopping bags. (source - CUA)
• Plastic bags are produced from polymers derived from petroleum. The amount of petroleum used to make a plastic bag would drive a car about 11 metres. (source - CUA)
• In 2005, Australians used 192 HDPE bags per capita. (source - Nolan ITU)
• 14% of HDPE plastic carry bags are returned to major supermarkets for recycling. (source - ANRA)

I did not realise that some supermarkets actually have a bin you can put your unwanted plastic bags in and from there they go to be recycled. (This is only for the light plastic bags not the heavier ones retail shops use.)

This is my draw full of plastic bags. I do re-use them for things such as taking lunch to uni, packing clothes to take to the op-shop and for lining our little bin in the bathroom so I will keep a few.

 

 

 

 

Bag drawer

Back to the farm

I made a quick trip back to my parents farm on Friday to help out for two days. It is stud season and as you can see it can be dirty work!

I wont post the other photos in case you get queezy but you will be glad to know after a long labour and a lot of muscle power a big colt was born happy and healthy! I have recently heard that four foals were born in one night after I left.

I thought I would take a book with me but I did not get a chance to read it. I purchased The Weather Makers from the uni library for $3.00!!

Billy & Lola

My talented friend Ruth Ziller designs gorgeous swimwear under the label Billy & Lola. Femine, flirty and Eco friendly. All made from vintage,recycled reminants and organic fabrics.

http://www.billyandlola.com.au/

Collingwood Children's Farm

 What a lovely day to stroll around the Collingwood Children's Farm.

fun in the sun

The sun was shining today and the birds were chirping, what a lovely Spring day. A great day to wash the sheets and hang them on the line to dry. (Ben had taken the rest off before I could get the camera out, lucky I was just in time before he got this last one!)

Always on my mind...

There is not a day that goes by that I do not make decisions that will effect my eco footprint. Lately I have chosen public transport over the car almost everyday and I have successfully reduced the amount of packaging I use when preparing my lunches for uni by using plastic containers and more fresh fruit (no packaging required there!) I very rarely take the lift at uni and I even asked Ben to buy a board game so that we don't just sit in front of our large TV for hours at night. (I never knew how much fun Scrabble is!)

I replaced the globes with energy effecient ones and with the weather slowly improving the heater does not get turned on for long periods of time anymore.YAY!!

I AM BACK!

My apologies for not making blog posts over the last 3 weeks life has been a little rocky.But I am back now!

Water Use...

from diary

INSIGHT

Im watching Insight on SBS  - very interesting discussion on climate change and whether or not it is real/exists.

The transcript on the Insight websight is very good reading (especially if you were like me and couldn't keep up with everything that was said during the debate).

The late Stephen Schneider was the Professor of Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies at Stanford University. An internationally recognised leader in research on climate change, he served as a consultant on the issue to every U.S. President from Nixon to Obama.

Professor David Karoly

Professor David Karoly is an Australian Research Council Fellow at the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne. He is an internationally recognised expert on climate change and climate variability.

 Here are some comments left by members of the public on the website:

nico

from canberra act

2010-09-13 09:32:06

Stephen Schneider deserves a (posthumous) medal for his patience, dealing with this catalogue of familiar denialist talking points. The interesting sub-text was and is the ideological alignment of those who deny human influence on climate. Scientists tend not to show their political views. Conversely, those who hold strong ideological views tend to ignore the evidence of science if it is inconvenient.

Ori

from Melbourne

2010-09-10 14:44:24

Sceptics

The technology is out there for the Modern human to stop using fossil fuels....But as always the big guns who make the billions of dollars don't care..There are scientist over the last 100 years who had other ideas eg nicolas telsa. The carbon cycle is a natural cycle on earth but we are speeding a natural cycle by the burning of fossil fuels....plain simple LOGIC!!! Also the next frontier of science is quantum physics...Where there are answers to substanable energy sources.  ***************************************************************************** Weekly Water Use.... Insert from diary

SHOWERHEAD - WILL YOU STAY OR WILL YOU GO?

Here is a picture of our showerhead. I decided to measure how much water runs from the showerhead per minute to see if I need to get a new one. I placed my big bucket under the shower for one minute then measured how much water was in the bucket. To my surprise there was approximately 9 litres of water in the bucket! The showerhead passed the test!! 3 minute showers are still a must! And I am sticking to that so far. (However my little timer broke in the shower so I need to get a new one).

GLOBES

Unfortunately I have been very busy over the past week (I started second babysitting job on the weekend) so I haven't replaced the globes yet, aarrgghh.

Last night I whipped up a lovely roast pumkin and chicken salad. (One chicken breast used so not that bad for two). It was very impressive if I do say so myself.

Rubbish was equal weights this week. Recycling approx 2kgs and the same for general waste. Food scraps are still going into the compost bin!

Weekly rubbish...

This week we have managed to reduce the waste! Recycling was just below last weeks, weighing in at approx. 1kg and general waste weighed approx. 2.5 kgs. I am still seperating the food scraps into a bin outside and plan to get a proper composte bin set up this weekend.

All in all I think we are doing well on the rubbish front!

I would also like to mention the great tips and information I found on my local city council's website. They have a whole section dedicated to sustainable living and now I know where to go and exchange my shower head (if I need to - I will measure it's water rate soon) for a water saving one so that is on the list this weekend too. I'm still not sure if there is a way of getting energy effecient light globes installed for free or if I have to buy them myself? I remember last year my sister had someone come to her flat and change all her globes at no charge. I believe this was a government initiative, but perhaps it has finished now.

I would like to thank you Lyn for the tip about unplugging the appliances and not just switching them off. I did not realise power can still be leaking so thank you for that one.

Now I have to think about what I will cook for tea tonight. I think it's time for vegetables and lots of them, I'm just not sure what else I will put with the vegies to fill up Ben (thinking sustainably here).... Hmmm I will get back to that.



Weekly Water Use...

Insert amount from diary

Farm Break

The recent weekend back to the farm was great. Unfortunatley I forgot my camera so no pics this time :( What I can do is give you a run down of what is happening on the farm.

Stud season has begun (breeding horses) so the foal alarms are back ringing whenever the mare lies down - very annoying. The paddocks are flooded with water, we have not had this much rain in five years I think (don't quote me, could be more). And yes it is still freezing, so working outside in the cold and the wet was not that much fun believe me!

Thankfully I had help from my hard working mum and Ben also braved the conditions to help feed the 30 odd horses we have at the moment.

Besides the wet conditions it was great to get back and see the family. I love getting out of the rat race.

BEING WATER WISE

I decided to see if my black bucket would fit in the sink this week so that I could collect the dishwashing water to put on the few plants out the front of the apartment block. To my surprise it fits like a glove!! I use Earth dishwashing detergent so it is safe to use as grey water and now I feel great that the water I use goes on the plants and not just down the drain!

Have a look at that, perfect!

When the water is not hot I pour it on the plants out the front.

Composting & Biodiversity Audit - Ripponlea Estate

COMPOSTING AT HOME

Here is the bin I bought from the eco centre, back home tucked under a tree so that it doesn't annoy anyone in the block. I couldn't get a pic of me and the bin so I put my thumb up instead! I will be collecting my food scraps and putting them in here from now on - not into landfill!

Thumbs up!

RIPPONLEA ESTATE

Last Friday I spent the afternoon walking through the lush gardens of the Ripponlea Estate, enjoying the scenery whilst completing the Biodiversity audit. I have to admit I think I bit off more than I could chew - counting the number of trees was impossible and the sheer size of the gardens made completing the audit quite difficult.

Take a look.....

Welcome

Entering the Estate

It's like stepping into another world. Great place to take your mind off being in the city.

The Estate.

I hope they have a ride-on mower!

Unfortunatley there aren't any signs to tell you the name of the plants.

I found some colour!

It was just me and the pond.

Such a beautiful spot.

Can you see the big fish?

There are steps up the windmill to a platform. Great view.

Largest fernery in the Southern Hemisphere I believe.

Amazing!

I would love to know what this plant is called.

There is potential here, but this vegie patch needs some TLC

View from the Estate stairs.

Too cold for a swim today that's for sure!

Time to pull up a seat! Gin and tonic please Waiter.