Feb 2008
Going Green
27/02/08 08:14 Filed in: Sustainability
By now you would have heard the change in
people’s tone from “GREENIE!!!!!”
followed by a roll of the eye to:
“Greenie” accompanied with a look of
admiration and respect. So what are the first few
steps to becoming a Greenie and what are some
resources to help you on your way to going pro? This
blog aims to provide you with a jump-start to
becoming greener.
What it means to be a true greenie.
An amateur greenie is a person that follows the ten top tips to go green as noted by treehugger.com (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/how_to_green_yo_8.php).
As outlined by this popular greenie website some of the ways to reduce your impact on the earth is by:
1) Going organic
2) Purchase fair trade whenever possible
3) Buy from farmers markets
4) Buy products with limited packaging
5) Compost or worm farm it! See the Field of Mars blog on worms for more information.
6) Grow your own food!
7) When travelling to and from food establishments think about your carbon emissions! Walk, cycle or take a horse instead.
8) Be a true domestic goddess like Nigella Lawson or a perfectionist like Jamie Oliver and DON'T WASTE FOOD!! Purchase what you need and use all of it. For helpful hints on healthy food choices see:
Fish For Ever
• http://www.bioliving.com.au/bioliving_fish4ever.html
Macro Wholefoods Supermarket
• http://www.macrowholefoods.com.au/news.php/68.html
The Organic Advantage:
• http://www.logi.org.au/The%20Organic%20Advantage%20Ed.%2085.htm
9) Use less energy while cooking. Granted raw veggies will taste better than raw meat but even eating raw veggies will make a positive impact on the environment and your wallet.
10) Ease up on the meat. Australia is in drought and producing meat uses up a lot of water, “ A pound of beef requires around 12,000 gallons of water to produce” (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/how_to_green_yo_8.php).
Further reading:
Peter Singer and Jim Mason’s book titled “The Ethics of What you Eat” is a must read.
There are many more resources and information on how to go green and there will be more blogs dedicated to this topic. However, please feel free to expand your knowledge and become the person that receives admiration and thanks from all walks of life. If you have any further queries or would like to make amendments to this blog feel free to contact the author
Helen.E.Bahlas@student.uts.edu.au
This blog is dedicated to the few who decide to walk out of the film “An Inconvenient Truth” and do more than just feel bad about the state of the earth.
What it means to be a true greenie.
An amateur greenie is a person that follows the ten top tips to go green as noted by treehugger.com (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/how_to_green_yo_8.php).
As outlined by this popular greenie website some of the ways to reduce your impact on the earth is by:
1) Going organic
2) Purchase fair trade whenever possible
3) Buy from farmers markets
4) Buy products with limited packaging
5) Compost or worm farm it! See the Field of Mars blog on worms for more information.
6) Grow your own food!
7) When travelling to and from food establishments think about your carbon emissions! Walk, cycle or take a horse instead.
8) Be a true domestic goddess like Nigella Lawson or a perfectionist like Jamie Oliver and DON'T WASTE FOOD!! Purchase what you need and use all of it. For helpful hints on healthy food choices see:
Fish For Ever
• http://www.bioliving.com.au/bioliving_fish4ever.html
Macro Wholefoods Supermarket
• http://www.macrowholefoods.com.au/news.php/68.html
The Organic Advantage:
• http://www.logi.org.au/The%20Organic%20Advantage%20Ed.%2085.htm
9) Use less energy while cooking. Granted raw veggies will taste better than raw meat but even eating raw veggies will make a positive impact on the environment and your wallet.
10) Ease up on the meat. Australia is in drought and producing meat uses up a lot of water, “ A pound of beef requires around 12,000 gallons of water to produce” (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/how_to_green_yo_8.php).
Further reading:
Peter Singer and Jim Mason’s book titled “The Ethics of What you Eat” is a must read.
There are many more resources and information on how to go green and there will be more blogs dedicated to this topic. However, please feel free to expand your knowledge and become the person that receives admiration and thanks from all walks of life. If you have any further queries or would like to make amendments to this blog feel free to contact the author
Helen.E.Bahlas@student.uts.edu.au
This blog is dedicated to the few who decide to walk out of the film “An Inconvenient Truth” and do more than just feel bad about the state of the earth.
Worms
05/02/08 17:58 Filed in: Biodiversity
| Sustainability
Worms
There are songs about them, for many they are the first invertebrates to touch but what else should we know about worms? When travelling to a foreign land and are struggling to find a common topic to discuss, you can talk about worms. Slimy and slippery worms are found all over the world.
Worms are invertebrates (creatures with no backbone). They have no brains but are sensitive to light. To touch they seem slimy and seem to pop out in the most unusual places. The worms I will speak of in this blog will be of the more commonly seen Earthworm rather than the parasites, freshwater or seawater worms.
If you bump into one worm and think it looked a bit different to the last worm you met well you’re probably not going crazy as there are at least 1 000 000 kinds of worms. There are 2700 types of Earthworms around the world and the world is lucky to have them.
Why are we lucky to have Earthworms? Well, Earthworms other than being very entertaining to children are also essential to the ecosystem of the world. Yes they get eaten and provide a rich source of nutrition to animals such as birds but worms eat too! Moving around in the soil and eating away at the plant litter or food scraps they provide ‘castings’ which is a very valuable source of fertilizer. Having the worms move around the soil allows the soil to aerate and allow water and air to penetrate the soil making the soil very healthy.
Here at the Field of Mars we have a worm farm. All our food scraps, newspapers and leaf litter go in to the worm farm where our worms happily feast away and provide us with healthy soil! If you would like to make your own worm farm see: http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/envirom/wormfarm.htm for further details. It is also important to note the things that worms can and can not eat:
Can eat
• vegetable scraps
• fruit scraps
• bread
• crushed egg shells
• grains
• pasta
• paper
• leaf litter
Cannot eat
• citrus peels
• onions
• dairy products
• fats and oils
• meat and fish
• animal droppings
For more information on worms and worm farms check out the following web sites:
http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/worms.htm
- Information on Earthworms, great for lower primary
http://www.naturewatch.ca/english/wormwatch/about/ecology.html
- detailed view of Earthworms, great for upper primary to high school.
http://www.zerowaste.sa.gov.au/pdf/fact_sheets/worms.pdf
- Information regarding worm farms.
There are songs about them, for many they are the first invertebrates to touch but what else should we know about worms? When travelling to a foreign land and are struggling to find a common topic to discuss, you can talk about worms. Slimy and slippery worms are found all over the world.
Worms are invertebrates (creatures with no backbone). They have no brains but are sensitive to light. To touch they seem slimy and seem to pop out in the most unusual places. The worms I will speak of in this blog will be of the more commonly seen Earthworm rather than the parasites, freshwater or seawater worms.
If you bump into one worm and think it looked a bit different to the last worm you met well you’re probably not going crazy as there are at least 1 000 000 kinds of worms. There are 2700 types of Earthworms around the world and the world is lucky to have them.
Why are we lucky to have Earthworms? Well, Earthworms other than being very entertaining to children are also essential to the ecosystem of the world. Yes they get eaten and provide a rich source of nutrition to animals such as birds but worms eat too! Moving around in the soil and eating away at the plant litter or food scraps they provide ‘castings’ which is a very valuable source of fertilizer. Having the worms move around the soil allows the soil to aerate and allow water and air to penetrate the soil making the soil very healthy.
Here at the Field of Mars we have a worm farm. All our food scraps, newspapers and leaf litter go in to the worm farm where our worms happily feast away and provide us with healthy soil! If you would like to make your own worm farm see: http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/envirom/wormfarm.htm for further details. It is also important to note the things that worms can and can not eat:
Can eat
• vegetable scraps
• fruit scraps
• bread
• crushed egg shells
• grains
• pasta
• paper
• leaf litter
Cannot eat
• citrus peels
• onions
• dairy products
• fats and oils
• meat and fish
• animal droppings
For more information on worms and worm farms check out the following web sites:
http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/worms.htm
- Information on Earthworms, great for lower primary
http://www.naturewatch.ca/english/wormwatch/about/ecology.html
- detailed view of Earthworms, great for upper primary to high school.
http://www.zerowaste.sa.gov.au/pdf/fact_sheets/worms.pdf
- Information regarding worm farms.