A Change In The Climate

I have been in a very strange and silent mood the last couple of days.  Let me try and work through it with you during this post.

I am reading a very thought provoking book titled "Climate Wars", by Gwynne Dyer.  The premise of the book is as follows;

"Dwindling resources. Massive population shifts. Natural disasters. Spreading epidemics. Drought. Rising sea levels. Plummeting agricultural yields. Crashing economies. Political extremism. These are some of the expected consequences of runaway climate change in the decades ahead, and any of them could tip the world towards conflict. Prescient, unflinching, and based on exhaustive research and interviews, Climate Wars promises to be one of the most important books in the coming years."

I have read 68 pages so far and it is riveting stuff, but I think it is responsible for my current mood.

In the book, Dyer argues that it is because of the "Politics as usual", and natural national protectionism being taken by most world governments, is the reason it will be extremely difficult for the leaders of the world to come to a consensus and a realistic emissions target to avert catastrophic climate change.  I tend to agree with him, which makes me sad.  Evidence for this argument has been visible all around us for quite some time.  In Australia, the damage done by the Howard Government over the last 11 years has been well documented in "High and Dry - John Howard, Climate Change and the Selling of Australia's Future", by Guy Pearse.  An interesting read in itself.

The Bush administration's similar campaign of denial and censorship of the scientific evidence regarding Climate Change may have doomed the entire human race to a gloomy future.  From reading Dyer's book, this is what I have learnt so far.  Many climatologist's believe that the planet is already locked in to a 3° C rise in global average temperatures with what WE HAVE ALREADY EMITTED!  A scary thought, but not so bad, I hear you say.  Think of it this way then. 

"People really need to understand that the average surface temperature is just an index of the state of the climate.  It's sort of like the temperature of your body, and you say 'What's a few degrees among friends?', and then you realise that if you have a fever of 40.5° C, then though that's only three and a half degrees above normal, it's potentially fatal.  The same thing is true of the world: differences of a few degrees in the average temperature of the world reflect massive changes in the patterns of the climate that are determinative of human well-being." - John Holdren, director, Woods Hole Research Centre in an interview with Dyer Feb 6, 2008

The key are the words 'average surface temperature'.  It may not increase by much at the equator, with some scientists predicting only a 0.5° C rise, however, at the poles that equates to an 8-12 degree increase in average temperature by 2100.  An ice free arctic ocean, rapidly melting Greenland and Antarctic Ice sheets, and glaciers around the globe, mean rises in sea levels, the likes we have not experienced during the reign of our current civilization.  This will result in massive population relocations, many of them unorganised and forced upon the residents of low lying countries.

So, if no stand-out leadership presents itself in the next year or so, it is unlikely that the predecessor treaty to Kyoto will have any teeth and will fail to address the issue.  Where does that leave us?  With no real plans to reduce global emissions, can we expect the first major wars over resources, such as a basic human necessity for water?

Here is an example of what may happen with a 3° C rise in average surface temperatures.  The main rivers that flow out of the Himalayas are a huge issue when Climate Change is taken into account.  The Indus, Ganges and Yangtze Rivers are fed all year round by glacial melting and winter snow melt, however when the glaciers are fully melted by mid century, they will be reduced to a trickle during the summer months.  The Yellow River is fed by a seasonal monsoon event, which is also in threat of failing.  These four rivers alone provide drinking water and irrigation for nearly 30% of the worlds population.  Can you imagine over 2,500,000,000 hungry and thirsty mouths?  Where will they go?  Will the populations of China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh go hungry, or simply invade to the north to take what they need to survive?  What do you think Russia will have to say about these Climate Change refugees occupying Siberia?  I don't think they will be all that happy with the situation!  Also remember that three of the four countries (except Bangladesh) are known to posses nuclear weapons, as does Russia and a few of the countries in between.  China has the largest military force in the world, and not much would be able to stop a determined China seeking resources and food for a hungry population if this situation arises.

As for Australia, it is predicted that there will be more rain in the north west, but less in the southern part of the country.  That means that the entire "Wheat Belt" stretching from Perth to the Murray-Darling basin will get 20-30% less rainfall.  In this scenario, we will barely be able to feed our own nation let alone export grain or any other foodstuffs for that matter.  Similar events may happen across the globe as rainfall patterns change.  Famines will be common place, with nations turning inward to feed their own populations first. Countries that already import much of their food will be hardest hit.  No amount of money will be able to buy it.

Sounds very scary doesn't it?  Now I know why I have this mood!  I suppose that unless something radical happens during President Obama's first term of office, with massive cuts in the U.S.A's emissions, and the convincing of China and India to also cut their emissions rapidly, we will definitely be locked in for troubled times ahead.

So what is the solution?  I don't really have one, but the only one that comes foremost to mind is people power.  Let your elected officials know that you want and need real leadership regarding the issue of Climate Change.  If many of my readers and I can take decisive action by reducing our carbon footprint, why can't the rest of the western, and developing world reduce theirs?   

I believe that all we need to do (or can do) is to show them that we have the courage to do what is the right, is a moral course of action and they will listen and follow our lead.  It has been proven throughout history that governments don't lead the people, the people lead the government by popular opinion, and then governments mandate the people's will by enacting a law.  If we all stand up for what is right, then the scenarios that I have proposed may never take place, and I would have been melancholy for absolutely no reason at all!  I can only hope that as global citizens, we can achieve what our politicians have until now, failed to deliver.

It will be an interesting year ahead politically! 

I am feeling much better now.  Thanks for listening to my rant.

Gav

 

Holiday Mode And A Merry Christmas!

What a relaxing, but in the same breath, hectic time we have had over the last few days.

On Christmas Eve, Kim got into the swing of things and made some beautiful shortbread biscuits in the shape of trees, and Ben helped to decorate them with melted chocolate, smarties (M&M's), and sprinkles.  Here are some of the finished products.  They made about 24, and I have never tasted a shortbread so nice and melt in the mouth. 

Consequently, there are now none left!

We also made up "Care Baskets" for each of the older kids.  We used a practical container to hold it all in.  For the girls we used wicker baskets that they can reuse as laundry baskets and Adam got a big blue carry basket that if you put a bin liner inside you can turn it into a drink cooler for parties.  Inside their baskets we placed items that we knew they used over the course of a year.  Things like shampoo (organic), razors, sunscreen, bamboo socks, deodorant, hair brushes, a 2009 diary for school/work.  Have a look for yourself.  Click to enlarge.

This single gift for each of the older kids only cost about $50 each.  I even slipped in a jar of home-made strawberry jam into Amy's basket.  Kim then wrapped them in newspaper to hide the contents.  I believe they were all pleased with their gifts.  We made sure that all the plastic items were recyclable.  I would have liked to go fully organic with these gifts but the price would have been horrendous.

Our lovely neighbours gave us a special present.  They were chocolate brownies in a jar!  I have never seen this concept before.

 

The idea is simple.  You put the contents of the jar into a large bowl.  Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract, ⅔  cup of vegetable oil & 3 eggs.  Mix and pour into a 20 x 20 cm square pan.  Bake at 180° C for 25 to 30 minutes.  We haven't tried it yet, but will do in the next few days.  We gave them a book made by the Diggers Club titled, "The Australian Vegetable Garden - What's new is old".  I hope it helps to enhance their gardening knowledge.  I have never met a pair of budding gardeners so excited about their patch in such a short amount of time.  Well done neighbours!

I received some great gifts from family and friends.  A cook book from Megan, "The food of the world", some organic cotton T-shirts from Amy with cool stuff printed on them like, Ride Don't Drive, Get Real Banana Peel! (yellow of course), and Far Out Brussels Sprout! (green).  From Adam, some Divine Calm relaxing massage oil, and from Ben and Kim a Sushi Express kit.  From Teresa, a coffee mug and from our friends Phil & Stacey some Solar powered LED Chinese lanterns which I charged up yesterday.  They stayed on all night.  Don't they look cool?  Yes, it is dark because I purposely turned the flash off on the camera.

Here is what they look like with the flash on.

 

They give out a great ambient glow, and I could actually walk around the deck area without bumping into anything.  You can also see them hanging off of the only Christmas lights I have which are also LED.  I keep them permanently strung and switch them on when the mood strikes me.  I think I mentioned it before but they only use 7 watts or 0.007 kWh! 

On Christmas Day, Megan and Amy helped me cook a traditional roast dinner.  I bought two organic free-range chickens, and stuffed them with home-grown/made sage and onion stuffing.  Yummy, and served with roast potatoes, pumpkin, and onions, steamed broccoli and carrots and Yorkshire puddings, and pan gravy.  What a feast, and I am glad that it was on 22° C on the day.  Imagine if it was over 35° C like is was in some parts of the country.  I think I would have resorted to a BBQ lunch if it was that hot.  Most of the home-made crackers were pulled, but we still have about 6 left.  I will devour the contents of the spares over the next few nights!

The rest of the day was spent swimming, drinking a cold beverage or two, and watching the kids play "Guitar Hero World Tour" for a few hours.  Kim and the girls even had a go at ABBA Sing Star!  If you had have told me 25 years ago that we would be singing ABBA songs on Christmas Day in 2008, I would not have believed you!  We also had a nap in the afternoon.  What would Christmas day be without an afternoon nap after dinner?  I know that after a couple of hours rest, you are re-energised to carry on with the remainder of the days festivities. 

Well, that about sums up our Christmas.  We attempted to be green where we could, and reduced waste by using newspaper as wrapping paper on the majority of the presents to family.  We also used the left overs from Christmas Dinner the next day with Kim making about 20 Chicken and vegetable burgers.  They went down very well during the traditional Boxing Day BBQ!  Not a thing was wasted, and we are very proud that we got through the day without rampant consumerism and wastefulness, but still had a fantastic time. 

As I was going to bed on Christmas night, Ben said to me that it was the best Christmas he has ever had!  I though it was as well. 

A simple yet joyful day.

 

Merry Christmas to All!

A Merry Christmas to all my readers!  May you all have a very green Christmas and a sustainable New Year.

Gavin & Family.

A Lump Of Coal

I don't know how many times I have heard Kim tell our son Ben, that if he was naughty, Santa would know, and would leave a lump of coal under the Christmas Tree instead of a present.  Don't get me wrong, he has not been a naughty boy, he is just being a boy and I love him!

Personally, I would prefer that the coal stays in the ground and not placed under the tree.  Alternatively I prefer that it doesn't get burnt to power the millions upon millions of high wattage Christmas lights that adorn just about every house in the western world.  Sorry if I sound a bit scroogeish, but there is a good reason.  Here is why.

I know the lights look pretty and it helps heighten the spirit of the season for children, but I can see the energy companies rubbing their hands with glee at this time of the year.  I have a few LED Xmas lights strung up on our real tree outside and a few strings inside on our fake tree.  A grand total of 10 watts for the lot!

All around me, I can hear the planet sobbing with sadness from all the CO2-e being released from coal-fired power plants and resources being squandered.  Such a simple act of using energy efficient Christmas lighting which is just as cheap as the normal incandescent bulbs would avert millions of tonnes of CO2-e from being released this year.  Try and tame your inner Griswald this year, please. 

Maybe I over did it with the planet crying bit, but Christmas is the biggest consumptive festival of the year.  More resources get used for little or no purpose at this time of year than of any other.  It just breaks my heart to see unwanted presents thrown away, when they could be donated to charity for someone who would really enjoy the gift. 

We for one are having a simple day tomorrow.  A roast dinner shared by the family, a few thoughtful family gifts, and some family games in the afternoon.  Notice the repeated word?  You guessed it.  Family.  That is what it is all about.  It is not about what you get or more the case didn't get or consumption for consumption's sake. 

All I want for Christmas is to be with my wife and children and have an enjoyable time.  Another gift we have given ourselves is an extreme lack of credit card debt.  In fact, we have not bought a single thing on plastic this year!  Everything saved for, and paid in full with cash.  You have to be happy with that!  Credit card debt = $0.

So, on this day and tomorrow, I wish you all a Merry, low carbon, and debt free Christmas.  What else could anyone ask for?

Oh, and have a coal free New Year!

Jam Session

Last week, my friend Sim gave me some excess apricots from the tree in her backyard.  Thanks Sim!

I put them to good use that night.  They were very sweet and juicy, however some of the fruit had split because of all the rain we have had but it was the perfect thing for making jam.

My recipe was simple.  450g of de-stoned apricots, 1 and a quarter cups of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of Jamsetta (pectin).  Into the bread-maker with all ingredients, and set to "Jam" and press start.  An hour later this is what we ended up with.  It makes two jars, even thought only one is pictured.

Now, Kim was not a huge fan of apricot jam, but once she tasted my jam, she was hooked.  It went well with crusty home baked wholemeal bread as a treat for supper.

I also have a confession, because not everything went according to plan first time around.  It was about 10 minutes into the bread-maker cycle that I realised that I had forgotten to put the little stirrer attachment at the bottom of the pan.  I only realised this when I smelt an unusual odour coming from the bread-maker.  No harm was done, and I just tipped the ingredients from the pan into a bowl, gave the pan a quick wash, put the attachment in place and filled up the pan again with the mixture.  Then I thought I had broken the bread-maker because I kept getting an error on the display when I tried to restart the cycle.  Thank goodness the error codes where in the manual, and I worked out that the bread-maker has to cool down before you can start another cycle.  Once it was cool, there were no more glitches.  Thankfully the jam did not burn, and tasted great when finally cooked. 

Jam is so easy to make in the bread-maker.  I have never tried making jam on the stove, so maybe one of my readers could post a quick recipe in a comment.  I am sure that those without a bread-maker would appreciate the gesture.

Bon Appetite!

 

Climate Action With A Punch

I don't know how I stumbled across this article from Argentina.  It is about a guerrilla action taken by the Red Cross no less.

The original article is translated from Spanish and goes something like this.

"Each day of guerrilla action appears even more creative and to generate buzz.  And that developed by Leo Burnett in Buenos Aires for the Red Cross (Argentina division of the Red Cross - Red Cross) is one.  To warn about global warming and its consequences, a "man melted" distributed leaflets with tips on how to save energy.

With this action, the institution wants to awaken the conscience of citizens so they can be allies in the fight against climate change.

The Red Cross Argentina spends much of its budget in areas affected by natural disasters such as floods, droughts, storms and so on. And all these disasters are caused mainly by global warming."

This is one of the best campaigns I have seen for raising awareness about Climate Change.  I wish I had have thought of it!  It would be so cool to do this at Parliament House in Canberra and hand a leaflet to our Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, as he walks out of the building.  The media would love it!  Then, maybe he will get the message loud and clear about his less than adequate 5-15% emission reduction target for 2020.

And before you all ask where his legs are, the original article did not say.  Maybe they dug a hole in the steps!

A New Chapter

Yesterday, I got a big surprise. I was asked by Rhonda Jean from Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op to join as a regular contributor to this blog!

I was honoured and jumped at the opportunity to contribute to this wonderful repository of knowledge. I have learned much over the last few years, and am honoured to be able to reach a much wider audience. That is not to say that this blog will suffer in quality or quantity. On the contrary. I believe that my writing will benefit from the experience and my personal opinions and action will continue to be posted on this site. I am looking forward to being a part of something bigger than myself and my own humble blog.

I hope you will visit me and the other writers over at the Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op. I am excited, how about you?

Homemade Christmas Crackers

On Thursday evening, Kim and I got stuck into a couple of glasses of red, to loosen us up for the main event which was to make home-made Christmas Crackers.

I had been saving toilet roll tubes for about two months to use as seed planters, but decided to use them for Christmas crackers instead.  Here is how we made them.

I put a little cut in one end of one tube and them inserted it into a second tube. 

Then Kim cut some crepe paper to size to wrap around the tubes and then glued them in place.

Then I tied off one end with some fancy shiny stuff, so that one end was still open.

Then I stuffed them with useful things, like lollies, chocolates, pens, fridge magnets, pencil sharpeners, and nail clippers (you can never have enough nail clippers).  Too much plastic wrapping, I know, but we were both sick of the cheap plastic toys that shop bought Christmas crackers are filled with these days.

Once filled, I then tied off the other end, and passed it back to Kim.  She then wrapped some nice ribbon around each cracker and glued it in place.  I then stuck a bow on each one.

 

Here all of the finished crackers.  It took us about two hours from start to finish.  Don't they just look pretty!  We didn't put any bangers inside them, but the contents of each one will be well worth the wait. 

We are so looking forward to Christmas Day, as it will be cool here in Melton, with an expected maximum temp of about 23 degrees C.  That means that we can have a roast dinner.  Yummy.  Not too much fuss on the day, as I will prepare the veggies the night before and leave them in water overnight.  All the kids will be here for dinner which we will serve mid afternoon.  This year, it is not about the presents (as we had a limited budget), but all about the good times.  We have a special present that all the family can play.  Not very eco-friendly, but I will do a post about it after the big day.

I intend on doing a few posts over the holidays, but not as frequent as I usually do.  I realise that readers to this blog may be far and few between due to their own busy lives, so I will take that time to enjoy my own hard earned holidays.  Don't miss me too much, because I will be back, fully recharged, stronger and greener than ever next year!

So, wherever you live on this big blue/green marble we inhabit, have a safe and happy festive season and see you back here soon at TGOG.

Lots of Love,

Gav, Kim, Adam, Amy, Megan, Ben, Butch the Wonder Dog, and the chooks!

 

Re-skill For The CPRS

From 1 July 2010, all Australian entities that emit over 25,000 tonnes of CO2-e must comply with the accounting and reporting aspects of the scheme.  All large entities who emit over 125,000 tonnes CO2-e must have an independent audit of their accounts and reports.  I can see a golden opportunity that was not there before the scheme was announced.  You see, all of these companies have to account and report each year by 31 October each year, with a submission to the Department of Climate Change as to how many tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions they directly produced.  So who is going to do all of this reporting?

Well that is where the golden opportunity comes into the picture.  I have signed up for a Carbon Accounting course at Swinburne University.  The course starts on 12 Jan 09, with 3 classroom days, and about 60 hours work with a final assessment.  I am taking annual leave for the 3 classroom days, just so that work is kosher with it.  I have also funded it myself.

The course objectives are as follows:

• Identify and categorise greenhouse gas emissions
• Prepare and interpret a carbon inventory
• Interpret greenhouse reports to assist in strategic business planning
• Prepare for anticipated carbon management legislation
• Evaluate business risks in a carbon constrained economy
• Review the organisation’s carbon management options
• Develop a carbon report for the organisation
• Review carbon reporting procedures

So, I reckon that if you can't beat them, then join them, but in a way that will benefit by the reduction of GHG emissions and on my terms.  I have so much experience already by reducing my own carbon footprint at home, it can only be a valuable asset in this sort of field.

I am hoping that with this extra knowledge in my career toolbox, I can begin to expand into the Sustainability & Environment field, where my obvious passion lays.  I will try to secure a position within my current company first, giving them first dibs at my new skills.  If I am not successful at securing an internal position, I will then begin to formula a plan on what avenue I should then take or look for other education and re-skilling opportunities. 

Now that I am over the Carbon Blues and have read a lot more of the white paper, I believe that there are exciting times ahead (even though I don't agree with the target of 5-15%).  Naturally, I will keep you all posted on my progress, but it might be a bit quite on the blog whilst I am studying. 

Wish me luck!

“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” Galileo Galilei 1564-1642.

Carbon Blues

 

Sorry about this, but I won't be posting a precis of the CPRS tonight.  However, I have been busy sending emails to the Prime Minister and Climate Change Minister to let them know I am not amused with their pathetic target of 5-15% by 2020.  It is the only real action I can take until the next election, besides joining one of the protests that are happening all throughout the week.  I will certainly be looking into that.

I suppose I am blue because I expected better of our government.  Not to be unfortunately, as these days they seem to take the word of industry and bow to the almighty 'economy' rather than doing the right thing and making tough decisions about the future of the planet and all who live on it.

Enough said about the subject, so onwards and upwards, keep doing what I am doing, and try to do the best I can each and every single day.  Leading by example is what I do well, unlike any of these clowns.

Thank goodness I didn't vote for either major party.  I would feel even worse.

Gav

Carbon Scheme Calamity

There are not enough words in the English language to describe how angry I feel at the moment.  This anger is directed at the Australian Government and their childish attempt of setting a ridiculously low emissions target for the year 2020.  Faaaaaarrrrrrrrrk!  I just want to scream. And here is the reason why.....

Government announces emissions targets of just 5% by 2020!

Are they yanking our collective chain?  Do they think we are all idiots?  Do they think the rest of the world will not laugh them out of the next climate conference.  In the words of Dr Phil, "What were they thinking?"  No wonder they held off announcing this emissions target until after the Poznan conference which ended last week.  If our government had announced it at the conference, and if there were buckets of horse crap in the room, everyone would have thrown it at our delegates.  I know I would have!

Having read the first 100 odd pages of the white paper (it is a very large document), I get the distinct feeling that the coal lobby has had a lot of influence over the governments decision for a miniscule 5% target for 2020. There is also a  proposed administrative allocation of free permits for our one of our largest polluting industries, which would be???? You guessed it.  COAL!  Someone in the industry is pissing in Rudd's pocket.  Disgusting behaviour for a government that is supposed to be popular with the people.  This scheme is business as usual for big polluting industries as far as I am concerned.

I will be reading through the rest of the document tonight, and will give everyone a better review of the proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme tomorrow.  As I mentioned before, I am just too angry to write any more.  In the mean time, if you are as concerned about our future generations as I am, please voice your opinion at the GetUp! site by voting either yes or no (your choice of course) because votes in the next election are  the only words governments understand.  GetUp! are running a campaign about the CPRS weak targets and you can have a read of the GetUp!! media release for a layman's explanation of the emissions targets consequences to the people of our great nation.

When I think about the future state of planet and what will be left for future generations if these clowns are allowed to implement a weak emissions target, the saying "Up Shit Creek without a paddle" comes to mind! 

Hopefully, people power will come to the rescue.  I know I will be doing everything in my power to convince the government to set a stronger interim target.  Just remember Mr Rudd, big polluting companies can't vote for you at the next election, but my friends and I can!

 

Neighbour's Patch Update

Just popped over to visit Danni and Dale to check out the progress of their veggie patch.  It is going very well on account of all the rain we have just had and the TLC they have been giving it.

So here is the comparison photos again for those who missed it first and second time around.  Click to enlarge any photo.

Week Zero:

Week Four:

Week Seven:

Everything is going crazy!  The tomatoes have doubled in size, taller than Mason, and most have fruit on them.  The lettuces are all ready for harvest, the parsley is taking over the front part.

The view from the other side is now equally as impressive.

 

The sweetcorn seed I gave Dale is going strong, and the spring onions, cucumbers, pumpkins, and zucchini are growing well.  The other day, I recommended that they fertilize again with Dynamic Lifter (DL) with a sprinkle around each plant.  Danni did this before the rain, it has dissolved all of the DL and it should now be spurring on the crop.  I am very proud of them, and they have done so well.  Dale mentioned that he is going to extend the patch even further past the tree stump now that the soil is all wet.  "Great idea," I gleamed, "just don't forget to mulch and top dress with DL!"

Well done neighbours!  Keep up the great work and the enthusiasm.  Soon you will be harvesting the fruits of your labour.

 

Love The One You're With

Due to the rain yesterday, I spent a bit of time surfing the net and I stumbled across this gem of a video about personal computers.  Let me explain why I think the message in the video is a good one.

Electronic waste or eWaste as it is known, is becoming a massive problem in Australian landfills.  PC's as well as most consumer electronic goods contain many heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cadmium, as well as chlorofluorocarbons and brominated flame retardants, which can seep from landfills into water supplies or waft from incinerators into the atmosphere.

We now know that consumer electronics will leach, can leach, and do leach into the the water table.  This contamination can last for many thousands of years and have dire health effects and consequences to all living things.

So how do we fix the issue of eWaste?  Well I can think of four straight up. 

Firstly, reduce comes to mind.  Do you really need three TV's and DVD players in your home.  How many can you watch at once?  When an item of consumer electronics breaks, ask yourself if you really need to replace it.  Is it a want or a need?

Secondly, when something does break, think about repairing the item.  4 weeks ago, my Surround Sound AV receiver broke and wouldn't power on.  My first thought was to check out the latest models, but my green heart then took over and whispered otherwise.  I began looking for repair centres in my local area and found that the closest was in Ballarat, some 70km away.  Luckily it was only 5 minutes from where my daughter Amy lives so what better excuse to make the trip and pop in for a cupper while I was in the area. 

I had a couple of financial options at the repair centre.  I could pay $30 up front and then get a repair quote to see if the item was worth repairing, or I could just go ahead and get it fixed and damn the expense.  I chose the first option!  After about a week the repair dude called back and said it would cost about $100 to fix the amp.  What a bargain, as a new one would have cost anywhere from $500 to $2000 depending on how crazy you went.  I asked the guy to proceed, and within a few weeks it was repaired and it now works like a bought one.  The bill came to $102!  It is well worth doing for major electronic goods, and I feel good for taking the time to fix the broken item.

Thirdly, specifically with PC's, upgrading is a viable option, as shown in the video above.  By simply doubling the RAM in your PC, you will see a dramatic increase in performance.  If you are running low on storage, ask your local PC's expert if you can install larger hard drives in your PC.  Large capacity drives are relatively inexpensive these days, and can be installed quickly and easily.  I have had my PC for 4 years now, and have upgraded the video card, RAM and hard drives.  Instead of placing the old equipment into land fill, I sold them on eBay for someone else to get good use out of.  All the kids have hand-me-down PC's that I have acquired over the years, and it suits them just fine.  The only PC's that I intend to buy in future years are greener models like laptops or notebooks that have had the nasty metals designed out of them.  They also consume about 75% less energy than a desktop PC does. 

Fourthly, recycle old consumer electronics, don't just throw them in the bin.  There are many PC and electronic recyclers out there.  Even my local recycling centre takes electronic goods, but there are dedicated PC recyclers in most major cities.  By using these facilities, you are diverting these goods, and therefore the harmful heavy metals as listed above, out of landfill and keep our water and air cleaner for future generations.

So do yourself and the planet a favour and love the one you're with!

 

Home Electricity Generation Update

This quarter (October-December) has been wonderful for Solar PV in my area.  Due to the extreme lack of precipitation (except for the past few days), we have had very sunny days.  Now, all this solar radiation is certainly not going to waste at TGOG's house.  All of the solar panels (and plants) are lapping it up, converting all of those lovely little photons into electrons, and powering all the gear around our house.

Nice array!

So hear are the results comparing grid to solar PV usage.

That means that we have generated more than we needed and have a surplus of about 28.3 kWh up our sleeves.  Seeing that there is only 18 days until the end of the quarter, I believe we should be in surplus at the end of the quarter as well.  I can't wait to see the bill from Origin Energy.  I bet they query the reading!  Either way, I still have to pay the supply charge which is about $42 just for the privilege of being connected to the grid.  I reckon they should pay me, because I am supplying them!

I started taking weekly measurements in April 2007.  That is the anniversary month.  So from April 2007 - March 2008 we generated 63.2% of our own electricity.  The running tally of self generation compared to grid usage from April 2008 to now is as below.

We have generated 76% of our own electricity needs.  I am very happy with that, because it is the target I had in my mind when sized our system.  It also helps that two of my adult children have left home :) 

Our average daily usage this quarter has also been very low.  We have been using on average 12.6 kWh per day.  That is even with the pool pump on for 3 hours a day, and that uses about 5 kWh per day.  Just think if we didn't have a pool, we would only use about 7.6 kWh a day, which I think is amazing. 

I believe that by involving the entire family in the energy conservation game, we have easily managed to get down to these low figures.  I could not have done it without their help.  Thanks to Kim, Adam, Amy, Megan, Ben and Butch the wonder-dog (and the chooks).

Someone Needs A Raincoat

Picture this.  Another 12mm of rain so far today and a lovely wet garden.  However, some of my family are too silly to take shelter indoors.  The things you see on a rainy day!  I didn't know that Edwina had white feathers underneath the brown.

And here is another shot of all my fine feathered girls having their afternoon feed of rainbow chard.

Kim and I put another tarp over their run, so that hopefully tomorrow, it will keep them a bit dryer.  I wonder if they will have the good sense to stay under cover?  Kim reckons that she should make them little raincoats.  I think she is funny.

We Got Rain!

I feel like Gene Kelly in the movie "Singing in the Rain".  What a wonderful feeling, I'm hap, hap, happy again!

Finally, some rain.  Yesterday we received about 3mm of rain between about 1300 to 1800.  It didn't bucket down but was constant, with the soil still damp down to about 6cm twenty four hours later.  A good start, but very seasonally late.  I kept checking the weather radar during the shower, just to make sure that it was still coming our way, and spent a fair amount of time outside staring at the plants lapping up all the goodness.  Even the chooks got a bath and were drenched by the time the rain stopped.  Too silly to go into their house to get out of it, but I suppose they have only seen rain twice since they were born. The rainwater tank is full to the top.  It doesn't take much to top it back up again seeing that we have 50% of the roof catchment feeding into it.

I checked the entire veggie patch when I got home this evening, and I swear that everything has grown at least 5cm higher than it was before the rain.  It never ceases to amaze me the fantastic power of a rain shower on the vegetable garden.  It is like miracle grow without the chemical cocktail!

It is forecast to rain some more in Western Victoria tomorrow, so fingers crossed for another few millimetres.

That rain dance that I have been doing since July has finally worked!  Better late than never.

"Weather is a great metaphor for life - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella."  ~ Pepper Giardino

 

Clean Coal - An Oxymoron

I believe that this is the reality about so called Clean Coal.

And the pseudo science behind Clean Coal, in a way we simpletons can all understand it. :)

I will finish up with this quote for the day.

"Clean coal' is like a healthy cigarette. It doesn't exist." - Blan Holman

For more clean coal facts visit This is Reality. Help save the canary!

Poznan Talks Are A Joke

What a farce!  All talk and no action as usual.  The UN talks on Climate Change have achieved little so far from what I read, and by the looks of it they will do little to prepare for the real talks next year in Copenhagen, which is supposed to cement in binding targets to replace the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.  Even when the worlds climate change/environment ministers arrive next week, everyone is holding their breath to see what President-elect Barack Obama does early next year. 

All the developed nations are dragging their heals, like we have all the time in the world to stop runaway climate change.  Even my own countries politicians have broken a recent promise of setting short term emission targets before the talks in Poznan.  Instead, they are waiting until after the talks, and it is believed the Australian Government will probably set a weak target so that the proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) starts off slowly, and not with a bang.  I expect massive pandering to vested interest groups, like coal, oil and mining.  Short term gain for very long term pain!  Strong targets will give everyone hope, and if weak ones are set, we might as well give up now!

The real problem is that the science indicates that we all must set between 25-40 percent reductions by 2020.  Otherwise, as the majority of the science community suggests, we will reach and average of 2 degree of global warming, and will past the tipping point of runaway climate change.  This means that once we drop over that point, it doesn't really matter how much we reduce global emissions, because the damage is already done and there is no turning back!  There are already indications that the IPCC recommendations were far too conservative, and that climate change is already accelerating quicker than the science initially predicted.  Say goodbye to the Arctic icecap if this inaction keeps up.  I reckon it will be gone soon anyway, and all we will get are the countries, that border the Arctic Ocean, squabbling about potential resource exploitation of the very stuff like oil that got us into this mess.

I hope our elected officials get serious real quick.  I am really getting sick of these delaying tactics very quickly.  For more info on the political circus that is the Poznan talks have a look at the article below.  Very depressing indeed. 

"Stop talking and start doing."

To hell with waiting for governments to actually do something about the issue. Lets just keep getting down to business by reducing our own carbon footprint a little each and every day.  Our small actions speak much louder than their big words ever will.  Here's to people power!

Welsh Dinnertime

This afternoon I harvested what I thought would be a bumper crop of leeks.  It was the first time I have ever grown them, and they did not turn out as expected.  Instead of fat, white leeks, I ended up with skinny bulbous green leeks.  The entire crop of about 20 plants were about the same size at 1 normal sized leek.  I was a little disappointed, but didn't let it get me down.  I will just have to read a bit more because there are a few things I think I didn't do right.  I didn't blanch the stems by wrapping newspaper around them, or pile up mulch around each plant.  I didn't thin them out enough.  I don't think I fertilised them enough either.  Oh well, there is always next season which is only about 4 months away before I plant some more for winter.  Some growing tips from Olive and Popeye would be fantastic if they drop by the blog! 

Now, not wanting to waste this humble offering of home grown leeks, I decided to make leek and potato soup.  I have never tried to cook this before but have tasted this type of soup in a restaurant.  I had to buy two more leeks from the grocer to add to my crop as the recipe calls for three leeks.  I also used homegrown onions and garlic in my recipe.

Leek and Potato Soup

Serves 4

2 leeks, washed, sliced

2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 brown onion, halved then sliced

30gm butter

2 sticks celery, sliced

A sprig of thyme

2 bay leaves

Water

Salt & Pepper to season

1.   Melt the butter in a heavy based pan, add all the vegetables.   Turn down the heat to a simmer and sweat for 10 minutes. 

2.  Add the sprig of thyme and bay leaves, and add enough cold water to just cover the vegetables.  Bring to boil, reduce and simmer uncovered for about 25 minutes or until the potato is soft.

3.  Remove the sprig and bay leaves and blend soup with hand blender until smooth and creamy.  Season with salt and pepper.  Just add a little at a time until the desired taste is achieved.  Bon Appetite!

I served it up with crusty home made bread.  It was fantastic, and even Ben wolfed it down.  We all found it very filling and just what was needed on a cool day. 

Green 70's Week - Stop And Think

It always puzzles me when people give cut flowers as a gift to a loved one.  I personally give potted flowers because they last much longer, and when the recipient waters the plant, they think of the wonderful person that gave it to them.  It also reduces your carbon footprint because cut flowers are often raised in heated greenhouses or transported from interstate or overseas, just so that we can have cut blooms all year round.

Food for thought and the final in the green 70's week series.

Enjoy!

Green 70's Week - Being Green

I loved this song when I was a kid, and it still resonates strongly with me now, if not more so.  It is that old classic from the original green muppet himself.

Tear!  I am proud to be green.  I feel important like a mountain, or tall like a tree.  It's what I want to be.

Gav

Green 70's Week - Paper Recycling

Another Sesame Street clip.  This time it is the kids who show us the way.  Old paper = New paper!

I wish we had a simple recycling campaign like this one in this decade.  If the kids could understand it back then, maybe some of it will rub off on the adults today.

Enjoy!

Working My Patch

I had a bit of a delay in posting this one.  I thought I would spend a few evenings with Kim as she hasn't been well of late, so therefore I really haven't had time to write a big post.  She has been having a troubling few weeks with fatigue due the her MS and it has been wearing her down.  I am helping out, of course, so with a bit more rest and time to heal, she will be right as rain again.  It just takes time with this sort of thing.

Anyway, I worked hard in the garden on Sunday while she was resting in bed.  Planting, watering, fertilizing and a little bit of weeding.  Not too strenuous, but enough to work up a bit of a sweat.

I harvested all of the onions and left them of the deck table to dry and form their outer skins.  Here is the bounty!  I haven't counted them, but I know I won't need to buy brown onions for a while.  I will pickle the smaller ones on the weekend, and use the larger ones over the next month or so. Click to enlarge any photo.

I made a trip to Bunnings and bought some recycled plastic stakes for the tomato seedlings that I have grown.  I put in one each of Elfie, Mortgage Lifter, Tigerella, and Tommy Toe.  I also put in 5 Purple Russian tomato plants in the chooks veggie bed on the other side of the yard, right at the back of the bed so they couldn't reach them through the chicken wire fence that surrounds it.  Them chickens is organised and clever!

The lettuce is doing well and the wicking pots are working like a treat.  I also made a trellis in the same bed and planted snow peas at the base of it.  I was sick of the way the peas did not climb up the tee pees that I usually make out of bamboo, so thought that this might work as there are more wires for the peas to grab hold of.  They have already burst through the soil, and I am very impressed at how quickly they have germinated.  Also in this bed I planted red spring onions, mizuna and freckles lettuce.  It is a real summer salad bed!

The first bed of tomatoes and a single eggplant are doing very well now, after a slow start.  There is so much fruit already on the vines and many more flowers yet to form fruit.  These are the self seeded tomatoes from in the citrus pots that I transplanted.

The rainbow chard that I planted from seed is growing very quickly now.  I will have to transplant it on Saturday in the bed that I pulled the onions out of.  I will add a little composted chook poo to the bed to give them a good feed.

The pumpkin patch is growing very fast now.  We have already had a flower on the golden nugget, and some forming on the butternut.  The Kent are not big enough yet to flower, but at the rate they are growing, it won't be long.  I have one rockmelon plant in the same bed and it is just beginning to creep and flower.  This will be the first successful rockmelon I have grown (fingers crossed).  The earwigs and slugs ate the other 5 seedlings I grew. I also have two zucchini plants growing well centre front of the bed.  I had to cover them every night with a plastic bowl to keep the slugs off of them until they grew large enough.  The things we do for our veggies!

In the new bed in the front yard, I planted watermelon (sugar baby), rockmelon (prescott fond blanc) seeds, which have germinated already, and transplanted the 4 African Horned Melon that I managed to get to germinate in black pots (they like it hot).  No photo, but I have been watering them with the grey water from the washing machine.  They love it and are growing quickly now they are up and running.  In the same bed, I have managed to keep 7 cucumber plants alive, and they are also growing well.  All of the sweetcorn is at least 30cm high, some are about double that size, and all healthy.

I have the old onion bed to prep on Saturday and I will put in the rainbow chard, and the remaining few tomato plants I have left.  I have yellow current, tommy toe, and one other variety that was from a mixed packet.   I have two capsicums that are going well from seed so they will go in the same bed as the tomatoes. 

All the fruit and citrus trees are bearing well and laden with fruit, except the new apricot and the Jonathan apple tree because the chooks ate the flowers.  Naughty chickens!  I will net it early next year and it should grow high enough so they can't reach the flowers.

I reckon that should just about do me for the summer crop, unless of course I decide to convert another bed in the front yard over the weekend!  Who knows, I might just get bored and have a spare hour or two up my sleeve.

Green 70's Week - History of Recycling

Well, not exactly all 70's content, but close enough.  Did you know that the first Earth Day was held in 1970?  I thought it was a recently created event, and not that old.  The things you learn when watching this series!

This is an outstanding clip.  I am so glad I found it.

Enjoy!

 

Green 70's Week - Pollution

This is a pretty groovy cartoon.  Great, simple message - Stamp Out Pollution.  I think Split Enz were wrong when they sung "History Never Repeats"!  This is something we all need to be vigilant on.  Wouldn't it be good to cancel Clean Up Australia day for the simple fact that there was no pollution left because we all did the right thing?

Another one for the kids to watch.  What a great decade!

Enjoy!

I Get Around...

No post on my blog tonight, as I have a guest spot over on Sharon J's blog "Finding Simplicity". I called the post "Allotment Gardening Builds Community"

Not often does one get the chance to write for an entirely new audience in another country! Thank you Sharon for letting me fill in for the day, whilst you are sunning it up in Malta. Hope you are having a great time and taking the time to chill out.

Green 70's Week - The King Who Wasted Paper

I actually remember watching this clip on Sesame Street when I was a kid.  Boy did it bring back memories and a lump in my throat.

This is a great clip to show the kids! It has a great environmental message that we in Australia should listen to.  We need to leave our old growth forests intact as the first step in preventing climate change.

Enjoy

Green 70's Week

Interspersed throughout this week, I will posting green video messages from the 1970's.  This was the era that was struck with two energy crisis and experienced huge spikes in prices and shortages of oil, similar to where we were heading before we had the financial melt down.  The U.S. had a half decent President willing to make tough decisions in the form of Jimmy Carter.  Jimmy even had solar PV on the white house roof.  These panels was later removed by Ronald Regan when greed and not conservation became the new political dogma (remember the 80's movie Wall Street and Gordon Gecko - "Greed is good"). 

So to get a feel for the era, here is a speech given by President Carter about the energy crisis.  I watched it and thought to myself that President Obama will probably have the give exactly the same speech in a few years time.  What a shock it will to the American people and indeed the globe to see history repeating itself.  I can't help but think if we would even be worried about climate change if we continued down the path first set out in this decade.  It is something to ponder about, because we can't change the past, just the future.  Let hope that we all act in unison real soon.

Enjoy the green 70's week!

 

I Love Strawberry Jam

Here is some I made yesterday.

 

On the way home from visiting Amy in Ballarat, we stopped off in Bacchus Marsh where they have a large strawberry farm. We bought 2 kg @ $9 a kilo.  The fruit was oh so sweet.  It took 450 grams of freshly picked strawberries to make these three 200 gm jars of jam.  There are also two of my own homegrown strawberries in the mix. Unfortunately, most of the time my own strawberries get eaten as they ripen, and never make it into the house. 

Here is how I made the jam in the bread maker.

Hull and quarter 450gm of fresh strawberries.  Place in bread maker pan. Then add 1 and a third cups of sugar, and two tablespoons of "Jamsetta" (pectin).  Set the bread maker to the jam setting, and press start.  It takes about 1 hour 5 minutes to stir and cook.

Pour into sterilised jars.  Be very careful, the jam is boiling hot.  I had to use oven mitts to handle the bread maker pan.  I offered the spoon for Ben to lick but he wasn't interested, so all the more for me.  It tasted delicious and is so easy to make.  It is certainly the easiest method I know to make small quantities of jam.

We are going to keep two of the jars, and give the other one to Amy for Christmas.  She loves strawberry jam as much as I do!

 

The Neighbours Patch

I am happy to report that the neighbours veggie patch is doing well.

Here is the before shot we took about 4 weeks ago when we first prepped and planted.

And here it is now in all of its glory! This was taken yesterday.

As you can see, they now have parsley in front, then some spring onions, lettuce, 6 tomato plants (2 that I gave them), cucumbers, sweetcorn (from seeds I saved from last year), more spring onions, and pumpkins down near the compost bin.  The tomatoes have fruit developing on them, and Dale picked his first lettuce to take to the MIL.

Both Danny and Dale are so eager that they have dug over one of the spare beds in their front yard and they are going to plant some Sugarbaby watermelons.  They are going to water them with greywater from their washing machine.  Well done neighbours, you are doing great.  BTW, Butch told me to tell you to keep the bones coming as well.  He loves it when you visit!