Habitat Australia articles from February 2003

Habitat Australia archives from February 2003

Green power confusion. (green Views).(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2003... I read with great concern your apparent confusion between green energy under the Renewable Energy Act (REA) and Green Power, in the article "Appeal for our Old Growth Forests". The REA relates to the mandatory requirement for retailers to...

Japanese recycling--sorted! (green Views).(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2003... The article on recycling in Habitat [December 2002] reminded me of an interesting system for recycling which I saw in Nagasaki, Japan, a few years ago. One of the major obstacles to recycling is the cost of sorting the material. A second...

Open day at 60L green building. (green Views).
February 1, 2003... Sunday March 16, 2003 11am-4pm 60 Leicester Street, Carlton, Melbourne ACF is proud to showcase its new home, 60L, Australia's greenest commercial building on Sunday March 16, 2003. Supporters are encouraged to join staff and councillors...

Calling the toon. (green Views).(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2003... I have just read my copy of the recent issue of Habitat, and I am writing to express my concern at the cartoon by Somerville. It is a cheap, gratuitous and crude attack on politicians. Many politicians are as passionate about the environment as...

Casual council vacancies. (green Views).
February 1, 2003... Nominations are invited from members to fill a number of casual vacancies on ACF Council. There is one vacancy in Western Australia (re-advertised), one in Tasmania and there are two vacancies in Queensland. Candidates and nominators must be...

A word from the President. (green Views).(2003 critical year for environment)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
February 1, 2003... With the shadows of war (fossil fuel addiction) extending, the clouds of dust (landclearing) descending, walls of noise (oil exploration) on our marine environment increasing and the mouth of the Murray closing, it's clear that 2003 will be a...

New ACF treasurer. (green Views).(Australian Conservation Foundation)(Kester Brown)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... ACF would like to thank Goodcompany for assistance in finding a new treasurer. Goodcompany is an organisation that exists to help put young professionals in contact with community organisations seeking assistance with specific one-off needs and...

Australian Conservation Foundation Inc. Minutes of the 36th Annual General Meeting. (green Views).
February 1, 2003... Saturday November 23, 2002, 7.00pm ACF's Melbourne Office, 60 Leicester St, Carlton, VIC 1. Welcome President Peter Garrett warmly welcomed members, councillors and staff to the 36th Annual General Meeting of the Australian...

In the wake of the prestige. (Marine Campaign).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... When the ageing single-hulled oil tanker Prestige broke up off the Spanish coast recently, over 20,000 tonnes of heavy crude oil spewed into the ocean, killing wildlife, fouling beaches and destroying the ocean-based livelihoods of local...

Online petition, for QLD. (Land Clearing Campaign).(Queensland)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... If you live in Queensland, you can let the state government know your views on land clearing by signing the online petition at the Government's own website. Just follow the links to E-Petition and land clearing at the address below. ...

COAG [Council of Australian Governments] meeting a wasted opportunity. .(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... On 6 December 2002, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) met to address the critical issue of water. ACF called for three key outcomes from the meeting: the restoration of the Murray River to good health; an end to broad-scale land...

Environment key issue. .(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Environmental issues were front of stage in the November 30 Victorian election, thanks in some part to the coordinated efforts of ACF and other environmental groups. The Bracks Labor government was re-elected with the Greens receiving almost 10...

Howard eclipses renewable energy. .(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The federal government announced in December that it will scrap funding for the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy (ACRE). ACRE has been at the forefront of research and development in solar and fuel cell technologies. The federal...

Climate change threatens public health.(senator, kcpatterson @health.gov.au)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has called on the federal government to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, and has written to all federal parliamentarians asking them to support Kyoto because of the threat to public health posed by climate...

Howard tries to reduce the rights of shareholders. .(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... While the United States and other western democracies are in the process of implementing stronger regulations to encourage good corporate governance, the Australian federal government is proposing to remove an existing law that is designed to...

Want not, waste not. .(www.acfonline.org.au www.foe.org.au )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... There is growing resistance across much of regional Australia to the federal government's deeply unpopular plan to transport radioactive waste over long distances to a dump site near Woomera in northern South Australia. The decision to push...

Nuclear plant construction re-commences.(www.reactnow.org www.greenpeace.org.au )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Construction work has recommenced on the second nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights in southern Sydney, despite growing opposition in Australia and overseas. In an attempt to reverse the negative perception of the project, the Australian...

Write off Jabiluka. .(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The Mirrar People, the traditional owners of parts of the country that include the Ranger and Jabiluka uranium sites in Kakadu have called on mining giant Rio Tinto to make its promise to not develop Jabiluka without Mirrar consent legally...

Guardians of the deep: Australia's oceans and the unique creatures they support are suffering from increasing human activity and the vagaries of management by many different governments.
February 1, 2003... EACH SUMMER the largest animal that has ever lived makes its way from distant oceans to Australia's shores. Thirty metres long and weighing in at 130 tonnes, the blue whale comes here to feed after many months of fasting. Once abundant...

Building our hopes and dreams: Australia's building industry now has a superb green model to emulate--and there's no reason why it can't.
February 1, 2003... "I love the whole building--it's clean and easy to breathe in. I feel more awake and not so tired after work." --ACF employee on the 60L Green Building. This endorsement of ACF's new office headquarters, located on the first floor of...

Acting accordingly: tenants at 60L have signed a most unusual occupancy agreement.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... In years to come it is possible that one of the most significant contributions of 60L to sustainability in Australia will be its unique leasing arrangement. One of the greatest impediments to the sustainable operation of a building is the...

A perfect fit: where can you find floors made of used wine corks, tables made of old computer cases and walls made of wheat and rice straw? Where? In the greenest office fit-out Australia has ever seen.
February 1, 2003... When ACF was looking for environmentally-minded architects to design ACF's Green Office Fit-out, it was aiming for a design that would utilise sustainable materials, that would consider staff needs and would maximise the natural lighting and...

Shedding old skin: the shake-up that came with Australia Conservation Foundation's office move led to some unusual discoveries in the dark recesses of the old building.
February 1, 2003... What do the Museum of Victoria, ACF's old Gore Street neighbours and Visy Recycling have in common? They are all recipients of some of the possessions that ACF shed itself of in the move to its new headquarters. One hundred and fifty boxes...

Heat rises on alpine treehuggers: increases in temperature through climate change are thought likely to render this mountain-dwelling north Queenslander homeless.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... IF MOISTURE AND TEMPERATURE are the key limiting factors for the geographic ranges of flora and fauna, then climate change is likely to have profound effects on the earth's biota. Already we have begun to see signs of global warming; warmer...

Australian Conservation Foundation on the streets: look out for our advocates on the streets of Melbourne and Sydney.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED a new presence on the streets of Melbourne and Sydney--the Australian Conservation Foundation is now represented in these cities in the form of friendly fundraising campaigners. In all weather we are there, acting as...

Funding for renewables Research and Development shrivels up: the federal government's love affair with the minerals sector continues, shelling out big bucks for coal and oil--at the same time as axing funding for renewable energy research and development.
February 1, 2003... CLEAN ENERGY HAS BEEN GWEN a kick in the guts by a recent federal government decision to cut funding for the Perth-based Australian Centre for Renewable Energy (ACRE). Meanwhile, 2002 was Australia's hottest year on record, and government...

Fuelling landscape repair: could bioenergy be an important part of closed-loop energy production and combating salinity?
February 1, 2003... EXTRACTING ENERGY from biomass--farm wastes, wood, etc.--is nothing new. People have used all kinds of plant and animal material to heat, light, cook and forge new materials for millennia. Many still do. For instance, mallee trees are grown to...

Bush Seasons--an Affectionate Study of a Tiny Bushland.(Book Review)
February 1, 2003... Joan Semmens Hyland House $49.95 This is an extraordinary book in concept and execution. What began as a daily dog walk through a 45-hectare patch of grassy woodland in north-eastern Victoria, evolved over a 15-year-period into a...

Seeds of Concern--the Genetic Manipulation of Plants.(Book Review)
February 1, 2003... David Murray UNSW Press RRP $34.95 This book offers us many sharp insights into the technical, environmental and social contexts in which commercial genetically engineered crop plants are developed. Dr Murray's clear explanations and...

Gliders of Australia--a Natural History.(Book Review)
February 1, 2003... David Lindenmayer UNSW Press RRP $34.95 While colour photographs and thorough descriptions of gilder biology, ecology and conservation make this book a valuable technical resource, it is also peppered with curiosities worthy of any...

A Sense of Wonder.(Book Review)
February 1, 2003... Hadyn Washington Ecosolution Consulting RRP $19.95 A Sense of Wonder explores at the most primitive level our relationship with the natural world and what it is that drives people to protect it. Drawing on personal experience and writings...

Challenging traditionalists. .(Interview)
February 1, 2003... DR PETER BROTHERTON (Bro, as he is known to all) says the greatest asset he was able to bring to the inception and construction of the Green Building was his ability to ask two questions. "The first was `Why?' and the second was `Why not?.'"...

The rat pack: how can you tell if the scuttling noises in your roof are being made by a protected native species or `disease-bearing vermin'? .(Column)
February 1, 2003... Not so long ago my family and I noticed that we had a new tenant in our old timbermill house in the Otways. Telltale scuttling in the roof had us reaching for the Ratsak but we hesitated. Despite our ingrained fears of `disease-bearing vermin'...