Habitat Australia articles from July 2007

Habitat Australia archives from July 2007

Letter to the editor.(NEWS & VIEWS)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2007... Dear Habitat All with an interest in the conservation of the Otways will have read with interest Nikki Parker's account (January, 2007 Habitat) of the contribution which the Otway Ranges Environment Network (OREN) made to the campaign for...

GreenHome goes for gold!(NEWS & VIEWS)(Australian Conservation Foundation's educational program)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... ACF's GreenHome program is a finalist in the prestigious Banksia environmental awards. The program is up for contention in the award given for 'outstanding achievement in the development and delivery of educational programs that contribute to...

YMCA.(NEWS & VIEWS)(Young Men's Christian Associations's joint ventures with Australian Conservation Foundation)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The YMCA, Australia's premier community development organisation, and ACF, Australia's leading national not-for-profit environment organisation, have joined forces to work for a more sustainable Australia. Working together, utilising the...

Fish out of water.(NEWS & VIEWS)(Television program review)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... ACF's Healthy Rivers Campaigner, Dr Arlene Buchan, recently spent a day on the Murray River at Mildura with Olympic swimming champion Ian Thorpe and a television film crew. Thorpe and the crew were working on a documentary on climate change...

New financial regulations.(NEWS & VIEWS)(Australian Conservation Foundation's management)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... At a recent meeting, ACF's Board approved new financial regulations. Members have 30 days to comment on the new regulations. You can read the new regulations on our website at www.acfonline.org.au/ financialprocedures, or by phoning ACF on (03)...

Have you got what it takes to be an ACF Councillor?(NEWS & VIEWS)(Australian Conservation Foundation)
July 1, 2007... ACF has five casual vacancies for Councillors for the next three year term on the ACF Council. ACF Council is elected by ACF members. They come from a variety of backgrounds and each Councillor brings to ACF their unique personality and...

Murray River postcards make a splash.(NEWS & VIEWS)(water bill)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Thanks to all the ACF supporters who sent in Murray River postcards. The response has been excellent, with over 1500 postcards received. The Commonwealth has now produced a Draft Water Bill. ACE along with other environment and water...

Letter from Ian Lowe.(NEWS & VIEWS)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2007... Since the last edition of Habitat, environmental issues have continued to be prominent in Australian public debate. Climate change remains high on the agenda. Many public commentators now realise that we must take the drastic action...

Kevin Buzzacott wins 2007 Peter Rawlinson award.(NEWS & VIEWS)(environmental activist)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Veteran Aboriginal activist Kevin Buzzacott has been awarded the 2007 Peter Rawlinson Award for two decades of work highlighting the impacts of uranium mining and promoting a nuclear free Australia. An Arabunna man with traditional...

10th International Riversymposium & environmental Flows conference.(NEWS & VIEWS)(Conference news)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Managing environmental flows and issues surrounding urban rivers will be key topics presented by respected national and international river management experts at the 10th International Riversymposium and Environmental Flows Conference in...

Ritchies card.(NEWS & VIEWS)(Australian Conservation Foundation)
July 1, 2007... ACF supporters can now use a Ritchies Community Benefit Card to help support ACF. All you need to do is fill in an application form, available at all Ritchies supermarkets, nominating ACF as your preferred organisation. Then present the card...

Tommy raises awareness--and cash.(NEWS & VIEWS)(Tommy Kantor's environmental consciousness and donations)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Tommy Kantor decided that presents and balloons were not what would make his twelfth birthday party special. Instead, he asked his guests to make a donation to ACF. "I would really like to grow into a responsible adult one day (maybe not...

Share your green cleaning tip and win!(NEWS & VIEWS)
July 1, 2007... Habitat has two Orange Power green cleaning packs to give away. Orange Power uses orange oil as a natural solvent to provide six environmentally-friendly, low allergen, natural products--the Orange Power Multi Purpose Cleaner & Sanitiser,...

Do you own BHP Billiton shares?(NEWS & VIEWS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... If you are a member or supporter of ACF and also hold shares in BHP Billiton we would like to hear from you. ACF are campaigning on BHP Billiton's proposed expansion of the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia across a range of issues: of...

Earth from Above opens in Sydney.(NEWS & VIEWS)(outdoor photography exhibition)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The internationally renowned Earth from Above outdoor photography exhibition will be presented in Sydney for the first time, opening on 4th July until 26th December at Darling Harbour. The free open air exhibition features 120 spectacular...

The little restaurant that could ... and the Aussie industry that's set to follow: this is the story of how one Canadian chef's desire for quality seafood led to the overhaul of a fishing industry, and how Australia is following suit.
July 1, 2007... TEN YEARS AGO, Robert Clark, Canadian celebrity chef and executive chef at Vancouver's famous C Restaurant, wasn't all that interested in sustainable fishing. Had he known that international marine scientists were predicting the collapse of the...

Shedding light on household globes: almost everyone uses light globes in their home and swapping them for more energy-efficient globes is one of the easiest changes you can make to reduce your greenhouse pollution.(CLIMATE CORNER)
July 1, 2007... THERE ARE STRONG environmental arguments for all Australians to think about the light bulbs they choose for their homes. The Australian Greenhouse Office tells us that use of fluorescent lamps cuts lighting energy use and running costs by 75...

Video campaigning: the way of the future: ACF sets a new standard in environmental campaigning, with its ground breaking video petition.(ANATOMY OF A CAMPAIGN)(Australian Conservation Foundation)
July 1, 2007... The story so far... Papua New Guinea's precious rainforests, home to an amazing 6% of global biodiversity, are under increasing threat from illegal logging. Every year, Papua New Guinea loses an area of old-growth forest about the size of...

Will our political leaders steer the bus to a better future? ACF's National Agenda for a Sustainable Australia.(Australian Conservation Foundation)
July 1, 2007... Do you believe it is possible for our country to change direction and move toward a brighter future for our children? A future where our energy comes from clean renewable sources, our river systems are restored to health, our unique landscapes...

Splitting atoms, votes and hairs: labor and uranium: ACF's Nuclear Free campaigner, DAVE SWEENEY, goes behind the scenes at the ALP National Conference and uncovers the real reasons behind Labor's backflip on their no new mines policy.(Australian Conservation Foundation, Australian Labor Party)(Conference notes)
July 1, 2007... DARLING HARBOUR IS A FUNNY PLACE for a conference. There is something surreal about clusters of case and card carrying delegates being delayed by slow moving currents of cone licking pastel clad tourists or risking possible injury and certain...

Compassion & respect: the Dalai Lama talks environment: during his recent Australian visit, His Holiness the Dalai Lama spoke to ACF supporters about his concerns for the environment, his optimism for the future, and why they hold the key to positive change.(Australia Conservation Foundation)(Cover story)
July 1, 2007... THE SPIRITUAL LEADER of Tibet and Buddhists worldwide and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the 14th Dalai Lama, is cracking himself up. Chuckling to himself, he is speaking at a crowded Burswood Dome in Perth about respect. It started off...

What green budget? What does the election year Federal Budget, delivered by Treasurer Peter Costello in May, mean for the environment?
July 1, 2007... IT WAS WIDELY TIPPED to be a 'green Budget'. Unfortunately it was nothing of the sort. The Budget contained $500 million--around five per cent of the $10.6 billion surplus--for climate change programs for the next financial year, while...

A bright future: 25% renewable energy by 2020: What are the benefits that a 25% by 2020 renewable energy target would provide for Australia? Let us count the ways!
July 1, 2007... A REPORT TITLED A BRIGHT FUTURE, launched jointly by ACF, Greenpeace and CANA (Climate Action Network Australia), has revealed that a 25 per cent renewable energy target would deliver 16,600 new jobs to Australians, generate $33 billion in new...

My GreenHome: Mary Madigan, Frankston GreenHome workshop series participant, talks to Habitat about why less is more.(environmental education)
July 1, 2007... HOW GREEN WAS YOUR HOME before you started the GreenHome workshops? "I'd always been interested in conservation but I had found it hard to know where to go to for reliable information. I had always been aware of energy draining products and...

The winter garden: don't imagine because the cold weather is here, there is no further joy to be had in the vegetable garden. The beans, tomatoes, potatoes and pumpkins may have finished, but there is a whole range of vegetables that can still be planted at this time of year to provide food through late winter and into spring.
July 1, 2007... DEPENDING ON WHAT PART OF THE COUNTRY you live in, there are vegetables that can only really be grown in the cooler months. The classic winter crops for most parts of the country--from Queensland to Tasmania--are the Brassicas such as cabbage,...

A tale of two rivers: rivers in Australia's tropical north have recently become the focus of much discussion following Prime Minister John Howard's $10 billion dollar water reform. But what's really going on with rivers in the North? Justin McCaul looks at the current threats facing two most pristine of rivers.(McArthur River and Fitzroy River)
July 1, 2007... WHEN THE WATER REFORM PLAN was announced in January, the Prime Minister said the funding would include the establishment of a taskforce to assess water resources in northern Australia, a region he says needs to play a bigger role in helping...

Not All Tea and Scones.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Not All Tea and Scones They are members of Australia's largest women's lobby group and when they have something to say, Parliament listens. They've seen the terrible consequences of climate change and they've submitted a report on the...

The Big Blue & Killers In Eden.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The Big Blue & Killers In Eden An area just off the coast of South Australia has been the subject of legends and myths for centuries. Seafarers have told of an area so bountiful and thick with sea life, and of the incredible phenomenon of...

How Everyday Products Make People Sick.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2007... How Everyday Products Make People Sick By Paul D. Banc, MD Modern life, it's enough to make you sick. Very sick, according to scientists. Lurking in every corner of our homes and offices are substances that are eroding our bodies--a tube of...

How Much Should a Person Consume?(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2007... How Much Should a Person Consume? By Ramachandra Guha OK, so by now, most of us are trying to consume less. Consume less energy, consume less water, consume less food, and consume fewer things. But how much is too much, and how low would we...

The write way to go green! Helenka King explains her novel plan to offset carbon emissions at the Melbourne Writers Festival.(SUPPORTER SPOTLIGHT)(Festival Carbon Project )
July 1, 2007... HOW MANY TONS OF C[O.sub.2] is emitted when Clive James flies 17,000 kilometres? That's the question that spurred ACF member and Melbourne Writers Festival manager Helenka King to create the Festival Carbon Project. A background working in...