Clean Up Australia Day - Clean Future - 2014

So this year again I have set up a cleaning site in my home suburb Burwood, Melbourne. I actually hadn't checked out the site we cleaned to see how it has gone over the year. So I jumped on my bike and had a look around the area. And well it has as much rubbish if not more that has accumulated over the past year. That's quite sad, in fact, disgusting. 


Last year we filled 3 rubbish bags and 3 recycling bags. 

I have got my hands on a sharps disposal container for syringes just in case we encounter any. That was kindly given to me by Whitehorse Community Health Services. Its always good to have one, you never know what you may find!

I know that waste to landfill needs to be cut drastically. Our council bins have been changed from from 120L to 80L. Whitehorse Council obviously knows that alot of the materials that do go in rubbish bins need to go elsewhere. Food waste + recyclables can be found in most rubbish bins.

Interesting information for Whitehorse Council Households :  

The disposal of almost 31,000 tonnes of rubbish that currently comes from household bins cost the Whitehorse community $3.8M in 2012/13 for landfill disposal. $2.2 million of the total landfill disposal costs is attributable to the state government landfill levy and the carbon tax. 

http://www.whitehorse.vic.gov.au/New-Waste-Services.html




Below is the Clean Up Australia site link. You don't have to sign up to the site. You can contact me directly if its easier. Happy cleaning everyone!


http://www.cleanupaustraliaday.org.au/Clean+Future 

Free Is Better

The Idea

This idea will blow your mind. In Australia and around the world water (essentially a free commodity/resource) is bottled up in a plastic bottle.  And is sent to shops to be sold for an obscene profit. A 600ml bottle of Mount Franklin water is being sold at the moment for $4 or more. The reason these companies do so well is because humans love convenience. I will admit I love it too in certain situations. I carry a stainless steel bottle with me everywhere and fill up at any tap for free. Thus reducing plastic waste and saving money!



This is the next best option. 'Free Is Better' is a company that wants to create a movement and a statement by giving free water to you. 

The water comes from the McPherson ranges in Southern Queensland. It is filtered after collection just to make sure that it is pure H20.

The Science

The plastic bottle packaging that is used is Oxo-Bio-degradable Plastic, developed by EPI. This material comes in conventional thermoplastics such as PP (Polypropylene), PS (Polystyrene), PE (Polyethylene), PET (Polyethyleneterephtalate) or PVC (Polyvinyl-chloride). These plastics are said to break down into fragments as a result of chemical oxidation caused by UV light and heat exposure.  These plastics are compatible with conventional recycling streams. And where possible should be put back into the recycling loop to help produce another product and to avoid the use of virgin plastic. 


The Conclusion

Get your hands on this water! Word on the street is that this product will be shown to Australia on 'The Project' on channel 10 tomorrow night. So check it out. This initiative is a great step towards providing everyone with water which doesn't cost more than petrol. So I wonder whats next? Free food?  

www.freeisbetter.com.au

Lumen Pendant Light 2 - Decoration + Design Sydney 2014

The Sydney Decoration + Design event at Royal Hall of Industries is fast approaching and should be a great event to come check out. The Edge exhibit should be a showcase to be seen. Matt and myself will be there each day with our new and redesigned Lumen Pendant Light 2!

Location : Royal Hall of Industries, Lang road, Moore Park, Sydney.

Dates : 5th - 7th of February 2014


Below are the flyers and information sheet that are available at the exhibition. 

matthewjohnharding.tumblr.com

www.amassdesign.com

Great Barrier Reef - World Heritage site - Dredging

Image Courtesy of Yahoo News

Image Courtesy of Greenpeace Australia

Image Courtesy of National Geographic -
Photograph by Anthony Johnson

So the Abbott government is really getting on my nerves now. So they want to create one of the worlds biggest coal ports. Which is such a dirty fuel and there are so many other sources of energy that the world can use. 3 million cubic metre's of dredge spoil to be dumped inside the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park! And guess who's negotiating leases for the area not only Gina Rhinehart and Clive Palmer. And the biggest company that is pushing this project is Adani - a Indian corporation! 

The Great Barrier Reef will become a highway for huge coal ships to dock and then take the coal to countries like India and China so they can burn it for fuel. Humanities greed astonishes me.



THIS IS A DISGRACE!



As an Australian I feel absolutely disgusted at some of the decisions that are being made. We have some time to stop this. Dredging according to Greenpeace won't start until 2015. 

Its time to protest, get off our bums and do something!