Every day we shape our planet's future when we make small life decisions - what we buy, what we eat, how we travel. The future of the planet is in our hands; the future is man-made. And we are all "Futuremakers". If we choose to live sustainably, we can assure a future for all living things. And we can have some fun doing it too!
This site, created by WWF-Australia, is a place where you can share ideas with other Futuremakers so that we can live more sustainably. We hope the tips and stories here will be useful for you. (More about this site)
What can I do?
To browse the ideas on this site by category or difficulty, click on the icons below.
As a new rider, it can be quite daunting taking to the road to commute in traffic. Especially if you live or travel through the city (like I do).
One of the tips I’ve received about riding in Sydney is to grab a copy of Bike-it Sydney. It’s a collection of maps with suggested/recommended bike routes specially marked to make it easier to avoid main roads when riding.
I picked up a copy from the bike shop when I bought my bike. It’s been pouring rain in Sydney the past few days, so I’ve had a chance to plan out a few routes using the map and it looks pretty good. Of course, the first ride on any given route is likely to take a bit of time working things out. But having the book has already been valuable for me just planning and working out where I can ride (once the sun pops out again!).
I’m not sure if there is a similar booklets for other areas/cities - any Futuremakers out there that know of some?
Another good resource, I’m told (though I’ve not had the chance to thoroughly review yet) is Bikely. It’s a Google Maps “mashup”, that, in the words of the site:
… Bikely helps cyclists share knowledge of good bicycle routes.
It can be quite tricky traversing a car dominated city by bicycle, particularly when you need to travel an unknown route to a new destination.
But the chances are, someone has cycled that way before you. Bikely makes it easy for him or her to show you the best way.
Interesting concept - I did a search for “Newtown Australia” (where I live) and got a bunch of results.
Has anyone used Bikely more heavily? Got any tips to share?
The theory goes that kids these days are more technologically advanced than their parents. They love exploring the internet, so I set out to find a few websites that were fun for kids and taught them about the planet. This is what I found:
“The Greens” – a site for kids about looking after the planet. Kids love it because it’s the animated adventures of the Greens family. The site explores green living – sustainability, ecology, environmental care and social equity.
“Planet Slayer” – this site revolves around Greena, the Worrier Princess, and her dog. There are tons of engaging videos, games and information.
Does anyone else have any “green” kid websites they recommend?
In the comments to the Install energy efficient lighting action, a comment from “whale call” points out that there are environmental concerns with using compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).
It’s a good point - CFLs do indeed include traces of mercury - a toxic metal. It’s an issue that’s been picked up in other enviro-blogs around, but it’s probably pertinent to mention here as well.
I did a bit of digging and found that the amount of mercury in a given bulb is about the equivalent to the amount contained in a watch battery - so it is very small - but it is still important to dispose of CFLs carefully.
Manufacturers have reduced the amount over time - I’m aware of some Philips products having a super-small amount of mercury - “The new Extreme Low Mercury designated products can be recognised by a logo on the packaging and product,” according to this press release. But the mercury remains…
So there is a question over whether the mercury in the bulbs outweighs the energy (and emissions) saving benefits.
The US EPA did a study that found the amount of mercury expelled through coal-fired power plants being higher than the total of a CFL when taking into consideration the amount of energy required for an incandescent bulb - the graph is displayed on Wikipedia and in this article at Treehugger.
Although the EPA study is US-centric, Australia’s electricity production is heavy reliant on coal, so the figures would be similar in Oz.
At the moment there are no recycling or disposal programs for CFLs in Australia (that we’re aware of anyway - has anyone heard/found any different?) - so they will unfortunately mostly end up in landfill. I’m told that landfills have a seal to stop contaminants from leaching into the soil and ultimately the ground water.
Although this situation is far than ideal, on balance, WWF still recommends using CFLs over incandescents. But certainly keep an eye out for recycling and disposal facilities in the future…
When it comes to singing in the shower, U2’s three-minute ditty Desire is in, but Led Zeppelin’s epic Stairway to Heaven, at eight minutes - is definitely out.
Opposition environment spokesman Peter Garrett has produced his top 10 favourite shower songs that come in under four minutes, to encourage Australians to take shorter showers.
If you are interested in some of the latest scientific thinking coming out of California - the hot bed of renewable energy - I came across the PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). PARC was founded in 1970 as part of Xerox Research, then incorporated in 2002 as an independent research business.
You can download a whole range of videos of the actual presentations from leading professors (Stanford, Berkley etc.) and business leaders talking about issues ranging from the history of solar power, carbon capture science, ocean exploration to Northern Californian aviation. A wide variety of topics from the critical thinkers of our time.
I features a presentation by Dr. Richard Swanson, President and CTO of SunPower, where he makes a case for photo-voltaic (solar cells) generated electricity being cost-effective for grid power, without the need for incentives, within the next decade.
Each video is about an hour long, it streams very quickly with no problems. Sit back, relax, get the popcorn and channel your inner nerd.
Check out the PARC video archive for the brain food on offer.
Live Earth is only 77 days away! July 7th is the day that the 24-hour event will be held in seven major cities - New York, London, Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg and Rio de Janeiro. There is also talk of an event in Antarctica.
I’m really excited about the whole event. Raising awareness about climate change is a big issue with me so it’s great to be able to be part of something that does.
Wherever you are around the world you won’t be able to miss the event. It will be on the broadcast live on the television, radio and the internet.
I’m looking forward to the Sydney event. Already John Butler Trio, Wolfmother and Midnight Oil are confirmed, and hopefully later this month the rest of the line-up will be announced.
Is anyone having an event surrounding Live Earth? A barbeque or some other gathering with Live Earth playing?
I remember as a kid my dad having his battery recharger set up all the time, constantly recharging batteries. It would take a long time to recharge batteries and when they were recharged they did not work as well as disposable batteries.
Recently Kazuki, a Futuremaker, pointed us to Eneloop batteries. According to Kazuki, and the Eneloop site, they have a very long shelf life, come pre-charged and have a low-self discharge rate - which means they don’t lose energy after being charged when they’re not in use.
They sound great, and I’m going to give them a try.
Has anyone used the Eneloop batteries? Any other rechargeables you’d recommend?
Between March 21 and 22, ABC Local Radio ran a 40 hour drought challenge, to use only 40 litres of water in 40 hours. A tough challenge! Over 2000 people registered for the challenge. Together these people saved over 630,000 litres, nearly as much as an Olympic Swimming pool (1 million litres).
It was a great idea that allows us to see how much water we really do use in a day.
After taking on the challenge I started noticing how much water I wasted on little things. I found I took nearly as much water washing my coffee mug out, as it is to have a coffee!
The bathroom used up the majority of my water allowance. Luckily I have water saving shower heads which allowed me to have a very quick shower.
Clair Skyring’s blog takes us through the experience of the challenge. She gives a great commentary through her personal experience, such as coming down with the gastro bug two days before the challenge started!
