Commercial project taking carbon out of air to make plastics – and hope

This is what we and Earth need – projects to take existing pollution out of Earth’s air. A new commercial project extracts carbon from Earth’s air to make plastic products. The ‘biocatalyst” commercial machine takes carbon from landfills and other polluting sources and mixes it with air in a reactor and makes it into a liquid which pulls carbon out... Read More

I love birdsong in the morn n eve

Birds, birds, birds A friend has a couple of trees with flowers that attract parrots.  They feed there day and night, gossiping, laughing, chortling, scurrying, eating upside-down (my favourite), coming and going.  How I love Aussie parrots for their song and colour, their beauty.  And there are both honey and native bees there, too, feeding on the tree’s feast. This... Read More

A banquet of consequences – abrupt climate disfigurement

Everybody, sooner or later, sits down to a banquet of consequences. (Robert Louis Stevenson – Scottish Essayist, Poet, Author, 1850-1894)   First, the good news: “Good News- Solar Storage Plant Gemasolar Sets 36-Day Record 24/7 Output, by Emma Fitzpatrick, Reneweconomy, Oct. 8, 2013: The Gemasolar, a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) facility, is the world’s first large... Read More

Go to this fish cafe

A good discovery to celebrate endings and beginnings at this time of the year; a fish shop and cafe which sells only fish caught sustainably and will help you match-make local high quality wines to go with your choice.   Fish & Co.  NOTE – their web site shows what fish they have for sale. You can go there for dinner during the week and lunch on the weekends, take... Read More

To have bees or not to have bees . . .

What bees give us and what we’re losing as we kill them with our ‘culture’  Read More

Bronte beauty this morning

Bronte pool this morning Generous planet   Aaahh, love it. Thank you lovely, generous planet. Such a way to wake – first, the descent down the hill with a quick lurch of excitement in my heart at the sight of the sea, then the still-tired body’s walk down to the pool, then a dive into the water – brrrrrrr – then . . . bliss, empty mind, flesh-freshened... Read More

Solar panels increase re-sale value

A study of house sales in the US shows a clear increase in value when a house has solar electricity panels.   The study is reported in Reneweconomy this week.   The article says: “Installing rooftop solar panels boosts a home’s resiliency and green credentials while cutting utility bills, but does it also increase a home’s resale value? The answer according to Exploring... Read More

Project takes carbon pollution out of Earth’s air, puts hope in my heart

  Dairy calves on Country Valley Dairy farm There’s a new wave carrying hope with it at Sydney’s Bondi Beach. Mayor Sally Betts of Waverley Council has initiated a project to turn food waste into compost in 24 hours and take it to a farm to grow soil.  As the soil grows it takes carbon pollution out of Earth’s air. The project cuts cafe and council waste... Read More

Australia’s best gardening bookshop

Luckily for me my favourite gardening bookshop is in Sydney, about 15 minutes walk from where I live in Chippendale. It’s Floriligium at 65 Derwent St, Glebe. Inside the cool, quiet old sandstone building you’ll find a wonderful, complete coverage of all things that grow and if you ask for help your visit will be made richer by talking to the knowledgeable owner, Gil... Read More

Random science means the world to me, and you

A friend, Kylie, and former founder of Cosmos science magazine, sent me this transcript: “I sometimes hear people ask, ‘Why should we spend money on space exploration? We should focus on the problems here on Earth first.’ But if it hadn’t been for space exploration we wouldn’t have known about the greenhouse effect or the ozone hole. It was while trying... Read More