Two stories, one planet

Well, last week China set a price on carbon pollution as this story from a Chinese paper (The China Daily) notes: Just as the U.S. Senate was abandoning plans for a U.S. cap-and-trade system, this article ran in The China Daily: “BEIJING — The country is set to begin domestic carbon trading programs during its 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015) to help it meet its 2020 carbon intensity target. The decision was made at a closed-door meeting... Read More

New car share car for Chippendale

My Car Club has a new car share car coming to Chippendale at the corner of Myrtle and Rose streets: see the map for the new location and locations of the company’s other cars in Chippendale and elsewhere: View MyCarClub’s Sydney Parking Locations in a larger map I used to use Goget car share but found it too expensive and shifted to My Car Club to save money.  There’s a $500 refundable deposit which Goget keeps while you use it’s... Read More

Earlier sun, colder water at Bronte

The sunrises before 7 am now as the days grow longer again.  At this time of the year the longer moments happen in the morning, not at night – several additional seconds of daylight each day.  Later the days get longer at the end of the day with later sunsets in roughly equal proportion to the earlier mornings. But the sea is a degree or two colder most mornings, around 17 degrees in Bronte pool. The photo shows sunrise at 6.54 am, 17 July... Read More

Pyrmont rain gardens

This is a view of the rain gardens in Pyrmont. The gardens have been constructed between 224 to 308 Harris Street by Sydney City Council to address issues on: stormwater runoff management eg to address both water quantity and quality issues from the roofs and footpaths keeping the runoff near where it falls, thereby roughly restoring the natural water cycle using gravity to store and hold water, mainly for irrigation of the trees and vegetation Good... Read More

Inspiring city planning

On ABC  iView for a week or so there’s an inspiring example of city planning at Portland in the US where the city: is reducing city traffic, increasing public transport making the car a guest on many roads cutting transport related pollution and much more. To visit it on the web: ABC iView E2 Transport: Ep5 Portland: A sense of place Enjoy, Michael  Read More

  • Michael Mobbs

    Michael is a former Environmental Lawyer who is uniquely placed to consult in four main areas:

    • Sustainability Coach and Speaker,
    • Sustainable Urban Farm Design greening, watering and cooling the cityscape, roads, parks, suburbs,
    • Major Projects Consultant Commercial and Industrial,
    • Residential Sustainability Consultant.
    For permission to re-print any articles or to book Michael for a speaking engagement go to Contacts. Please ensure all quotes from Michael's blog include a reference to sustainablehouse.com....au.