Recycle for Sight

Sadly, we live in a world where some commit/enable/encourage dreadful crimes against others and every day there are people dying, suffering, afraid and grieving because of this.It is wonderful to see that so many people benefit from the donation of recycled spectacles through this very worthwhile Lion's  Project. For more information and to find out how to help as well you can click on this link. Those who are working for the greater good of all are much greater in number than those who are not and together we can make this world a safer and better place for all.

Trash Hero Candidasa Project

Source

We recently visited Bali for a week and were fortunate to visit many interesting, beautiful and sacred places and also meet many wonderful people. These included visits to the Carolia Charity Projects with the kind assistance of Bambang Prayudi who very kindly escorted and educated us for the day about the great work being done. For more information you can click on this link.

As well I visited the Bumi Sehat Foundation in Ubud and was given a tour of the new centre which is wonderful and was extremely fortunate to meet a new mother and her gorgeous baby there. For more information you can click on this link.

We were also lucky enough to meet Sunny and some of the children who are Trash Heroes of Candidasa when we visited their education program and recycling program. It was fantastic to see young people being encouraged to learn and to take care of their environment. For more information you can click on this link.

We feel very lucky to have had a chance to travel and meet everyone involved in these programs. There are so many people all around the world working to make it a better place and it is always so inspiring to see. Clearly the young men in the video below also feel strongly about cleaning up the planet as they too are trash heroes.

Zero Waste Antoura

Today we learnt about a group of a group of young and committed citizens who have pioneered a vision towards a Zero Waste town in Antoura - Keserwan, Lebanon. They are all volunteering as members of the Rotaract Club of Sahel Metn in Lebanon as part of their club's mission to implement sustainable projects that will benefit their community.

They are currently crowd-funding so that they can build a composting centre for this beautiful town in the hope that one day it will be a Zero Waste town. If successful, they will benefit their people and environment and provide a wonderful role model for other towns in Lebanon, and indeed everywhere. For more information you can click on this link.

OzHarvest - Give a Little Love

Source

We have just been learning about OzHarvest. This is a great organization that helps people and the planet by rescuing excess, quality, perishable food across Australia to deliver it directly and free of charge to more than 900 charities. In doing so they provide much needed support to women, children and men across the country.

Their mission is to nourish our country and they do this in many, many ways. For more information you can click on this link.

Cleanly Recycled Tyres – A World Technology First

Source

It is wonderful news that a company in Australia has worked out a process to recycle old tyres in an environmentally friendly manner and produce valuable raw materials from them. Piles of old tyres are not only a blight on the landscape but an environmental hazard so this is very welcome news. The company has been awarded the 2015 Bronze Edison Award, the first Australian company to do so, this award honours global innovation in biofuels. For more information you can  click on this link.

Castaways Sculptures Awards

 These wonderful sculptures were all created from recycled and waster products and freely available for everyone to view at Rockingham Beach recently.



It is wonderful encouraging to see the growing awareness about the importance of caring for this beautiful planet which we are all custodians of.

National Recycling Week - Coming Soon

A simple way that we can all help the planet is to recycle as much as possible and do it properly. This week is National Recycling week and you can learn more at the links below :-

Golden Rules of Kerbside recycling link here.

Scrunch and Recycle Link here.

Friday File Fling here.

Recycle Right Quiz link here.

Happy Indigenous Literacy Day - Words Make the World Go Round

Source

We have just learnt about this organization and wanted to share the information on Indigenous Literacy Day which is today. The importance of access to education and resources is highlighted here and  The Great Book Swap is a great way to recycle books as well. You can learn more in the video below and at this link.




And here is a lovely video to help raise funds for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, reminding us of the power of words...

Dreams are Universal

Source

A reminder to us that as humans we all have dreams, hopes and aspirations and that not everyone has the same chance to fulfill them. We are grateful for the many organizations, including KIVA, that provide us with a chance to play a small part in helping others have the opportunity to fulfill their dreams.

Source

It is wonderful when people's dreams make the world a better place for everyone and the planet as well.

Elizabeth's beautiful smile is enough to warm even the hardest heart, thanks KIVA, and Elizabeth for following your dream.

Two More Ponds Today

After my small success yesterday with the mini pond I decided to try something on a larger scale and you can see what I achieved this morning in this photo.

We had planted the old fridge in our new semi-tropical section with a Tropical Guava and Lemongrass earlier this year. However  the Peacharine has grown so much this season it was blocking the Tropical Guava so I decided to dig up both plants and move them very early this morning.

I left some dirt in the bottom and made ramps on one end to the side on each to assist wildlife. I noticed that there was only one worm and 4 sweet potatoes in the whole bed so it is going to be much better as a pond than a garden bed.

 I then lined it with the pond liner, although I had to overlap two pieces in the small section and this was not successful so further research is now needed. I used rainwater to fill them both and then placed the plants in that have been sitting in crates for the last 6 months.

I then placed pavers on the edges to provide a basking spot for lizards and make it look better. At the front I have placed some old bamboo screening that I saved from being thrown out. It needs to be trimmed and placed on the side as well but by the time I had done all of this it was getting too hot! I will keep improving it and get some fish when I am sure that the system is set up properly.I have now found a great set of instructions on the Deep Green Permaculture website.

Building Mini Ponds

 Once again we are having really hot weather here in Perth and so I have been thinking about ways to help the wildlife cope. We have six birdbaths which are used by a huge number of birds each day. However this does not help the lizards and frogs so I have been researching micro ponds. The video above is one of the best on this topic and indeed there are a great range of videos showing how this family has transformed their suburban home over the last 6 years. 

 
I decided to remove the plastic tub that I had water plants in and use this space to create my first mini pond. I needed to line it with broken slabs and pavers and then the pond vinyl that I had purchased. I have used pavers to edge it as well to assist the lizards, but am still trying to work out how to cover more of the plastic.

I guess that the lizards will not mind about that too much as at least they have some water they can access.

Creating Sustainable Communities : Earthship Technology

Creating Sustainable Communities : Earthship Technology: 'Earthship Technology' Who would know this is all made from trash I have found my research into building houses, check out the rest of the post here.

Creating Sustainable Communities : Bios Urn

Creating Sustainable Communities : Bios Urn: Bios Urn is a company produced by Estudimoline.  Its founders Roger and Gerard Moline hope to change the world with a design which ...go to the post here for more information.

Using Egg Shells

I have now learnt a better way to use egg shells in the worm farm by watching this video

I hope that it does improve the soil as much as Patrick mentions in the video as anyway that I can recycle and improve things is a bonus. I am fortunate to once again be able to get access to extra supplies as the ladies at the college canteen have offered to save some for me each week as well. These two photos show the egg shells after washing and microwaving and then after being ground in the coffee grinder.

Veggie Gardening for Renters

Source

Great story in the Greenlifestyle magazine about a couple who are using recycled materials to create gardens in their rental home.

Source

Anyone who watches ABC's Gardening Australia will already have seen a super food producing couple in Brisbane who have their own blog called SpurTopia, well worth a visit.

Camp Green

How Your T-Shirt Can Make a Difference

Revolutionary Redcycle

I have just discovered that Coles supermarkets have set up a recycling scheme for all of those soft plastics which are so hard to avoid, like bread bags. They are working with a group called Redcycle and a company called Replas, you can also read more at the Planet Ark website.

Replas then turns this plastic into furniture for schools and pre-schools, what a wonderful initiative!

Free Mulch

I love the way that when I see leaves browning on vines and tress ready to drop that I not only love the way they look but that I see them as free mulch for my garden rather than a mess that has to be cleaned up! Here is one of the grapevines, the Autumn colours are stunning and I now really enjoy sweeping them up to use, it feels like such a positive activity. Before I would have thrown them in the bin and thought of it all as a chore-  now I understand their worth and am thankful for this free gift - amazing....

Wood Chip Paths

We have been so pleased with the results of making the path areas in the garden wood chipped paths rather than grass that we have also decided to make the path between the main garden and driveway ,mulch too. We have had cardboard down for a few weeks to kill the grass, but had initially intended to pave it. However we realised that that would not resist the invasive grass nor provide the water retention and habitat that we want to encourage. This did mean that this area had to be dug out to make it level with the existing driveway, digging is something we generally avoid and this was an excellent reminder of why. It took a lot of time and energy to remove this small strip, imagine if we had had to do the whole garden!

Once the area was lowered, grass roots in the bin, soil placed on top of the new no- dig garden, we placed cardboard we had collected from a local recycling bin at a department store down. The cardboard from there tends to be thick and we want it to prevent weeds, rather than  encourage them to breakdown, so it is the best option in this case.

We then covered the cardboard with woodchips and are really pleased with the results. Our driveway is very old and not in great condition, but we are still not sure of the most sustainable way to remedy all of the problems that are involved with dealing with it. Sometimes you just have to wait, observe and keep researching before you make a decision.

The we relooked at the newest no - dig garden and realised that as we had left a rectangle of grass we were going to have the same problem with grass invading the bed. We then decided that we would put another wood chip path alongside that bed to make it harder for the grass.

Luckily we had collected lots of cardboard from the recycling bin so we had enough, plus old sleepers to start preparing for the next paths. Meanwhile the whole garden is looking happier and the amount of food producing space will be doubled once we put the manure and final layer of mulch onto the new garden.