The Buy Nothing New Kid.

The problem:

The Baby Products industry is going strong and proving to be a ray of sunshine in tough economic times. Over the five years through 2011-12, industry revenue is expected to grow 1.1% per annum  to be worth $4.38 billion. Cashed-up parents have been buying up big for their newborns, with only the best in mind. This attitude, combined with rising birth rates to older parents, has given rise to a new area of growth: high-end baby products (Ibis World Research 2010) 

That's basically $4.38 billion dollars worth of strollers, nappy change tables, toys, clothes, bassinets and other junk that is used at most for 3-6 months.

This junk uses energy, water and finite resources as it is made.  If it 'works' you'll probably need a bunch more coal-fired energy and water to power it and then when the kid is sick of it it will inevitably have to go somewhere.

The waste and energy associated with buying stuff for the kid when it is a baby doesn't take into account the environmental impact of adding another (Westerner) to the earth. This is also a little worrying.

In a study done by Paul Murtaugh & Michael Schlax called "Reproduction and the carbon legacies of individuals" it was found that even if you live a really sustainable life (drive a Prius, use Green Energy, are vegetarian, use energy-saving bulbs etc.) these efforts are effectively useless if you have a kid.

In fact Murtaugh & Schlax also found that the in developed countries, each child adds about 9441 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide to the carbon legacy of an average female currently alive - this is 5.7 times her lifetime emissions.  


The solution?


Well the first option is to sterilise yourself and/or use contraceptions. But if (for whatever reason and seriously probably not a great idea to take sex ed advice from a preggo) this is not an option then raise a kid who will be a decent human being and attempt to fix things.

Apparently this is harder to do than it sounds.

So use the only power that you really have as a parent (until they're old enough to work) - try not to buy the kid anything new. 

For as long as you can get away with it.

I don't know if this is possible, but I'm willing to give it a decent crack.

Will keep you posted.

New Year's Resolution

Imagine what's in this Garage

So the project I'm most excited about at the moment is The Garage Sale Trail which I'm working on with my good mates Daz, Benny & AV.

As well as being an awesome sustainability initiative, there's something slightly voyeuristic about rummaging through other people's stuff. I like looking interesting things and imagining who bought them, where they were made, how they were loved and where they'll fit into my life.

With my eye on the Garage Sale Trail, I've found myself stopping in the street taking photos of hoards of junk lying on nature strips, eyeing-off garages - like the one above, and seriously considering whether one day Malls will become redundant ( hope so!).

So  I'm hoping that this project will shift culture toward an anti-new style movement.

Hmmnnnnn....

The Garage Sale Trail

According to the holy scriptures of the ABS, Australians generate 3.2 million tonnes of solid waste which is 1,629 kilograms of waste per person - that's a lot of junk in mother nature's trunk!

So give the fine lady a hand by not buying new crap and instead picking-up some pre-loved bargains garage sale style.

As part of the Bondi Sizzle Community Festival my good buddy Ben is curating a suburb-wide garage sale called the Garage Sale Trail.

If you (or one of your mates) lives in Bondi, be one of the first 50 to register your sale and get yourself a little bag of goodies. The garage sale with the best name, spunkiest looking host, or coolest outfit will be judged by a celebrity panel and get even better prizes.

Not everyone can live in Bondi, but you can head on over to pick-up some goodies. Think bikes, surfboards, clothes, books, music and mucho mas stuff left over from flighty backpackers and the razzledazzlerati! A map of the sales will be releasesed a few days before the sale on Sunday May 9.

Get along!

Four excellent things to do in the next two weeks

I must becoming 'Sydney'. Because where previously I would always defend Melbourne as the epicentre of cool and interesting, now - not so much.

Not in the least because having just looked at my diary, I have four excellent, excellent things to do (yeah, well organise - kinda) in the next two weeks.

So in the nicest possible way, up yours Melbourne! Us 'special' kids up north are doing it even though if it means all of a sudden I have this weird dual-state personality thing and don't really know where my loyalties lie (those who have ever swapped football teams have an inkling of how I may been feeling).

Here's what's on.

GreenUps - TONIGHT

Green drinking for green thinking. It's the kick-of event for this year, come old, come new and find out about all GreenUps plots being hatched for the coming year.

The Falconer Cafe, Oxford St Paddington (near the corner of Riley St, head toward the park).

6pm till late

FREE

2. Karaoke for arrested elves THIS FRIDAY

In December last year, a troupe of merry Carbon Trading Elves celebrated an early Christmas with carbon trading profiteers, singing carols at corporate offices including Merrill Lynch and Macquarie Bank. Unfortunately our friends at the NSW police showed a distinct lack of holiday spirit, and now Holly, JP and Rachel are facing costly court cases.

What better way to support our carollers than to raise your voice in all its tuneless glory? Come along to our karaoke fundraiser, knock back some beers, and take on that torch song you’ve always sung in the shower…

Friday, 5^th February

7:30-12pm

The Workshop, 16 Sloane St, Newtown

(Map here: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=16+sloane+st+newtown&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=16+Sloane+St,+Newtown+New+South+Wales+2042,+Australia&z=16)

$5+ suggested donation

Drinks and some snacks available

2. Launch of the Kitchen & Garden Project - THIS SATURDAY

Carriageworks Kitchen Garden Project is a series of free community activites and workshops based on the notion of creative sustainability .

Guest speakers include Michael Mobbs and Robyn Williams. There'll be a bunch of stalls with all the latest in lovely organic food, plants and Sydney community gardening shenanigans.

Saturday February 6,

1pm-4pm

Carriageworks, Eveleigh Street Redfern.

Free.

3. Reclaim the Lanes - NEXT SATURDAY

Grab your bike and join the roving street party to reclaim Newtown's lanes. Bands, installations and art along the way.

Begins at the Hub at 2pm

Saturday February 13.

Newtown.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=246612289646&ref=ts

4. Angel Street Valentine's Day Soiree - NEXT SUNDAY

Walked past a zillion times but never stuck your head in? Well here's your golden opportunity to drag your Valentine (or friend or Mum or kids) away for a day of music, gardening, workshops and yummy food.

There'll be Permablitz Speed-dating, workshops, solar-powered music (the Sunchasers), yumbo food and wormies.

Sunday February 14,

9am till 4pm

Angel Street Newtown, behind the Newtown Performing Arts High School

Free. Bring hats, sunscreen, water, and gloves.

Glory be bikes, worms, veggies, food and sunshine - get amongst it kids!

GreenUps tonight.

If you haven't yet been, then you're either really, really, really lazy or live in another state.

As part of the committee (with Liane, KB, Phil, Alistair, Dave & Ben), I'm a bit excited about what's in store for this year. We have some slick new venues and spaces, and as always are super keen to find out what you want from the thang.

GreenUps is the Sydney incantation of Green Drink International. It's a monthly get-together of sustainability-minded or curious folks to have a chat, find opportunities to collaborate and fall in love (and while this in not a formal objective of GreenUps, it seems to happen often).

So, it's the first Tuesday of the month. (TONIGHT)

http://www.greenups.net/

At the Falconer, on Oxford st (near Riley, turn left toward to park).

Starts at 6 till late.

Is FREE.

Here are the links

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52193147123&ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52193147123&ref=ts

The 'C' is for Curmudgeon - why Xmas need not be so gross.

Yep, it’s that time again. Minds are lost, stress levels rise and we all go a little ‘na’nas trying to figure out which throw away gift will best provide momentary gratitude and fleeting approval. Schedules are juggled as we try and figure how much we can fit in our fridge; the whole idea of ‘sustainable living’ is shirked as a tad unrealistic as we find ourselves thinking, who the hell has the time to find/make biodegradable baubles and vegan mince pies?

Junk and stuff is gathered - lights, tinsel, stars, hats; food pushes the insides of your belly so hard buttons erupt. Momentarily we’ll pause to how wasteful, silly and cruel Christmas is as we’re advertised to by sweltering young Indian students dresses as Santa hold ‘Christmas Mega Sale’ signs.

And for those die-hards who make the effort to be sustainable during the silly season (we applaud you), it’s not always so easy to enforce your ideas onto others.

But then again, maybe it is? Here are some common silly season scenarios that are just begging for not only a sustainable bur practical and humane touch – warm and fuzzies guaranteed.

a) Kris Kringle

No it’s not fair! You have to buy something for your [insert obligatory recipient]. Thanks to Kris Kringle, most of us will end up in an awkward buying position- especially if you draw a work colleague or family member you don’t rate/know/like the smell of. What to do?

b) Person you have the hots for or would really like to impress

This time of year is also the time where that casual fling might just turn into a budding romance and is the perfect time to make the move on someone you’ve been eyeing off all year. What better way to say ‘so…how bout it?’ that with an excellent little gift – but what to give?

c) You’re a jerk

There’s also the situation where at sometime throughout the year you have been a real little (or big) jerk. You may have drunkenly said something that hurt the cleaners feelings, fed your ciggy butts to the dolphins, revelled in polystyrene, flown across the world a few times – something that warrants absolution. Help is at hand.

The answer:

The good folks at A4UNHCR, Australia’s branch of the United Nations Refugee Agency have decided to send the World’s Biggest Relief Package to the 300,000 refugees living in Dadaab, a camp near the Kenyan-Somali border.

And while we all know the UNHCR are good folks, this year you too can bask in their karmic glow all the while ticking the virtue box at Kris Kringle, impressing that special someone, proving you’re not a jerk and most importantly helping out someone whose life is pretty hellish right about now. Winners all round.

So, spend $12 bucks on a Jerry can (bout the same cost as 2 rolls of wrapping paper and a dodgy card), or shell out a little more coin if you can afford it to make to make the UNHCR’s World’s Biggest Package – HUGE.

Why?

Originally built for 90,000 people Dadaab is now home to more than 300,000 people, mostly those who have fled Somalia. So as you can imagine it is ridiculously overcrowded, no loos, limited food, without fresh water – the list goes on. Santa certainly does not visit Dadaab.

Add to this conundrum a dash of imminent flooding in the coming months and life in Dadaab is going to get even trickier - it’s a really rough deal, and we’re bloody lucky we weren’t born Somali – but don’t thank your stars, be part of the World’s Biggest Package.

Check out the website (great design once again from a Republic of Everyone/Circul8 collaboration), click some stuff, learn something new and maybe even part with a little cash.

www.worldsbiggestpackage.com

Whose idea was fibreglass?

I met Dave at the pub through a friend of mine. Dave makes beautiful surfboards out of sustainable materials. And with the Australian Government dolling out $900 willy nilly to stimulate the economy – I've just decided how I'm going to spend mine. I asked Dave some things.

Q.I'm blind and just snapped my old board on a badly timed road-crossing adventure, so I need a new board . And I would also like this board to attract members of the opposite sex, why should I ride your board and not the one the Quicksilver rep is trying to spruik me?

A. Ours are stronger and more durable. Lower overall environmental impact and less hazardous to construct. Light weight. Snappier flex characteristics = smoother faster ride. Beautiful Australian aesthetic due to local timber with unique grain patterns.

Q. Timber hey? So you DO cut down trees, why is that any better than using fibre glass?
A. Timber is all sourced from Australian managed plantations certified by the Australian Forestry Standard and Good Environmental Choice Australia. Species used are fast growing species that can be sustainably managed.

Q. So it weighs a bloody tonne hey, I ain't no Hawaiian Duke or animated penguin, will it sink?
A. We still use a foam core. This is necessary to keep the boards at a modern weight. We use a type of foam called Extruded Polystyrene which is waterproof, recyclable, has superior strength properties and does not contain isocyanates like traditional polyurethane foam. It was the use of isocyanates that led to the closure of Clark Foam (the worlds largest surfboard blank manufacturer) in the United States a couple of years ago. Most boards made in Australia still use this type of foam. This traditional foam is not recyclable.

Q. How do they ride? Are they heavier, flimsier, quicker, last longer etc.?
A. The ride is smooth and fast. Our boards are a comparable weight to a standard sanded finish polyester board and lighter than a gloss finished polyester board. Due to the composite glass/timber construction we use the boards are extremely strong and don't get pressure dents on the deck like standard boards. It is our goal to design boards that can be passed on to the next generation rather than ending up as landfill.

Q. Why didn't you just go and shape boards with all of the traditional materials and get rich quick like the rest of them?
A. I used to shape boards out of traditional materials but a chain of events led to me being obsessed with doing something better. I studied Environmental Science at University so always had an increased awareness about the need to lower our consumption and the impact of our products.

Often returning from surf trips with snapped boards always left this feeling of guilt and after years of shaping standard boards I was concerned about the impact this was having on my own health. When I first started Treehouse I had been living overseas and reconnecting with Australia made me really want to create boards that also had a connection to the Australian environment...that had a real Australian character about them. I put over three times the amount of labour into each of these boards than I was putting into making traditional boards...so it definitely makes things harder financially but its a passion. I have no interest in shaping boards out of traditional materials now.


Q. What has the response been?
A. The response has been really positive so far. The boards always attract a lot of attention on the beach and all of my customers are loving riding them. I often get emails from customers telling me about a great surf they just had and how much fun they had on the board. On the other hand there are still the sceptics out there who think that a modern surfboard needs to be white and have three fins but you can't please everyone. Quite a few of those skeptics now own one of our boards after trying them.

Q. What do you think is the biggest environmental challenge facing the surfing industry?
A. I believe the biggest initial challenge is to change the culture of surfing. Many surfers and surfing based organisations are very environmentally aware but for a lifestyle that is so closely linked with nature I think as a group and as individuals we can do a lot better. Lets face it...we drive to the beach...we fly overseas and jump on boats looking for waves...we go though a surfboard every few seasons on average...we go through a wetsuit every few seasons...we buy surf brand clothes and boards mass produced in countries that may not have adequate environmental or working condition standards. I don't mean to paint that all in a negative light but we can be more conscious of our impact and make decisions to reduce that impact where possible. Surf culture has been very performance focused for a long time. I hope that we recognise what a special connection we have with nature and that this will infiltrate surf culture more in the future.

Q.Do any of the Pros/notables ride your boards?
A. No pros ride our boards and to be honest I can't see us approaching any pros to get them on our boards, it's not where Treehouse is at. The most notable person we could ever have on our boards is just the average surfer who loves surfing for what it is...a thrill, an escape, a connection with nature, an adventure. At the moment, our customers are exactly this and we build boards for them that suit their skill level and surfing style so that they can enjoy the ocean as much as possible.

Nice.
www.treehouseboards.com
www.thesealife.com.au

Ever been guilted into liking something because its the 'right' thing to do?

Like when a little kid draws you a picture and its crap, and the last thing you want to do is jeopardise legitimate bill-reminding space on th fridge with stick figures? Yeah well some goes with enviro stuff, and I'm sure in any 'cause space' where people are pouring their guts into stuff which is beautiful in theory but in practice is well...shall we say, a little disappointing.

I just went to an eco fashion thing. And I LOVE what this North Shore middle-class warrior is trying to achieve, but after the show I was left wondering 'is this all there is?'.

Kezza-Anne Kennerly was there, as was that financial Ross guy, and a swagger of desperate housewifesque ladies whose children undoubtedly included the little boy modeling the clothes - far from being sexy, the poor year twelver looked like he was in desperate need of a hug, a sense of humour and a half-wedgie.

The clothes were ok, apparently the shoes were amazing. Not that I would know, as the cat walk wasn't raised and one of the models decidedly distracted from the shoes by drawing attention to her knees which were drawn higher and higher each step as though she was avoiding an exploding magnum-sized bottle of bubs skittling across the ground and threatening to bite her calves.

There was one dress I loved - recycled mohair, plain black above the knee, high waisted and finished with a voluptuous collar and set by large houndstooth patterning in bold purple, yellow and electric blue. You could see how much love had gone into the detail, beautiful lines, immaculate seams - I'm desperate to try on that dress, but shudder at the thought I could not do justice to something so wonderfully made, and fear feeling shitter a person for the my inadequacies in not doing it justice.

But there was only one. Unfortunately, which seems often the case in Sydney; sustainable, vintage and recycled fashion is treated almost like a charity case. As if by wearing it you sacrifice style for the feeling of doing the right thing - guilt trip, particularly on the North Shore.

But this is only a half truth. Had the show have been better produced, taken place in Surry Hills/Darlinghurst/Paddington and not been filled by 40 somethings and modeled by kids on the brink of puberty, I reckon it would have been judged not by it's honourable intentions, but instead on merit.

After a couple of bubblies, I raved the show to a St Leonards blond, extolling the usual pro-green diatribe, but somehow feel cheated and a fake. It took Kezza's husband to set things straight. She was admiring the 'greenness' of the clothes and the designer's vision when he piped-up "Kerry-Anne, your wardrobe alone probably contributes to half of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions and supports the majority of sweatshops in Asia" - oh and how we all laughed.

Kerry-Anne, you were the star of the green fashion show, and I still feel guilty that I didn't quite like it.

The ultimate green utopian Where's Wally pic - he's in there with a green hat. No...really.