Archive for September, 2009
#duststorm
Was the dust storm yesterday caused by climate change? It wouldn’t have happened if not for the drought in South Australia (that’s where the dirt came from), which is partially caused by humans, so I’m going to say yes. But it could just be crazy Australian weather.
Part of the east coast of Australia, as viewed from a NASA satellite.
Regardless, the dust storm yesterday was pretty mad! I went to work and everything was fine. Then I looked out the window a few hours later and it looked kinda funny. Then we all looked… and watched as it got dimmer and dimmer. Eventually, looking out the big kitchen windows, which I’ve mentioned before would be awesome for a window farm, you couldn’t see anything at all except dust. You couldn’t see the road or across the river, let alone the clear view down the river we normally have. I had to go out to get my co-workers lunch for her cos she’s allergic to dust. Walking across the bridge later that afternoon wasn’t the smartest idea… my lungs didn’t like that… but the view (or non-view) was pretty cool.
I jumped on twitter when I got home and ran a search for #duststorm. It was a great way to keep up with the news and the pictures. Check theses pics out!
If you want to hear about the dust storm in Sydney, check out this blog post and these cool pics.
Satellite pic from NASA.
Camping, Puppies and Work… Oh My!
We’re back from camping. It was stupendously awesome, except the air mattress got a hole and I had to sleep on the very hard ground. The ocean and the sunshine more than made up for it though. Gorgeous, relaxing, local – I loved it.
Beautiful beaches, so close to home!
I’ll update more on that soon.
We’re currently dog/cat/turtle-sitting. So we’re currently responsible for one turtle, five cats, two ancient dogs and one very bouncy puppy. Think Marley from Marley & Me. Really. Bouncy.
Crazy puppy at Pride Day earlier this year... he hasn't changed much, just bigger!
I’m back at work (leave is over… alas) and it’s insane as usual. I’m working very long days. But we had birthday cakes today and I set the cake out on crockery plates with proper forks/spoons, in spite of some suggestions that we use paper plates and plastic cutlery. So it’s not all bad. No-one even really complained!
I’ll start doing proper updates again soon. O_o
Quick Update
The posts might be a bit sparse this week and next week. Here’s why:
Mr Teeny-bop has been going a bit mad on YouTube and our internet got shaped.
YouTube of Internet Speed Doom.
As of this morning it’s finally back to normal – yay! I usually write my posts on the weekend though, as I’m short on time during the week. Work, you know. The weekly blogging session didn’t happen this weekend though, as we were back to dial-up speeds (fast dial-up at 128k, but still). I don’t know how on earth we ever lived with dial-up, in pre-broadband days. I don’t ever remember being that patient.
Work is *many expletives deleted*. I’m working on it. We’ll see how that goes.
Next week we’re going on holiday – camping again. We’re a bit more prepared this time (bigger tent, better tarp, a location with toilets and showers, more lighting – very important with a Deaf camper), and I’m hopeful it won’t rain every single day. When we get back I’ll share more details. Right now I’m too busy craving the break. I can’t wait for long days at the beach! I love that we have such awesome places local to us. I was hoping to set up some posts this weekend to auto-post while we’re away, but I don’t know if I’ll have time now. Fingers crossed!
Anyway… maybe you’ll hear from me, maybe you won’t. I can usually manage 140 characters even if I am very busy, so you could keep up with me on twitter instead or as well (not when I’m camping though).
Oh, and I forgot to say it last week – happy Spring everyone! (Or Autumn if you’re in the northern hemisphere.)
Spotlight: Crop Diversity and Buckwheat
I’m trying to eat less wheat. Primarily this is for my health, but I’m learning that this is also good for the environment. Currently, wheat is one of the top three plant foods eaten in the world. You can imagine how much is produced. This is leading to decreased crop diversity. As the climate changes, we need this crop diversity so our farming practices can change too. You can read more about all that here.
So the other day Yankee Elv made pancakes (yes again, we like pancakes). She made some buckwheat pancakes for me. (Note: buckwheat comes from an entirely different plant than wheat.) You can just go buy them from the supermarket these days – the pancake mix is marketed towards people with gluten intolerance, but of course anyone can eat it.
Woolworth's buckwheat pancake mix.
I didn’t really like them. They tasted like I was eating a musty plant with the texture of a thick, dense, crumbly pancake. Some people say they taste kind of like mushrooms. I’m also not the biggest fan of mushrooms, which makes life hard as a vegetarian when you’re at a catered event, because apparently that’s all we eat. Right.
Anyway, not my favourite. Loodle likes them though. I ate a plateful, but there were still lots left as no-one else really liked them either, so the dog has been having a pancake-y snack every couple of days. I don’t want to just throw them out, because that’s a bit too wasteful for my sensibilities. Today I ate the last two just to get them out of the fridge (ok, the last two of three… the dog got the last one, technically). They’re ok if you smother – and I really mean smother – them in jam and add some honey and cinnamon yoghurt. I try not to eat too much dairy yoghurt either (in fact, I went years without eating it at all, but these days I occasionally have a tiny spoonful of Yankee Elv’s just for the taste, as long as it doesn’t have gelatine), but these things needed all the help they could get. I mean, it’s good that they’re there for people who shouldn’t eat wheat, and if I’m really craving a lot of pancakes, maybe I’d eat them again to avoid the wheat. However, I think I add so much sugar-y jam that it actually makes the avoidance of high glycemic index carbs redundant, so maybe not.
Of course, now I’ve done some more research on buckwheat and found that the grain isn’t even commonly grown in Australia (heck, none of the 20 top foods eaten worldwide are Australian natives). How are you supposed to eat local in a country like this!? I wonder if the buckwheat used in the pancake mix is Australian grown? I don’t think I’ll bother to email to find out… it’s doubtful we’ll be buying it again. I guess we could just try making much thinner pancakes though. It’s not like I dislike buckwheat in all forms. I eat soba noodles. That reminds me, we have some noodles in the cupboard we have to use up. I’ve never been rich enough to waste food in the past, but now there’s an environmental reason driving that too.
Things on my food to-do list:
- Increase diversity in the food we eat (I must post this awesome quinoa recipe I created the other day).
- Reduce food waste (read more about why food waste is bad for the environment from No Impact Man and at the Wasted Food blog).
- Compost food scraps (we just need to finish the compost bin - we have a lid now. It’s a work in progress).
Spotlight: Green Jobs
I’m on the job hunt at the moment, so I thought I’d check out green jobs. Not that my job is ‘un-green’ now… I’m just a boring old office worker. I don’t work in a particularly destructive industry (although lots of metal is used, and metal mining is bad). I would like to actively contribute to making the world a better place environmentally though, rather than just maintaining the status quo.
I want a green job too!
Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be much I’m either qualified for or that’s available in Brisbane. I’m not really entrepreneurial so I don’t want to create my own start-up solar power company. I just want something basic I can do. Surely someone needs some workplace training created for all those new folks who are building wind turbines and solar panels, right? Currently… not so much.
I did find some interesting articles in my search though, including:
Ten Best Green Jobs for the Next Decade
This article lists the kinds of industries that will be in high demand as climate change affects us even more. It’s US-centric but the basics are there. The top ten green jobs are: farmer, forester, solar power installer, energy efficiency builder, wind turbine fabricator, conservation biologist, green MBA and entrepreneur, recycler, sustainability systems developer and an urban planner. I have friends with some of those jobs! But not me.
Green Gigs
This is really a blog, not an article. There are lots of posts about looking for sustainable jobs, many of them telecommuting jobs. Telecommuting is often overlooked as a way to make a job sustainable. It’s something I could do in my current line of work quite easily, and something I keep in mind when looking for jobs. It’s not really getting out and actively making a difference though.
Ten Green Jobs to Stimulate Your Career, the Economy and the Planet
This blog post is related to the first one I mentioned, but instead of focusing on the those ten jobs, it reasons why they’re important. Better yet, it lists the top ten green jobs that will earn you over $100,000 per year. Hey, I don’t want to be greedy, but I would like to own a house on a decent plot of land one day, with animals and children and one of us as a stay-at-home mother. If only one of either myself or Yankee Elv is working, then that person better be making a decent salary!
Green Gold Rush
This article, on the Australian Conservation Foundation‘s site, talks at a high-level about how green-collar jobs can stimulate a fading economy, and how Australia can be a leader in the green industry. It makes sense the way public works made sense in the depression of the 1930s. You’ve got to get people out there earning, so they can be spending, so the economy will thrive. A booming green economy will achieve this, while at the same time encouraging sustainability. You want to be earning and spending, but on the right things. And maybe we don’t need to spend quite as much as we do now… or rather, maybe we need to re-evaluate what we spend our money on.
I know I also saw a site where you can search for green jobs, globally (as opposed to the green section on CareerOne, an Australian job site I hate… it never gives results matching my search strings in an effective way, no matter what I do). Can I find that site now though? I think not. If anyone comes across it, could you please send me the link?
What kinds of green jobs do you recommend?
Reuse: Denim Insulation
Ever thought of using denim jeans for building insulation? These folks have.
Typically, insulation is made from fibreglass. Fibreglass is exactly what is sounds like – tiny glass fibres. In an earlier post I discussed (at a high level) manfacture of glass. It’s not fabulous for the environment (although better than plastic in my opinion). I would definitely say blue jeans are better. They’re better for people and the environment. I like that the jeans are either old ones that would otherwise be discarded, or denim off-cuts from denim manufacturers. Considering cotton (which denim is made of) is such a water-intensive crop, however, is the best choice for the environment though?
If it was up to me, I’d go strawbale. The straw is just leftovers from grain crops, cheap, easy to construct and very effective.
An exterior truth window on a strawbale house, showing the straw inside. Photo from Paso Straw Bale Construction Blog.
Besides, strawbale* is pretty. I like it.
I wonder if the federal government would provide a rebate on building a strawbale house, under their insualtion scheme? Somehow, I doubt it. Hmm.
*Photo from Paso Straw Bale Construction Blog.
Recent Comments