Be warm with less emissions this winter

25 07 2009

The winter is shaping up to be a pretty cold one.  Already a month in and we’re being buffeted by the weather straight from the antartic and we can count on the chill of the night air. And it might get too much to bear, but don’t rush straight away for the heater.

You can save a few dollars by putting on a couple of jumpers or sweaters. Get a beanie on and even break out a few of those blankets lying around. This is the easiest way of staying warm and will save you the most money. Visit a local thrift shop or op-shop to pick some thermal underwear.  Even the humble singlet can add a much needed additional layer to help keep you warm.  If you don’t have double-glazed windows you might want to consider installing these.  As night falls you can reduce heat transfer through windows by closing blinds and/or curtains. You can also stop the cold winds of winter by putting a rolled-up towel in the cracks between the floors and doors (front door and back door especially).

There are undoubtedly a bunch of other ways to help reduce emissions without going cold.  Don’t forget to always turn off powerpoints not in use and turn off the lights when you’re out of the room.





Live Blog: Safe Climate Australia launch

13 07 2009

A few weeks ago, completely out-of-the-blue I received an email from Safe Climate Australia. It’s not too unusual for me to receive emails from a range of different environment groups and non-government organisations about Brimbank Climate Action Network and with my involvement in the environment movement and the Greens. But what was unusual about this email was it contained an invitation; an invitation to the launch of Safe Climate Australia.

From their website: Safe Climate Australia is a non-government organisation formed and steered by a foundation group of concerned scientists, community and business leaders with a shared understanding of the scientific and moral imperatives for emergency action to restore a safe climate. Safe Climate Australia will build on a range of international innovation and transition projects such as Repower America, which target energy efficiency and renewable generation, a modern national smart grid and electrification of transport as key actions in addressing global warming, energy security and peak oil.

The launch featured a keynote presentation from The Hon. Al Gore, Nobel Prize Laureate and founder and chair of Alliance for Climate Protection. The launch also heard from:

* The Australian Coal Association,
* Mr Bob Welsh, CEO of VicSuper, and
* Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Director of the Centre for Marine Studies at the University of Queensland.

You might have been reading what the mainstream media have said about the launch; and perhaps wondering what was actually going on inside the room. Well I’d like to offer this alternative – the live blog I wrote since I was there on behalf of the BrimbankCAN. I wrote the live blog using my iPhone so forgive the spelling errors and the words left out, I will get to editing it (with the edits noted).

Replay Safe Climate Australia Launch

I wanted to get the feed for the live blog posted here so you could follow along, but ran out of hours in the day.