Ten days of blogging

Number of visitors is 75

Number of posts is 58

Never too old to make a difference

"Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Dylan Thomas

Short of sleep

Another late night blog. Fran Kelly is interviewing someone about selling irrigation water rights.

Looking forward to seeing what the counter is up to now.

Showing which city I live in now. My posts will make it clear anyway. I have decided that giving up anonymity helps to keep me honest, responsible and accountable.

I have been defensive about being too easily identifiable. I still have not thought the matter through.

[later...]

I have made 54 posts and had 67 visitors

(Keeping a record for the future)

Another late night

At last I got the new images up and in the places I wanted them.

The captions took a while.

The 'About' page has been thoroughly revised.

Changes to the photographic images

I have moved the photo of my mother's village to the 'About' page, and added another one from the same visit I made to England as a young man.

I will see what the blog looks like with either no image, or a much smaller one.

Another step forward

I have inserted my first image into a post. See previous post (below)

It took me two attempts to get it good enough.
I think I can improve the quality, but it's readable.

[later...]
I just found this very recent post on the Blogger Site:

"Our image backend is experiencing problems which may affect the display and/or uploading of photos. We are working to resolve this and will update this post when we have more information."

This might explain the image being of poorer quality than I expected...

Second 'Letter to the Editor' published

Heavy rain falling! Seeing Jack today...

Rain is good news. I live in a dry city.

I took the car today, because of the rain, to meet with my old friend Jack.

He is 85 and in poor health. We meet every two weeks. He is a great environmentalist and has worked as a volunteer for years with 'Greening Australia'. He is one of my heroes.

He was featured some time ago in the local paper as a 'local hero'. I think he was over 80, when he planted more than 600 trees on his son's land on the other side of Yass. Now he has had to restrain himself to planting seedlings in small containers.

Normally I would go to meet him on my bike but the rain was too heavy today.

Ethical dilemma: When is car travel justified? Jack has to drive every time - further than I do.

Another ethical dilemma: Jack is not a very capable driver, and may be a danger to himself and to others. I have heard of some concern expressed by one of his friends and she says his family is worried. He says he drives carefully.

I don't think we should stop meeting. He spends a lot of time alone and can no longer do very much.

Much more driving would be required if I were to drive to his house and pick him up.

Any ideas? Leave a comment. 

Power outage & sustainable housing!

The power went down for about 15 minutes. I thought there had been a break in radio transmission because I was on the balcony hanging a shirt out on the line. A 'ding' from an incoming email reminded me that the laptop was still running on its batteries!

I rushed in to see whether I could hear the last of the interview online via the ABC website. Unfortunately Realplayer was not installed on my computer and I missed the end of the program.

The expert turned out to be Canadian. (apologies, I know how you all hate that). I will keep you posted on how this mini drama plays out.

[later...]

I took the option of downloading the 'mp3' audio file from the ABC website. See if this link works for you, get the audio file, and listen to Jeb Brugman, urban sustainability expert.

Going to a book launch

I slept well last night, close to 7 hours. Listening to my favorite program on my favorite radio station. "Fran Kelly's Breakfast on ABC Radio National"

I attended a book launch yesterday by Clive Hamilton of 'Requiem for a Species'. Bought two books from the author and got them signed. He signed an old one of mine as well. The venue was changed at the last moment so I arrived late on my bicycle! Many others did too and people, listening to a public address system, sat outside the auditorium, which was filled to overflowing, with people standing around the walls. I managed to sit, just outside the door on a chair, in view of the speakers.

I raised a favorite question of mine with Clive in the last question allowed at the launch - "Why has 'An Inconvenient Truth' never been shown on publicly funded Australian television stations? [ABC or SBS] And would it still be up to date enough to be worth showing?" He did not favour the idea. He thought it's time was past and there were more suitable films that could be shown.

I took the question up with him again at the book signing asking, "Isn't this a case of the perfect driving out the good?" He thought it would open the way for a campaign of criticism from the coordinated climate skeptics. I left it at that. I still think that Al Gore's movie has an enormous power to move people to action

In the morning I had sent my third letter to the local regional news paper. I have less confidence of it getting published. I did not spend quite as much time crafting it.

Breaking news ! Fran is interviewing an American expert, on urban development and medium density housing, on the radio.

Eight days of blogging

My blog is less than eight days old.

I have had 50 visitors and have made about 45 posts.

I am adding labels now to help me find blogs that may be compatible with mine.

[later...]

I had to alter my 'interests' to do that! Removed most labels on this post.

More from Bill

B: Over here the Oxfam charity shops collect old mobile phones, old specs and send them to India, while old fridges, TVs & computers we take to the same re-cycling place for the the Council to dispose of properly.

B: My assumption was that everything that gets pulled into the sun's gravitational pull will incinerate. However, your idea of burying it beneath tectonic plates is interesting, but nevertheless invites speculation about its reappearance into surface water tables if it manages to surface anywhere or even into our oceans thus contaminating sea life, since we know that with earthquakes huge cracks in the Earth's surface are opened up.

J: I think we'll have to leave the risk assessment of that solution to the geologists, Bill!

Information from Bill in Derbyshire, UK

OK, I will give you all the info you need to investigate and if you try it and find it successful, then to spread the word amongst all those you are reaching around the world.

the website for ECO-BUTTON is here
and it says:"British Invention" - "Made in China"

* Your personal computer can waste a lot of energy when left idle.

* The ecobutton illuminates as a reminder for you to press it, activating the most economical sleep mode available.

* When you return to your computer you will INSTANTLY continue where you left off.

*Savings in both electricity costs ans carbon footprint are displayed on screen.

Over time you will use LESS energy and REDUCE your carbon footprint.

* Save £50 per year + 135Kg C02 per year, and although designed in the UK, is made in China.

* It cost us £14.99 from a small local eco-friendly shop.

More Correspondence from Bill

B: "We use a Dell computer which is fine except we are told it is not the most economical energy-wise. However we have bought an 'Eco-button' so that if we are on something but have to leave it, we can push the eco-button, go away and do our thing, come back and when we are ready to start again we push one board key and it returns us to what we were on. Each time we come back on it shows the Co2 we have saved, and the money so far (since we have been doing it). So far we have saved over £27 since we started - just thought it worth a mention as this technology must be available throughout the 1st world".

J: That is amazing; I will google around to see whether I can find more about it

B: In Youlgrave, Derbyshire, they have some sort of Hydro plant that harness the river water to create power for that local hamlet of houses; and you remember where we walked down into the Torrs in New Mills, which you liked, and I got booked for over-staying in the parking space, well, they have installed what they call an "Archimedes Screw" whatever that is - it looks like a metal spiral contraption that somehow taps into the current of the flowing river water and creates power for local purposes.

J: I think that is called 'run of river' power. It may come in other forms too.

More correspondence from Bill

B: Hi yet again - something else we do:- as a cochlear implant user (very successfully) I and other hearing aid users go through quite a lot of batteries; I think it is a good rule to take them to your local recycling centre to be disposed of properly - and more importantly that the same should be done with fluorencent strips & low energy bulbs because BOTH contain mercury and therefore do not belong in landfill on which houses could be built into the future.

J: I will start a recycling thread for this one. My old batteries are in a plastic bag under the kitchen sink until I can find a way to get rid of them. I am more concerned about old TV's, computers, and mobile phones at my place.

B: For a while now I have toyed with the desirability of nuclear power because of its lack of carbon & other nasties, but of course the deep burial of waste is not ideal either! So I considered - why not load the stuff onto a rocket and fire it into the gravitational pull of the sun? The answers I have got back seem to suggest that we could get it back on the Sun's Solar winds - but an interesting thought - yes?

J: Great for people who want to play with fire. What if the launch rocket falls back to earth?
In principle it has something going for it, but why leave it in orbit around the sun, where it could blow back on the Solar Wind? Better to let it fall into the sun and be consumed.
I think we can bury nuclear waste in a 'subduction zone' where it gets pulled under a tectonic plate. That's long-term storage!

Correspondence from a friend

Dear Bill

Thanks for putting so much effort into giving me feedback
I will edit my responses to you into what you have written below
Would you be OK about me posting your email and my replies to my blog?
B: Yes
----------------
B: Interesting though I'm not 100% sure of what you're trying to do; I think you are trying to create a global discussion about environmental matters that effect the size of the carbon footprint left by each one of us, and generally raising awareness

J: I am not 100% sure either. I began it quite impulsively and I don't know how it will turn out.
Your description, however, is quite accurate.

I recently got two letters published in the local paper, after saying to friends for years that that would be a good thing to do. I have also written two books without publishing them, and have written a private journal for about 24 years.

So I have decided that various forms of writing may be my way of 'making a difference'.

B: Speaking for this household in the High Peaks of Derbyshire England we do our bit, though could possibly do more. For example we have a black wheelie-bin for normal general household waste - into this go things that might stink if left like bone carcasses or old meat not fit to eat ot food past its sell-by date; we also have a green wheelie-bin into which goes cardboard, all garden waste like weeds & tree-prunings and anything bio-degradable; we also have plastic boxes:- for glass jars & bottles & tins; for paper; and we leave these to be emptied before the green bins are emptied, by a different refuse truck. Other things like plastic milk bootles we re-cycle in a separate plastic box and take to a special container located at our local supermarket.

J: We have a slightly different system where I live. We get two wheelie-bins, one for the same things as your black bin. Then we have a yellow-top wheelie bin for recyclables. These are defined as paper products, glass and plastic products, and tin cans. These go to a centre where they are separated into different recycling streams.

The difference is that we have nowhere to put garden waste, so a lot of it goes into the 'black' style bins. The government wants people to compost this waste. We had a campaign of "Zero waste by 2010". But it went pretty quiet when they discovered how hard that is to achieve.

B: We do other things too, like making sure that all lights & appliances are switched off, and not on Stand-by, which uses as much energy as when on - whenever we leave the house or go to bed.

J: I have a radio which loses the station presets if I turn it off, which is annoying and really bad design. Completely unnecessary, I would have thought.

I am not doing as well as you on Stand-by switch-offs. I am not convinced that it uses as much power in that mode as when it is in use. Maybe you can persuade me?

B: Both Sue & myself being over retirement age gives us free bus passes for use if appropriate, though for my work, and hers we still find our small 1400cc cars indispensible, so we're far from perfect.

J: I have a similar sized car but I use it very little. I don't have the figures at hand but I have been tracking my mileage for several years on a fortnightly basis. In one fortnight it was zero, but at present I might be averaging 60 km per 14 days (4.29km per day, or 2.68 miles). I use my bike nearly every day for almost everything. I am trying to get used to using buses.

B: This past winter has been one of the worst in living memory with temperatures down to minus 25degC in some parts of the UK, though not much more than minus 12degC here. We have, and need central heating which we have tried to be careful with the time switch as it heats the radiators and the hot water. However, spring is here at last with some nice sunny days along with some heavy rain, and we can now be more frugal with the time-switch adjustments.

J: Heating is interesting. Here the temperatures in winter rarely go below minus 6degC. I moved into a flat not long ago from a house where I had a gas heater and very poor insulation. The flat has north facing windows - the equivalent to south facing windows in the Northern Hemisphere.

Consequently, I have not heated the flat for three winters and am going soon into the fourth. At first I heated it before and during visits from friends. Now they accept that I don't do that.

It gets pretty chilly but I wrap up in many layers of clothes. I have a thermometer on the wall that records the minimum and maximum temperatures reached inside. They currently stand at 8degC in winter and 31degC in summer, approximately 48degF and 93degF respectively.
(I don't have air-conditioning either)

We get sunshine most of the time, so it is not too unbearable. I rarely spend an entire day at home.

B: Our Government, along with European initiatives are encouraging local communities through their local councils to make these initiatives as with refuse collection for example.

J: Likewise, our local government is actively trying to address environmental concerns.

B: Already there is speculation that next year the Liverpool Halewood car manufacturing plant that used to produce GM Vauxhall Astras, may be saved by being selected to assemble the Nissan all-electric car which is supposed to be able to do almost 100mph, but only has a range of 100 miles on a full charge of electricity.

J: That is fabulous news. In Australia there are at least two hybrid cars being manufactured, but they are only just coming onto the market. Of course, the Toyota Prius is being imported.

There is no problem with speed or acceleration with electric cars, and never has been.
Range is the big issue and awaits further technical improvements, primarily in batteries.

There is a company called 'Better Place' which has built recharging stations in Israel and Denmark. Canberra, Australia is going to be their next location. I think they may include battery-swapping robots.

100 miles is fine for commuting. Because of the distances, hybrids are going to be big in Australia.

B: Looking further ahead perhaps car designers in California will make more progress with the hydrogen car, regarded as the ultimate in clean motoring.

J: Yes. Hydrogen is a whole new ball game. I have not got very far in understanding it.

B: I guess that's all for now. If I'm not hitting the right wave-length don't be afraid to say so, or if I've got the wrong idea about what you're doing.

J: You are absolutely on my wavelength.

Economists and madmen, Keith Boulding

"Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist."
Kenneth Boulding, economist

I have found the photos I was looking for

Perhaps not all of them, but it could be.
Because I have found all the ones I was looking for, I may not have lost any !!

It kept me from sleeping until I found them or had to give up.
What a relief...

I have lost all my recent photos

I have been looking for a photo to put on my profile, and found that everything has been lost from the last 12 months.

Someone lent me a Mac for a few months. Maybe they are all on there. I have sent an email.

Another page has been added

I have written my first attempt at the 'Personal level' page. See the link just under the picture at the top.

Progress was really slow today because of delays with my internet ISP.

I blogged in the ad breaks, while watching a documentary about the deaths of a small tribe in the Andes in the 16th Century. Not the Spanish on this occasion, but other Native Americans.

I ate a meat free salad, while watching TV.
Multi-tasking? No problem for this guy...
Ciao

A new fan, but not online yet

The checkout chick in my local mini-market, after I asked her how her day was going, asked me how I would be spending the rest of my day. I said, "On the internet, I began a blog last week",

She was most encouraging and interested. I had to break off the conversation, when I saw a queue had formed behind me. I used to fume at people who held up the line having conversations with the staff. Today I am feeling strangely warm and tolerant towards them.

I will probably create a page for each of the 'five levels' I have been talking about.

Distracting myself again

I found a much more attractive counter today but the internet is very slow today, and I could not download the free trial version. Local traffic must be slow on Sunday afternoons.

Back on the Blog

I met with two new people in my local 'environmental footprint activist group', for coffee naturally. We will try to set up a regular monthly social meeting.
It's important to create social bonds if we are to work together. Came back to find the counter at about 28!

Rest break

I am eating an omelette made with half a red capsicum (bell pepper). An omelette was the first thing I learned to cook as an eight year old in London, and I still enjoy cooking and eating one. I rarely make coffee at home unless I have guests. So I will soon be walking for ten minutes down to the two food selling businesses near me, where I can read a paper and have a coffee.

I do that most mornings, partly because the two businesses had a price war recently and the price in the mornings dropped by 50 cents! I have a low income, so a cheap coffee and a free newspaper is attractive to someone who likes one coffee per day and is addicted to following the news.

The omelette has been eaten. Will I shave? No - I need to get there early to get the paper in good condition...

Site construction

I am going to try adding a 'page' to this site today. Not sure what I am doing, so get ready for some site degradation. I will check out the technique before deciding what use to put it to !!

I am tired despite having had nearly six hours sleep.

I am delighted to discover the site counter meter is now showing 20 visits!!

Coal seam gas

I'm listening to Radio National from the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) about Australian farmers' discontent with the activities of mining companies drilling on their land for coal seam methane.

Some concerns about salinity ruining the land and potential degradation of the underground aquifers...

I had been hoping that, overall, coal seam gas would be part of the solution to global warming, not part of the problem.

Now a quick news item about Barack Obama's successful negotiations with Russia's president Boris Medvedyev on reducing the number of missiles in both countries. See - there is some good news around.

A new title for the blog !!

I have changed the title of this blog to "Climate Change & Global Warming"
hoping that it will be found by search engines.

Before that I was calling it "What can I do?"

All the 'books' point to a relevant website

Still tapping the keys.

Going to bed now after spending most of the day on the web.

Heaps to read after hunting sites down. So much info, so little time...

The Rice & Dhal was great, lots of curry, papadums, and salads.

Visitor counter now counting

The counter will do fine for now.

The count is now 13 !!

Trying the 'Useful websites' up top

They are easier to separate than they were on the sidebar.

OK. Now away to some young friends who are eating Rice, Dhal and chocolate

Chocolate is BYOC

Visitor counter now in position

I will have to wait now for further visits to see whether the counter is being updated !!

The visitor counter again

I am getting really bold now.

I moved the site counter from where it is recommended to go by the vendor to where it is more visible.

I had to get into the HTML to do it, and I have not looked at HTML since November 2001 !!

Its not quite where I would like it but it's OK for now.

More refinements

I have spent hours today making the site look better, without adding any of the content that the site is supposed to be about.

The mouse clicker on the keyboard of my laptop seems to be wearing out. If it gets any worse I'll have to buy a mouse. Is there no end to it?

I've added a poll for visitors and a counter. I want to get some feedback that people are visiting when I get a bit further on...

Counting visitors now!

Well the site counter is finally visible, right at the bottom of the page.

The count is registering one visitor so far...

I even know who it is... He emailed me to say he liked the site.

The very first visitor did not get counted. You know who you are. Visit again and be counted!!

Well I am off to read the paper over a cup of coffee.

Counting visitors

I've spent about two hours researching site counters and selecting one.

I haven't quite managed to get it to appear yet. I am hoping this post will kick it off...

It's going to be a beautiful day

The sun is shining and the forecast is a maximum of 29deg Celsius. I have nothing planned other than a possible meeting with a friend.

This morning I began looking at counters for visitors to my blog. So far I only know of one visitor, who left a comment, but I am an optimist. I sent an email this morning to four friends to get a little feedback with any luck. I am a little cautious about being connected to the world and wish to get more knowledge of blogging and the techniques I can use to design my blog before going all out for a readership.

Safari keeps crashing. I have found one thing I do that seems to cause it, when I try to edit my blog. Blogger.com has even failed to respond once or twice.

One of my friends calls me 'Column Graph' because I am always up and down. Not so much mood swings, as being totally engaged with one thing then switching to another.

Yes, I am passionate about some things, and hop around a bit.

I have discovered that writing a blog pushes me to be clearer with myself about what it is exactly that I am trying to achieve by doing it. I have hand written a journal for many years and the blog is not intended to replace it. I have also been invited to add content to two local websites. So is having my own blog just an ego trip? In the long run, if no one visits, I will let it go.

I am going to explore an option to add 'pages' to my blog, which may allow me to add 'articles' to the site.

The Tipping Point (2)

Instead of struggling to review this book myself, I may as well point you to other info about Malcolm Gladwell's book The Tipping Point:

His own website (New Q&A with the author)
the Wikipedia entry (Lots of other links)
the WikiSummary (Great! I never noticed these before)

Sleepless (1)

Usually I sleep well, but tonight I have slept for less than four hours. I will probably work for two hours, then feel tired enough to sleep a little longer, perhaps two hours more. That's happened often before.

I am excited by starting a blog and getting my first response. I guess the novelty will wear off, but right now I can see how addictive it could become.

In a few hours I meet with a few male friends and tell them about my blog. We meet every two weeks.

At this moment I am reading this about electric cars. New technology gives me reason to be hopeful that we can deal with Climate Change

The value of simplicity, Carl Jung

"The more a man lays stress on false possessions, and the less sensitivity he has for what is essential, the less satisfying his life."

Carl Jung

Voluntary Simplicity, Henry Thoreau

"None can be an impartial or wise observer of human life but from the vantage ground of what we should call voluntary poverty."

Henry David Thoreau

The power of an individual, Helen Keller

"I am only one, but still I am one; I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do the something I can do."

Helen Keller (Blind and deaf from birth, taught herself to communicate)

The importance of reaching the people, Abraham Lincoln

“With public sentiment nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed. Consequently he who molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions.” Abraham Lincoln

Tim Flannery, author of 'The Weathermakers'

Find out more about Tim Flannery, who wrote a great book to help you understand Climate Change and why it is so necessary to do something about it.

The Tipping Point (1)

This book by Malcolm Gladwell coined the phrase 'The Tipping Point', which is now so commonly used. It discusses how social change can be invisible until, seemingly out of nowhere, it becomes overwhelming.

Just for now I will describe one of his ideas: that there are just a few people who cause such changes. He calls this 'The Law of the Few'.

These few fall into three categories: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen. It was published in 2000 but he still used the word 'salesman'. Hmmm... interesting.

I wondered which category I might be able to fit myself into. 'Connectors' are what we now call networkers. 'Salesmen' is obvious, and I never thought of myself as one. So I had to be a 'Maven'. I decided I was a was a GREEN MAVEN.

CONNECTORS know lots of people
SALESMEN are persuasive
MAVENS collect information and accumulate knowledge

Like most people I am a combination of all three. I read a lot so I may as well define myself as a Maven, even though I seem to forget a lot of what I read instead of accumulating it. But I am quite well organised and was well known for it at work, so I can often find stuff again.

The book is full of case studies and is a very thought provoking read. Clearly if you belonged to a group that wanted to create change, you might consider collecting people from each category.

I plan to review this book further...

Getting some structure set up

Just completed some groundwork for how I want to use this blog. Learning as I go...

My very patient guest is still here, happily reading the paper, doing the crossword, and snacking while I sit glued to my computer. It was beautiful day and I spent most of it inside. Doesn't matter - most days here are beautiful.

Defining 'International Level'

This will describe my actions or thoughts at the international level. There won't be too many actions! But I guess even this blog is an action at that level.

Defining 'National Level'

This will describe my actions or thoughts at the level of the Nation I live in - Australia.

Defining 'State Level'

This will describe my actions or thoughts at the level of the State I live in, which is really a 'city state' dominated by one small city.

Defining 'Community Level'

These are the posts which cover my actions at a Community Level (See Five Levels)

Defining my 'Personal Level'

This is everything I do in my own life to reduce my impact on the environment. This is mainly about lifestyle and consumption.

Defining my 'Five Levels'

I want to explore how to be effective in bringing about change in society. I see five levels on which one can act: personal, community, state, national, international. I will make entries on how I am going at each level. I hope to encourage my readers to examine each of the levels in their own efforts to be effective.

I'm weary from editing my blog!
I have a guest I am ignoring as I go on tapping keys. I am totally sucked in by blogging. Only began it two days ago!
Must go now...

Recently I got my first letter published in a newspaper with a circulation of about 30,000. It addressed Global Warming. I will be more specific when I have gained 'blogger confidence.' At present I am trying to stay anonymous.

I intend to make writing letters to newspapers a high priority, because I think it is one of the best ways to influence public opinion.

[later...]
I will put an image of the text here soon.

Dear Wengo

Thanks for getting me back on track. I intend this blog to be mainly about Climate Change and what we can do to deal with it. In answer to your post:

Yes, a price of $20 per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted will increase your electricity bill and the cost of oil and natural gas, and therefore the cost of many forms of transport.

ETS = "Emissions Trading Scheme"

The phrase 'Cap and Trade' means that the government enforces an upper limit on how many tonnes of CO2 emission will be permitted. This is called ‘the cap’. The government then issues or sells at auction enough permits to cover the capped total of emissions. Companies are permitted to trade these permits.

If a company emits less pollution than it bought permits for, it can sell them on the open market. A company that needs to pollute more than it expected will need to buy permits on the market. This process encourages, even forces, companies to change to less polluting technologies.

To achieve its purpose, the government must regularly reduce the cap and allow fewer and fewer emissions as time passes. This will cause, intentionally, the market price of the permits to rise, which intensifies the pressure on corporations and consumers to reduce emissions. It gives a competitive edge to corporations that pollute less.

Your efforts to economise at home on electricity and on oil products have reduced your emissions. But you cannot entirely cut out your emissions. Producing any food and getting it to the retailer causes emissions.

However, some food production causes more pollution than others. Beef and lamb are worse than white meats because ruminant animals emit methane, which causes at least 25 times more greenhouse warming than carbon dioxide (CO2).

Buying second hand clothes, which otherwise would have entered the waste stream, avoids the production of new clothes, and hence emissions.

It is impossible to be alive and cause zero emissions. But you can minimise emissions and then buy carbon offsets, if you choose to, for the irreducible emissions you are still responsible for.

Day One

Wow! Just got through all the technical stuff to get started!
It's a beautiful autumn morning here and I am going out to read my local paper and have a coffee.