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Yet another deadly snake species discovered in Australia
Scientists describe the highly camouflaged Kimberley death adder, native to Western Australia, as one of the world’s most venomous snakes
Related: Snakebite treatment 'will run out next year'
Ophidiophobics should fret not, but Australia has a new species of snake. Scientists have identified a new type of death adder in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Living without money: what I learned
A moneyless economy shows how our lives are intrinsically linked to the great web of life. In this deep ecology, our security comes from our relationships with people and nature
With little idea of what I was to expect, or how I was to go about it, seven years ago I began living without money. Originally intended as a one-year experiment in ecological living, I wanted to explore how it felt as a human being to live without the trappings and security that money had long-since afforded me. While terrifying and tough to begin with, by the end of the first year I somehow found myself more content, healthier and at peace than I had ever been. And although three years later I made a difficult decision to re-enter the monetary world – to establish projects that would enable others to loosen the grip that money has on their lives – I took from it many lessons that have changed my life forever.
For the first time I experienced how connected and interdependent I was on the people and natural world around me, something I had previously only intellectualised. It is not until you become physically aware of how your own health is entirely reliant on the health of the great web of life, that ideas such as deep ecology absorb themselves into your arteries, sinews and bones.
Continue reading...Jeremy Miller - Emily St Residence - PechKucha Adelaide #17
#PKNADL17 Sustainable House Day Pecha Kucha Night
11th of September, 2015
The Joinery – 111 Franklin St, Adelaide 5000
Jeremy Miller | Sustainability House | Emily Street Residence
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Presenter Bio:
Jeremy is an Urban Planner working at the building permit end of the planning process with Sustainability House. His main professional focus is working with builders and developers in improving their energy efficiency, understanding legislative and statutory requirements and developing understanding of the factors that contribute to the thermal performance of buildings. Jeremy is also responsible for the SUHOstudio design arm of Sustainability House working with clients to develop cost effective residential design solutions. His role also involves advocacy and research with Government both at a State and Federal level, delivering training and seminars.
Cast: AdelaideSBN and ESM
Tags: eco-homes, sustainable design, south australia, adelaide and pecha kucha
Nathan McGair - Passive Resistance - PechaKucha Adelaide #17
#PKNADL17 – Sustainable House Day Pecha Kucha Night
11th of September, 2015
The Joinery – 111 Franklin St, Adelaide 5000
Nathan McGair | Passive Resistance House | Home Owner
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Project Short Story:
Middle aged couple (with 2 young boys) who were tired of our old house. Our best friends are architects, inspiring us to want more out of our house. We rebuilt from an old timber and iron rental property, right next door to Ali’s grandpa. Eight years in the planning, one year in the making we now have our own grand design.
Cast: AdelaideSBN
Tags: eco-homes, sustainable design, south australia, adelaide and pecha kucha
Bohdan Dorniak - Peacock Residence - PechaKucha Adelaide #17
#PKNADL17 Sustainable House Day Pecha Kucha Night
11th of September, 2015
The Joinery – 111 Franklin St, Adelaide 5000
Bohdan Dorniak | Bohdan Dorniak Architects | Peacock Residence
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Company Bio:
Bohdan Dorniak & Co Pty Ltd was established in 1989. Since then, this Adelaide based architectural practice has been designing buildings that are sensitive to the environment and energy efficient.
Our architectural services are in the areas of design, documentation and contract administration. We pride ourselves in providing excellent services to individual, domestic, corporate and government clients.
With a client-centered approach which respects the client’s wishes, needs, budgetary constraints and lifestyle, further consideration is given to energy demands and ongoing building efficiency and sustainability. Our challenge and commitment is to create a design to fulfill client needs and site conditions
Cast: AdelaideSBN and ESM
Tags: eco-homes, sustainable design, south australia, adelaide and pecha kucha
Mark Thomas - GOODHOUSE #5 & #7 - PechaKucha Adelaide #17
#PKNADL17 Sustainable House Day Pecha Kucha Night
11th of September, 2015
The Joinery – 111 Franklin St, Adelaide 5000
Mark Thomas | Goodhouse | Goodhouse #05 & #07
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GOODHOUSE Bio:
GOODHOUSE is pioneering an alternative design and construction system that delivers an affordable, highly sustainable, quality architectural housing product.
GOODHOUSE is able to offer this by focusing on efficiencies gained by the systemisation of the design and construction process.
Each home is a composition of well researched materials, systems and construction details, and utilizes offsite manufacture where appropriate. All elements have been considered and balanced in terms of the associated economic considerations, the performance and the carbon footprint impact.Both design and build times are condensed, increasing efficiency and reducing cost.
Cast: AdelaideSBN and ESM
Tags: eco-homes, sustainable design, south australia, adelaide and pecha kucha
Brett Aylen - TS4 Living Houses - PechaKucha Adelaide #17
#PKNADL17 – Sustainable House Day Pecha Kucha Night
Friday, 11th of September, 2015
The Joinery – 111 Franklin St, Adelaide 5000
Brett Aylen | Architect | TS4 Living
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Presenter Bio:
Brett Aylen is co-founder of TS4 Living, the company behind Australia’s first designed and built zero carbon house. Brett is an architect with a clear vision of what it takes to deliver a sustainable project. He has been working in the industry for 20 years and his broad experience enriches his understanding of sustainability at all levels, from the dynamics of people and communities through to the selection of robust materials and the construction of healthy buildings. Brett is a strong believer in the value of multi-disciplinary teams and is pro-active in building the right team for each project.
Cast: AdelaideSBN and ESM
Tags: eco-homes, sustainable design, south australia, adelaide and pecha kucha
Peter Morrison - Strawbilly House - PechaKucha Adelaide #17
#PKNADL17 Sustainable House Day Pecha Kucha Night
11th of September, 2015
The Joinery – 111 Franklin St, Adelaide 5000
Peter Morrison | Strawbilly House | Owner/Designer/Builder
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Presenter Bio:
Peter is a retired high school tech teacher, designed and built first house in Adelaide Hills about 1975, second one at Goolwa about 1983. Reading “Small is Beautiful” by Francis Schumacher and books by Ghandi, Ivan Illich etc. about this time fostered an interest in sustainability and Global issues. From 1988 to 1993 he worked in Tigray, northern Ethiopia with Community Aid Abroad, and in recent years in Tigray as a volunteer. In 2006 Peter designed and built his current straw bale house in the Aldinga Arts Eco Village South Australia, living currently with his partner Jane.
Cast: AdelaideSBN and ESM
Tags: eco-homes, sustainable design, south australia, adelaide and pecha kucha
Huge pirate tuna fishing operation in Pacific, says Greenpeace – video
Greenpeace says it has uncovered a large illegal tuna fishing operation in the waters of Papua New Guinea after apprehending a Taiwanese ship with 75kg of shark fins. Irregularities in the ships log book raised activists’ suspicions and they later found that the Shuen De Ching No.888 had no fishing licence for the area
Continue reading...Problem with BBC’s rural coverage? Not enough Chris Packhams
The British countryside is becoming a playground for millionaires. We need more broadcasters that dare to take on wildlife killers like the Countryside Alliance
Chris Packham should wear the Countryside Alliance’s attempt to have him silenced with pride. It’s another indication that, in the eerie wasteland of the BBC’s rural coverage, his is one of the very few voices prepared to tell us what is really going on.
The Countryside Alliance, which represents people who kill wild animals, demands that unless he stops speaking out against the persecution of wildlife, “the BBC’s only answer can be to remove the BBC from Chris Packham’s biography by refusing to employ him any more.”
Continue reading...Edible water bottle to cause a splash at EU sustainability awards
Biodegradeable water packaging made from seaweed and new way of dyeing clothes have won joint award for new sustainable products
An edible alternative to plastic water bottles made from seaweed has topped the UK round of an EU competition for new, more sustainable products.
The new spherical form of packaging, called Ooho and described by its makers as “water you can eat”, is biodegradeable, hygenic and costs 1p per unit to make. It is made chiefly from calcium chloride and a seaweed derivative called sodium alginate.
Continue reading...Sea Monkey Alert … just add water
The Amazon tribe protecting the forest with bows, arrows, GPS and camera traps
With authorities ineffective, the 2,200-strong Ka’apor, in the Brazilian state of Maranhão, are taking on the illegal loggers with technology and direct action
With bows, arrows, GPS trackers and camera traps, an indigenous community in northern Brazil is fighting to achieve what the government has long failed to do: halt illegal logging in their corner of the Amazon.
The Ka’apor – a tribe of about 2,200 people in Maranhão state – have organised a militia of “forest guardians” who follow a strategy of nature conservation through aggressive confrontation.
Referral guideline for management actions in grey-headed and spectacled flying-fox camps
UK experiences three earthquakes a year due to human activity, study says
New work is first in the world to set a national baseline and will detect any rise in earthquakes following an expansion of shale gas exploration in the future
At least three earthquakes strike the UK every year as the result of human activity, according to a new study.
Most of the tremors in recent decades resulted from coal mining, but fracking exploration caused two small earthquakes in 2011. The new work is the first in the world to set a national baseline and will allow the detection of any rise in earthquakes that follows an expansion of UK shale gas exploration in the future.
Continue reading...Pumping water into Martin Bend wetland
'Blue bastard': newly recognised fish is blue when adult and 'a bastard to catch'
Queensland scientist Jeff Johnson, who identified species from photos, formally christens combative reef fish Plectorhinchus caeruleonothus
The “blue bastard”, an elusive and uniquely combative reef fish from northern Australia, long known only in fishing folklore, has been recognised officially by science.
Queensland Museum scientist Jeff Johnson, who identified the species from photos taken last year by a Weipa fisherman, has formally christened it Plectorhinchus caeruleonothus – a direct Latin translation of the colloquial name anglers bestowed on a fish famously difficult to land.
Continue reading...Human activity 'driving half of world's crocodile species to extinction'
Crocodile researcher warns the reptiles face a ‘bleak future’, but Australia’s saltwater and freshwater species have a brighter outlook due to hunting ban
As many as half of the world’s 27 species of crocodilian face being wiped out due to human activity, although the most feared variety, the saltwater crocodile, faces a brighter future, according to a new book by a veteran crocodile researcher.
Land use changes, pollution, culling and feral animal invasions mean that many crocodile species face a “bleak future”, warned Professor Gordon Grigg of the University of Queensland.
Continue reading...Should you install thermodynamic panels on your home?
They are touted as a free source of clean, unlimited energy to heat your water but the first independent test suggests they are not as efficient as thought
Thermodynamic panels have been touted as “a free source of natural, clean and inexhaustible energy providing 100% of your hot water needs, 365 days of the year”. For around £5,000 to buy and install, they sound too good to be true – and the first independent tests suggest they are.
Thermodynamic panels are similar to air-source heat pumps and work like refrigerators in reverse.
Continue reading...Tycraft Pty Ltd Giant Clams
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