Green Georgia

What is the supply chain?

The supply chain is the network of suppliers that together bring a product to a consumer. This network ranges from raw material suppliers to manufacturers to warehouses and distribution centres to retailers. The following resources explore the supply chain by looking at “The Real Cost’ associated with the purchasing decisions we make.



Greengoods

Greengoods is a NSW government initiative that looks at sustainable… Continue

The devastating bushfires took precedence over all news in Australia last week and rightfully so. Since the tragic event the United Fire-fighters Union of Australia have expressed their concern in a letter to the Prime Minister stating a more proactive approach to climate change needs to be adopted to ensure the safety of Australians. Meanwhile the Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment has been defending accusations that better fire management could have prevented the… Continue

Last week the Australian government threw more money at rebuilding the economy withgreen initiatives being a large component of the spending. Whilst the government was spending money, protesters created a red human chain around Parliament House to express their disappointment with the carbon emissions reduction target.



Overseas, Sweden lifted a 30 year old nuclear power ban, joining several other EU nations who see nuclear as one solution to climate change and energy… Continue

The world recession hasn’t brought all dire news. Environmental issues have re-surfaced over the last week or so, with the world paying particular interest to how we are going to address these concerns in the long term. The Australian Federal government has committed over $10million into researching the health implications of rising temperatures and $500,000 on grass roots initiatives at local council level.



Obama has thrown an enormous amount of enthusiasm into his first… Continue

Change is in the air and society is thinking laterally when it comes to combating green issues. Last week newly appointed President Barack Obama promised a green revolution, this filled many people with newfound optimism. Whilst Obama has been wooing the world, engineers have suggested we can counteract electricity emissions by using technology, to do so they have requested a whopping $6billion. And while they have been trying to reduce emissions, the mining industry has expressed… Continue

Who would have thought the polystyrene that packaged your new television could have a second life as a Korean coat hanger!



Socially aware entrepreneur Chris O’Brien had the foresight to make this possible. He invented a machine comically named “The Hungry Giant” that breaks down and recycles polystyrene foam.



He expressed “the initial driving force for the development of the idea and the business was to divert this material from landfill. With waste companies… Continue

Obsessive media advocates have had a lot of environmental news to digest this week, some trivial and some much more serious. Google has been under scrutiny for the emissions their worldwide data centers supposedly omit, Australia’s population policy has been questioned in… Continue

The contemporary jewellery company, Dinosaur Designs is widely recognised for their vibrant coloured polyester resin pieces. What is not as widely known is the extent they go to, to reduce their carbon footprint and to support environmentally sustainable initiatives.



Striving to be carbon neutral is difficult, it extends well beyond double sided printing and switching off stand by power. In fact whilst many businesses are actively reducing their carbon footprint, very few… Continue

I hope the future isn't as bleak as Changing Times, Changing Climate on SBS last night suggested it will be. The docu-drama predicted by 2075 the world will change so significantly that technology we embrace and accept as part of our everyday lives will cease to exist and life will be an ongoing fight for survival.



For humanity, regions affected by severe flooding and other natural disasters will mean migration from drought stricken continents will be commonplace.… Continue

This blog post is motivated from an overly indulgent Christmas. A Christmas (like most) that saw excessive amounts of paper being wasted on aesthetically beautiful gifts, salubrious functions catered with more food and drink than physically consumable and enough meat (turkey, ham, chicken, duck and beef) to keep an abattoir in business until February. (Yes... I have the guilts!)



So, here are my 50 'green' new year’s resolutions to counteract all the Christmas… Continue

Biomimicking is a word that is being thrown around in the scientific space at the moment. It is when humans replicate natural forms to invent new technology. A simpler name for it is ‘innovation inspired by nature.’



It makes sense. Biological systems do function efficiently, so why not mimic them.



This is a new concept to me, but Australian scientists caught onto the idea decades ago whilst searching for a solution to generate power from renewable… Continue

I walk up Burton Street, Darlinghurst everyday and the sign “Fairtrade coffee” outside the Forbes & Burton Cafe always grabs my attention, so on the weekend I gave it a go.



Tasted good, the caffeine hit was equally as strong, it was the same price, so what was the difference?



A Fairtrade mark is an independent consumer label which appears on products as a guarantee that they have given the person that produced the product a fair deal.



The aim of… Continue

Telling the Truth is a product of its parent documentary, Al Gore’s The Inconvenient Truth.



Since the conception of An Inconvenient Truth Al Gore has generously funded and trained over 4,000 presenters in 6 countries to spread the key messages he rose in his famous Powerpoint presentation showcased in the documentary



250 of these participants were trained very close to home, 180 in Melbourne and 70 in Sydney. Those chosen were everyday people striving to make a… Continue

The countdown is on. In less than a month the Rudd government will make a final decision on carbon reduction targets for 2020.



The recently released Garnaut report, found the economic cost of not acting on climate change is far greater than the cost of taking early action to reduce emissions. If that's not reason enough to act, here are four more reasons from the Australian Conservation… Continue

Flicking through Marie Claire on the weekend I was shocked by the number of articles dedicated to ‘green’ living. In fact, at the moment green lifestyle content seems to be equally as popular as tabloids about single sexed couples. Fad or no fad, it’s great news that "green living" is under the media radar.





Some websites Marie Claire recommended that I checked out were:



1. Green Your… Continue

With the Murray Darling Basin in dire need of a top up Four Corners this week investigated the Government's attempt to rescue Australia’s most significant water catchment.



Sarah Ferguson reports “In the endless drought, clouds carry promise, but little else. If the government is right, climate change will continue to defeat the best hopes of our farmers.



It has forced the Federal Government to take radical measures to keep Australia’s most important and most… Continue

Combating climate change and sustainability doesn’t start and end in the home. In fact, businesses are the emitting tones of carbon emissions and waste and need to pull up their socks when it comes to taking action.



Setting up a Green Committee is a good way to go about motivating staff and drumming up support. The role of a committee in many organisations is to identify ways to reduce waste, recycle and put some pressure on management to change corporate… Continue

A friend bragged to me last night over dinner about flying carbon neutral. I acknowledged his attempt for “socially responsible” kudos (and commended him) but challenged him with “where does your money actually go?” He was stumped for a reply and I too, was challenged to answer my own question. So I examined the issue a little further.



How does it work?

Whilst choosing to pay a levy to fly carbon neutral doesn’t reduce emissions directly, it does fund projects… Continue

The much anticipated Garnaut Report was released a few days ago to the public. The final report makes recommendations on medium to long-term policies and policy frameworks to ensure that Australia has a sustainable and prosperious future.



In a press release Professor Garnaut stated “there is a path to Australia being a low-emissions economy within around 40 years, consistently with continuing strong growth in material living standards,”



“The Review has… Continue

Confidently addressing an audience of environmentalists, social policy makers, sustainability directors, academics and the public last night, Tim Flannery proposed two new ideas around environmental sustainability in the 21st century.





1. The need to produce clean coal

2. Atmospheric cleansing (a “new paradigm”)



With the emissions trading scheme not likely to generate enough revenue to fund clean coal technology and businesses solely focussed on… Continue