FairTrade Fortnight 23 April to 13 May

Crew,

Fairtrade Fortnight is coming upon us. I have met with Shannon a Fairtrade lady who is organising lots of things for brisbanes fairtrade event. We are thinking of having a Fairtrade market day featuring music, fairtrade stalls, comptetitions, speakers, local producers and whatever else fits in, the more the better!
I have posters and flyers from Shannon. I need help to set this up so - there will be plenty to organise at the next env col get together.
C u there :)

(Lack of) recycled paper on campus!

Universities all over Australia are making the switch to 100% recycled paper.

Here at USC we have 10% recycled paper made by a company that engages in the clear cutting of native Australian forests. What a joke.

Does the overwhelming lack of environmental concern shown by this univeristy concern you?

Are you sick of environmental policies that are nothing more than creative writing exercises for public relations propaganda merchants?

If so, please email the Vice Chancellor & the manager of reprographics and let them know how you feel.

Vice Chancellor: vcoffice@usc.edu.au
Reprographics Manager: kluck@usc.edu.au

If they email you back, post it up here so everyone can read what they said.


better yet, give them a ring and have a chat:
Vice Chancellor: 07 5430 1101
Reprographics: 07 5430 1121

Even if you dont go to the university give them a call. I'm sure they'd love to hear your point of view.

:-)

Our own backyard

While we ramble on about various serious world environmental problems, we appear to fail to see the mote in our own eye. Gem's point about USC (lack of) environmental awarenss is an ongoing saga. As our campus is increasingly covered in concrete, the concerns by USC management about the uniqueness of our 'wildlife reserve' and the horrors of parking on the verges, ring somehwat hollow. It can be suggested that the 'enviro-Uni' merely pays lip service to its green credentials.

Tokenism is loathsome because it disguises true intent. Has anyone else noticed the tokenism around USC? Freedom of speech, democracy, student representation? Has anyone tried putting up a poster recently? Get real, USC is a business and other considerations are secondary. Other matters, especially if unprofitable, will be attended to only if they are forced kicking and screaming. What do we hear all the time? DEVELOPMENT. Increase in student numbers. GROWTH. USC is a microcosm of the ills of the modern world and we are assisting the problem.

Where is student activism?

How about requesting an environmental audit of USC from SCEC or suggesting it as an honours or other project to a convenor?

Has anyone had a look at the destruction of bush around Claymore Road behind the High School?

It has recently been a delight that the 'roos congregate at the Guild around dusk where there is peace, quiet and long juicy grass one of the few (the only?) places on campus where this is possible.

Mike

Welcome Back !

G'day everyone and welcome back to USC for 2007!

The USC Environment Collective has a number projects on the agenda this year. But first of all, we need to get together. The USCEnvCol meeting place is hosted by the Student Guild, out the back in the garden area.
Post up what times suit you for a regular meeting place and we'll agree on a time to get together.

This blog is for you to post events, issues, philosophies and ideas concerned with the environment. Check it regularly to find out what's going on. And by all means, if you know of a workshop, festival, or you'd like to start something, ... POST IT POST IT POST IT

USC markets itself as an environmentaly friendly university but there are heaps of things the uni can be doing to make it much more sustainable. Such as changing all the paper to recycled paper. The University of Queensland EnvCol has successfully pushed for recycled paper on campus. So let's do the same!
We ran a petition to introduce recycled toilet paper last year. It was knocked back. So we'll run another petition again.

Myself, Kate Greenwood and Byron Lawrie are very busy this year and we are calling for people to become actively involved in the collective and make a difference.

*There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed. ~Mohandas K. Gandhi
*Don't blow it - good planets are hard to find. ~Quoted in Time
*Nature provides a free lunch, but only if we control our appetites. ~William Ruckelshaus, Business Week, 18 June 1990

I look forward to seeing you and meeting new faces in the near future :)

Hemp vs Cotton

Courtesy of Michael Buky

Really interesting article from the UK Guardian October 6-12 regarding hemp cultivation. (Series 5 BMW doors are now made from hemp!!)Hemp is a crop that is not only sustainable and non-depleting, but needs little water and can be used for a multitude of purposes. In other words, it would be ideal for Australia. Why is it not grown? Probably fears about growing THC-laden hemp and pressure from the cotton lobby.
Why do we remain so ignorant? Government, for once, needs to make a long term plan.

Want to dig further?

Check out the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) website

Do a search for Cotton
the do a search for Hemp

Compare the difference...

Good Job!

Hi Gemma

Good job on getting the blog up and running. The future looks green. :-D

Byron

Join the Collective

To join the Collective please email: environment@guild.usc.edu.au

First Blog! woohoo!

Welcome everyone to the USC Environment Collective blog. This is here for you all to communicate about what you're up to, what you want to see happening, any ideas, anything at all. Let's get to know each other and work together! We look forward to your wonderful ideas and active involvement in the Collective.
Take the initiative and start a project, let everyone on the blog know about it and before you know it, the force will be with you!