Geelong Sustainability

"Watch the world change over the course of nearly three decades of satellite photography. These Timelapse pictures tell the pretty and not-so-pretty story of a finite planet and how its residents are treating it - razing even as we build, destroying even as we preserve. It takes a certain amount of courage to look at the videos, but once you start, it's impossible to look away."

"A home energy audit will help you to understand where you use energy at home and where you may be able to make savings.  You can do your own home energy audit online using the links on this page.  Each section contains questions about how you use energy and should take less than 10 minutes to complete. By the end of the audit you'll know what you can do to reduce your energy use and minimise your bills. "

"Find out more about greenhouse gases and how they can influence our climate and weather."

"Food writer Hilary McNevin is half way through the Live Below The Line challenge, feeding herself and her two children for $30 over five days. It's been challenging and confronting, but most of all an eye-opening learning experience."

"Live Below the Line is a tough, but meaningful challenge. It means strictly planned meals, a few hunger pains and the odd caffeine withdrawal. But you won't be alone. You can pool money with housemates, colleagues and families to stretch out the $2 to go as far as possible."

"Electricity generated by Australia's highly polluting brown coal power plants has fallen 14 per cent since introduction of the carbon price, while renewable power has soared."

"Tony Abbott is facing growing discontent among his colleagues about his $3.2 billion Direct Action plan to combat climate change, a policy once described by Malcolm Turnbull as rubbish. Liberal MPs Mal Washer and Dennis Jensen say the Coalition should review or consider abandoning parts of the policy in the light of ''dire economic circumstances''."

"The Nine Network has been accused by Greenpeace of buckling under pressure from the beverage industry for the last-minute yanking of an ad promoting recycling from its Friday night football coverage. A 45-second version of the ad on YouTube has been among the most popular in Australia, with more than half a million views since its launch this week."

"From his own patch of turf in Coburg, Emilio Fuscaldo can see south all the way to the skyscrapers. The grass is on his roof. It's one of only a few residential green roofs in Melbourne. Mr Fuscaldo is the founder of Nest Architects; his motives were both private and public. ''It's incumbent on architects to practise what we preach. I wanted to show that you can devote a large percentage of your budget to sustainability,'' he says. ''You can compromise on other things, such as kitchens, cupboards and tiles, and still achieve a beautiful result.''"

We've made a new Coke ad -- with a twist! It exposes how this corporate giant is willing to let plastic pollution trash our oceans and kill our marine life. Chip in today to help get it on TV: http://bit.ly/cokead-YT

Australian scientists have found a way of hugely increasing the efficiency of solar panels while substantially reducing their cost. The University of NSW researchers have come up with improvements in photovoltaic panel design that had not been expected for another decade.

"Creek Watch enables you to help monitor your watershed. Creeks and streams are a vital part of watersheds; they provide water to drink and sustain plant and animal life. However, they can also be a pathway for pollution to spread, and they are often too numerous for water boards to monitor without help."

"AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands - Bike sales dropped with double digit numbers in 2012, but e-bikes did OK as its share on the Dutch market continued to rise. Electric bikes are now the most important segment."

"Turn your old mobile phones and gadgets into cash."

"This 18th edition of Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics evaluates leading consumer electronics companies based on their commitment and progress in three environmental criteria: Energy and Climate, Greener Products, and Sustainable Operations. The Guide scores companies on overall policies and practices - not on specific products - to provide consumers with a snapshot of the sustainability of the biggest names in the industry. This Guide is not an endorsement for buying products from one company or another. Read"

"In Spring 2013, we conducted our latest national survey on Americans' climate change and energy beliefs, attitudes, policy support, and behavior. The first report focuses on Americans' beliefs about extreme weather and climate change. We found that about six in ten Americans (58%) say "global warming is affecting weather in the United States." Many Americans believe global warming made recent extreme weather and climatic events "more severe," specifically: 2012 as the warmest year on record in the United States (50%); the ongoing drought in the Midwest and the Great Plains (49%); Superstorm Sandy (46%); and Superstorm Nemo (42%). We also found that about two out of three Americans say weather in the U.S. has been worse over the past several years, up 12 percentage points since Spring 2012. The report can be downloaded here: Extreme Weather and Climate Change in the American Mind, April 2013."

This infographic from the US National Environmental Education Foundation looks at reasons for teaching and engaging today's students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths in the context of the environment.

"The Arctic's sea ice melted at a record pace in 2012, the ninth-hottest year on record, compounding concerns about climate change underscored by extreme weather such as Hurricane Sandy, the UN weather agency says."

"To avoid 2 degrees of climate change, global carbon emissions will need to be reduced by at least 50% by 2050. For developed countries such as Australia with higher carbon emissions this will mean cuts closer to 80%: it essentially implies decarbonising the stationary energy sector in Australia. Several studies have now tackled the question of how to achieve this, and despite different approaches and different assumptions they've come up with rather similar results."

"How much would you pay to avoid another $250 a year hike in your electricity bill? Does $15 a year sound like too much to reduce that risk?"