Update. August 2011

Flow movie night ... Puma Detox ... National Food Plan ... Phosphates ... Rainforests & our Paper ... Events

Join us for a 'meal & movie' ...

 

Screening Thursday, 11th August, at Kate & Jason's place, Newport, Melbourne's west. Dinner 6.30, Movie 8.00pm, RSVP to Nick. The last in this series of meal & movie nights. Find out how to run your own.

"Can anyone really own water?" Politics, pollution, human rights, a domineering world water cartel. Flow builds a case against the growing privatisation of the world's dwindling fresh water supply. more

News ...

 

Puma Detox!
Last month Greenpeace released new evidence showing sportswear companies are contributing to Chinese river pollution. Puma, the third largest sportswear company in the world, has leaped ahead of rivals by publicly committing to the elimination of all releases of hazardous chemicals from its entire product life cycle, and across its global supply chain, by the year 2020.
>> Find out more about the Detox Campaign and tell Nike and Adidas to Detox!


 

National Food Plan
The Australian Government is seeking comment as they formulate a national food plan. Areas covered include food security, nutritious and safe food supply, sustainability, and others (more). We encourage you to make a submission, however brief or detailed. Let them know what you’d like to see. Our submission will include comment on checks and restrictions on foreign ownership, adequate labeling to encourage local economies, genetically modified crops. See the issues paper at www.daff.gov.au/nfp. Submissions due 2nd September.

 

Phosphate Phase-out
As a result of the impact that laundry detergent phosphates had on waterways, America banned phosphates in the mid-nineties. Do Something recently launched a ‘National Phosphate Ban’ campaign for Australia. The big supermarkets and Unilever quickly got on board and now all major companies in the Australian detergent industry have implemented or agreed to phase out phosphates in household laundry detergents. It pays to ask. more >> Look for the ‘NP’ sign on-pack.

See more news.

Focus on 'Rainforests & our Paper' ...

Up to 17 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from tropical forest clearance and Indonesia has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. In fact, forest destruction has helped to make Indonesia the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses.

 

Asia Pacific Resources International Ltd (APRIL) run the world’s biggest paper plant in Sumatra, Indonesia, and were featured on ABC’s Foreign Correspondent (2/8/11) with the story “Paper/Tiger” showing the massive clearing of rainforests and peatlands, and replanting with plantation timber to feed the plant. Their key brand of copy paper Paper One is labeled as 'Environmentally friendly - paper from 100% plantation fiber'. >> Avoid where possible.

 

Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) is the other main player in Indonesia’s deforestation. APRIL and APP together produce 80% of Indonesia’s pulp and paper (more). Greenpeace recently initiated a campaign, noting there are now less than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild, and targeting IGA (independent supermarket chain) whose signature brand Black & Gold toilet paper uses pulp from APP.
>> You can take action by telling IGA to stop supporting APP. more

 

HarperCollins, one of Rupert Murdoch’s companies, is the only major children’s book publisher left in the U.S. that has not come to the table to address rainforest fiber in its books. The Rainforest Action Network (RAN) has run a campaign on paper policy to protect Indonesia’s precious rainforests by having publishers not source pulp from APP and APRIL.
>> Tell HarperCollin’s CEO to cut ties to Indonesian rainforest destruction. more


Looking for Ethical Paper
Sourcing ‘good’ copy paper however is not straight forward. Australian Paper, the main manufacturer of copy paper in Australia, now owned by Nippon Paper of Japan, have been criticised for sourcing pulp from logging of Australian native forests. There has recently been some controversy over their FSC certification (No agreement on paper, 3/8/11). Their ‘Reflex’ brand is presently the target of the Wilderness Society’s Ethical Paper campaign.

We recommend, where possible, to source copy paper that has the highest amount of recycled content, and highest amount of ‘post-consumer’ recycled content, and remaining plantation content that is certified. (Unfortunately those copy papers available are often not made in Australia).
>> See some options here. Find out more about the specific differences between papers available at Know your Paper. See our comparison page for how brands rate according to company track record.

Upcoming events...


 

'Shopping with a Conscience' talks & workshops (VIC)

Presentations:
- Bulleen & Templestowe Community House, Doncaster East – Sept 8
- Kensington Neighbourhood House – Sept 10

Supermarket tours:
- Pines Learning, Doncaster East – Aug 10,
Aug 16, Sept 7, Sept 13
- Public workshop, Footscray – Sept 22

>> Find out more about our workshops here
>> More about these events or register online here

More movies...

Slow Down! @Harley Court’ restaurant in St Kilda (VIC) are running ‘Appetite for Insight Foodie Film’ nights on the 2nd Monday of each month. Food at Slow Down! is all organic and/or locally sourced. Film nights include Q&A session with expert on the topic.
- 12th September - Anima Mundi – with Peter C Downey (film director)
- 10th October - End of the Line
- 14th November - Economics of Happiness
more here buy tickets , fan page , facebook

 

 

Principle 2:
How much is enough?

Is 'more' better? only sometimes...
Buy the 2011 edition Ethical Supermarket Guide in bulk, for BULK discounts! (..oh dear, another a shameless plug)

 

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