Meat and global warming

Eating meat contributes more to global warming than all forms of transport put together. The greatest single contribution you can make to a liveable future is to stop eating meat altogether.
Eating animals accounts for 18 percent of global warming emissions, whereas cars, trucks and planes contibute 13 percent. Just as driving a smaller car can make a contribution so can cutting back on meat. If each American skipped one chicken meal per week, it would be equivalent to taking half a million cars off the roads.
The Live Earth Survival Handbook says: “refusing meat” is “the single most effective thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint”.
If all the 4WD meat eaters of Manly would ride a bicycle and grill vegetables at their BBQ, maybe their children could survive just a little longer in the long hot decades of mega-summer ahead.
image from mnly

Insecticides and the mass death of bees

Researchers have identified an Australian virus as a possible factor in the death of bees. Bees are essential in fruit growing industries to pollenate almonds, apples blue berries and lemons. They are worth $US14 billion to US agriculture.

The honey which is produced by the bees in the American plantations is so heavily contaminated with pesticides that it is treated as a waste product and is not consumable.

Could it be that the death of the bees has something to do with collecting all those toxic substances? Might the toxins make them susceptible to illness, such as viruses? Would the bees be better able to resist illness if they didn't have to carry around so much poison instead of pure pollen and concentrate it in the honeycomb in their hives?

Unpackaged food.

The Manly Food Coop is the place in Manly to buy unpackaged food. As well as fresh food and vegetables from organic farmers, organically grown dried food in bulk and goods in recyclable containers are available. Environmentally-friendly cleaning agents can be purchased in bulk.
Bring your own containers or use recycled containers and environmentally-responsible paper bags at the shop.
Members enjoy shopping at a cheaper rate and energy point can be earned for various jobs which need to be done to further reduce the prices you pay.
Unpackaged goods reduce the load of your shopping on the environment. You don't need to throw away all your containers and buy them again next time.