If you eat canned tuna in Australia then there is a good chance you are swallowing a creature on the brink of extinction.

The health benefits of eating tuna have long been promoted but how is eating Tuna affecting the health of our oceans and the longevity of the species?

Many cans of tuna contain fish that are almost extinct. Already Northern and Southern Bluefin tuna stocks have collapsed and Bigeye, Yellowfin and Albacore Tuna are decreasing. Destructive tuna fishing practices also lead to the widespread slaughter of hundreds of thousands of turtles and sharks.

So how do you know if you are eating a threatened species?
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Ok, so it’s not quite spring but since spring cleaning is such a mammoth effort I’m starting early.

But I’m not going to throw any of my unwanted stuff out. Instead I’m going to keep it all out of landfill by rehoming, reusing and recycling.

Like a good spring clean – that is never quite finished - I plan to keep updating this page as I go. I’d love to hear your ideas about ways you’ve rehomed, reused and recycled your stuff. Please add them to the comments below and I will try to incorporate them into this story.

I’m starting with all the unwanted clothes in the house. This is what I did or am about to do. (more…)

It’s 2009, and to mark the new year South Australia has banned plastic shopping bags.

There’s an interesting post over at the We Knit, Sew, Bake blog reminding people in the state to bring their own bags when shopping or they’ll have to buy reusable ones.

I think this ban is a move in the right direction, and hope this law will soon become national. It certainly has worked well in other countries I’ve been to.

Next week I’m due to have a baby so I’ll be a bit quiet on the Greenfoot front for the following few weeks or so.

I’ve been reading a book called Raising Baby Green, which has some interesting tips on how to have a green baby. It’s American so some of the information is not so relevant to Australia but some interesting tips never-the-less.

One thing I’m planning to do once my baby is born is to try out some of the newer cloth nappies on the market. These days cloth nappies have come a long way since the good old square white, towelling ones, which we used with my son. We also experimented with other more eco friendly disposable nappies, however, this ended up getting pretty expensive.

Carly over at Buddlebums kindly sent me a sample of her cloth nappies, which I will definitely be trying out.

I’m sure there are loads of great cloth and eco alternatives to the regular disposable nappies out there. Please if you know of any let me know in the comments below so I can check them out.

Cheers and see you soon.

Since it’s World Environment Day today, it seems apt to be thinking about recycling and reusing. Being a huge supporter of the R’s, I’m always on the look out for imaginative ways to give life to old or unusable items.

Cool Hunting Green is a book dedicated to designers who are doing just that but in a much funkier and trendier way than I ever could

The book focuses on designers who are creating, reusing or recycling items to produce greener products for fashion, gadgets, stationery, the house, transport, outside and even the afterlife.

Each item featured is accompanied by a website where you can get more information and buy the product.

Some of my favorite sites are:

http://www.rebeccawardjewellery.com/

http://www.souls-australia.com.au/shop.html

http://www.greenknickers.org/index.html

http://www.ecoist.com/

Eight years ago I travelled to Sweden and was impressed with how the supermarkets did not provide free plastic bags to shoppers. Instead, shoppers could buy durable, biodegradable brown paper bags or bring their own.

A few years later I lived in the Netherlands and the supermarkets there provided durable plastic bags but for a price. These bags lasted forever and encouraged shoppers to bring their own bags. No one batted an eyelid; it was just the “done thing”.

I think the recent decision by Australian environment minister Peter Garrett to ban plastic bags, or impose a levy on each them, is a move in the right direction.

Plastic bags are made from polluting petrochemicals, detrimental to landfill and can be deadly to wildlife.

Already, many Australians are using recycled bags for their shopping but I think if we are charged for plastic bags then many more people will make sure they recycle.

The bling of the Christmas lights in my neighbourhood is making me dizzy. Well at least reminding me that I need to get myself sorted for Christmas.

Yep I’m writing my list and checking it twice and like every year the 25th is quickly approaching and I’m trying to sort out presents, holidays, parties and catching up with family and friends before the year is out.

Christmas is fun but it’s also a time of mass consumption. But there are ways to give people gifts that have meaning and support a worthy cause.

Check out Greenpeace Giving or Oxfam Unwrapped for unusual and quirky virtual gifts that help fund the organisations’ work. WWF, The Wilderness Society, and the ATA also have online shops. The ACF provides some other great ideas for a low consumption Christmas.

I’m sure there are loads of other great charity sites out there that provide good Christmas gifts. If you know one, please suggest it in the comments section below.

Happy shopping.

Lately I’ve been battling the dreaded lurgy so I apologise for my sparse postings.

However, through my sleepy, fuzzy, throaty amblings I came across a new magazine at my local newsagent called Green.

The magazine launched this month, is published quarterly and focuses on sustainable architecture and landscape design. However, Green is also packed with loads of useful tips such as retrofitting your home, new products, green innovations and growing food locally.

Definitely worth a read and its website is great for a visit.

I don’t usually blog about products that we can’t get here in Australia but being a bit of a recycling junkie I just can’t resist this one. And who knows, maybe one day it will be available in Australia.

Thanks to Your Abode, I have found out that blue jeans: “are becoming a much talked about insulation product in the US. Bonded Logic manufactures a product called UltraTouch which is manufactured from 85% recycled jeans.”

According to Bonded Logic, the company uses post-industrial denim and cotton fibers sourced from denim manufacturing facilities. What a great way to give jeans a second life and prevent them from going to landfills. Not to mention a great way to recycle all those Diesel “global warming ready jeans” when they go out of style ;-).

You know when climate change has hit the big time when the fashion industry jumps on the band wagon. Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed a Diesel advertisement on many buses in the city.

The ad features a sexy looking couple lounging on top of a New York City skyscraper. In the background skyscrapers are submerged in water and it is clearly a hot day. However, the couple doesn’t seem concerned and the tagline is: “Global Warming Ready”.
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