John and I have now done two machine loads of laundry with our new pack of “soap nuts” - bought at the Singing Cricket Co-op in Willunga ($14.50 per box).

And the good news is that they work really well:

• The laundry was as clean as with any commercial laundry detergent we have tried.
• At the specified rate of use, the box will do many, many washes.
• Only a single rinse was required - saving masses of water and time.
• The nuts used for a machine-load also worked for an additional hand wash as well.
• No salt or other synthetic chemicals were added to the water.
• The spent nuts went into the compost bin with other natural plant waste.

For us, this is definitely the way to go - for both wastewater and the wash itself!

Elizabeth H

The Village has “Jelly Palms” planted in many places including on the bend of Yacca Way.  When in Victoria last year, we visited the Diggers Club garden at Heronswood and found this monster!  Could this be the same kind we have  -  Butia capitata?

Jenni M

“Postconsumers” - http://www.postconsumers.com/ - was launched in January this year, and includes a lot of resources and information, including a gallery of cartoons by Mike Swofford and an interactive handbook on how to Get Satisfied!

See the cartoon gallery at:
http://www.postconsumers.com/gallery.html

Help build an orphanage in Kenya: The orphanage Lea Mwana - Children Care Centre - is a structure where they care of orphans, located in Malindi-Kenya. It currently has 35 children: orphans or whose parents cannot deal with them, for they are terminally ill or in prison or simply not interested in dealing with another mouth to feed. They need more space and we can help them building with straw bales and train them with new skills. The course will be run in English by La Boa Permaculture Centre. Find more information at:
http://www.laboa.org/index%20gb.html

Conservatives fight back against Earth Hour: The “Conservative Leadership Foundation” is fighting back against Earth Hour by claiming the same time slot to turn on the lights to celebrate human achievement. As Sharon Ede of Cruxcatalyst says, they’ve done a “nice job at reframing...... will be interested to see how they reframe the ecosystems collapse resulting from climate destabilisation as a human achievement!” See:
http://www.conservative.org.au/human-achievement-hour.html

Abu Dhabi builds world’s first zero-carbon city in the desert: The new city is designed to be not only free of cars and skyscrapers but also powered by the sun. The oil-rich United Arab Emirates is the last place you would expect to learn lessons on low-carbon living, but the emerging eco-city of Masdar could teach the world. The genius of Masdar - if it works - will be combining 21st Century engineering with traditional desert architecture to deliver zero-carbon comfort. And it is being built now. See:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8586046.stm

Brilliantly creative video clip: A  palindrome reads the same backwards as forward. This video, instead, reads  the exact opposite backwards as forward. Not only does it read opposite, the meaning is the exact opposite. This 1 minute, 44 second video is understatedly brilliant. Make sure you read as well as listen - forward and backward. It won second prize for its 20-year old in a contest titled "u @ 50" run by AARP. At the showing of the finalist films, everyone  in the room was awe-struck and after a silent, reflective moment, the entire audience broke into spontaneous applause.  Simple and yet brilliant. See:     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA 

GetUp campaign for a better deal for mental health: The largest healthcare reform in decades is on the cards this year - but it seems mental health may be forgotten. This week Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott debated healthcare for over an hour; neither mentioned mental health once. Join GetUp and Australian of the Year, Patrick McGorry to ensure a better deal for the many Australians who need mental health care:
http://www.getup.org.au/health

[Thanks to John H, Deb H, Vanda R, Sharon Ede of ZWSA for the links.]

Autumn is upon us and that means its the ideal time to plant natives.  The Natural Environment Committee (NEC) has purchased 470 tubestock for planting on our common land and ATTACHED is a list of the species that are available.  They are mostly small and large shrubs that seem to cope the best with filling in the spaces on our mounds.  There are 300 plants available now and the rest will be ready in June.  Some will be put aside for areas such as the entrance and the amphitheatre but the rest are available for you to plant in common land spaces close to your house.
 
For a description of each species please refer to the e-book:
http://www.aaev.net/management/nec/nec_documents/files/
Indigenous%20plants%20at%20AAEV.pdf  

This book was specifically written for our Village. Page 3 is a linked contents page where plants are listed for easy reference. 
 
Tubestock and guards can be collected from Jenni & Wayne’s house at 3 Olearia Walk at the following times (or, if you contact me by phone on 8556 5227 or email, I will put aside plants for you):
- Friday 26th, 3-5pm
- Saturday 27th, 3-5pm
- Thursday 1st, 4-6pm
- Further times to be advised
 
If you are keen on planting please know that your face will be instantly imprinted on the small plants and they will expect you to look after them!  This means weeding around them - particularly in the first winter and watering them consistently over their first summer.  Please refer to our web-site for tips on planting and watering and  a list of local growers if you would like to purchase plants for your own garden:
http://www.aaev.net/management/nec/native_plants/index.html
 
It has been a hard slog establishing gardens and common areas with four out of our last five years in drought, but we have many successful plantings along with the failures so lets keep positive (and pray for rain).
 
Jenni McGlennon for NEC

2010 Planting Season

The Village Bee Co-op Group needs to make hive mats to place on top of the frames inside bee hives. Suitably sized offcuts or samples of vinyl or lino flooring are ideal.

If you have some offcuts or samples of these types of flooring that you could donate, call Chris W on 0414 900 399.

Our PDC course for 2010 with Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton has been booked at Trinity College, Melbourne University, Australia and we would love to see you there.
 
The course runs from Monday, 20 September to Saturday, 2 October, 2010. We have a 10% discount available until Wednesday, 19 May, so get in quick to book your spot and take advantage of the discount.
 
Please see the ATTACHED brochure, course costs and registration forms for further information but please don’t hesitate to contact us at sales@tagari.com for any further questions you may have. We hope to see you in Melbourne in September.

The Team at the Permaculture Institute

PDC_Melb_Sept_2010
PDC_Costs_Sept_2010
Course Registration Form_2010

The system below may also be of interest in the context of possibly under-grounding stormwater ponds:

I looked at the “ausdrain” system when costing underground tanks for my home...2 years ago it came out very slightly more expensive per litre for 60,000 litres, than a concrete tank poured in place. Interestingly their local rep lives in Port Willunga. Perhaps there are some advantages due to the storage being less spread out over a large surface area? Anyway food for thought.

http://www.ausdrain.com/ausdrain/index.html

Regards - Ray M

Seed-Saver Networks: The best vegetable seeds are those given by one friend or family member to another. “Here, try these seeds, they grow well around here!” This simple gesture is the modus operandi of our eighty Local Seed Networks (LSNs) around Australia. Jude and Michel at The Seed Savers’ Network hope that you will join a seed group or create one around you. This may help you to grow from local seeds and eat more diversely = nutritionally. Find out how more about Local Seed Networks at:
http://www.seedsavers.net/ or email: info@seedsavers.net

Small woodwork, welding and painting jobs

Manual digging jobs
- post holes
- trenches
- garden beds
- spreading mulch
- planting trees

Modifying and fitting second-hand timber kitchens

Can also assist in purchase of above

Rate: $22.50 per hour

Call Peter Morrison - 0457 782 577 or 8557 8980

The concept of a swimming pool was raised in our NG visioning session. Perhaps it has also been raised in others?  

I came across this website with an interesting system for natural swimming pools. Perhaps we could develop one of the ponds into a wetland PLUS natural swimming pool:
http://www.bionovanaturalpools.com.au/system.php

Tricia O’D

As a follow up to the Lomandra neighbourhood (NG4) planning discussion on Sunday, here (ATTACHED) is a suggestion that might be applied to Village stormwater ponds:

1. The ponds would still function as intended.
2. Creates a useable space over the stop of the stored water.
3. The geotextile can allow water to pass through bottom if required.
4. An impervious geotextile bottom liner can be installed to retain all water.
5. There is no surface evaporation caused from sun and wind.
6. Water can be pumped out for garden use.
7. Safe because there is no visible water to fall into.
8. No need for any fence.
9. Removes the habitat for snakes and rats.

This type of storage has no limit in size and are often installed under car parks and playing fields.
 
Regards - Jeff T

Ecoaid Underground Stormwater Magagement

ATTACHED is the March Newsletter of Friends of Willunga Basin (FOWB).

From the Contents:

• Progress on a walking trail around the Willunga Basin
• FOWB submission to the 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide
• Update from the Southern Community Coalition
• Update from Friends of Port Willunga
• Community Owned Renewable Energy (CORE)
• Summary of James Hansen’s recent Adelaide lecture
• Inputs to the Nuclear Energy Forum
• Inputs to the Gulf St Vincent troubled waters forum
• Integrated water management from the hills to coastal and marine
• Notes on the Conservation Council
• Notes on the Plains to Plate Food Futures convergence

Join FOWB and help to preserve the beautiful and bountiful Willunga Basin. See the newsletter for subscription details.

FOWB Newsletter March

Do you know where you are going in life and where you want to end up?

Read the ATTACHMENT for a good laugh (and some interesting food for thought).

[Thanks to Steve P for sending it in.]

Know where youre going

Securing Human Well-Being in a Resource Constrained World: Mathis Wackernagel of the Global Footprint Network addressed the Dubai School of Government this month. Watch a video of his talk at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/03/securing-human-well-being-in-resource.html

The Low Carbon Trust & Earthship Brighton: The Low Carbon Trust is a not-for-profit organisation that manages and promotes environmental projects with the aim of tackling climate change through highlighting the connection between buildings and the carbon emissions their use produces. Their main strategy is the running of innovative low-carbon construction projects, and training, outreach and education workshops. Earthship Brighton was one of their first projects, a building that is now used as a community centre demonstrating how a low-carbon and low-waste future might look. Contact the Trust at:
http://www.lowcarbon.co.uk/
Subscribe to the Trust’s electronic newsletter by contacting:
info@lowcarbon.co.uk

[Thanks to Deb Harding and Cruxcatalyst for the links.]

At a meeting on Monday night the following was decided:

There are 8 members who are interested in going in SALA, so we are now inviting any other villagers to join us. The final date for electing to take part in the Sala exhibition will be the last day of April.  We estimated the cost per person to be between $20 to $23.

We chose our exhibiting dates to be 31 July & 1 August, 7 & 8 August, 14 & 15 August, and 21 & 22 August.  We would need to each sit the exhibition one day, or if there were more artists, a half day or so.

We chose 31st July as our Opening Day

YACCADOODLE XMAS MARKET
 
We are holding a Xmas exhibition, (and calling it a market) on 20 & 21 and 27 & 28 November.

As well as art works, we are inviting other villagers to maybe sell various produce, plants, craft, Christmas cards, toys, spice mixes in decorated containers or packets, preserves, jam, articles from the knitting group, inc. baby rugs, wood work, jewellery, baskets, weaving, felted work, etc.

Again it will be held at 12 Yacca Way, with the courtyard and garden available for plants and garden features, sculptures, etc. The only cost to participants could be some advertising. 

We also thought we could have a workshop with anyone interested in hand painting pots or containers for plants to sell.
 
So, we would like to recommend that everyone gets growing, sewing, knitting, hammering, painting, etc. etc. 

Annette & the YaccaDoodles - Ph: 8557 8180 or email

Bearing in mind our collective concern over keeping salt levels down in AAEV waste water, how about a laundry cleaner that is a simple natural plant material with NO added salt, that cuts down the requirement for rinse water, and that can be tossed straight into the compost bin after a few washes? Too good to be true? It seems not. Soap nuts from the tree Sapindus mukorossi can do just this. See the ATTACHMENT for more information.

There are local sources so it is definitely worth a trial. (Elizabeth H.)

Soap Nuts

Getting started in ‘Balcony Farming’: Here’s one for AAEV Cottage owners who are interested in veggie gardening in tight spaces! Being strapped for garden space needn't mean being strapped for home-grown veggies, as an experienced London balcony gardener reveals. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/03/getting-started-in-balcony-farming.html

Richard Heinberg on life beyond growth: What if the economy doesn’t recover? In 2008 the U.S. economy tripped down a steep, rocky slope. Employment levels plummeted; so did purchases of autos and other consumer goods. Property values crashed; foreclosure and bankruptcy rates bled. Other nations were soon caught up in the undertow. Understandably, everyone wants it to get “back to normal.” But here’s a disturbing thought: What if that is not possible? What if the goalposts have been permanently moved? Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/03/heinberg-on-life-beyond-growth.html

Modern Society Needs Cultural Engineering: Matilda Lee interviews Erik Assadourian, editor of the influential Worldwatch 'State of the World' report on the best ways to transform cultures from consumerism to sustainability. Read the interview at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/03/our-society-needs-some-serious-cultural.html

FREE Download - Australian Native Plant Guide: The Australian Native Plant Guide is an ideal tool for: Home & Landscape Gardeners, Farmers, Nurseries, Government Departments,
Councils, Landcare Groups, Libraries, Students and anyone interested in Australian native plants. Download it FREE at:
http://nativegrowth.com.au/nativeguide

Australian cities must transform for population growth: If the Australian population is to grow as the Government is proposing, then cities will have to be radically transformed. Check out some of the ideas put forward by architects and planners at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/03/australian-cities-must-transform-for.html

Our World Balances On A Sea Of Debt: “if you read nothing else I post,” says Sharon Ede of Cruxcatalyst, “read THIS, and tell friends about it!” It is essential that people understand this, or it will never change! And watch the movie The Money Fix! (http://www.themoneyfix.org/) Claims on ALL of our time, well being and existence [and our environment] are made through this medium of money, it totally dictates our life choices, and no one understands the absolutely bogus nature of it all! Not enough money for hospitals, public housing, disability and mental health care? To provide primary health care and water for developing nations? Rot! Ask yourself, where did they magick up the billions to bail out GFC creators?! And here’s an interesting comment made on this article: 'Debt is merely the most efficient means of non-violent social control. Once people wake up and realize that their debts are a fiction and refuse to service them, the state will respond with violence instead. The debt based monetary system is only sustained by the illusion that the debt is real. It isn't. Banks do not lend you money. It's just a book keeping entry. The entire system is a gigantic fraud.' Read the article at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/03/our-world-balances-on-sea-of-debt.html

After Copenhagen - looking for real solutions to climate change. Video of James Hansen’s Sydney lecture:
http://www.themonthly.com.au/james-hansen-looking-real-solutions-after-copenhagen-p2-2341

[Thanks to Cruxcatalyst and Zero Carbon Futures for the links.]

How many people can live on planet Earth? A great series of six thought-provoking videos from the BBC Horizon Series. See:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/03/horizon-2009-2010-how-many-people-can.html

Population growth threatens ‘lucky country’: The Greens have weighed into the population debate, saying global growth is threatening Australia's status as the lucky country. Party leader Bob Brown on Monday will move a motion in the Senate calling on the Rudd government to establish an independent inquiry in Australia's population. He says Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's vision of a "big Australia'' with a population of 35 million by 2050 isn't sustainable. Read more at:
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/population-growth-threatens-lucky-country/story-e6frea73-1225840547184

The Great Turning: from Empire to Earth Community - Listen to an audio (MP3) lecture by David Korten given at the Dunstan Foundation Lecture, University of Adelaide, July 2008. Dr David C Korten is the author of The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community.  His Previous Books include the international best-seller When Corporations Rule the World; and the Post-Coroporate World: Life after Capitalism.  Korten is co-founder and board chair of the Positive Futures Network, which publishes YES! A Journal of Positive Futures; founder and president of the People-Centered Development Forum; a founding associate of the International Forum on Globalization; a board member of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE); and a member of the Social Ventures Network, and the Club of Rome. Listen to the lecture and questions at:
http://www.dunstan.org.au/docs/MP3Files/david%20korten.mp3 http://www.dunstan.org.au/docs/MP3Files/david%20korten%20question%20time.mp3

China's oil demand increase ‘astonishing’: Even though oil is trading at more than $82 a barrel, China's demand jumped by an "astonishing" 28% in January compared with the same month a year earlier, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says. The body added that demand for oil in 2010 would be underpinned by rising demand from emerging markets, with half of all growth coming from Asia. Read more at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8563985.stm

Robin Hood rides again - UK campaign to tax bank transactions to benefit the people: A tiny tax of 0.05% from international bankers' transactions could generate hundreds of billions of pounds every year to stop cuts in crucial public services in the UK and help fight global poverty and climate change. And it shouldn't cost the public a penny. See:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/03/robin-hood-tax-be-part-of-worlds.html

Good Foundations - Being well through building well: AAEV just might score well here! A new report, Good Foundations, proposes that our measure of success should be neighbourhoods that promote two key outcomes: (1) Place Happiness: the personal, social and economic well-being of inhabitants; and (2) Place Sustainability: which arises from minimising the environmental impact throughout both the construction process and lifetime of a building or place. The aim of the report is to stimulate the beginnings of a cultural shift in the built environment sector, recognising that the built environment influences all of us when it comes to the choices and decisions we make on a day-to-day basis.
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/03/good-foundations-being-well-through.html

Ever seen a half-hen / half-rooster? Keep your eyes peeled because it’s possible! See:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8561814.stm

'Between the Lines' is a short newsletter from The Australia Institute containing selective analysis of the policies and politics affecting the wellbeing of Australians.
In this latest issue (ATTACHED):

1. Insulation: the wrong kind of price signal
2. Telstra profits at the expense of low-income earners
3. Get them while they’re young (the School banking program)

Between the lines 9 Mar

Your Taco's mighty eco-footprint: The local food movement is growing in leaps and bounds, but it tends to focus on the raw materials of food -- the fruits and vegetables you get in the produce aisles or at the farmer's market. However, a new project at the California College of the Arts takes a much more holistic view of local food, tracking the miles traveled by every ingredient in that humble but utterly delicious meal, the taco. Believe it or not, the 19 ingredients of a taco were found to have travelled 64,000 miles - a window into the complexities of globalization.Read more at:
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/03/03/your-tacos-footprint

Who pays for the CO2 emissions of global trade? Which country is responsible for the carbon emitted in global trade? The buyer or the seller? Indeed - who is buying all of China's products from high-emitting industries? Why does it matter? Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/03/when-goods-get-traded-who-pays-for-co2.html

Old-growth logging will lock in conflict, financial losses and environmental damage: An advertising campaign and report launched by forest industry representative group FIAT shows that the Tasmanian logging industry is behind the times and out-of-touch with the realities of the marketplace, according to the Wilderness Society. Read more at:
http://www.ecovoice.com.au/eco-news/264

GetUp campaign against old growth logging and the pulp mill: This election affects all of us: the future of the Gunns pulp mill, and of the most carbon-dense forests in the world, are on the line. Politicians think they can win votes by trashing the environment, but with a major intervention we can turn the issue against them and make sure the new Parliament represents the interests of Tasmanians, not Gunns Ltd. Have your say at: http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/PollutedPolitics
[Thanks to Cruxcatalyst and GetUp for the links.]

The Yaccadoodle Art Group are intending to enter SALA (South Australian Living Artists) event in August.

We are having a meeting next Monday 15 March, 7.30p.m. at 12 Yacca Way, to plan our entry.

If other artists would like to join us for SALA, they would be very welcome.  However, once we have put in our entry, it would be TOO LATE to join us, as everyone would need to be in the planning stages.

All interested, please either come to the meeting, or if unable to, please contact me by phone on 8557 8180 or email  

Annette & the YaccaDoodles 

Is population growth just a giant ponzi scheme? The basic pitch of those promoting population growth is straightforward in its appeal: "More is better." Joseph Chamie, who has spent a lifelong career as a demographer, including 12 years of service as the director of the United Nations Population Division, finds that more is not necessarily better. Bernie Madoff's recent Ponzi scheme has drifted out of the world’s headlines. However, there is another even more costly and widespread scheme — "Ponzi Demography" — that warrants everybody’s attention. Ponzi demography is essentially a pyramid scheme that attempts to make more money for some by adding on more and more people through population growth. That’s no reason to grow the population! Read more at:
http://www.theglobalist.com/StoryId.aspx?StoryId=8321

Greens Petition to stop a nuclear waste dump at Muckaty Station, NT: The Federal Government has announced that it will repeal the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act. However, this means Muckaty Station - just outside Tenant Creek in the NT - is now the most likely target for the national radioactive waste dump. Traditional Owners of Muckaty Station don’t want a nuclear waste dump on their lands. Help them fight it:
http://scott-ludlam.greensmps.org.au/content/make-your-voice-heard-nuclear-waste-dump

New eco-thinking for our capital cities: New thinking for some maybe, but eco-city pioneers such as Richard Register of Ecocity Builders in California have been on about this since the mid 1970s. Another longtime advocate and activist is Paul Downton, architect of Adelaide's Christie Walk, an award winning 'piece of ecocity' in the CBD. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-thinking-for-our-capital-cities.html

Global Footprint Network - electronic newsletter: Plenty of sustainability news and good stuff for reducing household eco-footprint at:
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/newsletter/v/issue_22_march_1_2010

Why to people loot in a disaster? Looters and curfews, thousands of troops on their way to severely affected areas, self-defence groups setting up barricades to protect their homes… Chile after the earthquake could be mistaken for being in the throes of a political uprising rather than the aftermath of a natural disaster. But why do people loot? It can be more complex than just hunger. Read more at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8546411.stm

Space probe may have found cosmic dust: Scientists may have identified the first two tiny specks of interstellar dust in material collected by the US space agency's ‘Stardust’ spacecraft. Read more at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8550924.stm
[To folks living in a continuously dusty environment such as ours, it sounds quite exotic to be paying $300 million to find two specks of dust!]

[Thanks to John H, Cruxcatalyst and The Greens for the links.]

ATTACHED is an article by Community member Stephanie Johnston (Lot 144) on the “Victory to Landscape Values” achieved in protecting the Bowering Hill land to the north of the Village from inappropriate housing development. The article appeared in SA Planner, February 2010, pp 6-7.

SAPlanner p6-7

Would you ever have expected old phones and phone cords to come back as clever innovative artwork? Take a look at the sheep pictured in the ATTACMENT. And where would “sheep art” come from? Why, New Zealand, of course!

Where old phone cords go

[Thanks to Sue W for sending this one in.]

Are you a farmer at heart? Start a ‘Crop Mob’: A growing number of young people are finishing college and resisting the pressure to plunk down in a cube behind a computer. Others skip college altogether—given the spiraling costs involved, it’s hard to blame them—and yearn for meaningful, hands-on work. Community-scale organic farming has emerged as an attractive profession for such talented, energetic youth. Despite problems such as low pay and high land prices, youthful zeal to farm survives. This is a major asset to the sustainable food movement. As current active farmers near retirement age, an emerging generation of keen but landless farmers is rising. One of the main challenges will be to help find them land and create the infrastructure needed to make the new style of farming a viable profession. Read more at:
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/51786

Sustainability: The Five Core Principles - A New Framework by Michael Ben-Eli: "If you wish to fly and want to successfully construct an aircraft in order to do so, you need to understand the basic principles of aerodynamics. Similarly, if we are serious about ensuring a sustainable future, we need to be guided by a set of principles which underlie sustainability as an enduring state." Read more at:
http://www.sustainabilitylabs.org/page/sustainability-five-core-principles

Did the discovery of cooking make us human? It seems that learning to cook created 'big brains’. Cooking is something we all take for granted but a new theory suggests that if we had not learned to cook food, not only would we still look like chimps but, like them, we would also be compelled to spend most of the day chewing. Read more and see the video clip at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8543906.stm

The cult of omega-3: Hardly a week goes by without a new health claim being made of eating oily fish. But is it really as magical as we are told? If there were a top 40 of good foods, a chart rundown of the right things to eat, then anything containing omega-3 fatty acids would have been number one for years. They even have their own international awareness day, which takes place this Wednesday.But how much of this is hype, and how much reality? Is there a danger that a largely fish-derived fatty acid is being turned into a modern-day magic potion? Read more on the argument at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8543172.stm

[Thanks to Ellie F, Vanda R, and John H for the links.]

A number of people have asked for the recipe for the delicious (non-alcoholic) punch served at the YaccaDoodle art exhibition last Saturday. Here it is - recipe from Charles Carpenter
 
MOCK CHAMPAGNE PUNCH :
3 litres canned unsweetened pineapple juice
juice of 8 lemons and 3 limes
2 cups sugar
4 litres dry ginger ale
2 litres sparkling soda water
sliced fruit to float in punch eg 1 punnet strawberries
 
Stir ingredients together, pour over a block of ice and serve.
This amount will fill a punch bowl 2 or 3 times.

Sick of waiting for Google Maps to update our photos?  Wait no more!

“Nearmap” - http://Nearmap.com/ - has 3 lots of photos taken 19/10/09, 1/12/09 and 26/12/09.
The definition seems very good and the contrast in three months to some houses and gardens is amazing!

Jane O’Connell

CASSE - Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy: CASSE is a non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing the steady state economy, with stabilized population and consumption, as a policy goal with widespread public support:
http://steadystate.org/
CASSE is launching (1/3/10) a new blog called “The Daly News.” Each week it will provide a feature essay that challenges the predominant economic paradigm and explores creative solutions to economic and environmental problems. The core authors include Herman Daly (award-winning economist who developed the concept of the steady state economy), Brian Czech (wildlife biologist, ecological economist, and author of Shoveling Fuel for a Runaway Train), Brent Blackwelder (former president of Friends of the Earth and founder of American Rivers), and Rob Dietz (environmental scientist and executive director of CASSE). You can access the blog on CASSE’s website (or via RSS feed):
http://steadystate.org/learn/blog/
CASSE also has an entertaining animated short called “Add It Up” that tells the truth about pursuing perpetual economic growth. The animation, produced by film students at the University of Southern California, is available on CASSE’s website and YouTube:
http://steadystate.org/discover/video-audio-and-presentations/ OR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qriegoXcbQ
For more information about these resources and other news about the steady state economy, please read the most recent edition of “The Steady Stater” newsletter:
http://steadystate.org/wp-content/uploads/SteadyStater_vol3_iss1.pdf

More on the dumping of poisonous waste in developing countries: While it might be “out of sight, out of mind” when discarded by affluent consumers, dumped toxic e-waste and other industrial wastes are poisoning the environment of poorer developing countries. Read more at:
http://planetark.org/wen/56837
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/420967/
un_warns_india_and_china_over_growing_problem_of_ewaste.html
http://www.theecologist.org/investigations/waste_and_recycling/421522/
how_we_poison_bangladesh_with_toxic_ship_carcasses.html

EU looks to banning “wonky fruit” - AGAIN! Until the so-called “wonky fruit” ban was lifted in July last year, EU rules dictated the shape and size of produce, from apricots to watermelons, effectively banishing from commercial trade all but the most perfect specimens. At the time the ban was lifted, EU Agriculture Commissioner Marianne Fischer Boel declared: "We simply don't need to regulate this sort of thing at EU level. It is far better to leave it to market operators – and in these days of high food prices and general economic difficulties, consumers should be able to choose from the widest range of products possible. It makes no sense to throw perfectly good products away, just because they are the 'wrong' shape." Unfortunately, this was too sensible. Now protectionist policies are threatening to bring back the ban. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/03/european-parliament-members-want-to.html

[Thanks to Cruxcatalyst for the links.]