Yes, got your email thanks Len. I have gone to your website and had a shufty
through. I am not as far advanced as you but note some of the tips you give
and have stored some away for possible use. I am looking to the simple
changes first, some of the bigger issues are a matter of timing but I will
get to these later on. As an example, you have recipes for home cleaners,
detergents etc. I cant be bothered with elaborate systems for that type of
thing. I use a basic washing soda/borax or baking soda mix and sometimes
vinegar as a fabric softener. I find it works well and is really simple to
mix together and store. About the only thing I would take a lot of time over
is bio-fuels if I had the vehicle to run them in. I guess I am just
frustrated that more people are not quickly moving to embrace simple
changes. I can't establish a marine reserve myself, neither can my neighbour
or work mates. We can change the way we do things at home however. It fairly
****es me off more are not. If you have things to add or discuss feel free
to email me. I am looking very locally at the moment and changing things
around me and with me (and my wife) that I can practically change. My
immediate focus is (very) locally as opposed to anything globally. For
example, Howard should sign Kyoto (and repeal his new labour laws) but I
don't waste too much time in angst over it as I can't change it myself. I
can tell the checkout operator I don't want a plastic bag and why. I just
wish I could also tell the person next to me to dump their 10 plastic bags,
stop killing my earth, and use some boxes instead.

rob

"gardenlen" wrote in message
...
g'day george,

count australia in there as well mate maybe even more so not sure?

i did send a reply to your original post 1 via the return format in this
program the other i sent to the e/mail addy ) in your
original signature line. not sure if you got them (both the same text)?

still would welcome chat with you about self changes, up to you i am on
the
same wave length as you, just think that as important as this topic is
these
av' garden forums/groups don't generate the sort of open discussion needed
to lead to what can be done.

you are welcome to contact me through our web site.

len

http://www.users.bigpond.com/gardenlen1/

"George.com" wrote in message
...

"Mike" wrote in message
...


Currently the availability of bio-fuels in New Zealand would account
for
something like.25% of the current energy demands of our nation. Put
another
way, it would take 400 years of bio-fuel growth to produce the same
energy
demands as 2006.

rob


but rob you are using your natural resources as well which is
detrimental
to
your environment and you are not such a developed (in the
industrial/suburban sprawl way) nation.
http://www.mikecrowe.photosite.com/a...2ndLeg/?page=4
show the geysers at Rotorua which used to be a lot higher, but as the
guide
said, 'they are now being used to heat our houses'. What happens when
they
give up?

Mike

yeah, thanks Mike, thanks a bunch. It was an article in a magazine
pointing
out how we are cumitatively rooting NZs environment that threw me into
this
slough of despondency in the first place. Nice of you to throw me a
lifeline, with a lead weight attached. The following discourse is not uk
gardening as an advanced warning. More so how NZ is doing
environmentally.

The geysers are actually doing better than they were 20 years ago. The
government capped many many back yard home heating systems as they were
drawing off too much thermal heat and dampening down the geysers. They a
re
certainly no where near the level going back 100 years but are showing
good
signs of good health. In fact, in recent years hot pools and steam vents
have started popping up in parks and peoples gardens showing the thermal
activity is increasing.

If you are talking about using natural resources faster than replacement
(sustainability) you are indeed correct. One latest issue is water. In
the
drier parts of the south island water is being drawn off faster than it
is
replaced. ancient aquifers are running dry. The water is going in to
irrigation for pasture mainly. Show me the logic of that.

Other natural resources are being conserved, that is one area NZ is
doing
quite well. Land and wetlands are being locked away in national parks,
native forests no longer logged, increasing marine reserves. We are also
starting to invest quite heavily in wind power generation (though still
a
small % of total demand) although nimbys still exist. One example was
the
wind turbines may 'scare the horses'. My view on that is short and to
the
point.

Whether this balances up the depletion of natural resources I do not
know.
I
would suspect not however things are getting more in to balance. Eg, we
dig
up a coal seem but place more land in to a national park or create a new
marine reserve. We hunt for more natural gas but also build a large wind
farm.

More of a concern however is air quality (worsening), water quality
(disgusting deterioration), increasing consumer wastes, plastics etc
etc.
We
are cleaning up past decades of DDT, copper, arsenic etc poisoining of
land.
Good. We continue to pump nitrates into our water ways causing
infestations
of water weeds.

We are a new country with a short history of european colonisation (200
years) however we have gone a long way down the line of environmental
degredation. Pity we didn't learn from europe with their centuries of
destruction. We seem to emulate it but do so a whole lot quicker. We are
still one of, it not the, cleanest country on earth however that is down
to
our recent development and low population. People are wising up, I just
wish
they would wise up a hell of a lot faster.

rob