Treading Lighter now featured on Green Maven
Posted April 3, 2009 – 10:41 pm in: websitesTreading Lighter is happy to announce we are now featured on Green Maven, the green search engine. Launched in 2006, Green Maven now boasts over 10,000 entries in its search engine, and 4000 businesses in its green directory.
The founders aims are to spread the green word by the “collective power of the internet”; and so to that end, the site also features the latest news feeds from Digg, environmental videos on YouTube and what is apparently the latest must-have – a Twitter feed.
It’s these resources that in my view make Green Maven stand out from other web directories that, lets face it, are all over the place these days, and rarely offer much value past a company’s telephone number.
If you have an earth-friendly website, you can submit it for free, and once your site is vetted, it should appear in a couple of days (they do ask that you link back to them somewhere on your site though – and who am I not to spread the link love?!).
And just in case you were wondering what a maven is, it’s a: “trusted expert who wishes to pass their knowldege onto others”. You learn something new every day!
Australian Solar Power Needs A Gross Feed In Tariff
Posted January 29, 2009 – 6:02 pm in: newsSo yesterday morning, I had this post all ready to publish, and then Gavin beat me to it. Oh well…. that’ll serve me right for wandering off to get a coffee!
With the recent changes to the solar panel rebate (surely only a Government could make it this complicated?), the Australian solar industry is having a hard time getting a decent head start against its coal powered competitors; so a petition has been launched calling for the introduction of a national feed-in tariff.
What’s a feed-in tariff? It’s a rebate awarded to a household for the electricity it generates from its grid connected solar panels. Essentially, an ongoing reward for installing them.
There’s two models of tariff – net & gross. The net model currently favoured by the individual states that have a tariff (VIC, SA, NT, QLD, TAS) only rebates for the surplus the house feeds back to the grid. As Gavin shows with his quick calculations based on the Victorian program in this post, that’s about as useful as a chocolate teapot.
The gross feed-in tariff sees each household rebated instead for all the electricity it generates. The ACT is currently the only supporter of this model. (WA & NSW are yet to decide.)
So, why is a gross feed in tariff better? Well, we Australians are a simple lot really, dangle a carrot and we’ll take it. Dangle a bigger carrot, and we’ll take that instead. And put simply, a gross feed in tariff will produce a bigger carrot.
The opportunity for a bigger carrot higher rebate will create more demand, benefiting both the domestic solar power industry (by helping kick start a ‘green’ economy, thus providing jobs and job security), and Australia (by reducing our reliance on fossil fuel generated electricity, thus reducing our carbon emissions). It’ll also help us meet those 2020 renewable energy targets (PDF).
If you’d like to join those wanting to see Australia launch a national gross feed-in tariff (which as at an update of this morning has collected more than 4000 names in under 7 days), head over to feedintariff.com.au.
What are your thoughts about a feed in tariff? Should it be net or gross? Should it be National or State administered? Leave us a comment below.
(Update: As at Feb 5, the petition is now nearly 7000 names long. Great work, people!)
1 Comment | Tags: government, petition, renewable energy, solar feed in tariff, solar powerGet Involved With Clean Up Australia Day 2009
Posted January 28, 2009 – 5:15 pm in: generalIn case you missed it, registrations are now open for Clean Up Australia Day 2009. This year’s event will be on March 1st and you can register at cleanup.org.au either as a volunteer or to host your own cleanup site.
Since 1990, Clean Up Australia Day has seen some eight million Australians take part, and collected over 200,000 tonnes of rubbish. With an estimated 80 million plastic bags and 7 billion cigarette butts (that’s over 300 per person!) being thrown or dumped every year in Australia, ending up in waterways, streets and parks, it’s a ‘must-do’.
Check out their TV ad below:
Don’t forget, it’s also a great way to get out into your community and meet some like minded people! I’ll be taking my family along to our local site and will be posting some pictures of the day here on Treading Lighter. See you there!
No Comments | Tags: cleanup, communitySeventh Generation On A Supermarket Shelf Near You
Posted January 14, 2009 – 6:00 pm in: products
I noticed on a trip to the supermarket this week that Seventh Generation products have started appearing on shelves here.
Hailing from the US, a quick glance over some of their product range looks impressive. Covering a wider range than is normally seen from one manufacturer in the environmental line; there are baby products, household cleaners, laundry products and dish-washing items to name a few. And with one of this year’s goals for my family being to reduce the amount of chemicals in our home, their transparency about the ingredients they use is particularly welcome.
The company’s name is derived from the Great Law of the Iroquois that states, “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations”.
Please go back and re-read that last sentence. Would I be right in thinking that’s the first time you’ve ever thought of your great great great great grand-kids?
The packaging goes on to say:
“every time you use a Seventh Generation product you are making a difference by saving natural resources, reducing pollution, keeping toxic chemicals out of the environment and making the world a safer place for this and the next seven generations.”
which is pretty much what we all should be striving for, no?
My only gripe (and it’s a small one), is that they’ve yet to update their packaging for the worldwide market; most of the environmental messages are US centric, and I can see this putting off some potential purchasers.
Currently I’ve found a couple of products from their “Free & Clear” range being stocked, but will definitely be looking out for more. We’ll post a review of some of the products when it’s time to restock the cleaning cupboard.
Do you have any experience with Seventh Generation products? Please tell us about it in the comments.
2 Comments | Tags: chemical-free, cleaning, household26% Believe Solar Is The Way
Posted January 10, 2009 – 12:24 am in: news
From a survey commissioned by the Labour Party, results released in The Australian this week show that 26% of those surveyed believe Australia’s primary source of power in the year 2028 will be solar.
Personally I think this is fantastic news, as it really shows that renewable energy is starting to be seen as a viable source of power in Australia.
And lets face it, given the abundance of the stuff, it surely has to be a no-brainer?
What really caught my eye though was the headline of the story, which strangely, wasn’t promoting solar, but rather nuclear, with a result of just 20%.
Funny how the media works…
Photo: Solar Power
No Comments | Tags: media, renewable energy, solar power
