Regrow Qld 25 January 2023 Issue 3 Vol 4
2-stroke gardening, Good News, Cash for containers update, BYD voice commands, and Greg visits Barnaby's backyard.
Editorial
Anna Hitchcock
My friends,
it was so hot last night that I took an ice pack to bed with me, and resorted to the old trick of a damp washcloth.
Unfortunately, my little portable air-conditioner has its limits!
Meanwhile the grass is growing as you look at it, and although most of my garden tools are electric or organic (thanks, chickens!), I have had to resort to a 2 stroke brush-cutter. I’ve broken 2 line trimmers so far, and now it’s time for the big guns.
If I don’t manage to slice my feet off, it should make a big difference in keeping the garden under control while my trees grow up and shade the awkward edges of the yard.
When gardening, I try to remember that mistakes are all part of the process. One of the most important things I have learned is not to be afraid to transplant something if it isn’t working in that spot. If you’re careful about keeping things watered, they will often take elsewhere.
It’s better than the alternative of just chopping things out, but don’t be afraid to do that as well. There’s nothing worse than being reminded of a mistake every time you go out your front door.
Other options are to cut out the top of a too tall tree, severely prune a bush on one or several sides and layer several other plants to soften the overall look. As an example, when my bamboo threatens the power line to my house, I cut the top of the stem as high as I can reach with my loppers. The top of the stem just bushes out, so it looks like that’s where the vegetation naturally stops.
If a tree is genuinely too big for a space, and too big for you to handle, I highly recommend getting the professionals in to remove it safely and take all the debris away. It’s a lot less expensive than a permanent injury.
Meanwhile, I’m off to mix 2-stroke fuel while I mutter under my breath that I thought I was finished with pull start machines.
Happy gardening!
Anna
Project Update
We’re restarting our plant sales so keep an eye out for the separate e-mails with all of the details.
This year we plan to have sales in Bundaberg, Agnes Water and in Gladstone.
Good News
This week’s Good News stories were supplied by HOPE, Margaret, and Peter.
Enel Green Power gets green light for first hybrid solar-battery project in Australia
Italian energy company Enel Green Power has received connection approval for what it claims is the first solar and battery hybrid project in Australia. The project is a 96MW solar farm and a 20MW battery in the central west of New South Wales, in the Central West Orana renewable energy zone. The company says that this is the first project of its kind in Australia because it shares a single connection point to the electricity grid, rather than two separate connection points. Construction is expected to begin in mid-2023, but no further details about the project have been released.
Businesses urged to substantiate environmental claims or face penalties for "greenwashing"
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is actively targeting "greenwashing" this year, warning that businesses which make false or misleading claims on the climate benefits of their products or activities undermine consumer trust and confidence in the market.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) also said it was cracking down on investor and finance groups that make misleading "greenwashing" claims. Environmental groups are taking court action against corporations they claim are greenwashing.
Businesses should seek legal advice to ensure their public statements on their environmental credentials can stand up to the scrutiny of authorities like ASIC and the ACCC. Penalties for making false or misleading statements can be extremely high.
https://www.mondaq.com/australia/environmental-law/1271308/businesses-warned-against-greenwashing/
$1 billion electric mining vehicle deal signed
Australian electric vehicle specialist SEA Electric is partnering with European firm Mevco in a $1bn deal to supply 8,500 electrified Toyota Hilux and Landcruiser vehicles to the mining industry. Conversions will take place at SEA’s factory in Dandenong, which will be expanded from 4,000 sq m to 8,000 sq m as the company grows. The companies aim to convert up to 4,000 vehicles per year, with more than half of the 2023 allocation already pre-sold. The vehicles will include SEA Electric’s proprietary SEA-Drive power-system, providing a range of 380km and 260km for the 88kWh and 60kWh batteries respectively.
Roev's electric ute conversions fill 2023 order book
Australian start-up Roev, which was launched in 2020 by two former senior Atlassian executives, announced that it's received "strong demand" for its electric ute conversion program. The company plans to convert 1,000 petrol and diesel utes to electric in the first 12 months of its EV Fleet Program and focus initially on completing conversions of Australia’s two bestselling ute models – the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger. Roev opened a first round of reservations for its EV Fleet Program, aimed at giving local fleet customers the opportunity to reserve their share of the conversions ahead of the opening of official orders. According to Roev CEO Noah Wasmer, the company has already received reservation requests enough to fill their conversion build spots through to the end of 2023.
Cash for Containers Update:
The Boomerang Alliance is a group that started in 2003 to campaign for an Australian-wide container deposit scheme called "Cash for Containers." This scheme involves adding a small, refundable deposit to the price of a beverage at the point of sale. Once the container is empty, consumers and collectors can return the containers to a collection point and receive a refund of the deposit.
The goal of this campaign is to reduce the amount of recyclable materials going to landfills and to promote recycled content in all beverage containers. So far, several Australian states and territories have implemented this scheme and the rest will follow soon.
The Alliance also wants to expand this scheme to include wine and spirit bottles and to increase the deposit refund to 20 cents. Additionally, the group is campaigning for dine-in restaurants to use reusable plates, cups and utensils instead of disposable packaging.
https://www.boomerangalliance.org.au/cash_for_containers
What we’re watching:
This short video takes you through some of the voice commands that you can use while driving an electric vehicle - not a Tesla this time, it’s the BYD Atto 3.
Opinion
Greg Bray
In Barnaby’s Backyard
“Would you like to see Barnaby Joyce’s place?” I was asked on the one flamin’ day I forgot to pack a carton of rotten eggs.
Our gracious host was giving us a driving tour of the wilds of New England surrounding Tamworth. It was interesting, quite pretty, impressive in parts and also gave us a little break from listening to country music for a few hours.
Yet, I politely declined the offer to see Chateau de Joyce for two reasons:
1. I couldn’t trust myself not to return later with several cartons of rotten eggs, and
2. I’d rather hit myself repeatedly in the crotch with a hammer than see the farm we, the long-suffering taxpayers, bought for him.
(Note: I have a theory that the bulk of the expense for his new farm was provided via his Water Envoy role. If you recall, back in 2019-ish, when Barnaby was at his wits end financially trying to support two families, he went on a three week taxpayer funded trip to check out some mudholes in drought ravaged outback Queensland, flicked ex-PM ‘Scotty the Evasive’ an awful lot of private texts and blew nearly $700,000 for his ‘efforts’.)
Nice work if you can get it.
I’ve made repeated, and earnest, offers to do a similar trip to the islands of the Great Barrier Reef as a sort of Fishing / Snorkelling Envoy for half that amount but, oddly, have not received a reply as of yet?
Anyway, in rural NSW, the heartland of the National Party, I discovered talking about Barnaby and Daylight Saving was very similar.
Basically, nobody really liked either very much, but it was too big a bother to do actually do anything to get rid of them.
The general consensus was, ‘well, it’s the devil we know.’
I suspect it would be easier for the voters of New England to ditch Daylight Savings, as Barnaby has firmly wedged his snout into the Government trough.
Which is an interesting position for a bloke who, ‘…is sick of the government being in my life!’
But, like Barnaby, the region was a mass of contradictions. Politically they continue to elect a family values candidate who is fairly casual with the truth, family values, religious convictions and sobriety.
And while Barnaby is a man who loves a bit of a moan, all the people we met were generally positive, can-do, no nonsense, no worries, no use complaining let’s get on with it, types.
It was rather refreshing…
But the biggest contradiction was, while their member is a man who appears to be owned suit, tie and sheep crap covered boots by the mining industry, he is also, sort of, an advocate for climate change… sort of… I think… sort of… look, it’s hard to tell.
The good burghers of New England are clearly going to continue to vote for conservative MP’s, even if the candidate was a half brick with eyes painted on it, but they’re spending progressively.
Because most rural and residential roofs, homes, sheds and bore pumps were plastered with solar panels.
The place we stayed in was completely off grid… power, water, sewerage. We literally had power to burn, even on the cloudy days.
Plus, they’re even building a solar farm just outside of town!
I’m sort of despairing, but filled with hope at the same time.
Frankly, it’s doing my head in.
Sooner or later, Barnaby will retire from politics and, while I’ve got no doubt, some other old, white, bitter, hard line conservative, male, mining shill will be elected overwhelmingly by the voters of New England, they are also happy to ignore the pleas of their elected, gas driven windbag and continue to buy, use and promote renewable energy technology.
Which makes me regret not going to see Barnaby’s place now. Because I have this itch to know if the bulk of his home’s electricity is actually provided by coal power or the sun.
Or possibly, ‘electrickery’