Nuganics

Greensumption is the green washing of products to make them more appealing to the eco customer. Companies are now exploiting this green wave with products that are not really green as there are hidden unsustainable problems. One example is importing organic food from the other side of the world. General consumption needs to be reduced for there to be a real effect not just buying corporate green products.

A celebration of the surfing lifestyle
Established in 1992 by members of the Noosa Malibu Club, the Noosa Festival of Surfing was as an amateur longboard surfing competition called the Noosa Malibu Classic. In 1996 a professional division was introduced and prompted the eventual name change to The Noosa Festival of Surfing in 1998.

The 2008 Global Surf Industries Noosa Festival of Surfing(NFoS) is ready to launch into the next phase. USM Events with its major event partners and the Noosa Malibu Club will introduce a range of elements into the Festival by increasing the competitive disciplines, more music and entertainment as well as showcasing some of Australia’s biggest industry brand and product names in a SURFEXPO.

Another new initiative is the Tropicsurf Summit which is industry leaders coming together under one banner in one location to discuss issues affecting the environment and other issues across all industries and forms of business. In addition with the commitment of the surfing industry to sustaining the beautiful beaches and coastlines of the world. The 2008 Festival will adopt an eco-conscious attitude with the hope of establishing guidelines for future events in Noosa and Australia for better recycling, better waste management , better fuel efficiency, and a clean and green festival.

More information click on the links below:

Surf Festival Prospectus

Tropicsurf Summit Presentation Package

What is organic farming? Organic farming can be described as an approach to agriculture where the main aims are to create holistic, nutritional, humane, environmentally and economically sustainable agricultural production systems. Maximum reliance is placed on farm renewable resources and the management of self regulating biological systems and interactions in order to provide exceptional levels of crop, livestock and human nutrition. Protection from pests/diseases, and an acceptable return to the human and other resources employed. Reliance on external inputs whether from chemical or organic is reduced as much as possible. In many European nations, organic agriculture is known as ecological agriculture. This reflects this reliance on ecosystem management rather than external inputs.

The objective of sustainability lies at the heart of organic farming. It is one of the major factors determining the acceptability or otherwise of specific production practices. The term ’sustainable’ is used in its general sense to encompass not just conservation of non-renewable resources(soil, water, energy, minerals) but also issues of environmental, social and economic sustainability. The term ‘organic’ is best described as referring to the concept of the farm as an whole organism in which all the component parts – the soil minerals, insects, organic matter, microorganisms, plants, animals and man interact to create a workable and stable whole.

The key characteristics of organic farming are:

• Protecting the long term fertility of soils by increasing organic matter levels, encouraging soil microbe activity.
• Providing crop nutrients indirectly using relatively insoluble(natural) nutrient sources which are made available to the plant by soil microorganisms.
• Nitrogen is provided through the use of legumes and biological nitrogen fixation. I is also provided by recycling of organic materials incorporating crop residues and livestock manure.
• Weed, disease and pest control relying primarily on crop rotations, organic manuring, plant health, natural predators, bio-diversity, resistant varieties(conventional plant breeding) and only natural biological and chemical intervention.
• The management of livestock involved considering behavioural needs and animal welfare issues with respect to health, nutrition, housing, breeding and rearing.
• Careful attention to the impact of the farming system on the larger environment and the conservation of native wildlife and natural habitats also need to be considered.
  
  

This is a great clip showing the suns activity increasing over resent years (1996-2001).

Where do all the things we purchase originate from and why are they so cheap?  The Story of Stuff explains the process from mining of the raw materials to use and disposal.  In this process the people/environment in each step are often forgotten and are not normally factored into the true cost.  These hidden costs are not normally accounted for until many years down the track when we have health/social or environmental problems.

This 20 minute video looks at the other side of production and product consumption.  We need to get together and look at ways of solving this problem and hopefuly after viewing this video it will change the way you view stuff forever.

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=-9153550196656656736&q]