Neco is proud to present a seminar by Nelson Lebo, discussing the work of the Student’s Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) who have developed environmentally sustainable programs to improve the education and lives of their small community in the mountains of Kashmir: including the design and construction of solar-powered schools and the introduction of renewable energy and appropriate technologies.

When: Saturday 11th July 2009
Where: Neco, 101-107 Whitehorse Road, Blackburn, Vic, 3130
Time: 9.30am – 11.30am

For full details contact:
Email orders@neco.com.au or call Jacqui Mocek on 03 9264 7925

Friends of the Merri Creek are having a litter clean-up near the Rushall Train Station, North Fitzroy, Melway map 30 D 11.

Sunday 5 July
10am-12noon

All welcome
Bring your own gloves and dress warmly!

World Environment Day is this Friday 5 June. Take a look at the official website for changes you can make everyday:

• Do you have a morning hot drink routine? Using a washable mug is an environmentally-friendly alternative to non-biodegradable styrofoam or plastic cups.
• Leave a cup and reusable bottle for water at work to eliminate buying drinks, which get served in plastic cups, or bottled water. 80% of plastic bottles are recyclable but only 20% are actually recycled.
• When you need a pad for lists and messages, turn over an old document and write on the back of that instead.
• If there isn’t an office recycling system, start one yourself! Recycling our trash actually contributes to reducing global warming emissions. And it is estimated that 75% of what is thrown in the trash could actually be recycled, though currently only 25% is.
• When you must have a paper copy, make sure you default your printer option to use both sides. This is an easy tree-saver!

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The Merri Creek planting day went a treat. A big group turned up to help, despite the early fog, and it soon warmed up into a lovely sunny morning.

There is another day of rubbish removal and general tidying up around the same site on the 5th July, so if you would like to join in, let us know by email. Thanks again to everyone who came along and helped out.

Readings environment committee invites everyone to a planting event organised by the Merri Creek Management Committee.

Help celebrate MCMC’s 20th Anniversary by joining in this BIG planting. Funded by an Australian Government ‘Caring for our Country’ grant, it is part of a project to restore the natural habitat of the Merri Creek.

Where: Rushall Station North Fitzroy, Melway map 30 D12
When: Sunday 31st May, 10am-1pm

All gardening equipment, including gloves is provided.

We had a really successful day planting at this site last year. It does involve a bit of digging, but nothing too strenuous. The planting goes for a couple of hours and then a BBQ is provided by the MCMC.

For catering purposes, please email our environment committee iif you would like to come. Friends and family are all welcome.

It would be great to see you there,

Readings Environment Committee

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To celebrate Fair Trade Fortnight, we organised a fair trade coffee break in the Carlton kitchen, ordering in fair trade coffee and tea from Oxfam. It was a great way to take a bit of time out from the daily grind and think about how our purchases effect other people around the world. Thanks to everyone for getting involved.

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Fair Trade Fortnight is on again between 2 - 17 May 2009. A great way to be involved is to have a Fair Trade Coffee Break. Just arrange to get together with a few workmates or friends, register online and the Fair Trade committee will send out some goodies to help you along.

There is also a Fair Trade Fiesta on the 15 May with entertainment, information and products to showcase the importance of fair trade in our globalised economy.

Venue: RMIT Storey Hall 342 Swanston Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Cost: Free
Time: midday til 10pm

For the full program of events check out the Fair Trade website and see how you can get involved.

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LIVE is inviting families, schools, community groups, clubs and individuals to participate in forming a Human Sign. The sign will be formed by 10,000 people at St Kilda Beach on Sunday 17 May 2009.

The message, selected through a student competition at St Michael's Grammar School is: CLIMATE CHANGE - OUR FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS

What is a Human Sign?
A Human Sign is where people assemble to form the letters of a phrase designed to send a message to government. As the message can only be seen properly from the air, photos will be taken from a tethered blimp, and a light plane. Below is an image of the Human Sign LIVE organised in April 2007.

Time: 11am sharp
Rain or shine, the event goes ahead
Date: Sunday 17 May 2009
Site: St Kilda Sea Baths. (Melway Map 2N, J7)

For further details or to RSVP log on to the LIVE website

The Guide to Ethical Supermarket Shopping, which quietly appeared in our stores last year, has been a real success story, recording consistently solid monthly sales. Produced by the Ethical Consumer Group, it provides information on companies and brands, evaluating the social and environmental impact of companies in the Australian market.

The aims of the guide, listed on their website are:

• to inform shoppers of more ethical or less ethical choices in their buying
• to empower people and create awareness about consumer power
• to provide a means for consumers to give feedback to companies and government, and so encourage change.

It retails at only $5 and is an invaluable resource for helping us all to make well-informed choices in our everyday shopping.

Thanks to staff and customers who enjoyed Readings by candlelight to show our support for Earth Hour.

Earth Hour is 8:30-9:30pm Saturday 28 March.

The organisers of Earth Hour are hoping to get 1 billion people worldwide to switch off their lights for one hour. Check out their website and get involved.

If you are looking to purchase goods from overseas try Etiko. Etiko is an ethical importer who ensures their suppliers are either:

• certified fairtrade
• certified sweatshop free
• worker or farmer owned co-operatives

Check out their website and think fairtrade next time you go shopping.

Etiko won the Sensis Social Responsibility award of the Telstra Business Awards in 2008.

We have the new floral range of blank journals from Dharma Door. The pages are made of recycled cotton waste from garment factories and the covers are handprinted. Dharma Door is a fair trade organisation that imports from developing communities in India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines and Bangladesh.

Cool Change Natural Spring Water Launched in Australia.
A water bottle made from plants!

The basics:

• the water is from the Yarra Valley
• the sugar (which they make the plastic from) is currently imported from US and is created from corn resin - they are hoping to move to Australian sugar cane once it becomes economically viable (maybe the weak dollar will bring this about!)
• the production process does use fossil fuels, but considerably less than to process PET plastics
• the bottles are fully recyclable, although it is not widespread enough at the moment for it to be done on a wide scale

They have a very good website and the FAQ sheet is very informative.

Despite all the usual arguments, I think it has to be a step in the right direction as far as packaging goes, particularly for those of us who are addicted to our water bottles. And it won't be leaching any of those nasty cancer-causing toxins into your water!

Ask for it at your local deli. Stick the FAQ on your notice board at work. Spread the word...

from left: Michelle, Mark, Tess, Ross, Kylie and Zandy Tibballs (Wastewise)

Readings is committed to developing and improving environmental practices in the workplace. In 2006 we had an external auditor provide a performance review that outlined our main areas of impact and what we could do to improve them. Download PDF (0.15 MB)
EnvironmentalPerformanceReview This review recommended applying for accreditation with Sustainability Victoria's Wastewise program. Sarah Nickels, an environmental auditor, helped us establish an action plan for improving our environmental impact and achieve Wastewise accreditation. Our environmental committee now meets regularly to make sure we are on targ