Oh I sooo wanted to bite on that one Patrick, but damn it, I'm here about zoos - not about my, or your, personal recycling habits, or lack thereof. If I spent the energy on answering your comments effeciently, I'd burn up so much energy that I'd have to go eat another half a cow, thereby contributing yet again to the degredation of the environment, encouraging additional methane production from said cow (well, its living relatives, anyway), and of course, consuming extra coal-based energy to power my computer for those extra few minutes, so I didn't bother. So I spent the extra energy, doing another load of washing (with cold water, and low phosphorus washing powder, of course), pumping the rinse water onto my small inner-Sydney rainforest garden, whilst admiring BOTH of my 3/4 full rainwater tanks, and the effect they've had on keeping my yards green. If only I had room for a few more trees, those fruit bats that come to my hard to feed each evening would be so much happier, but sadly I don't. And don't think for a second that I'm joking.....
lol pat, im not going to give in to you and debate this. lol ill just keep on trying to do my bit, knowing full well that the little changes i try to make are just that, little changes. however, im not that resigned to our planets fate as to sit by and wait for politicians to come up with solutions. besides their general lack of inaction, politicians are supposed to represent their people. if my little changes perhaps change the way others behave and then vote, well, its to me somewhat justified. i am fortunate to work with alot of young people, and they now chase me aorund, saying 'you should have recycled that bottle'. or turn that light off, and they take those attitudes home with them. i do believe if we foster a culture of people who are environmentaly aware and responsive then we will ultimately be a bit better off. and when a spangled drongo or rare species of babbler flies into a stand of trees you grew, well that makes every watering can worth of dam water youve lugged across the paddock worthwile. lol
goodo zoopro. how funny, for a thread no one wanted to reply to were now up to page 3! small changes people, small changes.
and if you believe in small changes, what zoos-here we go, a link-do you think have good environemental policies? zoos sa and perth have both got quite comprehensive strategies, which goes so far as to cover public transport to the zoo.
i just had to post the spangled drongo bit. i was actually excited (how sad) when it flew in the other day. i really couldnt believe my eyes. how exotic looking. oh yeh, and theyve got my blood on tap at the local
Completely agree - Zoos SA and Perth, and Auckland. To my mind, none of the others do a great deal above and beyond standard practice.
mmmmmm which annoys me. just look at the arazpa member profile. thats a big audience of people who could be motivated by seeing green-infrastructure in place at zoos. i mean, in sydney for example, people tend to get really on board with this type of thing. could you imagine, if beyond their water recycling plant, many exhibits had rainwater tanks or even solar panels on some of the exhibit roofs? some people might be inspired by that....eco-friendly building materials etc. in the future, once the car park is finished, wouldnt it be good if a carbon tax was integrated into the fee? even an extra 50c which would then get redirected to regen schemes, or landcare.
OH GOD %$@#ING DAMN IT!!! everyones being too reasonable! whats happened to me? i can't even start a fight anymore
No time to plant trees - MAKE TIME, you lazy so and so. Get off your butt, get away from your computer, and go join Green Corps, Home, and do something for the environment. I'm sure they can point you in the directioon of some needy council that would love to have an additional pair of willing hands to assit with tree planting in their area. i recycle, but wouldn't if their wasnt a recycling bin - well how totally narrow-minded and lazy of you. You mean you wouldn't carry your recycling materials in an eco-friendly green shopping bag, on the tram with you, and deposit them into a communal recycling bin? You know, it's lazy people like you that cause much of the polution issues - I bet you'd be just as happy to chuck your recyclables out on the street if you had no recycle bin, wouldn't you? by no means do i wash my dishes in vinegar - you know, if everyone used vinegar to wash their dishes, we'd still be in just as much trouble as we are now. Vinegar is very strongly acidic. Can you imagine what would happen to the pH of the water in the water treatment plant? No doubt, your waste water is processed at Werribee, where the treated water is gaily pumped out across the paddocks, where some of the best beef cattle in the country are raised (no offence to those struggling country folk who have poorer quality beef cattle). So over time, the cattle at Werribee start eating poor quality grass, produced by overly acidic water, and before you know it, our Japanese beef export market goes down the gurgler. All thanks to you and your mates who want to use vinegar to wash their dishes. Go green and just use a piece of paper towel (made from unbleached recycled paper, of course) to wash your dishes. No water, no detergent, and no vinegar. but i water it when it needs it, not when the restrictions say i can -Again, a very selfish and narrow-minded attitude. What about conditioning your plants to need water only on the days you are allowed to water? Haven't you heard of positive reinforcement for plants? If they grow a bit, on the days when you aren't allowed to water, you then reward them by watering them on the appropriate days. It's radical law-breakers like you that cause so much discontent in the community. You should have one of your hands cut off (your drawing hand of course ), or be sent to gaol, I think. i don't give money to wildlife charities because i have little most of the time and i'm more important - yet another indication of your blatant selfishess. I don't think I've ever met a more self-centred person than you - it's always about you, isn't it? i eat meat whenever i want - and I pictured you as a pasty, whining vegan, ravaging your way through acres of alfalfa and soy products. Oh well, I guess I can be wrong now and then. Well, I have to admit, I'm with you on this one. As a non-breeder (there's way too many people on the planet already), I'm fed up with hearing about saving the planet for my children - I don't have any damn children. I've probably got another 25-30 years left on this planet, so as long as it's around that long, do I really care about it after that? Exactly, not to mention the e-pollution in your original post. It's about time you got a grip Patrick, and started thinking about the big picture for once, like the rest of us do. (There, are you happy now Pat?) - and for those of you who look like this right now, Patrick and I actually get on very well together. That is except for times when he's too busy watering his garden on the wrong days, or bitching about stuff I've posted on this site.
dearest zoopro, thankyou so much for your comments. they sure slapped my into line. i'de love to come up with an equally witty and humerous response, but unfortunately i'm giggling at work, people are asking me whats so funny, and its a little embarassing... ..that and because i'm too lazy
Zoos with green policies Please add Wellington Zoo to the list -- it won an environmental award for its management policies in green issues
This is an interesting thread...maybe we can bring this topic up again. The green practices I employ in my daily routine: Recycle, Compost, Carpool, consolidate errands into one weekly trip or do them on my way home from work, begininng my own garden, keep air conditioning of my house to minimum (85F), use natural light from windows instead of electric lights, i dont spray pesticides or weed killer, i use reuseable shopping bags. Personally I think that if everyone has some solar panels on our roofs and cut down on our use of energy....as a whole we might just be able decrease or even eliminate the need for new power plants and even that of existing ones. There is a local store owner that has solar panels on his roof...the amount of energy he gains from the panels is more than what his store actually uses, and he receives a check, instead of the bill, from the power company every month. Now wouldnt that be a nice thing to receive each month.
When I was at Hawaii I was really surprised to see that the mojority of the houses/buildings had solar panels on them. It should be nice if the mainland would catch up to Hawaii.
I also try to do my best in being green. I recycle paper, plastic bags, and bottles/cans. I don't use air conditioner/heater at all. And now I will try to compost, even though my mom thinks its nasty.
This is indeed interesting. I remember "taking a test" on some website a few months ago. The test appeared serious and well thought-thru, to me. Its object was to determine whether your personal lifestyle was "sustainable" - in effect not creating enviromental problems. I thought I would pass the test with flying colours - being a grumpy old man who doesn´t like to travel, doesn´t drive a car, doesn´t live in that an enormously big apartment etc. I live nearby my workplace - I walk to work. I don´t buy that much of stuff - and the stuff that I do buy (be it clothes, furniture or whatever) tends to be of good quality and therefore will last for a long time. I hardly ever buy something new - or throw away something old - because of fashion, "trends" and the likes of that. But then again I eat meat, which apparently is one of the biggest enviromental sins that you can commit. (There are of course, to put it mildly, other implications to the subject of eating meat, but they would be off-topic in this thread.) Anyway: did I pass the test? Is my lifestyle sustainable? NO WAY, at least not according to this test. I don´t remember the exact figures, percentages etc, but....... anyway NO! Far from it. Makes you think, doesn´t it? Even though my personal lifestyle clearly must make me less an enviromental hazard than the average person in the rich world - I still don´t pass the test! Consider this, and consider the fact that a couple of billions of Asians now look forward to start consuming at least on my level, but preferably and probably even more like on the level of the average consumer in The West...
