Author Archives: Mick

Feb 17

What Do Others Think About Climate Change

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I came across an interest graphic from the CSIRO recently that gave me pause to think. The graphic was in a CSIRO publication “Second Annual Survey of Australian Attitudes to Climate Change” (you can access the PDF here)

The picture showed two graphs side by side. The first graph show a breakdown in the acceptance or belief in climate change of the population in Australia. There were no real surprises there in terms of what I already understood about attitudes to climate change.

However, the second graph caught me by surprise. This graph showed what people “thought” the rest of the population thought about climate change. On average, respondents overestimated the proportion of people denying that climate change was happening, and underestimated the proportion who thought climate change was happening due to either natural or human processes.

Climate-attitude-real-vs-estimated

This was interesting for two reasons

First, it showed that the level of concern about climate change was much higher than most people think

Second, as a subsequent graph in the report indicates (not shown here), that every group overestimated the percentage of people who denied that climate change was happening.

So maybe we’re convincing ourselves that there is a level of climate denial that is simply not there despite what some sections in the media, politics and lobby groups would have us believe. If that’s the case, then maybe we should be a bit more open about our thoughts and opinions in this matter and start to publicly turn around this perception so that people are more willing to openly express there concerns.

There is some really interesting material in the report so have a look and see what you think. Does this change the way you might approach the topic with other people?

 

 

Feb 15

Sustainable Living Festival

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slffestivallogoThis year’s Sustainable Living Festival in Melbourne has been on for a week already but the main event started yesterday and continues until Sunday evening with further events continuing through the week and the following weekend. It was a load of fun catching up with friends and acquaintances. I haven’t been able to to attend for the last two years so it was great to get there on Friday. There have been a lot of changes over the last two years and there are many new groups displaying their wares and fewer Hi Tech displays like PV and Solar Hot Water as these have become more mainstream.

SLF 2012 from SLF on Vimeo.

corena-logo

 

I also caught up with Margaret from CORENA for a chat at the ATA about how we could encourage people to donate to get the Large Solar Thermal Plant proposal up and running. If you would like to know more get onto the website here and see how you can help.

 

 

I am going back to the festival over the weekend to listen to some talks and spend some more time at the various events and displays because there are so many interesting thing to see and do.

If you’re in Melbourne why not come an enjoy the atmosphere and take home some sustainable ideas.

 

Jan 30

Mostly Homemade Cheesecake

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We had a party to go to recently and we were asked to bring a dessert. At the last minute, I remembered and thought, “Oh Oh, what are we going to bring”. I stressed for a few seconds and said, “I know, I’ll try to make a no-bake home-made cheesecake or something. How hard could it be?”

As it turns, a little harder than I wanted it to be. However, a short time later, I had modified my plans and decided to just do the filling and buy a flan and some pastry cases. I had seen a few simple recipes and  to based my attempt on some of those.

I ended up making a lemon filling and an apricot filling using Ricotta cheese (from the shop) and ingredients from the garden (or made from ingredients from the garden). I was pleasantly pleased with how they turned out.

Lemon Filling in Pastry Shells

Lemon Filling in Pastry Shells

Apricot Cheesecake

Apricot Cheesecake

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s how I did it. None of the measures are exact and I’m sure there are other ways to do it but this way seemed to work and it was so easy.

Lemon filling Apricot Filling
250g Ricotta cheese
Two tablespoons Honey
Two tablespoons Natural Yoghurt (optional)
Grated rind of one Lemon
Juice of one Lemon		 250g Ricotta cheese
Two tablespoons Honey
Two tablespoons Natural Yoghurt (optional)
Half teaspoon Vanilla essence
100g Apricot jam with fruit pieces
Beating the Ricotta (and Yoghurt)

Beating the Ricotta (and Yoghurt)

 

The basic technique is the same for both just make sure the Ricotta is at room temperature before you start beating it to make sure it becomes smooth with no little lumps. I just used a fork to beat the mixture, it doesn’t take long. The optional Yoghurt gives it a real creamy texture.

 

 

 

Adding the Honey

Adding the Honey

Beat in the honey. We used home grown honey from our busy little bees in the backyard but commercial honey will do just fine. You can use more or less honey according to your tastes but add it one spoon at a time and taste because some honey has a very strong flavour.

If you use more honey you may need to reduce the yoghurt so the mix doesn’t get too runny.

 

 

The wonderful Smell of Lemon Rind

The wonderful Smell of Lemon Rind

Add the lemon rind and juice last because it will stiffen the mixture. The lemon also came from the garden.

With the second batch we used home made apricot jam (made with our own apricots – Oh, and some of the neighbour’s 🙂 ) instead of the lemon. You can also add vanilla essence but not too much. If you are using commercial jam, get one with lots of fruit and with little chunks of real fruit. Add these last as well.

 

Use the mixture to fill the flan or pastry shells. You can also cook up some crepes and roll up the mixture in those.  Put them in the refrigerator for at least an hour and they will get quite firm, unlike the gooey mess the supermarket versions become.

These should keep a week in the fridge and will continue to improve in flavour. However, It’s difficult to know for sure as ours were gone well before then. 😀

A lot of the ingredients came from the garden and it’s possible to make it even more homemade if you want to. For example you could have a go at making your own ricotta. There are a number of sites that show how to make ricotta including this one by a mate of mine http://www.littlegreencheese.com/search/label/Ricotta

But it doesn’t matter if the ingredients are home grown or shop bought, it’s such a simple and delicious recipe and only take minutes to prepare, why not give it a go.

 

Jan 03

Gone to Seed

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parsnips-gone-to-seed

Coming home after being away for several weeks I expected to find the garden a bit overgrown. But even so, I was very surprised to see how much everything had overgrown. I had also left some veggies to go to seed but I certainly didn’t expect to see this!

When I first saw them I thought, parsley? No, parsley self seeds all over the back yard as do the carrots, but it wasn’t parsley. AHA! Carrots! Giant carrots? Nope!  I had a closer look at where they were in the garden bed and then realised… PARSNIPS!   😯

I could hardly believe it, but there they were. I’m not sure if I have ever seen parsnips go to seed before but I didn’t think they would get this big !

Hopefully those seeds produce a bumper crop YUM! 😀

 

 

Jan 02

A simple 12V Camping Supply

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We needed a quick and simple 12V supply for a camping trip, so I whipped up this basic system.

Nothing special, just a lighter socket connector with fuse connected to an existing 38Ah battery. A small 20W amorphous panel can be used short term without a regulator to top up the battery. Note, a regulator should be normally be used but the current is low enough (around 1A) for that battery not to be damaged short term.

With the addition of my little 150W inverter, together with a light and provision for some music we have  small system that’s perfect for a few days away.

The parts for the minimal 12V supply

The parts for the minimal 12V supply. A battery and box, fused lighter socket and alligator clip

The lighter socket screwed to the battery box (there is small piece of wood on the other side for bracing)

The lighter socket screwed to the battery box (with some  wood inside as bracing)

With the inverter plugged into the one socket

Showing the inverter plugged into the one socket. The other socket could be used for another device.

A closer view of the socket

A closer view of the double socket

Inside the box showing the alligator clips connecting the socket to the battery The foam packing stops the battery sliding around

Inside the box showing the alligator clips connecting the socket to the battery. Note the foam packing

The complete setup (but without the panel)

The complete setup showing the inverter and light connected to the battery (but without the panel)

We have light - and a power point for the small music system

We have light – and a power point for the small music system

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The system will supply around 15 hours of light and music before the battery needs recharging. With the addition of the 20W panel the system with provide power for the whole trip in summer.