PLASTIC FREE FISH AND SIPS A FIRST FOR FREMANTLE

 

The Fish and Sips festival at  the Coast Port Beach this weekend will be the first Fremantle festival that will be single-use plastic free.

Fremantle Council adopted the sustainable events policy in November last year. The policy excludes the provision, use, distribution or sale of single-use plastics including straws, cutlery, bottles, cups, plates, containers, bags and cling-wrap at all events produced by the City of Fremantle.

Although single-use plastics are not banned from third party events in Fremantle, the policy does encourage event organisers not to use them.  Fish and Sips wants to support that, so they’ve purchased 15,000 reusable polycarbonate and melamine cups specifically for the festival.

Coast is very aware of the beach environment they are operating in and for the Cuban club event recently they served 35,000 drinks in a day with no single-use plastic, and in this Fish and Sips event they’ll be doing similar numbers over the weekend – all of this in reusable cups.

The venue management believe it’s essential to the survival of Coast Port Beach that they’re able to use the beach and the beautiful ocean backdrop, so they are doing their part to preserve this and also blazing a trail by being the first event to do this on a large scale

Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt said “The impact of plastic in our environment is well documented, with some studies suggesting that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.  The fact that you can put on a large event like Fish and Sips and not use single-use plastic demonstrates there are cost effective alternatives available.”

The Fish and Sips festival is on from Friday 29 March until Sunday 31 March.

For more information visit the Coast Port Beach website.

 

Roel Loopers

IT’S RIDE TO SCHOOL DAY THIS FRIDAY

 

Have you organised that your children, accompanied by a parent, ride to school this Friday?

March 22 is National Ride2School Day, so a great day to get started on not driving to school or using public transport.

If more kids rode to school we might need less of the 600 new Diesel!!! buses the McGowan government has announced it will get made for Perth.

We do not need more diesel pollution and we need to be more aware that all these things contribute to global warming. From little things big things grow!

Roel Loopers

SCHOOL STUDENTS CLIMATE STRIKE ON FRIDAY

 

 

It is THEIR FUTURE and they have every right to tell procrastinating politicians who are in denial about global warming that they demand more and immediate action!

So high school students will strike for a safe climate this coming Friday March 15 to get together for a march from St George’s cathedral in Perth from 11am to 1pm.

Non students are of course welcome to join the protest march.

Roel Loopers

CLIMATE CHANGE THREAT PANEL DISCUSSION AT NATIONAL HOTEL

 

There will be a very interesting panel discussion about climate change at the Fremantle National Hotel on this coming Wednesday, March 6 from 6.30pm.

While our politicians quarrel and procrastinate about global warming, scientists all over the world believe the future of planet earth is under serious threat and immediate action is required.

“Humanity is changing the Earth in ways never seen before. The oceans are acidifying, the climate is changing, and world is awash in plastic. Scientists are telling us that we have pushed the Earth into an entirely new state, one dominated by human activity. 
Welcome to the Anthropocene: the era of humankind.
If we have the power to shape the deep future of the Earth and all living things upon it, then how should we think, act and feel in this decisive moment?

Come explore the science of human-caused planetary change from some of Western Australia’s leading scientific voices. Here, we reveal the science of our extraordinary planetary ecological crisis, and ask how science can be used to deliver a better world. Panel presentation and public Q&A.”

The panel members will be Prof. Petra Tschakert from UWA, Dr Bill Hare of Cimate Analysis, Dr Joe Fontaine of Curtin University and Dr Neville Ellis of UWA.

There is also a staircase photo exhibition about climate change at the National Hotel until May 20, so go and have a look and attend the panel discussion.

Roel Loopers

INNOVATIVE SOLAR ROAD TRIAL FOR FREMANTLE

 

Railless tram with road sensors

Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt and Councillors Ingrid Waltham and Adin Lang with South Fremantle Solar Farm proponents

 

Fremantle is more and more becoming a leader in sustainability! Fremantle Council will from July this year start a trial of solar power collection through panels glued onto the road surface.

Stage One of the One Planet trial will be the panels installed along South Terrace including Market Street all the way to the new Solar Farm which will be constructed on the former South Fremantle tip site.

If the first six months are successful the trial area will be expanded to include Carrington and Hampton roads and South Street and Marine Terrace, with further expansion of the solar collection area likely.

The trial will use new wireless Internet of Everything(IoE) technology similar to the railless tram sensors, but instead of supplying energy the large Fremantle panels will collect it. The collected solar power will feed into the new Solar Farm and will supply part of the city’s energy.

Fremantle has been proudly showing its environmental awareness with its carbon neutral credentials for years and is building on that. The new civic centre at Kings Square will have an eight star green rating and the new Cappuccino Strip carpark that just opened on Thursday has solar lights, run off water collection and charging points for electric cars. The solar panels on road surfaces is another brilliant and innovative way of caring for our planet.

Roel Loopers

LIFE AFTER COAL

Professor Peter Droege of the University of Liechtenstein will talk about LIFE AFTER COAL on Thursday February 16 at the North Fremantle Community Centre from 6-8 pm.

The impact of climate change is noticeable all over the world, so it will be good to hear a European perspective on it that does not involve political Australian power games.

See you there!

Roel Loopers

CLIMATE CHANGE DANGER TO FREO’s HERITAGE AND COFFEE

A report on Channel Nine TV last night by Jane Grljusich painted a wet future for the west end of Fremantle where rising sea levels due to global warming will see many coastal properties disappear in the Indian Ocean unless seawalls are being built.

Grljusich talked about flooded cellars in the west of Fremantle that already require 24/7 pumping by the building owners.

The predicted higher ocean levels would see the Roundhouse become an island and even flooding of the Esplanade, so the state and federal governments need to become pro-active in making plans on how to protect Fremantle’s coast line and significant heritage area.

There is a Cockburn Sound Coastal Alliance where the cities of Fremantle, Cockburn, Kwinana and Rockingham work together and Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt told the TV reporter a plan will be released in a few weeks.

I have wondered for a long time why governments still allow so much development very close to the coast, as at Coogee for example, and wonder if insurance companies are still willing to insure properties in locations where rising seawater levels will create flooding and damage.

Are people naive or just don’t care that their expensive houses might get flooded or destroyed in 15-20 years from now, and what responsibility do governments have when releasing coastal land for development?

And to add insult too injury and make life even worse for us is a report from Brazil that climate change will cut coffee production by 50%, which no doubt will mean much higher prices for coffee in caffeine-mad Freo in the future.

Roel Loopers

IS COASTAL DEVELOPMENT GOOD FUTURE PLANNING?

When it comes to development it appears everyone is a climate change denyer. I am surprised that no one has asked if the huge 110 hectare Cockburn Coast development between Fremantle’s South Beach and Port Coogee, that will incorporate the former Rob Jetty and South Fremantle Power Station sites, is appropriate so close to the ocean and if that is a good long-term investment with the predicted rise in sea levels.

Some 12,000 people will live there, so why is no one concerned they would be building on a future flood plain where beach erosion and storms inevitably will start impacting on the new coastal suburb. Are insurers still happy to cover coastal development or does it come at a premium price, and is buying into any development along the coast close to the Indian Ocean a good investment?

On the up side of it the development will be good for Fremantle even if the Mayor of Cockburn wants to make a bit of a Gold Coast theme park out of it. So many people living close to Fremantle will be good for our retailers and hospitality industry and no doubt the location of the development would make it ideal for coastal light rail.

I question if it is sensible to do it though and if State Government has done a predicted sea level rise study for the area. It might be good if real estate agents offered the properties with free snorkels, wetsuits and diving lessons.

Roel Loopers