February 2020 Challenge -- SUSTAINABILITY

[AlexG 87]

Hi John,

Excellent topic choice, perhaps what could be the theme for the whole decade!

 

Admittedly, I don't have much in my gallery that fits the topic at this time. But luckily this one of my young son using a balance bike can slide in as sustainable mode of transportation. 🙂

[AlexG 87]

On 11/02/2020 at 02:15, Eden said:

Three from me...good topic

 

Wonderful trio for the subject!!

[AlexG 87]

2 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Last, a garage sale where items are re-homed instead of ending up in the dump. Much of this was given to charity.

 

We as a society need to re-purpose a whole lot more! There is still so much stuff that's usable that ends up thrown away in landfills or left to rot/corrode/degrade without being used to its fullest.

[Stephen Dwyer 25]

Three from me, fairly self explanatory really.

[Eden 60]

11 hours ago, AlexG said:

Wonderful trio for the subject!!

Thanks AlexG!

[Sally R 549]

Enjoying seeing everyone's pics.

 

Here are my three...

 

The Breakwater, a restaurant and functions venue in Perth that has a roof covered in solar panels. Also, the cruise boat in front of it is the Lady M which has eco-certification from Ecotourism Australia for ecologically sustainable tourism:

 

The wind turbine at Rottnest Island (Western Australia) at sunset:

 

A solar-powered light:

 

[Sally R 549]

16 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I fostered a Monarch chrysalis indoors in the fall, protecting it from predators.  Monarch butterflies numbers have gone down drastically in the last decade. This is the newly emerged butterfly drying its wings before being released outdoors to join the migration south. It’s clinging to a wooden spoon laid across the opened top of the butterfly cage.

I almost felt like I’d given birth! 😊

That is so lovely, that you took care of the chrysalis and protected it and now the fully-fledged butterfly is on his or her way. We actually have the Monarchs here in Australia. They are not originally native to here, but apparently established themselves here in the late 19th century once one of their main food sources, milkweed, also became established here. I've heard them also being called Wanderer butterflies here.

[TeeCee 1,499]

Interesting topic! 😀

 

Old GPO phonebox, now a community library.

 

 

Equipment for constructing a rudimentary tent.

 

 

Mountain bikers on Cannock Chase, sustaining their leg muscles ...

Edited February 13, 2020 by TeeCee

[Betty LaRue 3,093]

3 hours ago, Sally R said:

That is so lovely, that you took care of the chrysalis and protected it and now the fully-fledged butterfly is on his or her way. We actually have the Monarchs here in Australia. They are not originally native to here, but apparently established themselves here in the late 19th century once one of their main food sources, milkweed, also became established here. I've heard them also being called Wanderer butterflies here.

I would have never thought Monarchs were in Australia!  That tickles me.  Love the Wanderer name!
I remember when, on my weekly 200 mile round trip to visit my mother, seeing hundreds of them migrating south in October. That route was like a Monarch highway.  It was a beautiful sight. Then as the years wore on, I saw fewer and fewer. Also, “back then” during the warm months I could walk out to my flower garden and get pictures of them any time I wanted.

I planted a butterfly bush last spring here at my new home in Kansas, and was lucky to see a few. But the bush attracted bunches of other kinds.
My neighbor has milkweed and that’s where the chrysalis came from. She was fostering them, but had to go out of town and I got to babysit one, much to my glee! Every day there was a change. 
I’ve been trying to figure out what variety of milkweed I can plant without it spreading to my whole yard and taking over.

Betty

[aphperspective 393]

Free range eggs at a local food market

 

 

 

3 ladies hand spinning wool

 

 

[Alan Beastall 398]

 

Well here we go with my 3.

 

 

Glass to glass.

 

 

 

 

Bin collector.

 

 

 

 

Digger on the runway.

 

[Sally R 549]

15 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I would have never thought Monarchs were in Australia!  That tickles me.  Love the Wanderer name!
I remember when, on my weekly 200 mile round trip to visit my mother, seeing hundreds of them migrating south in October. That route was like a Monarch highway.  It was a beautiful sight. Then as the years wore on, I saw fewer and fewer. Also, “back then” during the warm months I could walk out to my flower garden and get pictures of them any time I wanted.

I planted a butterfly bush last spring here at my new home in Kansas, and was lucky to see a few. But the bush attracted bunches of other kinds.
My neighbor has milkweed and that’s where the chrysalis came from. She was fostering them, but had to go out of town and I got to babysit one, much to my glee! Every day there was a change. 
I’ve been trying to figure out what variety of milkweed I can plant without it spreading to my whole yard and taking over.

Betty

 

That is a wonderful idea to plant a butterfly bush. It is great to think of local creatures and what might attract them. When I was small, Mum and Dad turned the front yard which was mostly grass into a native garden, and so we had plenty of native birds coming in for the flowers, and I'm sure that fostered my love of birds.

I've noticed a reduction in butterfly numbers here too, as well as dragonflies and earthworms. There's been a move here to build bee hotels to provide shelter for bees, preferably near some pollen rich food sources https://www.backyardbuddies.org.au/habitats/build-a-bee-hotel  Even though the commonly seen bee here is the European honey bee, there are a number of native species and the blue-banded bee is my favourite (one is pictured in the above link). They are so cute and don't sting.

[Allan Bell 2,417]

Here we go again.

 

Solar recharging battery operated intruder light.

 

 

 

Scrap yard recycling vehicles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wood turner operating foot operated beam lathe.

 

 

 

Allan

 

Edited February 14, 2020 by Allan Bell

[John Richmond 1,126]

I'll give it a go:

 

Sustainable gravity powered cliff railway between Lynton and Lynmouth in Devon.  River water is fed into the top carriage to evercome the weight of a linked carriage at the bottom of the funicular railway.  Gravity does the rest of the work.

 

 

Traditional, sustainable craftwork employed in thatching the old barn at The Garden House, Buckland Monachorum, Devon

 

 

Saline pool and background windfarm at the RSPB reserve on Tetney Marshes, North East Lincolnshire.  The marshes provide a sustainable wildlife habitat while wind farm provides sustainable power.

 

[AlexH 32]

 

Hopeful the next generation of business dudes have sustainability on their minds . .. .

 

 

Going back to older more simple tech could be the future? Less energy hungry and wasteful. 

 

 

 

Oh and some obligatory new tech being installed!

 

[John Mitchell 4,668]

4 minutes ago, AlexH said:

 

 

Going back to older more simple tech could be the future? Less energy hungry and wasteful. 

 

 

Really good suggestion. I still use one of those. It's the only way to mow. Better still, rethink the whole idea of lawns.

 

 

 

 

[MizBrown 490]

Sustainability:

 

Recycling cat food cans:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting ready to install solar panels:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using animal traction for farming and wearing recycled clothes:

 

 

 

 

[The Blinking Eye 317]

 

 

 

 

 

"President Elizabeth Warren’s climate plan would require achieving 100% carbon-free electricity and 100% emissions-free vehicles on or before 2030. Warren would dedicate $3 trillion to green manufacturing and research and $1.5 trillion to subsidizing the transition to renewable energy and zero emission vehicles. She has also proposed a “Blue New Deal” to address the impacts of climate change on the oceans. As a senator, Warren introduced the Climate Risk Disclosure Act, which would require public companies to disclose information about potential risks the company could face because of climate change, such as the company’s greenhouse gas emissions.³⁵ Warren was also an original cosponsor of the Green New Deal."

 

-Environmental Report Card, Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund

[VbFolly 683]

This great Zero Waste shop opened near me recently, so it's now much easier to buy plastic-free products and fill my own containers with dry foods, cleaning products, etc.

 

 

 

This is the Knepp Estate in Sussex, UK - it is a rewilding project, and this wild landscape has developed over the last few years from previously uneconomical agricultural land. Lots of scrub and wild flowers have returned. The idea is to maintain the area as a mosaic of habitats by grazing with old breeds of livestock, which keep some areas open, create bare ground, and prevent the estate from becoming entirely woodland. Lots of wildlife including rare bird species and invertebrates have already come back. The estate generates an income from the excess livestock, whose numbers have to be kept at a steady level (we no longer have any large predators in the UK), and also by running safaris and camping/glamping holidays.

 

 

 

The bike share scheme bicycles on the University of Surrey campus.

 

 

[Lori Rider 65]

A bee house in Asheville, NC

 

A log cabin with a living roof (also Asheville)

 

I wish this shot was better, but I still like the concept. Boston Back Bay--a counter to see how many bikes use the bike path.

 

[John Mitchell 4,668]

On 14/02/2020 at 15:15, John Richmond said:

I'll give it a go:

 

Sustainable gravity powered cliff railway between Lynton and Lynmouth in Devon.  River water is fed into the top carriage to evercome the weight of a linked carriage at the bottom of the funicular railway.  Gravity does the rest of the work.

 

 

 

 

Clever idea. It looks as if the funicular has been going up and down for a long time. I've never been to Devon, but my mother was from there.

[John Richmond 1,126]

7 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

Clever idea. It looks as if the funicular has been going up and down for a long time. I've never been to Devon, but my mother was from there.

Since 1890. John. 130 years of sustainable, water and gravity powered transport.

[The Blinking Eye 317]

 

 

 

 

Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve during the 2019 Super Bloom with wind farms and solar panel farms in the distance. Southern California

[Avpics 1,507]

My offerings:

 

Youth Strike 4 Climate:

 

 

Promoting cycling:

 

 

Jo Wood modelling fashion created using plant waste from Prince Charles' Highgrove Estate, which you'll all be wearing this season:

 

 

[Colin Woods 784]

13 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

I've never been to Devon, but my mother was from there.

I lived there for 15 years and if I had not moved to Quebec I would be there still. Its gorgeous and to my eyes, alongside Cumbria, England's loveliest county.