Australia
Australia Environment Portal
Website: http://www.environment.gov.au/
This site provides access to online services and information provided by state and local governments. Information is organised by seven broad environmental themes -- Atmosphere, Biodiversity, Coasts and Oceans, Environment Protection, Heritage, Inland Waters, and Land.
Contact: c/o Department of the Environment and Heritage, GPO 787, Canberra ACT 2600, Australia or use the email form provided.
Australian Building Greenhouse Rating
Website: http://www.abgr.com.au/
The ABGR scheme provides accredited assessments of the greenhouse intensity of office buildings by awarding a star rating on a scale of one to five. A building with a high star rating will be more energy efficient and cheaper to run, and will result in lower greenhouse gas emissions. Three stars represents current market practice. If you are a building owner or manager, tenant, or developer, you can use this rating scheme to demonstrate superior greenhouse performance and environmental awareness to your employees, clients, suppliers, investors, business partners, and government agencies.
Contact: PO Box 144, Lyneham State, Australian Capital Territory 2602 (02-6207-2321) or email: joanne.warren-wilson@act.gov.au
Australian Department of the Environment
Website: http://www.deh.gov.au/
This site provides much information on various topics pertaining to the environment in and around Australia.
Contact: A long list of contacts are available on the site.
Birdwatching Australia
Website: http://www.ausbird.com/
This is a directory of Australian birdwatching tours, bird clubs, freelance-guides, bird-orientated accommodations, and reference information.
Contact: P.O. Box 1400, Innisfail, North Queensland 4860 (07-4065-5181) or email: info@ausbird.com
Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology
Website: http://www.bom.gov.au/index.shtml
This site hosts a wealth of information regarding the climate of Australia.
Earth Garden Magazine
Website: http://www.earthgarden.com.au/index.html
This is Australia's original journal of sustainable living and alternatives. Established in 1972, it is a forum of practical ideas, shared knowledge, and a guide to the alternatives of a high-consumptive lifestyle. Contact: Details are available on the site.
Earthbeat
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/earth/default.htm
This radio show is presented by Alexandra de Blas. It is a diverse and dynamic environment program with a strong emphasis on environmental science. Breaking environmental stories, providing in depth analysis of current green issues, and exploring cutting edge ideas are all part of the mix, together with grass roots community initiatives and new practical solutions. Earthbeat looks beyond the immediate environmental conflicts and explores new solutions and alternative visions for the future. It is essential listening for people working in the environmental field; but a general audience will also find it engaging, especially young people.
Contact: earthbeat@your.abc.net.au
EarthWatts
Website: http://www.earthwatts.com.au/
In Australia, 90% of electricity is produced from burning fossil fuels, mainly coal. Fossil fuels are finite resources; and burning them results in emissions of greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming, as well as releasing other pollutants which contribute to acid rain. Over a third of Australia's total annual greenhouse gas emissions come from the electricity industry. The development of electricity generation based on renewable energy resources (as wind and sunlight) provides a key avenue for sustainability. This website presents information on how you can help to reduce the impact of burning fossil fuels by supporting green electricity through Australian Green Power products.
Contact: Sigma Utility Solutions Pty Ltd, PO Box 532, Roseville, NSW 2069 or email: earthwatts@earthwatts.com.au
EcoHotline Links
Website: http://www.gu.edu.au/centre/ecocentre/ecohotline_enviro01.htm
Hosted by Griffith University, this site answers your environmental questions with hundreds of informational links on the environment.
Contact: Griffith University EcoCentre, Griffith University, Nathan, Brisbane QSL (4111-07-3875-7992) or email: ecocentre@mailbox.gu.edu.au
EcoPractical Activist Net
Website: http://epanet.angelnco.com/
In response to extreme pressure on the endangered species of terrestrial orchids and other species issues in Australia, the Net has designed and published this resource as a necessary addition to the many Eco sites and lists scattered across cyber space. This is a place for information on the conservation of endangered species and other native flora and fauna, links to eco sites, including practical information for eco activism and endangered species information, access to lists of endangered species in Australia, terrestrial orchid sites and alerts, and a base to find activists and methodologies suitable in assisting to solve your particular environmental or conservation problem.
Contact: use the email form provided.
Green Energy Australia
Website: http://homepage.powerup.com.au/%7Enmartin/geaindex.html
This site is designed to promote the use of sustainable energy products, services, and practices in Australia.
Contact: PO Box 1410, Sunnybank Hills, Queensland 4109 (0409-877-063) or email: nmartin@fastlook.com.au
Information for Action
Website: http://www.informaction.org/
This website explains the environmental problems and offers solutions for them. Some of the issues include: air pollution, biodiversity, cars, chemicals, conservation, consumption, consumerism, energy, environment, forests, genetic engineering, greenhouse, green taxes, health, land pollution, lobbying, toxicology, oceans, pesticides, pollution, population growth, radiations, nuclear power, sustainable living, transport, urbanisation, waste, and water pollution -- to name a few.
Contact: P O Box 1040, West Leederville, WA 6901 or email: info@informaction.org
Invasive Mammals Database
Website: http://www.invasive-animals.org.nz/possum/
Dedicated to providing scientific information on the world's invasive mammals, this site has compiled bibliographic databases of published research, including some abstracts on five such species of mammal: possums (Trichosurus vulpecula), stoats (Mustela erminea), shorttailed weasels (Mustela nivalis), longtailed weasels (Mustela frenata) and horses (Equus caballus - available soon). These bibliographies are available for searching by keyword and other categories and will be updated approximately every six months. Also included are useful links to sites that relate to these species.
Contact: sarre@aerg.canberra.edu.au
No Milk
Website: http://www.panix.com/~nomilk/
Although there are similar sites worldwide, this site is specifically for Australia and provides tips and many links to sites for those wishing to avoid dairy products. There are many millions of people who must be cautious about consuming milk and milk by-products. There are four principal reasons for their caution: Lactose Maldigestion (also known as lactose intolerance, or (incorrectly) as lactose allergy); Milk Allergy (a true allergic reaction by the body's immune system to one or more of milk's proteins); Casein Intolerance (happens when the immune system produces IgA and IgG antibodies to casein, a milk protein); and Villous Atrophy (happens when the casein milk protein causes the intestinal villi to flatten, much like it does when gluten is consumed by somebody that is intolerant to gluten -- as in coeliac disease).
Planet Ark
Website: http://www.planetark.com/index.cfm
A Reuters' webpage, Planet Ark runs a number of environmental campaigns and initiatives in its home country of Australia, but also provides worldwide environmental news. Contact: (none listed)
Plants For a Future
Website: http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
With a database of 7,380 plants, the site also provides UK, US, and Australian searches in English and Spanish. This is a valuable resource centre for rare and unusual plants, particularly those which have edible, medicinal, or other uses.
Contact: Instructions are on the site.
Rammed Earth Australia
Website: http://www.hahaha.com.au/rammed.earth/default.asp
These pages show the building process of one man's house over a two-year period on the Gold Coast in southeast Queensland, Australia.
Sustainable Living
Website: http://www.acs.edu.au/info/info05.asp
This fact sheet gives basic information on the aspects of sustainable living and what it means. Produced by Global Distance Learning, an Australian correspondence school, this particular piece of information consists of extractions from course notes offered by the school.
Contact: PO Box 2092, Nerang MDC, QLD 4211 (+61-7-5530-4855) or email: admin@acs.edu.au
Tomorrow's World
Website: http://apc-online.com/twa/conservation.shtml
This is an online book that has obviously been abused judging by the public notice at the top of the page. Australia has a sensitive ecosystem "highly susceptible to the influences of man and introduced fauna and flora." A first-rate source of information that people should take advantage of -- but not plagiarize.
True Food Network
Website: http://www.greenpeace.org.au/truefood/index2.html
Hosted by Greenpeace Australia, TFN is a growing community of everyday Australians, chefs, food experts, and community groups uniting to protect their food from genetic engineering (GE). GE poses the greatest threat to survival on this planet because it has the capacity to alter the very nature of life itself. The main goals of the organization are to alert farmers to the risks of growing GE crops and to alert consumers about GE ingredients in their food, as well as Australia’s weak labelling regulations.
Contact: Details available on the site.
Waterwatch Australia
Website: http://www.waterwatch.org.au/index.html
In 1992 concerns regarding declining water quality were growing in Australia. Such visible signs as rising salinity and blue-green algal blooms in the waterways were becoming more prevalent. As a result, the Australian Government initiated Waterwatch in 1993. This is a national community water quality monitoring network that encourages all Australians to become involved and active in the protection and management of their waterways and catchments. Since it began, the number of monitoring groups has grown from 200 operating in 16 catchments to nearly 3,000 groups in 200 catchments. Regular monitoring occurs at approximately 5,000 sites nationally.
Contact: a long list is provided on the site.
