Sustainable living: 2012

Sunday, 28 October 2012

Assessment task 2

Subject: Accounting Firm located in central Sydney with 35 members of staff.

1. List 5 store policies and procedures that might be relevant to organising and maintaining work areas in a manner that is safe, effective and efficient – and environmentally sustainable. Explain the purpose of each policy.

* Turning off electricity at night,weekends and holiday periods when the office is empty and if not already have all light bulbs changed to the energy efficient bulbs if possible. Save energy and costs to the company
* Types of bins for staff to use and get in a routine of recycling. Colour co-ordinate eg Blue = paper and cardboard, green = food products and waste, Red = garbage (non recyclable products)
* Office products eg paper, ink cartridges etc could be researched to find a more sustainable business provider.
*Go paperless in the office by trying to minimise all paper being distributed if and when possible, email can be used as an alternative.
*

2. What do ‘safe waste disposal and waste minimisation’ mean in the context of your selected workplace, taking into account environmental concerns?

Taking initiative in the workplace to minimise waste in any way possible. In an office workplace as my example above are reasons to minimise electricity and energy costs, provide a choice for staff to recycle their waste and learn while doing it and having policies to encourage waste minimisation.

3. What action should you take in response to spills or breakages on the shop floor?

There would be a spills or breakages manual explaining the correct and safe way to clean up the mess according to OH & S guidelines. All staff should be aware of the manual and conduct themselves in a professional manner.

4. Why is personal hygiene and cleanliness important in your workplace? How can we ensure this all happens in an environmentally sustainable manner?

There are plenty of choices business can make according to the way they want to run their business. From basic hygiene to paying staff their wage. These choices affect the environment and it is up to the owner/manager to decide how Eco friendly they want to conduct the process. These choices affect the staff but are essential for the running of the business and need to be the same guidelines for every person to be fair. Many business have contracts or agreements that are signed by the staff upon employment and have guidelines on the workplaces policies.

5. What important information should staff know about the chemicals – both toxic and non-toxic- used in your workplace. Select 2 chemicals to research and report on.

Hazardous substances are those that, following worker exposure, can have an adverse effect on health. Examples of hazardous substances include poisons, substances that cause burns or skin and eye irritation, and substances that may cause cancer. Many hazardous substances are also classified as dangerous goods.

A substance is deemed to be a hazardous substance if it meets the classification criteria specified in the Approved Criteria for Classifying Hazardous Substances [NOHSC:1008(2004] (Approved Criteria).
Substances that have been classified according to the Approved Criteria are provided in the online database called the Hazardous Substances Information System (HSIS).

Dangerous goods are substances, mixtures or articles that, because of their physical, chemical (physicochemical) or acute toxicity properties, present an immediate hazard to people, property or the environment. Types of substances classified as dangerous goods include explosives, flammable liquids and gases, corrosives, chemically reactive or acutely (highly) toxic substances.

The criteria used to determine whether substances are classified as dangerous goods are contained in the Australian Code for the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road and Rail (ADG Code). The ADG Code contains a list of substances classified as dangerous goods.

State and territory workplace dangerous goods storage and handling laws also capture combustible liquids. The criteria for classifying combustible liquids are contained in Australian Standard AS1940 (The Storage and Handling of Flammable and Combustible Liquids).
Many dangerous goods are also classed as hazardous substances.

6. How can good housekeeping improve energy/water efficiency and waste reduction? Think of at least 10 suggestions

The advantages of a sustainable workplace extend far beyond only impacts on the environment. While environmental protection is vitally important, a sustainable approach also has positive impacts in terms of your business image, attractiveness to clients and staff and the health and well-being of those who use your business premises.

1. Communication and Education so staff are aware of workplace policies when hired
2. Policies and procedure manuals that staff have access to at all times
3. Motivation and support for staff to feel like they are making a difference and helping in any way they can
4. Workplace ccommuting. How staff and clients get to and from the place of business
5. Awareness so that staff are aware of their contribution and get recognition for their input.
6. Rewards to keep staff motivated
7. Recognition for staff to feel appreciated at being a part of something good
8. Input by staff to they feel they are heard and have their ideas and contribution recognised and taken seriously.
9. Research - so staff are aware of upcoming events that may further their education on sustainability in the workplace.
10. Proof - that the workplace had made a difference in any ways possible eg. decreased electricity bill

Refrences.

http://www.cityswitch.net.au/Portals/26/SuccessStories/PDF/CitySwitch%20Case%20Study%20-%20Colliers%20International3.pdf

http://www.sustainabilityatwork.com.au/downloads/research-report.pdf

Khobi Graham

Sunday, 14 October 2012

Concept for Tafe display using dreamcatchers

Concept - Bedroom made out of Eco friendly products, ensuring sustainability needs are met. Measurements of area are limited so I'm going to create the illusion of a bedroom with a one point perspective drawing and include props made out of recycled products as the furniture.

Bedroom drawing/painting - Butcher paper or flipchart paper
Bed - created from a cardboard box, painted with organic paint made the way the Aborigines made paint.
Bedside tables - created from recycled beer cartons also painted with organic paint.
Dreamcatchers - to be hung with bio degradable fishing line.

Research.

Idea of a one point perspective drawing below.

Organic paint

What you need

To do this activity you will need:

jar for mixing paint
hammer
tablespoon
teaspoon
two freezer-style sealable bags
a large stick
coloured chalk in colours of ochre – yellow, brown, red or a mix to make these colours
one egg yolk
one ice-cream stick
rock, paper, bark or object to paint
water
paper towel
sticks, fingers or straws for painting.

What to do

Place one freezer bag inside the other. Place one large stick of coloured chalk into the inner bag and seal both bags. Using the hammer, break the chalk into a very fine powder (or use a mortar and pestle).
Pour the powder into a clean jar. Add one teaspoon of water to the container (or saliva if you are sticking to traditional methods). Mix the powder and water with the ice-cream stick until you have a fine, smooth paste.
Add one tablespoon of egg yolk to act as a binder.
Slowly add water until you have paint the consistency you desire. It will probably take about three tablespoons.
Start painting.

What’s happening

Paint is made of tiny coloured particles floating in a liquid, instead of dissolving. This is called a colloid. The coloured particles in the chalk are suspended, or floating, in the egg and water mix. When you paint, the egg hardens and protects the pigment from washing off.
This is the paint-making method Aborigines used many thousands of years ago. However, because many of the paints were made without a binder (saliva was mostly used), the pigment was not protected from being washed away. As a result, only the rock art paintings in sheltered caves and rock over-hangings have survived the weathering of thousands of years. Today, however, Aboriginal artists use man-made binders.

Making paint the indigenous way

The colour pigment for Aboriginal painting is called ochre. With a crumbly to hard texture, the rock that ochre comes from is heavily coloured by iron oxide (Fe₂O₃). It comes in a variety of colours, including yellow, deep purple, dark red and brown. Chemically, all ochres are the same, their difference in colour is due to the different conditions in which they were formed, their crystalline structure and other minerals in the rock.
White coloured ochre is produced from kaolin, which is a product of weathering often found in creek beds. The colour yellow is collected as water-worn pebbles and is thought to be a limonite-stained form of kaolin. And black is made from charcoal, and is often mixed with white kaolin to produce grey.
For many Aboriginal people the colours of ochres represent the colours of the body:

white is the colour of bones
brown is skin
red represents blood and is a sacred colour
yellow is similar to the colour of body fat.

Ochre paint is made by grinding rock to a powder and mixing it with a fluid, such as saliva, blood, orchid sap or yolk of turtle eggs. It is painted onto bark, bodies and rock using a variety of methods, including brushes made from small bunches of hair or chewed twigs.

To be continued

Sunday, 7 October 2012

A green sustainable workplace

Subject: Hot dollar ($2 shop)

Have you ever wondered where the thousands of products that line the many shelves of your local $2 shop come from? How they are manufactured? Or how they get there, for that matter? Well from my observations..

Its likely that their goods are manufactured in China in large quantities then either shipped or posted via air freight across the world. Do they care about their carbon impact along the way, from the factory to the shops address? I'm thinking no.

You can clearly see from the overcrowded isles and lacking storage space that being environmentally friendly is not a high priority. With high demand for inexpensive goods for the home/workplace, they could receive between 3 or 4 deliveries per week. So from china to Australia by a shipping container, then unloaded by a crane at the port, loaded into a semi trailer, transported to a warehouse, unloaded again by a forklift, then reloaded into a smaller truck/van and delivered to the shop address. This is all before it is put on the shelf in a brightly lit store inside a large shopping complex. Do they relate sustainability to the workplace? My answer is no and I'm afraid it probably never will.

In the future I hope to have a brighter outlook on stores such as this, because just the slightest change for good can make a huge impact.

K

Sunday, 16 September 2012

Hand made dreamcatchers DIY

As far back as I can remember I have always had the most bizarre and imaginative dreams. Not always good dreams either. I will never forget running into mum and dads bed after having my reoccurring nightmare about the witches from the movie Hocus Pokus coming to take me away. The first time I heard about a dream catcher I was a little girl and was so excited at the thought of it catching my bad dreams so I wouldn't have to be scared anymore. These days there are so many different types of dreamcatchers I thought i'd see how I would go at making one from things I found around the house. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107120/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcatcher

Starting with the frame. I gathered sticks/twigs from the front and back yard and using some coloured yarn/wool I secured the sticks together in a circular shape (this was slightly difficult but the more I did the easier it became). Once the frame was complete and strong enough I began to weave through an old doily with the remaining yarn. When doing this you can be a creating as you like trying to create a spider web pattern around the doily and securing it onto the frame when complete. Lastly is the decorating part which can be as elaborate or simple as you desire. I had heaps of crafty beads and feathers from past projects so i went about hanging them from the bottom of the frame. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. K

DIY pallet bench seat. step by step process.

From this. Discarded pallet found on the side of the road.

Using only three hand tools. A hammer, hand saw and crow bar.

Here I have placed two planks next to each other and using the hammer and nails secured them back onto the pallet frame (this will be the top of the bench chair). On either side of the top, saw through the pallet frame to detach it completley.

Now you are left with the top and the legs for the bench seat.

Turn the legs inwards so they are facing eachother, ensure they are even and steady.

Place the top on the legs and secure with remaning nails. This is your finishing product a DIY recycled pallet bench seat.

This was what was left of the pallet. All it takes is a bit of imagination and you will have your next DIY recycling project. K

Sustainable living