The philosophy of green cleaning has become a commonly discussed issue within industry and in the home over the last 10 years. Green cleaning ties in with various factors that encourage its implementation, such as, reduction in costs, OH&S or allergy prevention in the home and corporate social responsibility.

One of the main challenges of the modern day is how much of our lives are now invisible to us. There was a time when energy was visible: Logs burning in a fireplace, for example. There was a time when pollution was visible: Black smoke billowing out of a chimney, maybe. And there was a time when data was obvious: Stacks of paper on your desk. In some senses the world has become more and more invisible to us, transformed into a maze with hidden walls. This makes conceptual challenges like ‘why save electricity’ more difficult, because for most of us electricity is magic: You plug something in, turn it on, and it works. Even when we understand the impact of our own personal energy use and seek to save power in our own lives, we often can’t see all the ways we impact the world with our energy use, because everything we use these days is invisible. Take data for instance.

Join us for our small event on Saturday 11 May to celebrate International Composting Awareness Week - taking place from Monday 6 - Saturday 11 May.

Together we can share ideas and learn new things about composting while building a compost heap for fellow Green Earth Group members, Pete & Sarah.

We plan to build a compost heap from material you may have lying around your house.

Once we have established the compost heap, join us for a potluck afternoon tea and discussion. It would be highly appreciated if you could bring vegan friendly snacks for this afternoon tea.

At our last meeting, Leigh-Chantelle and Adele designed a handout to encourage attendees at the Green Earth Group meeting to get involved in positive change. Here's the cover:

Green Earth Group are organising and hosting a variety of events for 2013. From activism and outreach to social events, I'm sure you'll find something you can get involved with including:

Today everybody is seeking ways to reduce energy consumption and their environmental impact on the world we share. Some people feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem, and become convinced that only large-scale initiatives driven by governments and large organisations can make any kind of real change when it comes to being energy efficient and ‘green.’ But this isn’t true – even the smallest changes in our everyday living can add up to huge benefits for the climate and the future of our energy sources, if they are enacted on a global scale.

Please join Green Earth Group members and non-members for our May meeting on Wednesday 1.

We will be going over our upcoming events for the year and explaining how you can get involved.

The key to thinking about the global energy crises and their solutions is to not focus on a single strategy. Energy is not one-size fits all, either in its form or in its generation. If you suggest that solar power will supply our clean energy in the future you’re ignoring areas of the world with poor exposure to sunlight. If you suggest that natural gas is a better alternative to oil-based energy, you ignore the uneven distribution of the resource and the expense of reclaiming it from the world. When contemplating the state of energy in the world today you have to be flexible and reasonable and leverage the traits and advantages of each region.

When most people think of giving something a “deep clean” many think of chemicals, disinfectants and lots of hot water. However, doing the exact opposite of this and replacing your key cleaning processes with environmentally friendly techniques is not only better for the environment, but is actually far more effective and efficient.

Autumn is almost upon us and the milder weather is a wonderful opportunity to spend time out in the garden with the kids. There are some fantastic ways you can connect your children with gardening and nature at this time of year. Here are ten of my favourite: