Went to a shop called Leroymerlin. Sorta like a chic French Bunnings in the middle of Paris to get myself a pickup stick. On my way there I noticed this chip packet outside Cartier and wondered whether it would be there on my return. It sure was lol. So I picked up one piece of rubbish for every bin I saw on my way home. 13 in all. Imagine if a sizeable minority did the same regularly whilst walking. The rubbish would be sorted!

There is a lot of rubbish in Paris, much more than I remember from 10 years ago. Some places are worse than others. But it’s sad to see we’ll dressed young Parisiennes casually toss their cigarette butts in the beautiful cobbled streets 😢 I picked up a single bottle today in Maurecourt, but I’m feeling like making a statement by picking up rubbish wearing my greenbrand shirt!

I headed to Maurecourt on Wednesday on the outskirts of Paris. Vines appear to be a problem here too, over growing fences. I don’t know whether Ivy and the other two vines in the photos are invasive. But invasive species are a global problem as outlined in this article. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2023/01/17/france-struggles-to-eradicate-invasive-species_6011864_114.html

My first full day in Paris. I’m exploring the neighbourhood of South Pigalle. There is an acknowledgment that the few green spaces are important, with information signs and nest boxes. And greenery can appear in the most unlikely spaces!

On first impressions, the UK and Europe are much more advanced in taking action to help the environment. The Tate Gallery has declared a “climate and ecological emergency”. There is rewinding occurring on the southern entrance, and I did my bit in collecting a handful of plastic for the bin. Every piece, every action, no how small, helps.

Arrived in London en route to Paris for the Hello Tomorrow and Change Now conferences. Very exciting! Had a look at the Tate Modern gallery. Some amazing and massive artworks made out of bottle tops linked together. Also a bees/wasps/insect hotel installed in fenced off trees out the front.

On Wednesday 13th, the last day before leaving to France and the conferences, I spent an hour removing about 50 regrowth glycine vines and a bag of rubbish from the biobasin. I’m researching the number of native trees I’ll need to plant to offset the 3.4ton of CO2 my flights will generate. Saving the planted trees from vines is just as important as planting.

Waiting for a ferry to go to Karragarra Island. Thought I’d pick up the bits of rubbish. Every bit of positive action helps.

Always new rubbish from 7/11, KFC and Starbucks. Cleaned up as much as I could on my walk.

I love the bush grounds at the Sleeman Sporting centre at Chandler. Dropping off my girls for a school swimming carnival. A really caring team of gardeners. Native plantings, weed control and nest boxes everywhere, including car parks, for bats, birds and gliders. Imagine if this gold standard was replicated Brisbane wide, private and public, in time for the Olympics and Paralympics. Visitors and tourists will be impressed with nature in our city.

Walking with my daughter to the local bakery. Picked up a couple of plastic bags that would end up in the drains with approaching rain. Took no time to do, but feel good in making a positive difference, no matter how small.

I think this is exciting and thought provoking! Watch the video (Sound Up!) I was walking through Post Office Square near where I often work and was actually noticing that bin chickens (white ibis) and feral pigeons were the only birds here. Then I heard a familiar trill sound I wasn't expecting. Whilst this little fella (Superb Fairywren) seemed to be away from his tribe, seeing him in the middle of the CBD brings hope, along with thoughts about how we need to make our cities more friendly towards biodiversity. Say by having more shrubbery and groundcover to provide protection, food and housing. Brisbane has the Olympic and Paralympic Games coming in 9 years. Tourists and visitors will be expecting to see wildlife. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they could see some more iconic and unique species in the city! I checked iNaturalist. Hardly any sightings recorded in the CBD. Just a couple near QUT in 2023.

I planted another 3 gums and a casuarina at Prince Henry Dr. Not easy digging holes due to all the volcanic basalt. The Toowoomba range first formed some 300 million years ago. Are these rocks that old? And is this the first time they’ve seen the sun??? 🤷🏼‍♂️

I saw all these plastic bags just waiting to be washed and blown into the drain and into our rivers and oceans. At least this bag of plastic and rubbish didn’t make it!

My girls are growing up and so I cherish any time they are willing to spend with me. Today we had a lovely walk and a chat. They even tolerated to be seen with me picking up rubbish. Lots of people tell me that they pick up rubbish on their walks. Our Greenbrand platform is the perfect way to document those good deeds. And by pooling them together we can create that movement of repair that so many people hope for.

The last day of 2023! Multiple reasons for posting; rubbish in the gutters with more storms predicted, so don't want this rubbish flowing into our streams and the ocean. I'm retraining myself with the movie making ability of the mobile phone and You Tube, as amateurish as I am. And I need to get into the habit of posting, 2024 is the year Greenbrand.org will take off. So if I'm going to be a social media mover and shaker (insert a couple of laughing emojis here) I need to be able to post regularly and seamlessly.

I visited Mum on Boxing Day at Dovetree Aged Care. She was a bit better (more with it) than Christmas Day. I noticed some rubbish in the car park so thought I’d pick it up. I collected 12 masks in total in amongst the bag of rubbish that won’t flow into our rivers 😊

On Sunday 10th December I planted another 5 seedlings, including a couple of native mulberries (first photo). I put tree guards around the others in the long grass as I knew council would come and either cut or poison the grass. Sadly they whipper snipped the wattle (background photo 2) that was growing so well despite being identified by ribbons and posts. I’ll assume it was an accident as none of the other seedlings were harmed. So whilst I’m a bit sad, these things happen in nature, and hopefully the others will grow to their potential 🙏🤞

Up at my parent’s place in Toowoomba. A number of large, old Eucalyptus trees died during the terrible drought of 2019-2020, both on the property and in the adjoining park. I’ve started to plant replacement trees for those lost, and add in some variety with acacias and bottlebrushes to help create an understory.

Spent a day visiting Lamb Island in Moreton Bay with my great friend Mark and his son Alex. Saved 3 young casuarinas from mile a minute vine as we explored the island.