I visited Kings College for the first time since the early 1990s. Andrew and Thérèse were wonderful hosts for my tour. Andrew and the residents are doing wonderful work regenerating the vegetation along the river. Super impressed! So much so I’ve offered to come help next Wednesday. Watch this space 😊

All the rubbish on my walking route to the bus getting to me again ☹️ 226 seperate pieces, including 2 vapes which if separated into the 2nd bag with the bottles.

Was walking the dogs with Soyun at Sid Bigg park in Mudgeeraba when I noticed a Passionfruit vine in a tree near the scoreboard. It was easily removed, but I also removed 30 vine seedlings.

I was in central Brisbane eating my sushi when I was visited by this feral pigeon looking for some food. The feather on the pigeon’s head looked like a hat, and its feet were very deformed. (Interesting research on pigeon feet!). It reminded me that whilst removing invasive species from our natural areas is vitally important for biodiversity, they are living beings. Which means removal should be done as humanely as possible. Also, in our majorly altered environments like city scapes, pigeons and other introduced species can help nature reestablish an ecosystem, create a food chain. Provide a connection to Nature that many city dwellers lack. So I gave him/her some sushi, and left the mall with a smile on my face.

Someone held a party near my daughters’s bus stop with cask wine and vapes. No one else was cleaning it up, so I did, along with about 300m of roadside in 15min.

And here I was thinking Paris has a street rubbish problem… 177 pieces in just over 15 minutes in about 250m of one side of my local street 😢

Friday was the 2nd and last day of Hello Tomorrow. Whist we are not ‘Deep Tech’ it was certainly worthwhile coming to experience and learn from this innovative ecosystem. The way ahead for us as a company is forming. And another bags worth of rubbish, some 60 pieces was picked up along my walk to and from the venue. There are two causes for the rubbish other than its manufacture: in areas with large numbers of shops that unwrap plastic, the storage areas are inadequate, this despite daily visits by council to clean. Secondly attitudes. The second photo is a bottle tossed there casually by someone in front of me. I put it in the bin 10m away. Sad.

First day at the Hello Tomorrow conference in the impressive Le Centquartre in Paris. A ‘deep tech’ conference with many worthy ideas and plans to benefit our world. However, I also know we need to start now with action. I walked the 6km return trip to and from the venue. And I picked up rubbish along the way with my pick up stick. Into bins in the morning as I didn’t want to turn up with a bag of rubbish! And 80 pieces on my return. I suspect looking at the day in isolation I did more demonstrable action than the vast majority of the 3,000 delegates. And I got two compliments in French from passers by! 😊

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.