I watered the biobasin trees and planted a bottlebrush. Noticed lots of rubbish, will pick up next visit.

Until we can solve the production of disposable objects and wrappings, and until we change improve the behaviour of people who litter, some of us need to clean up, in the moment, so this rubbish doesn’t pollute and damage both our physical environment and our aesthetic enjoyment.

I watered 7 of the surviving tube stock I’d planted in the two biobasins as there’s been little rain in the last few weeks. One was looking quite dry, but it’s still alive. I’d lost one when council had whipper snipped it when cutting weeds. Also pulled out a few baby glycine and cobblers pegs. I’ve decided to plant many more shrubs and plants to give the small birds some cover.

I saw this huge piece of construction rubbish in the gutter, ready to enter the stormwater drain, our creeks and ocean. I didn’t walk on by. I picked it up and put it in the closest bin.

A lot of rubbish near the bus stops in the Link road area. Will take a couple of trips to clean it all up.

I find picking up rubbish therapeutic; it’s exercise, outdoors, an activity that is mildly stimulating (“what is that???”) but repetitive so it’s calming, and I know I’m doing good for the environment. 148 pieces picked up that won’t get into our streams and ocean. 💪❤️

Visited the biobasin and removed numerous baby glycine vines, and 3 large ones that were starting to cover the lomandras on the western side. Otherwise it is looking really healthy!

Revisited the Biobasin after some recent rain. More rubbish had been washed into the basin. Lots of plastic sadly.

I removed the last remaining large glycine vines from the lomandras in the biobasin. If these were left unchecked they’d overgrow all the vegetation. Doing this service frees up Brisbane City Councils time and money, but also saves vital biodiversity from being killed. Removing weeds by hand, by root also saves the use of poison.

There is a worldwide push to plant more trees and vegetation in cities like London to not only cool temperatures but increase biodiversity. London has 21% tree cover, with the mayor committing to increase this by 10%. Involving the residents helps by not only reducing the costs of helping keep the plants alive, but improves their care and community ownership. This story’s photos show a newly planted tree and a request for locals to care for it. Another role this platform can perform!!

On my recent trip to London I came across many different examples of making a difference, at an individual and business level. One of the first was the Oakleigh House Dental Practice, which has created a flower garden to encourage plant and insect biodiversity. Their website also has a great history of the house and area.

While waiting for my flight home I caught up with my mate Emmett who works at Sky HQ campus. How impressive are the grounds!! Full of native flowers, trees, insects and butterflies. Well done Sky!

Last day in London! What an amazing trip! I’ll post some more stories soon. I’m full of positivity as my flight approaches. I spent 30min picking up some more rubbish in the streets around our accommodation. I counted 92 seperate pieces, mostly plastic and smoking related. As I left I came across another group picking up rubbish! Long story short, LD Care services have a residential building close by and once a week a volunteer and residents pick up rubbish…..a future potential user group for the platform!!

In the queue for Wimbledon tickets! Vines seem to be a problem in the UK as well. Looks like ivy has been chopped to help the trees.

Picked up some rubbish on the way for a coffee with my Aussie cricketing friends

Here we are in London! First impressions tell me (at least in Isleworth), there is an awful lot of rubbish in the streets and they let the grass grow quite tall, and when I say grass, it’s grains like a wheat or barley! This verge below would be providing food for insects and birds, and is much better for biodiversity than a lawn. The locals tell me this is a council failure….but I like it

Off on my trip to the UK! Singapore is renowned as a very progressive city environmentally. 3 types of recycling bin, and I’m sure they actually do the recycling.

Our current housing crisis doesn’t only affect humans. At least 300 Aussie species of animals rely on tree hollows for shelter and nesting. Planting new trees to replace old ones with hollows doesn’t help for many decades. So artificial nestboxes can help our Aussie animal families. I’ve just picked up a Rosella nest box and a micro bat home! Follow me as I take them to Toowoomba to install in trees at my parent’s home.

Another instance of people eating their KFC food and then just leaving their rubbish on the street. Happening all the time in my neighbourhood sadly. Ended up collecting two bags worth of rubbish - mostly fast food wrapping, plastics and cigarette butts and boxes. I read the latest KFC Corporate Sustainability Report. I wonder if companies like KFC would be open to having their staff clean up their local areas on a regular basis??? Would be good marketing and demonstrate their impact.... Food for Thought.....

So, I came back to clean up the rest of the Singapore daisy infestation and the wonderful ground staff had cleaned up most of the remaining plants and removed the waste!! Well Done Dovetree staff!! Singapore Daisy creates a matt of roots and suckers, so there were a few stalks left, so I removed all that I could see. This is the small pile seen between the two grevillias on the left in the photo. But early detection before becoming too large an area, and prompt action and joint effort has stopped this infestation!! So Happy!!