octave

At last, a move back to replaceable phone batteries. A new EU law will require all mobile devices to have user-replaceable batteries by 2027. In this episode we take a look at the law, it's consequences and right to repair. EU Just Changed Smartphones Forever

I have Woolworths (Telstra) and it works everywhere my Vodaphone used to work but much cheaper.

NSW public housing solar Over 1,500 social housing properties across NSW were retrofitted with rooftop solar panels in 2021, helping social housing tenants in those properties slash their power bills by up to $1,000 per year.

Often positive things are happening and the pessimists are unaware. https://www.dpie.nsw.gov.au/land-and-housing-corporation/news/slashing-social-housing-power-bills-with-rooftop-solar

https://onestepoffthegrid.com.au/new-scheme-uses-rooftop-solar-grid-renewables-to-slash-social-housing-power-bills/

I agree. Public housing tenants are the last group to be considered when it comes to access to solar rebates etc. This is changing though and I suspect in the next few years rooftop solar will be available to public tenants. Victorian public housing advocates push for solar panel pledge before state election

I totally agree. The uptake is probably going as fast as it reasonably can. The uptake figures are impressive aren't they?

There does not seem to be a problem with the uptake of rooftop solar. The figures I linked to previously show record uptakes of rooftop solar. Whilst insisting that every new build must have solar would be good in my opinion it is just not necessary given the already strong growth in rooftop solar. Stunning leap in rooftop solar PV smashes renewable records across the grid

The installation of solar on new builds is already quite high. Australians are choosing new homes and solar PV in record numbers Nearly 1 In 3 Homes In Australia Covered In Solar Panels

I don't really see why we can't pursue more than one thing at once.

I think the thing with plastic shopping bags is the sheer number that we are using In the US 5 trillion a year.. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/sustainability/plastic_bag_facts.html It is difficult to just outright ban every single source of plastic, you have to start somewhere. 10 Facts About Single-Use Plastic Bags Americans use 5 trillion plastic bags a year.3 Americans use an average of 365 plastic bags per person per year. People in Denmark use an average of four plastic bags per year.4 It only takes about 14 plastic bags for the equivalent of the gas required to drive one mile.5 In 2015 about 730,000 tons of plastic bags, sacks and wraps were generated (including PS, PP, HDPE, PVC & LDPE) in the United States, but more than 87% of those items are never recycled, winding up in landfills and the ocean.6 About 34% of dead leatherback sea turtles have ingested plastics.7 The plastic typically used in bottles, bags and food containers contains chemical additives such as endocrine disruptors, which are associated with negative health effects including cancers, birth defects and immune system suppression in humans and wildlife.8 It takes 1,000 years for a plastic bag to degrade in a landfill. Unfortunately, the bags don't break down completely but instead photo-degrade, becoming microplastics that absorb toxins and continue to pollute the environment.9 Chemical leachates from plastic bags impair the growth of the world’s most important microorganisms, Prochlorococcus, a marine bacterium that provides one tenth of the world’s oxygen.10 There were 1.9 million grocery bags and other plastic bags collected in the 2018 International Coastal Cleanup.11 In 2014 California became the first state to ban plastic bags. As of March 2018, 311 local bag ordinances have been adopted in 24 states, including Hawaii.12 As of July 2018, 127 countries have adopted some form of legislation to regulate plastic bags.13

I don't often need bags for my shopping I do I keep a couple of paper shopping bags in the car. and they are fine to reuse several times depending on what you have previously used them for.

And you can use many types of plastic. Here is the actual NSW law. : Everything you need to know about NSW’s single-use plastic bans Speccifcally these items are NOT banned. 3. What is not banned? A number of single-use plastic items are not captured by the NSW plastic bans. 3.1. Information about what is not banned The NSW Government is committed to reviewing the necessity of these items as sustainable alternatives become more available. Under the NSW Plastics Action Plan, the NSW Government has committed to review further items in 2024 to determine whether phasing out is appropriate at that time. We will commence work on this from next year. 3.2. From 1 June 2022 The ban on lightweight plastic bags does not apply to: • barrier bags such as bin liners, human or animal waste bags (such as nappy bags, bags for collecting food waste for FOGO systems, pet waste bags) • produce bags and deli bags • bags used to contain medical items (excluding bags provided by a retailer to a consumer used to transport medical items from the retailer). 3.3. From 1 November 2022 The ban on single-use plastic items does not apply to: • serving utensils such as salad servers or tongs • coffee cups • plastic cups • items that are an integrated part of the packaging used to seal or contain food or beverages, or are included within or attached to that packaging, through an automated process (such as a straw attached to a juice box) • single-use plastic bowls designed or intended to have a spill-proof lid, such as those used for a takeaway soup • expanded polystyrene (EPS) meat or produce trays • expanded polystyrene (EPS) packaging, including consumer and business-to-business packaging and transport containers • expanded polystyrene (EPS) items that are an integrated part of the packaging used to seal or contain food or beverages, or are including within or attached to that packaging, through an automated process (such as an EPS noodle cup)

Space I have not looked up the laws in NSW but here in Victoria what you say is not correct. Printing "reuse this bag" is not a thing. Which bags are banned? The ban applies to all lightweight plastic shopping bags with handles with a thickness of 35 microns or less at any part of the bag, including degradable, biodegradable and compostable bags. Retailers are not allowed to provide banned bags to customers, whether new or reused.

These are the bags I remember from my childhood. Pretty similar to today but a little bigger and with no handles.

My memory from when was growing up in the 70s was that our groceries were always carried in large paper bags. If you are one of those who believes things were better in the past then I would have thought you would have of paper over modern plastic. Plastic has many downsides and it does not seem too onerous to me to at least attempt to reduce the amount of this stuff going into landfill.

It is amazing to think about all the inputs and energy required to produce a litre of fuel at the bowser.

Here is a photo of an interesting object. I took this photo on my usual bike ride which takes me around the waterfront of Geelong and through the port area. There are often interesting vessels to be seen. This vessel caught my interest. It is a Helix7000 which is like an oil drilling platform but it is used for decommissioning oil and gas wells (plugging abandoned wells) and also used in the case of an accident. It is here for a few days before heading into Bass Straight. Unfortunately, this photo doesn't quite capture the enormous size of this thing. https://www.offshore-energy.biz/watch-helix-vessel-comes-to-australian-port-ahead-of-decom-job-with-exxonmobil/

Between 1990 and 2011 we lived on a bush property in an off-grid house with a solar system that we designed and installed. These were early times in solar/battery tech. During this time I think we went through 3 lead acid battery banks. At the end of their lives, we got some money back from the recyclers. Lead acid batteries have been around for a long time therefore the supply of end-of-life batteries is great and the recycling infrastructure is mature. When it comes to various lithium batteries in phones, laptops, tools and battery banks large and small the recycling rate has been small but is picking up speed. With EVs, one factor is the lack of supply due to the longevity of these batteries and the second-life uses such as power storage for houses and businesses. I do think that manufacturers must be compelled to take back the batteries in their products. So Samsung should take back their batteries at the end of their useful life. The cost or benefit will be passed. on to the user. Although it is often stated that EV batteries can't be recycled they can be they are being recycled. Here is a video about the processes used at Ascend Elements. Whilst it may be a little long for some folks to watch I found the process fascinating. Ascend Elements | Sustainable Battery Recycling Here are other lithium battery recyclers https://www.blackridgeresearch.com/blog/list-of-top-global-lithium-ion-li-ion-electric-vehicle-ev-battery-lib-closed-loop-recycling-services-companies-in-the-world Lithium battery recycling is also starting to happen locallyThe Rise of Lithium Battery Recycling in Australia

Something good is that this morning I signed into this forum and someone had started a thread to celebrate the positive things that happen in daily lives. We humans do tend to have a pessimism bias. Something I do off and on is at the end of the day, write a list of the little things that happened that day that were pleasant. This does help to put things in perspective. The one negative experience is usually outweighed by numerous positives.

Not knowing that much about sailing I found this video enlightening. I think lay people like me have tended to think that sailing vessels are blown along like a leaf or something when in fact sails act like wings. The paradox of sailing faster than the wind

Sailing Faster Than The Wind - How Is That Even Possible?

I can relate to this when visiting my son last time he lent us this car to get around in. Loads of fun to drive but comical to get in and out of. As far as Teslas go I don't really see the Model 3 as being ugly. The Model S to me at least has less pleasing proportions. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This is my son's Model 3 the day he picked it up. Fun fact about 3 months later I had an "incident" that resulted in a dent in this vehicle.

EVs require more energy to manufacture and therefore have a greater environmental footprint than IC however this is compensated after a certain period. This explanation seems reasonable. Are Electric Cars Worse For The Environment? I guess we need to define safe. I would assert that if we take a harsh attitude petrol cars are not safe. Deaths and injuries in petrol or diesel car fires are reasonably rare but none the less, it still happens. I believe in Australia there were about 13000 EVs whilst in Norway at this time there were about 600000 EVs. It would seem that looking at the experiences of countries that are way ahead of us would yield interesting information about the safety of EVs. Whilst battery recycling has been slow to start it is being done now. Partly it is hard for a recycling system to develop when there are so few end-of-life batteries around. Recycling does occur as well re-use in second-life stationary power systems. Batteries are generally lasting longer than originally expected. Many EVs are using LiFePO4 which has advantages in safety and environmental friendliness although not quite as energy-dense. I don't particularly with we are rushing like a bull at a gate toward total EV. I would suspect that the overturning of horses by petrol vehicles was done at a much more rapid pace. Certainly, early aviation could not be considered safe. I am not suggesting everyone must rush out and buy one however I do think there is some hysteria amongst some folks. When there is a fire involving a car online comments are usually along the lines of, I bet it was an EV or I heard it was an EV