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Showing posts with the label habitat loss

Five reasons why environmentalists have 'BEEF' with livestock

It is no secret that the way humanity has used the earth in the short time that we have been the "dominant" species on this planet has been problematic and unsustainable. In recent years, it has come to light that we've caused a mass of problems to our environment and we need large scale shifts in our methods pretty quickly if we hope to continue having a habitable planet.  What's this got to do with cows? One of the areas that I am passionate about, and that is coming more and more to the forefront in environmental conversations recently is the extremely damaging way we are producing (and wasting) our food. The least efficient and most environmentally damaging food source we generate on mass scale is animal products , particularly red meats such as Beef and Lamb . Like most of my posts, I'm going to centre this one around what's happening in Australia because the bulk of our readers are Aussies (hi guys!), and because Australians have an extrao...

Why Ladybirds are great for your garden and how to attract them!

Ladybirds! Every child loves the sight of ladybirds (also called ladybugs or lady beetles), they're such charming little bugs and they're so sweet and unassuming, they're one of the best bugs to show to your kids as a teaching tool about insects because they're very gentle, usually quite slow, they've got vibrant colours and they don't (usually) bite!! Amazing!! In Australia we have a many varieties of ladybirds - about 500 species in fact ; just like we have hundreds of species of native bees !! They are helpful in your garden for two MASSIVE reasons: 1. They're one of our native pollinators and play a very important role in the ecosystem  Vital pollinators! won't do much good on a blanket though! 2. They (and all stages of their larvae) eat aphids! Which helps keep their numbers down naturally in your garden Ladybug larvae look HARDCORE!! Check it out!! ^ Aphids and mealybugs can cause a lot of damage in the garden, but t...

All About Bees in Australia (and how you can help!)

"Save the Bees" This slogan is everywhere right now, accompanied by images of honeybees and empty supermarket fresh produce sections sparking concern about the future of bees. We really need to broaden the scope. Focussing solely on honeybees does a grave injustice to the beautiful pollinators out there who could be just as much at risk.  There are  MANY more types of bees in the world than honeybees , in Australia alone, there are over 1,600 native bee species , it is a diverse and beautiful branch of the insect world. Then there are other pollinators , including  beetles, butterflies, flies, ants, birds, bats etc . Our planet  WOULD  survive without honeybees, they've only  landed the scapegoat role because they're so profitable , I doubt they'd die off (people protect their money that way). I f you've read our  'about' page  you may guess our skepticism towards profit-focused campaigns - and the bee business is BIG business ( >...