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ECOCLUB, Issue 90
implementation of such minimum-use practices will occur in combination to reuse processes (e.g. wastewater recycling) and
will be fuelled by consumer demand, but ultimately by resource-depletion.
*Reedbed filter system: Water trickling through the reed bed is rapidly cleaned up by the extensive root system and its associated micro
organisms utilising the sewage for growth nutrients, giving an extremely clean effluent.
** Rooftop Flowerbeds: Grey water is pumped to the rooftop garden where it trickles through gravel, which removes some of the pollutants,
whilst the flower roots remove all oxygen-demanding materials. This same water is then pumped down to flush the toilet.
MEMBER NEWS
Greece: Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries at MEDIET 2007
Nikki Rose, founder of Crete’s Culinary Sanctuaries (CCS) spoke on “Eco-
Agritourism as a Means to Preserve Culture and the Environment” at MEDIET 2007,
an international conference focusing on the traditional Mediterranean diet, held April
25-26 at the National Hellenic Research Foundation in Athens, Greece. The
conference brought together specialists covering the Mediterranean diet and healthy-
sustainable lifestyles. According to Nikki “the renowned traditional Cretan diet is not
a diet but a way of life. The roots are deeper than eating healthy food. They begin at
the sources of wild edible plants, sustainable organic agriculture, a clean environment,
exercise and a healthy social life.” Small-scale, sustenance farming has been
practiced in Crete for over four thousand years. Modern researchers are using these
traditional models to provide solutions to today’s issues relating to industrial farming
and toxic pesticides, proven to be damaging the environment, safe food sources and
health.
Australia: Volunteers for orphaned Tasmanian Wildlife
Carers for Wildlife Tasmania Inc are a dedicated group of volunteer carers who
rehabilitate orphaned and injured native wildlife, mostly Tasmanian Devils, Forester
Kangaroos and Wombats, with the aim of releasing them into the wild. The NGO
would like to recruit ‘Land for Wildlife properties’ to create a safe haven for the
animals. and hopes to recruit sympathetic corporate sponsors, so as to build and
supply several ‘native wildlife hospitals’ in the north and south of Tasmania. It
promised to fund the carers for the cost of feed, such as milk formulas, bottles, teats
and feed pellets and wildlife housing. The average cost to feed an animal is about
AUD$350 a year which each carer pays for their selves. Peter Power says: “We need
at least 1000 acres, this is a very important project as the animals are declining in
numbers due to clear felling and destruction of forests and the awful use of 1080. We
also need international condemnation of these unnecessary practices.”
Greece: New Tilos Park Association Documentary gets prime time on Japanese TV
Konstantinos Mentzelopoulos , Director of the Tilos Park Association informs us
that a four-part television series about the Aegean island of Tilos and the Tilos Park
Association is scheduled to be aired on Japanese Asahi TV channel each Saturday
during June, 2007. Twenty seven Japanese television channels will broadcast this
film to 9 million Japanese viewers on a popular program which has been broadcast
for 15 years. A well-known Japanese actress will serve as host and guide in the film
which will highlight the beauty, ecology and biodiversity of Tilos as well as the
European Union LIFE Nature project and the Associations conservation &
sustainable development work.
Olive Harvest in Crete
Wildlife poisoned by farmers
