Toxic waste from Australia to Germany

The once prestine bay in Sydney, called Botany where British colonialisation started off, habours highly toxic waste form the industrial age. To 'keep Australia clean and beautiful', they are planning to off-shore their industrial waste to Germany.
“Orica Australia is proposing to export 22,000 tonnes of highly toxic hexachlorobenzene (HCB) waste to Germany. The waste is supposed to be incinerated in Leverkusen, Dormagen, Herten and Brunsbuettel. Two of the incinerators are run by the Chemical company Bayer.” “Orica, the $5.4 billion parent company of Dulux, Cabot's, Selleys, Yates and Thrive, and the world's biggest maker of explosives, owns the waste, and says it cannot be properly destroyed in Australia.“
Hexachlorobenzene (HCB)
Petition against in Germany, Bund-N.R.W.
Image: Graffiti, Berlin

Lyrebird corroboree in Eora land

Once there was a place where people incorporated the sound of collaborative frogs and birds gatherings into their songs. The human ceremonial aggregation, known as corroboree belonged to the oldest living cutures in the world. Many of the indigenous Australians lost their lives with the British invasion in 1788. “By the 1840s, most of the Aboriginal people had disappeared from Pittwater and their traditional lands had been taken over by white settlers.”

Some years ago I heard a lyrebird mimic corroboree-sounds in this Sydney national park. The memory must have passed on, although the dominant sound now is a ubiquitous rage of the (petrol) machinery over the land and ocean of contemporary Australia. This was a one-off magic space-time. The superb lyrebird can be heard sounding the new motorised racket of chainsaws, 4x4s and of course the Australian mowers starting up. It still engages in the mimicry of the remaining other birds that the packs of dogs from the subs have not yet mauled.
Do watch this wonderful creature on this video, presented by D. Attenborough:


Updates in soundscapes
29.12.2011
Captive lyrebird mimics the sound most prevalent in Australia: Construction work, drills, hammers and saws. ( video ) The bird has been in captivity for 20 years. Maybe noise pollution and vibration put an end to his life at age 32 abc 29122011 

29.05.2014
Now they imitate the sounds of chainsaws, car alarms, camera shutters, video games and crying babies Treehugger, odditycentral


20.05.2015
Lyrebirds imitating paper mills and trains sounds,  Don Watson on soundcloud

Our Plastics in our Oceans - video

To visualise the previous post on ocean pollution, this video is worth watching.
The Algalita Marine Research Foundation depicts the problem of marine debris in our ecosystem.In the video entitled "Plastic Debris, Rivers to Sea" it is claimed that "80% of marine debris is land-based and 90% of floating marine debris is plastics."

Hack, mix, distribute and eat – your plastics

Since the beginning of time human beings have utilised the 71 % of the Earth's watery surface to dump their rubbish. What has changed, is the massive population and the nature of the artificial anti-products that are now disposed in the world oceans by individuals and industry. Apart from the cost-effective discarding of 'millions of tonnes of sewage and toxic waste' gigantic amounts of plastic is added. ”80% of marine debris originates from land based sources.” Just the plastic alone floats for hundereds of years on the surface and is distributed/ 'flushed' with the ocean currents to all corners of the globe (map). With time the pellets of domestic and industrial waste develop into ever smaller particles. They are given the cute term: 'Tears of the Mermaid'. These toxic, microscopic particles then enter living organisms in the ocean at all levels. They remain and accumulate in the aquatic and terrestial living beings.The degradation of the entire food-chain is the inheritance left behind.
The issue is unfortuntely not sufficiently important to act on, there have been various reports over the years – all in wane. Some attention is generated now as there is a financial impact on large boats having trouble getting thorough the plastic debris.
More on causes and effects
Disposable Oceans, Greenpeace
Mother Jones defending oceans

Visualising mass consumption

The photographic art of Chris Jordan depicts Grand Canyons of anti-products heaped up. 'Intolerable Beauty' is a documentation of (American) mass consumption. Fictions of certainty are dislodged in 'Kartina's Wake'. Worth viewing.