Remember that awesome kids television show Captain Planet?  Just like most other people my age, I know that my brother, sister and I know the theme tune off by heart (’Captain Planet, he’s our hero, gonna take pollution down to zero…’ etc etc) and we have been known to break into song whenever someone wearing a Planeteer-esque ring is in the general vicinity.  Jumping around yelling, ‘Earth! Fire! Wind! Water! Heart! The power is yours!’ is also good fun.  It doesn’t endear you to the neighbours but you do have a fun time pretending to save the world from ‘lootin’ and polluting’.

It’s a pity that Captain Planet re-runs aren’t being broadcast on free-to-air television channels so that a new generation of kids can benefit from such wisdom as: ‘plant a tree!’, ’save the whales’, ‘turn off the tap’ and ‘if you are a Catholic or Protestant living in Ireland please stop fighting!’ (perhaps that last one was relevant in the 1990’s…).   I know that I have Captain Planet partially to thank for being as environmentally aware as I am, although I would never profess to being a green expert.  For years we’ve tried to do little things for the environment, like recycling, collecting water (in tanks and from the shower), keeping a compost bin for kitchen rubbish, purchasing green electricity, and trying to keep the water and electricity bills down.  I’m beginning to realise, however, that these small contributions aren’t even close to enough, and that our lives are going to have to change significantly.

I know that Rob has lofty ideals about buying some land and converting it back to rainforest, and my Mum has similar feelings.  My Dad and I both want to be self-sufficient with our own water and electricity stores, and all four of us (and many of our friends and family) are passionate about local produce.  But how far does this take us?  We are all guilty of international and domestic air travel several times a year.  None of us drive hybrid cars (although as I understand it hybrids aren’t as efficient as they should be).  We don’t plan our car trips so that we can get as much done in one trip as possible.  We don’t have a solar panel on our roof for lighting or water-heating, and our home was built before the term ‘energy-efficient’ had any meaning.  There are still some non-energy-efficient light-bulbs lurking in our houses, and we all have (and use all day, every day) our own laptops.  As aware as we all are of the environment, of decreasing carbon emissions, of becoming more self-sufficient, and of being smarter about our waste and recycling, we are all still guilty of being unwilling to make big changes.

The ‘7:30 Report’ stated last night that Australia will have to cut its carbon-fuel emissions by 90% in the next fifty years, but I personally can’t see how that is even close to being achievable, even with every Australian agreeing that it sounds like a good idea.  What will it take for us - as global citizens - to jump into action and start making the changes?  We are all aware of the environment and it’s dire need for help, but like children watching television, we seem to be waiting for a super-hero to swoop in at the last minute and do the saving for us.

Rob and Ben - future Brisbane City Council bus drivers

After a hurried appointment with the accountant this morning (copy-writing makes me a sole trader, who would have thought?) and brunch at West End, Rob, Ben and I went into the Museum of Brisbane (MoB) to pick up some ‘I <3 BNE‘ t-shirts. Modelled on the traditional ‘I <3 NYC’ tees, the Brisbane versions feature a green heart instead of the standard red, and are part of the Brisbane City Council’s push to make Brisbane a carbon neutral haven. At the moment the council has stands set up in all the local shopping centres to give advice and help to locals about making their homes and workplaces more environmentally friendly. All of the staff manning the booths and stands wear the ‘I Love BNE’ shirts, and the MoB is the only place you can buy them for personal use. As two travel-worn pop-culture fanatics, Rob and I had to get some.

While we were in the museum we noticed that part of the present exhibition is the scaled-down front of a Brisbane City Council bus, complete with a box full of bus-driver uniforms. Rob and Ben jumped behind the wheel and acted like all B.C.C. bus drivers do… like total lunatics.

I have a lot of Australian friends who either live permanently overseas or who periodically take long holidays in strange countries. I myself am soon to embark on what could end up being two years of living in the UK and travelling through Europe, so I’m about to be welcomed into the illustrious fold of Aussie expats. The last few weeks I’ve been thinking about products and items that I might crave whilst away from our lovely sunburned country, as I can ask my family to send me care-packs filled with specific items. I know a few of my other friends already ask this of their families and there are also several businesses - such as Homesick.com.au - which rely on the same premise. Aside from the philosophical question this raises (is Australia a place or is it signified by products and items which are unique to a commercial region?) I think it’s a great idea to carry a little bit of ‘home’ with you wherever you go, just so that you can retain a degree of normalcy and connection with your family and friends.

Here are some of the items that I or friends of mine have noticed are hard to find overseas and which are missed the most:

- Bonds underwear. The comfiest, snuggest, most colourfully and funkily designed underwear in the whole world.

- Allens’ and Natural Confectionery sweets, including but not limited to those awesome Allen’s snakes and those really yummy Natural Confectionery soft fruits.

- Milo, a malty powder which you add to hot water or hot or cold milk, rather like Ovaltine but miles better. It is also fantastic on icecream.

- Red Rooster takeaway. Their hot chips are heaven-sent.

- Proper Australian wine. I know that in the UK, Australian wine is considered as being ‘Jacob’s Creek’, ‘Wolfblass’ and ‘Rosemount’. Guess what? We only send our cheapest wine overseas, we keep the best for ourselves.

- Flavoured Freddo Frogs. Why do they only do solid milk chocolate flavour in the UK? Do people realise that Freddo Frogs also come in strawberry, peppermint, white chocolate, turkish delight, and white and milk combination?

- Minties and Fantales, cube shaped chewy sweets (mint and caramel) which have been known to pull out fillings and loose teeth.

- Bundaberg Rum. It tastes like sunshine.

- Twisties and Cheezels. Cheese flavoured crisp-like snacks which are really bad for you but taste really good

- Caramel Tim-Tams. Sainsburys and Tescos stock the plain Tim-Tams but not the caramel. Why?

- Natio beauty products. Made from natural products and not tested on animals, their moisturizers, scrubs and hand creams are to die for.

- MOR cosmetics. Their marshmallow lip-gloss is the safest way to consume marshmallows without actually eating them (and thus putting on weight).

- Witchery, Cue, Portmans and Sportsgirl clothing. Luckily most ship overseas now, with huge postage costs to boot.

- Vegemite in a tube. Most UK supermarkets stock Vegemite in a jar, but what good is that to you if you have to travel light?

- Shop Til You Drop magazine. Yes, it’s a whole magazine filled with the newest fashion and home products to hit stores.

- Bundaberg Ginger Beer. Missed more by Rob than me.