I attended 2024’s last King’s College UQ Bushcare session on Sunday morning. During the two hours there I worked with residents Ned and Sam to remove glycine and balloon vine from trees planted some years previous. The White Cedar would have died without our intervention. Countering the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change are not just about planting trees, it’s their nurturing and survival as well.

This story is just to illustrate one of the many impacts you can make. No matter how small. Each matters. This praying mantis was sitting on the front door screen, an easy target for the local cats and birds. Do I took it to my back yard, with lots of potential food and shelter. Not quite a kangaroo Joey being saved after mum being hit by a car, but you get the idea. All nature counts. And I used the privacy setting for the map, so I don’t ‘dox’ myself! lol

While I was getting my car serviced at joy motors I spent some time removing glycine vine from lillypillies near the mechanics. These trees were over 2 metres tall but had been cut near the base as they were smothered in vines. Sadly this was happening again. And the solution is so simple. Pull the vines out by the roots, and do the same in future maintenance. No poisons. No pruning. So so simple

My friend’s dad was given some grevilleas and callistemon for free from Toowoomba council which he was going to throw away. They were given to me and I planted 5 of them in the biobasin. You can see my earlier plantings of casuarinas are much taller than me ❤️ I also picked up some rubbish. A very productive and enjoyable hour. 😇

Meeting heaps new friends

Here at the planet, people pint evening with Keerthi! And I picked some rubbish along the way.

The council lawn mowers got to the rubbish before I did sadly. Mowing over rubbish just makes things worse. 😢

Did another of my semi-regular clean-ups near the 7-eleven, KFC and Starbucks. I had been feeling a bit down after scrolling some analysis of movies I’m fond of about corporations and modern life, Idiocracy, Fight Club, Office Space and Falling down. But we don’t have to blow up buildings or fight with violence. As I was picking up some of the over 250 pieces of branded corporate detritus, a lady in a car stopped and said ‘thank you’. Made my day 😊

I’m attending the 3rd annual Australian Biosecurity Symposium on the Gold Coast. Seeing some familiar faces from 2 years ago, and making new connections and learning as always.

I visited the Biobasin after the rain, lots of rubbish gets washed here via the storm water drains. Over 100 pieces picked up.

So much rubbish in the drain next to Warrigal road. I concentrated on removing as much plastic as I could

Collected 2 bags, 231 items of rubbish close to home. And for this story I’m using the blue marker, which allows for privacy, as it randomly assigns the pin in the local area of the activity.

On Sunday I collected a bag of rubbish. Mostly KFC. People park in the street after going through the drive thru, and then just leave their rubbish. Really bad behaviour. The fast food chains or on my list of potential platform users.

Visiting Wilson’s Promontory National Park and Squeaky Beach. Our good friend Pete picked up a plastic chip packet, not only improved the view but helped the environment that extra bit.

My sister and I caught up with Mum and Dad's dear friends Brian and Sandy. We had a lovely lunch at Fitzy's in Toowoomba.

Having a wonderful chat with Paola about account based marketing 😊

I collected a bag of rubbish on my way to the Kings College bush regen working bee 😊

I visited Kings College for the first time since the early 1990s. Andrew and Thérèse were wonderful hosts for my tour. Andrew and the residents are doing wonderful work regenerating the vegetation along the river. Super impressed! So much so I’ve offered to come help next Wednesday. Watch this space 😊

All the rubbish on my walking route to the bus getting to me again ☹️ 226 seperate pieces, including 2 vapes which if separated into the 2nd bag with the bottles.

Was walking the dogs with Soyun at Sid Bigg park in Mudgeeraba when I noticed a Passionfruit vine in a tree near the scoreboard. It was easily removed, but I also removed 30 vine seedlings.

I was in central Brisbane eating my sushi when I was visited by this feral pigeon looking for some food. The feather on the pigeon’s head looked like a hat, and its feet were very deformed. (Interesting research on pigeon feet!). It reminded me that whilst removing invasive species from our natural areas is vitally important for biodiversity, they are living beings. Which means removal should be done as humanely as possible. Also, in our majorly altered environments like city scapes, pigeons and other introduced species can help nature reestablish an ecosystem, create a food chain. Provide a connection to Nature that many city dwellers lack. So I gave him/her some sushi, and left the mall with a smile on my face.

Someone held a party near my daughters’s bus stop with cask wine and vapes. No one else was cleaning it up, so I did, along with about 300m of roadside in 15min.

And here I was thinking Paris has a street rubbish problem… 177 pieces in just over 15 minutes in about 250m of one side of my local street 😢

Friday was the 2nd and last day of Hello Tomorrow. Whist we are not ‘Deep Tech’ it was certainly worthwhile coming to experience and learn from this innovative ecosystem. The way ahead for us as a company is forming. And another bags worth of rubbish, some 60 pieces was picked up along my walk to and from the venue. There are two causes for the rubbish other than its manufacture: in areas with large numbers of shops that unwrap plastic, the storage areas are inadequate, this despite daily visits by council to clean. Secondly attitudes. The second photo is a bottle tossed there casually by someone in front of me. I put it in the bin 10m away. Sad.

First day at the Hello Tomorrow conference in the impressive Le Centquartre in Paris. A ‘deep tech’ conference with many worthy ideas and plans to benefit our world. However, I also know we need to start now with action. I walked the 6km return trip to and from the venue. And I picked up rubbish along the way with my pick up stick. Into bins in the morning as I didn’t want to turn up with a bag of rubbish! And 80 pieces on my return. I suspect looking at the day in isolation I did more demonstrable action than the vast majority of the 3,000 delegates. And I got two compliments in French from passers by! 😊

Went to a shop called Leroymerlin. Sorta like a chic French Bunnings in the middle of Paris to get myself a pickup stick. On my way there I noticed this chip packet outside Cartier and wondered whether it would be there on my return. It sure was lol. So I picked up one piece of rubbish for every bin I saw on my way home. 13 in all. Imagine if a sizeable minority did the same regularly whilst walking. The rubbish would be sorted!

There is a lot of rubbish in Paris, much more than I remember from 10 years ago. Some places are worse than others. But it’s sad to see we’ll dressed young Parisiennes casually toss their cigarette butts in the beautiful cobbled streets 😢 I picked up a single bottle today in Maurecourt, but I’m feeling like making a statement by picking up rubbish wearing my greenbrand shirt!

I headed to Maurecourt on Wednesday on the outskirts of Paris. Vines appear to be a problem here too, over growing fences. I don’t know whether Ivy and the other two vines in the photos are invasive. But invasive species are a global problem as outlined in this article. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2023/01/17/france-struggles-to-eradicate-invasive-species_6011864_114.html

My first full day in Paris. I’m exploring the neighbourhood of South Pigalle. There is an acknowledgment that the few green spaces are important, with information signs and nest boxes. And greenery can appear in the most unlikely spaces!

On first impressions, the UK and Europe are much more advanced in taking action to help the environment. The Tate Gallery has declared a “climate and ecological emergency”. There is rewinding occurring on the southern entrance, and I did my bit in collecting a handful of plastic for the bin. Every piece, every action, no how small, helps.

Arrived in London en route to Paris for the Hello Tomorrow and Change Now conferences. Very exciting! Had a look at the Tate Modern gallery. Some amazing and massive artworks made out of bottle tops linked together. Also a bees/wasps/insect hotel installed in fenced off trees out the front.

On Wednesday 13th, the last day before leaving to France and the conferences, I spent an hour removing about 50 regrowth glycine vines and a bag of rubbish from the biobasin. I’m researching the number of native trees I’ll need to plant to offset the 3.4ton of CO2 my flights will generate. Saving the planted trees from vines is just as important as planting.

Waiting for a ferry to go to Karragarra Island. Thought I’d pick up the bits of rubbish. Every bit of positive action helps.

Always new rubbish from 7/11, KFC and Starbucks. Cleaned up as much as I could on my walk.

I love the bush grounds at the Sleeman Sporting centre at Chandler. Dropping off my girls for a school swimming carnival. A really caring team of gardeners. Native plantings, weed control and nest boxes everywhere, including car parks, for bats, birds and gliders. Imagine if this gold standard was replicated Brisbane wide, private and public, in time for the Olympics and Paralympics. Visitors and tourists will be impressed with nature in our city.

Walking with my daughter to the local bakery. Picked up a couple of plastic bags that would end up in the drains with approaching rain. Took no time to do, but feel good in making a positive difference, no matter how small.

I think this is exciting and thought provoking! Watch the video (Sound Up!) I was walking through Post Office Square near where I often work and was actually noticing that bin chickens (white ibis) and feral pigeons were the only birds here. Then I heard a familiar trill sound I wasn't expecting. Whilst this little fella (Superb Fairywren) seemed to be away from his tribe, seeing him in the middle of the CBD brings hope, along with thoughts about how we need to make our cities more friendly towards biodiversity. Say by having more shrubbery and groundcover to provide protection, food and housing. Brisbane has the Olympic and Paralympic Games coming in 9 years. Tourists and visitors will be expecting to see wildlife. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they could see some more iconic and unique species in the city! I checked iNaturalist. Hardly any sightings recorded in the CBD. Just a couple near QUT in 2023.

I planted another 3 gums and a casuarina at Prince Henry Dr. Not easy digging holes due to all the volcanic basalt. The Toowoomba range first formed some 300 million years ago. Are these rocks that old? And is this the first time they’ve seen the sun??? 🤷🏼‍♂️

I saw all these plastic bags just waiting to be washed and blown into the drain and into our rivers and oceans. At least this bag of plastic and rubbish didn’t make it!

My girls are growing up and so I cherish any time they are willing to spend with me. Today we had a lovely walk and a chat. They even tolerated to be seen with me picking up rubbish. Lots of people tell me that they pick up rubbish on their walks. Our Greenbrand platform is the perfect way to document those good deeds. And by pooling them together we can create that movement of repair that so many people hope for.

The last day of 2023! Multiple reasons for posting; rubbish in the gutters with more storms predicted, so don't want this rubbish flowing into our streams and the ocean. I'm retraining myself with the movie making ability of the mobile phone and You Tube, as amateurish as I am. And I need to get into the habit of posting, 2024 is the year Greenbrand.org will take off. So if I'm going to be a social media mover and shaker (insert a couple of laughing emojis here) I need to be able to post regularly and seamlessly.

I visited Mum on Boxing Day at Dovetree Aged Care. She was a bit better (more with it) than Christmas Day. I noticed some rubbish in the car park so thought I’d pick it up. I collected 12 masks in total in amongst the bag of rubbish that won’t flow into our rivers 😊

On Sunday 10th December I planted another 5 seedlings, including a couple of native mulberries (first photo). I put tree guards around the others in the long grass as I knew council would come and either cut or poison the grass. Sadly they whipper snipped the wattle (background photo 2) that was growing so well despite being identified by ribbons and posts. I’ll assume it was an accident as none of the other seedlings were harmed. So whilst I’m a bit sad, these things happen in nature, and hopefully the others will grow to their potential 🙏🤞

Up at my parent’s place in Toowoomba. A number of large, old Eucalyptus trees died during the terrible drought of 2019-2020, both on the property and in the adjoining park. I’ve started to plant replacement trees for those lost, and add in some variety with acacias and bottlebrushes to help create an understory.

Spent a day visiting Lamb Island in Moreton Bay with my great friend Mark and his son Alex. Saved 3 young casuarinas from mile a minute vine as we explored the island.

On Saturday 14th October I watered the 6 seedlings I’d planted earlier this year. They are all growing nicely. You can see a Brisbane Wattle in the pics next to the pink ribbon on a stake. I also collected a bag of rubbish, rubbish that had been washed into the basin during the last storm a couple of weeks earlier

Supported John, Tony and Steve playing Div 6 cricket at Briggs Park in Palmwoods. I picked up some rubbish, and saw a number of birds! Magpies, plovers, a kookaburra, and most rarely..aGolden Duck!!

So much rubbish accumulating against fences on Warragul road, I suspect mostly from the construction site, shopping centre and local fast food restaurants. Felt great making a difference on a beautiful Sunday afternoon!

So much rubbish flows into our streams from gutters and stormwater drains. I picked up about 40 items just from this grill alone on Warrigal road. Collected a full bag from rubbish on the footpath nearby.

My good friend Sameer showed me around the wonderful site at Tivoli Social Enterprises and their conservation park

I don’t normally discriminate…but I did today….I chose which pieces of rubbish I’d pick up, and left the others as only had one bag 😬 I’ll collect the rest tomorrow! Why?? I’m pitching in the Battle of the Founders event tonight! What is in the bag? I’ll unveil during the pitch!!

Here is a green wall near the UQ Atrium. Not much insect life sadly. But potential! Better than nothing.

I’m here with Liz and Sarah at QTFN discussing the power of connecting people and businesses to do great things for biodiversity

Cleaned up the rubbish swept into the basin in the last rain, some 203 pieces. The young trees are growing well ❤️😊

I watered the biobasin trees and planted a bottlebrush. Noticed lots of rubbish, will pick up next visit.

Until we can solve the production of disposable objects and wrappings, and until we change improve the behaviour of people who litter, some of us need to clean up, in the moment, so this rubbish doesn’t pollute and damage both our physical environment and our aesthetic enjoyment.

I watered 7 of the surviving tube stock I’d planted in the two biobasins as there’s been little rain in the last few weeks. One was looking quite dry, but it’s still alive. I’d lost one when council had whipper snipped it when cutting weeds. Also pulled out a few baby glycine and cobblers pegs. I’ve decided to plant many more shrubs and plants to give the small birds some cover.

I saw this huge piece of construction rubbish in the gutter, ready to enter the stormwater drain, our creeks and ocean. I didn’t walk on by. I picked it up and put it in the closest bin.

A lot of rubbish near the bus stops in the Link road area. Will take a couple of trips to clean it all up.

I find picking up rubbish therapeutic; it’s exercise, outdoors, an activity that is mildly stimulating (“what is that???”) but repetitive so it’s calming, and I know I’m doing good for the environment. 148 pieces picked up that won’t get into our streams and ocean. 💪❤️

Visited the biobasin and removed numerous baby glycine vines, and 3 large ones that were starting to cover the lomandras on the western side. Otherwise it is looking really healthy!

Revisited the Biobasin after some recent rain. More rubbish had been washed into the basin. Lots of plastic sadly.

I removed the last remaining large glycine vines from the lomandras in the biobasin. If these were left unchecked they’d overgrow all the vegetation. Doing this service frees up Brisbane City Councils time and money, but also saves vital biodiversity from being killed. Removing weeds by hand, by root also saves the use of poison.

There is a worldwide push to plant more trees and vegetation in cities like London to not only cool temperatures but increase biodiversity. London has 21% tree cover, with the mayor committing to increase this by 10%. Involving the residents helps by not only reducing the costs of helping keep the plants alive, but improves their care and community ownership. This story’s photos show a newly planted tree and a request for locals to care for it. Another role this platform can perform!!

On my recent trip to London I came across many different examples of making a difference, at an individual and business level. One of the first was the Oakleigh House Dental Practice, which has created a flower garden to encourage plant and insect biodiversity. Their website also has a great history of the house and area.

While waiting for my flight home I caught up with my mate Emmett who works at Sky HQ campus. How impressive are the grounds!! Full of native flowers, trees, insects and butterflies. Well done Sky!

Last day in London! What an amazing trip! I’ll post some more stories soon. I’m full of positivity as my flight approaches. I spent 30min picking up some more rubbish in the streets around our accommodation. I counted 92 seperate pieces, mostly plastic and smoking related. As I left I came across another group picking up rubbish! Long story short, LD Care services have a residential building close by and once a week a volunteer and residents pick up rubbish…..a future potential user group for the platform!!

In the queue for Wimbledon tickets! Vines seem to be a problem in the UK as well. Looks like ivy has been chopped to help the trees.

Picked up some rubbish on the way for a coffee with my Aussie cricketing friends

Here we are in London! First impressions tell me (at least in Isleworth), there is an awful lot of rubbish in the streets and they let the grass grow quite tall, and when I say grass, it’s grains like a wheat or barley! This verge below would be providing food for insects and birds, and is much better for biodiversity than a lawn. The locals tell me this is a council failure….but I like it

Off on my trip to the UK! Singapore is renowned as a very progressive city environmentally. 3 types of recycling bin, and I’m sure they actually do the recycling.

Our current housing crisis doesn’t only affect humans. At least 300 Aussie species of animals rely on tree hollows for shelter and nesting. Planting new trees to replace old ones with hollows doesn’t help for many decades. So artificial nestboxes can help our Aussie animal families. I’ve just picked up a Rosella nest box and a micro bat home! Follow me as I take them to Toowoomba to install in trees at my parent’s home.

Another instance of people eating their KFC food and then just leaving their rubbish on the street. Happening all the time in my neighbourhood sadly. Ended up collecting two bags worth of rubbish - mostly fast food wrapping, plastics and cigarette butts and boxes. I read the latest KFC Corporate Sustainability Report. I wonder if companies like KFC would be open to having their staff clean up their local areas on a regular basis??? Would be good marketing and demonstrate their impact.... Food for Thought.....

So, I came back to clean up the rest of the Singapore daisy infestation and the wonderful ground staff had cleaned up most of the remaining plants and removed the waste!! Well Done Dovetree staff!! Singapore Daisy creates a matt of roots and suckers, so there were a few stalks left, so I removed all that I could see. This is the small pile seen between the two grevillias on the left in the photo. But early detection before becoming too large an area, and prompt action and joint effort has stopped this infestation!! So Happy!!

Where my mum is now living, at Dovetree, there are lovely grounds with lots of native trees planted. As everywhere, weeds are invading. I noticed this single patch of Singapore Daisy, and no other infestations. So I spent an hour removing the weeds by the roots. Prevented its spread into and over the other native ground covers. I’ll come back another couple of times to make sure it’s eliminated. A bit of education and early intervention makes all the difference!

I used to think that most of the rubbish I saw on the streets had blown out of bins, or was accidentally dropped. Sadly, time and time again I see the discards of whole meals from the KFC, and containers from Starbucks, where people park their cars, consume the food, then leave their rubbish 😔So sad. I repeatedly pick up the rubbish noting how grass cutters just mow over the top helping speed the creation of micro plastics….and on cue!!! A ride on, mowing grass that doesn’t need mowing, goes straight over the top. Wrong on so many levels 😢

Revisited the biobasin, removed a shopping bag of rubbish washed there after the rains, watered the seedlings and pulled out 50+ baby glycine vines. It’s looking really healthy ❤️

Invasive vines are everywhere in Brisbane, but these ones on Padstow Road were annoying me every time I drove past them. The trees had been deliberately planted, and some weeds had recently been wiper snipped. The Lilly Pilly and Eucalyptus now have a second chance!

Planted a Banksia and a Brisbane wattle in Skyview biobasin. Glycine has started to infiltrate the bed of Lomandras, so spent 45mins removing most of it. You can see the pile of removed glycine in the second pic

Planted 2 casuarinas, a Brisbane wattle and a banksia in the biobasin, replacing those that were killed by the glycine vine. Also removed some glycine regrowth, must have pulled out 100plus baby vines by the roots as well. No poison used 😊

Cleaned up cigarette and coffee paraphernalia around my local bus stop

Had 15mins to spare waiting for meeting, picked up rubbish

Spent 15mins removing glycine from the pathway near the kids

I had 15min to kill waiting for my friend to arrive for our afternoon catch-up and walk. Cut away the Balloon vine smothering a wattle, and removed Passionfruit vine from another 4 trees including the young brushbox in the centre of the second pic. Council contractors have poisoned along the paths, but many vines remain in the trees ☹️

Big weekend. I watered the 100+ trees we planted on Saturday. Handheld 8L watering can, up and down a 30m 45 degree slope 💪

Loaded up the car with 285 grasses, shrubs and trees for our weekend of planting near Dunoon!!! No room for Chris lol

Did another 30min on the pathway. Halfway done. Can you tell where I got up to in the first pic??

Glycine regrowth removed from the lomandras and Eucalyptus tree. Roots removed, no poison required!! Looks good in the before and after pics below.

Glycine vine is over growing these lomandras and the biobasin opposite. I can sort out the path, but will get council to do some heavy lifting in the basin. We can then maintain 😊

Here’s just one of many trees being smothered and killed along a popular path near the Sunnybank Rugby club. 15min later it has a new lease on life!

This plastic bag was dancing in the wind like a land jellyfish, just needing to be put in the bin, as I made my way to the bus. Now a turtle won’t mistake it as a real jellyfish if it made it to the ocean. You can write stories without outputs and mins spent if it is a once off good gesture, or even if you notice someone else’s great work, or if something needs to be done.

Revisited the biobasin on Miles Platting Road, removed regrowth of glycine vine. The trees are looking happy and healthy. Will return as more vine in the lomandras.

I took my car in for a Service at Joy Motors in Underwood on Friday morning, so had some time to kill. Went to Springvale Park where I spent 45mins removing mostly Monkey Rope vine, with small amounts of passionfruit and Gylcine vine from Casurinas, two eucalypts and a Wattle. Lovely hearing an Eastern whipbird as I worked.

I was in Stones Corner to pick up a music book for my daughter. I remembered there is some great restoration of native trees along the creek. A big shout out to Buranda Bushcare! I counted three nest boxes. In the first photo look for the possum tail hanging out the hollow ❤️😊. I spent 30min picking up rubbish along the banks.

Below the Hinze Dam wall is a lovely park with a huge fig and Hoop pines, called Mottee Court Park. Some passion fruit vine was established in one of the garden beds. Pulled out some 5 vines by the roots. We don’t need poisons!

Went for a lovely morning walk at Hinze dam. Some vine infestations. Removed some glycine vines from the lomandras at the lookout and about 10 seedling vines. Also saw the biggest bee I’ve ever seen! Size of a 50 cent piece. She’s called a Great Carpenter Bee, see the video below 😊🐝

Thought I’d enjoy the sunshine and do some exercise by going for a walk and pick up rubbish along the way. Sadly, such a variety of rubbish.

I revisited three casurina trees I had rescued from vines some 13 months earlier. Mile a minute and Balloon vine were again impacting their health. Vines cut and removed from all 3 trees.