I've been thinking about making my finances more green, but with the recent tough times it's been at the back of my mind. I read this article recently and my interest in ethical investing is sparked again - so I'm sharing this here.

mecu wins premier sustainability award

Victoria's largest credit union, mecu's innovation in developing a world-first Conservation Landbank has been recognised by the Victorian Government.

For people leaving near Aspendale (South of Melbourne), there's going to be a dune restoration day for the North Aspendale foreshore, with a free barbie after the work is done!
Sponsored by Chelsea Quality Meats, Bakers Delight and Safeway, it'll be a fun day to spend some time at the beach with the kids and learn a bit about native plants.

Meeting Point: Coleman Road, Mel ref 92, F2
Saturday May 30th, 2009
10am - 1pm

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10 Feb 1991 - Channel 10 broadcast an episode of The Simpsons entitled 'Bart the Genius'. It is the first episode of The Simpsons to be broadcast in Australia.

For me, that day was life changing. Ever since then, I have been watching repeats of The Simpsons.

Leaving the country has not helped. It seems to be written in the Constitution of the World that every country must play re-runs of the Simpsons at 18:00.

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If you are cooking for a bunch of people, you can impress them no end by telling them that you have made your own pasta.
They will automatically look at you as if you have endless amounts of skill, love and time in the kitchen. It really is quite simple, and doesn't take much time:

Ingredients
2 cups Plain Flour
3 large eggs

Author's note: Eggs are really hard things to measure, especially if you are using eggs from your own chickens. If you have small eggs, use more. If you only have access to Ostrich eggs, use less.

In the 1920s, Los Angeles was at the forefront of eco-friendly public transport, with rail-cars all over the place. They transported people during the day, and freight during the night.

By the 1950s, either through bad management or an evil economic conspiracy, the trams were gone, and Los Angeles was to become famous for traffic jams and use of automobiles for every purpose.

Sadly, this the same story nearly all over America, the UK, Europe and Australia.

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On the surface of things, Bio-fuel sounds awesome. The thought of driving our sugar cane-mobiles to the Service station, and having a little lick of the sweet petrol pump before we are on our way is certaily appealing.

Plant based-fuel contains no lead, is made up of a lot of oxygen and produces much less carbon dioxide. It is a cleaner burning gas and supports the local agricultural industry, whilst lessening the need to import foreign oil.

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This is really simple and tastes delicious. Your kids will love it, and love you for making it.

INGREDIENTS
3 Cups of Self Raising Flour
1/4 of a cup of Sugar
1 can of Lager (12 ounces)
A dob of Butter

1. Mix the Flour, Sugar and Lager together in a mixing bowl.

2. Use some of the butter to grease a loaf baking dish.

3. Pour mixture into baking dish.

4. Melt remaining butter and pour on top of the mixture.

5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 celcius for 1 hour. Remove and allow to sit for atleast 20 minutes before eating.

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Pictured in the top-right of this article is the Recycling Mobius Loop. It is found on recyclable goods and at recycling depots. This symbol is a good thing.

The 'Chasing Triangles' pictured below don't represent recycling at all. They represent the type of resin the plastic is made of. Some of it is recyclable, but some of it isn't.
In the following article we are going to look at what these symbols actually mean.
In 2001, a report was found that 8% of people understood the meaning of the symbols.

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Plastic has a bad reputation. Blamed for everything from the credit crisis, to the ruination of Michael Jackson's face, the word 'plastic' is often used to describe something as cheap, superficial or throwaway.

But plastic plays a huge part in our lives. Strong, pliable and affordable, the modern world is indebted to it. If you drive a car, send an e-mail or buy a pie at the football, you are using plastic.

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When a truly big storm hits Northern Australia, sometimes ships are caught nowhere near a harbour.

In that situation, the ship’s captain will often seek out the nearest mangrove swamp and tie the boat up to them.

The mangroves are never wiped out in any type of weather. Trees that bond together are strong. Strong enough to protect a ship, and strong enough to build houses from.

One of the new theories about building houses is that you don’t need to kill and process the trees before you live in them.