The Transit Lounge

By Amy Goodhew

FACT: Animal agriculture makes a 40% greater contribution to global warming than all transportation in the world combined; it is the number one cause of climate change.

FACT: Australia has one of the highest incidences of pet ownership in the world with 63% of the 7.5 million households in Australia pet owners.

FACT: When fishing for tuna, 145 other species are regularly killed including manta ray, sharks, albatrosses, gulls, common dolphin, humpback whale and many, many others.

What do these facts have in common? They all relate to our complex and contradictory relationships with animals and food.

Thinking globally and acting locally is something we’re become more familiar with. More and more of us are thinking a little harder about where we spend our money. Rather than buying the apples that are snap frozen, impregnated with pesticides, sand imported from who knows where - we buy local, fresh and organic. It’s sinking in that it’s better not to leave all the appliances running when not actually in the house, that we don’t need to drive when we could walk. What once was radical now seems just sensible. This way of thinking is extending to how we dress. People would prefer not to wear clothes put together by exploited and poorly paid people and the fashion industry is responding. Natalie Shymko looks at the growing industry of ethical fashion.

Just Act

Carols are on non-stop repeat in shops, the Myers windows are open and the weather is heating up… Christmas is definitely in the air!

Christmas is a celebration of the birth of, to say the very least, a special child; it is eagerly awaited and celebrated by people, especially children, all over the world. So why are people and even children in developing countries being exploited for us in the developed world to enjoy Christmas?

Heather Dowling

Intolerance affects us all at some point in our lives—some more than others.  So what do we do when someone else is being intolerant? Should we speak up or let it slide? Meghan Plowman, a young Christian from Perth, found herself speaking up on the rights of women because the issue hit a nerve.

Amy Goodhew

Feeling confused? Don’t know how to proceed? Fight or flight impulses warring? Don’t panic. When you listen to the wisdom of those who have been there before, there’s a piece of good advice for every day of the week.

Meera Atkinson

We’ve been in love with cars ever since they were invented in the 1920s. However, they do come at a cost: the expense of purchase and maintenance, accidents, and environmental impact.

Amy Goodhew 

I fancy myself a green thumb type. I have no evidence to back up this assumption but I feel it instinctively to be true.