Make Church Street a Clean Air Zone
Low emissions zones are a very quick way to bring down pollution ( NO2 ,PM2.5) and avoid cognitive decline and cancers from combustion traffic.

"Higher emissions from industry and residential combustion, as well as biofuel, coal, and oil and natural gas combustion, were associated with worse language scores."
https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/article/80/5/glaf060/8082041?login=false

Clean air zones
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/driving-in-a-clean-air-zone
#FossilFuels #vehicles #combustion #cars #traffic #polllution #contaminants #regulation #LEZ #ULEZ #cognition #cancer #Bellingen #ChurchStreet #cafes #alfreco #eateries #CleanAir #PublicHealth #health #harm

” It’s a common refrain: AI is neither good nor bad because that depends on how its used. Professor Anita Say Chan begs to differ. […]
Chan documents how the Big Data on which AI are trained are based on long-standing data infrastructures—sets of practices, policies, and logics—that remove, imperil, devalue, and actively harm people who refuse to conform to racialized patriarchal power structures and the priorities of surveillance capitalism—most pointedly immigrant, feminist, and low-income communities.
[…] Chan dedicates half of the book to amplifying and praising the small-scale, community-led projects of the past and present—from the legendary Hull House’s data visualizations to community data initiatives in Champaign, Illinois. There is much fuel for political outrage in this book and also fodder for solidarity and hope.” "—New Books in Critical Theory

Predatory Data - Eugenics in Big Tech and Our Fight for an Independent Future >

https://newbooksnetwork.com/anita-say-chan-predatory-data-eugenics-in-big-tech-and-our-fight-for-an-independent-future-u-california-press-2025

“𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝.”

― 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘔. 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘸

TikTok Is Harming Children at an Industrial Scale

https://www.afterbabel.com/p/industrial-scale-harm-tiktok

#EndangeredSpecies' habitat at risk under #Trump proposal

The Trump admin is proposing to significantly limit the #EndangeredSpeciesAct's power to preserve crucial #habitats by changing the definition of one word: #harm.

#Law #Science #Wildlife #Conservation #Climate
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/17/nx-s1-5366814/endangered-species-act-change-harm-trump-rule

The great koala - glider national park - logging an environmentally significant area

"The Minns Labor government promised to create a koala national park before the state election more than two years ago, but has not taken a decision on the boundaries and has allowed logging to continue. Between April and July 2024, the surveys detected greater gliders at 82 sites. The government’s analysis estimated the planned park has between 29,693 and 44,211 gliders, with a mean estimate of 36,483."

“...Logging should cease in all state forest areas identified as containing greater gliders.”
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/17/endangered-greater-gliders-recorded-in-proposed-great-koala-national-park-in-nsw-as-logging-continues
#BiodiversityCrisis #conservation #harm #destruction #NativeForests #koalas #gliders #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #BellingenLogging #NSWLogging #LoggingImpacts #FCNSW #ExtinctionCrisis #governance

“Bike riding is largely viewed as a recreational activity – I think that’s the principal philosophy here.”
(in Australia) >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/13/sudden-closure-of-iconic-bridge-to-cyclists-shows-car-is-still-king-in-brisbane
#MobilityDesign #cars #Australia #mindsets #FossilFuel #climate #Automobility #harm #cyclists #pedestrians #ActiveTransport

Paris Bike Boom Leads to Steep Drop in Air Pollution

"The French city’s air quality has improved dramatically in the past 20 years, coinciding with a growth in cycling...Between 2005 and 2024, levels of nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter — two of the most harmful pollutants to human health — have been slashed by 50% and 55%, respectively.”

"City leaders including Mayor Anne Hidalgo have been making a concerted effort to pedestrianize parts of the city, improve bike infrastructure, and promote active transportation in the French capital."
>>
https://www.planetizen.com/news/2025/04/134769-paris-bike-boom-leads-steep-drop-air-pollution
#cars #pollution #harm #air #cycling #pedestrians #BellingenShire #Australia #ActiveTransport #climate

"When we talk about the unfair practices and #harm done by training #largelanguagemodels, we usually talk about how they were trained on other people’s creative work without permission. But this is an ongoing problem that’s just getting worse.

If you’re using the products powered by these attacks, you’re part of the problem.

Don’t pretend it’s somehow being technologically open-minded to continuously search for nails to hit with the latest "#AI” hammers."

https://adactio.com/journal/21831

Seven wedge-tailed eagles have been found shot on a property in southern New South Wales.

"Six of the birds were found dead on the property at Eurongilly, about 60 kilometres from Wagga Wagga, while a seventh was injured but had to be euthanased.Wedge-tailed eagles are a protected species in New South Wales and mainland Australia under the Birds and Animals Protection Act".
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-10/seven-wedge-tailed-eagles-die-after-being-shot-near-wagga-wagga/105150464
#birds #crime #Biodiversity #NSW #farmers #mindsets #livestock #harm #BirdsOfFediverse

Raison de vivre
Companion animals - a reason for living

For many dog owners the companionship of dogs is often
“literally the only reason to survive,
to get up, to still keep going.
It gives them a reason to get up,
a reason to get out,
a reason to move around and
be in contact a little bit with the world outside."
>>
Pet dogs have ‘extensive and multifarious’ impact on environment, new research finds
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/apr/10/pet-dogs-have-extensive-and-multifarious-impact-on-environment-new-research-finds

"Approximately 69% of households in Australia own pets, with dogs being the most common."
>>
https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/how-many-pets-are-there-in-australia/
#dogs #pets #wildlife #birds #penguins #beach #DogOwners #ProstheticDevices #harm #pollution #GHG #meat #pesticides #faeces #climate #DogAttacks #Australia #community #ReasonForLiving #CompanionAnimals #zeitgeist

Pet dogs pose significant threat to wildlife and ecosystems

"Many owners simply don't realize the environmental damage dogs can cause, from disturbing wildlife to polluting ecosystems...Others may feel their individual actions won't make a difference, leading to a 'tragedy of the commons' where shared spaces like beaches and woodlands suffer cumulative degradation."
>>
https://phys.org/news/2025-04-pet-dogs-pose-significant-threat.html
#dogs #pets #wildlife #birds #penguins #beach #DogOwners #DogAttacks #cars #harm #pollution #GHG #meat #pesticides #faeces #climate #degradation

The environmental impacts of man’s best friend
We give a free pass to dogs and their owners

Study "highlighted the impacts of the world’s “commonest large carnivore” in killing and disturbing native wildlife, particularly shore birds."

A "study of animals taken to the Australia Zoo wildlife hospital found that mortality was highest after dog attacks, which was the second most common reason for admission after car strikes."

"The researchers attributed the extent of the environmental impacts to the sheer number of dogs globally, as well as “the lax or uninformed behaviour of dog owners. A lot of what we’re talking about can be ameliorated by owners’ behaviour... pointing out that low compliance with leash laws was a problem."

“If nothing else, pick up your own dog shit."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/apr/10/pet-dogs-have-extensive-and-multifarious-impact-on-environment-new-research-finds
#dogs #pets #wildlife #birds #penguins #beach #DogOwners #DogAttacks #cars #harm #pollution #GHG #meat #pesticides #faeces #climate

Serious harm caused by four-by-fours on beaches

"Calls grow for total 4WD ban on Australian beaches over 'serious and widespread damage'...The turtle "hatchlings have to cross the deep 4WD tracks to reach the ocean [and] the tracks, created ... on the beach close to the dunes at high tide, are 25cm deep and 25cm wide."
>>
https://au.news.yahoo.com/calls-grow-for-total-4wd-ban-on-australian-beaches-over-serious-and-widespread-damage-220112999.html
#vehicles #harm #Biodiversity ##wildlife #turtles #beaches #SUVs

Making life easier for massive vehicles

"Australians are hooked on tax perks while road fatalities and emissions are surging and spending on petrol and insurance increasing."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/17/the-cars-eating-australia-should-we-be-trying-to-reverse-our-attraction-to-suvs-and-utes
#RoadViolence #SUVs #harm #SocietalCosts #governance #australia #WayofLife #RoadTrauma #pedestrians #wildlife #ClimateBreakdown

The wombat outcry :
An (illegal) selfie with wildlife
vs systematic wildlife destruction and wilful neglect

"The irony of our country’s leaders condemning the actions of a young tourist’s treatment of a wombat while shamelessly sanctioning their slaughter is impossible to overlook...Kangaroos, native birds, possums, black swans and emus are just a few of the many native animals that landholders are granted licences to kill under the ATCW list."

"Our leaders have a lot to answer for and must confront the uncomfortable truth of their own involvement in wildlife destruction. They can no longer ignore the role they play in enabling the harm of native animals while lecturing others on respect for wildlife."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/14/attacking-a-young-tourist-over-her-treatment-of-a-wombat-is-hypocritical-and-misses-the-point
#biodiversity #WildlifeCrime #Australia #culture #EPBCAct #ecocide #governance #roadkill #deforestation #logging #harm