September 27, 2009 Green Bucket Day

After ten very enjoyable days in Broome which culminated in a Cable Beach photo shoot with the lovely Sarah it was time to move on. I decided to give Darwin a miss this time around and head back across to Cairns on the east coast.

My first overnight stop was at Halls Creek on Saturday 19th where it was 36°C at 8.30pm but ‘cooled down’ to a mere 27° during the early morning. Climate Change experts say temperatures may rise as much as 2° in 50 years so I won’t be going back there when that happens.

On Tuesday night at Cloncurry in western QLD the massive dust storm that originated in South Australia and blanketed NSW arrived on strong winds. Clearly there is something wrong with Australia’s climate, it’s so hot, dry and dusty, especially in the outback. While driving through the apocalyptic dust haze en route to Cairns I resolved to campaign to help save the world from imminent disaster.

My Climate Change campaign is a three step plan:

Step 1: Raise Awareness.
Step 2: Get bucketloads of money from working families and give it to the government.
Step 3: Kevin Rudd (Australian Prime Minister) makes climate change stop.

Step 1: Raise awareness. On Sunday 27th September I wore a green bucket on my head to highlight the need to fight Climate Change. It was a stunning success! Almost everybody I bumped into became instantly concerned about what the world was coming to. I am now petitioning the United Nations to establish an International Green Bucket Day on their calendar to raise awareness each year because there are so many who haven’t heard about Climate Change. Surely the UN will support my proposal as it has many subtle messages:

(i) The bucket is symbolic of the plight of poor countries where people have to get their water from a well and soon they won’t have any water – or they will have too much when the sea rises.
(ii) The bucket is the standard measure of money for government and UN projects i.e., ‘bucketloads’.
(iii) Chosing a plastic bucket condemns our throwaway society in which capitalists rape and pillage valuable resources to make cheap plastic things we don’t need.
(iv) Think outside the bucket. (a campaign slogan)

My initial thought was for a pink or red bucket to represent people working together in a common cause. But the cancer research people have a monopoly on pink and red is seen as a bit politically extreme. Green is a vogue colour that means natural and good and doesn’t immediately conjure up visions of poverty or death.

Step 2: Give money to the government. Fortunately the government is again helping by eliminating the need for working families to deliver bucketloads of cash directly. Instead there will be increases in the price of everything to make it easier for each of us to do our bit and work together to meet this great challenge. Australian Treasury Secretary Ken Henry is currently very busy working on a new tax system that will also make it easier for us to fight Climate Change and pay for the pink batts and school halls that saved the nation.

Step 3: Kevin Rudd makes Climate Change stop. Technically not correct because millions of people will be contributing their hard earned money to the effort. But Kevin was brave enough to get up there at the UN and say that we all have to do something so he should get all the credit for making it stop.

And we all live happily ever after.

The end.

Peter G.

While travelling I can be contacted by email

Cleaning out the mobile office on Green Bucket Day.

Washing the clothes on Green Bucket Day.

Cycling to church on Green Bucket Day. You will note that in my concern for the law and the safety of others I didn't omit to wear my bicycle helmet. The bucket fits neatly over the top.

I am also helping to put an end to plastic bags and that makes me feel more natural and good. These green eco friendly anti-plastic green bags made from organically grown polypropylene are on sale at the supermarket. For the rubbish I now buy kitchen tidy bags on a neat little roll so there's no more scrunched up supermarket plastic bags in the mobile office. Everyone's a winner.