MACQUARIE GEOGRAPHY CHALLENGE

Group 60: Sandra Marciniak, Daisy Pineda, Matthew Carson, Stefan Mraz & Ka Chan

Fieldtrip to Ashfield – Taste of Shanghai

Mode of Transport: Train Meeting Place: Ashfield Station Address: 264 Liverpool Road, Ashfield 2131

Meeting at Ashfield Station

Restaurant: Taste of Shanghai

Traditional Foods

Transition Interview – Steve Mraz

What is your name? My name is Steve Mraz Where are you from? I am from Eastern Europe specifically

Slovakia. When did you move to Australia? I originally moves to

Australia in 1965 but then went to Germany and came back to Australia in December 2004.

What made you decide to move to Australia? I have always wanted to move to Australia. Australia is great and has a lot of social support such as Medicare. Additionally due to the size of the cities there are greater opportunities to gain employment. When I arrived in Australia in 1965 everyone was very friendly and welcoming.

What were the main problems that you came across when you came to Australia? The main issue I had when I arrives was getting used to driving on the left hand side. In Europe we drive on the right. I did once turn on the main highway the wrong way and was driving towards oncoming cars, which gave me a fright. The other thing I cannot get used to is that cars stop for pedestrians in Australia. In Europe the car has the right of way.

Transition Interview - Continued

How did you overcome these problems? I actually had a friend who was a driving instructor and gave me a quick tutorial on the main road signs and road driving procedures in Australia. Also just going out there and driving carefully helped. I have also joined a local community group specifically helping immigrants. That was very helpful but things like politics here I do not understand, but likely due to my age.

Do you keep in contact with your friends in Slovakia? Yes I do. I email and Skype with a lot of my close friends back from Slovakia. However I have found a Slovak community close by that I spend time in. It reminds me of home and is closer than a 24 hour flight.

What advice would you give to a person moving to Australia? I would say that you need to be adaptable and be open to learning new things. Also having support from family and friends. Plan ahead and do your research because it is easy to fall into a bad situation. There is a lot of stress involved so find something that helps you relax like walking your dog. Finally I would strongly recommend to interact with your neighbors and local community.

Would you move to Australia again if you left or move to a different country if you had the choice? I would move to Australia due to the social security and the lifestyle. I enjoy the culture and hard working ethic but also knowing how to relax and have fun.

Production and Consumption

The daily consumed commodity product chosen was Palmolive’s antibacterial hand wash. The only evidence of the origins of this particular consumer good was the label reading ‘Made in Thailand for local and imported ingredients’. This suggest further looking in to.

A products commodity chain can be defined as ‘a network of labour and production processes whose end result is a finished commodity’ (Hopkins & Wallerstein, 1986). Commodity chains highlight the vast global networks that our economic system relies on.

Commodity chains can go past the products themselves, but right to the point of consumption. A common commodity chains includes: Conception Design Production Retailing Consumption

Production and Consumption – Palmolive Antibacterial Hand Wash

Conception and Design: It is likely that the idea for such a product was conceived at Palmolive’s partner company, Colgate-Palmolive Group, based in New York.

Production: As noted on the product it is made in Thailand from local and imported ingredients. Traces of where these ingredients originated is very difficult. This highlights a disconnection between the consumers and where the products are sourced from. Final manufacturing of the product occurs in the Colgate-Palmolive, Don Hua Lo manufacturing plant just outside of Bangkok. It is likely, given that the manufacturing occurs in Thailand, that the foaming agent ‘sodium laureth sulfate’ is derived from palm kernel oil which is from an unsustainable source. Although Colgate-Palmolive has committed to turning to Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (Colgate), figures from 2011-2012 show no progress whatsoever in this regard (Schuster Institute Investigations)

Retailing: From the production facility in Thailand, Colgate-Palmolive transports the hand wash internally to Colgate-Palmolive Australia, who have a warehouse in Villawood, Sydney. From there it is purchased by retailers such as Coles and Woolworths, who in turn take their own distribution facilities before transporting to individual stores, where us as consumers take it off the shelf.

Consumption: From the retailer, whoever that may be, the product is eventually bought and consumed by us in our homes.

Interactive Map

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zKGvPKpwndWo.kBtcf2q9u_Uc

The map is interactive. Start at New York then click the different locations.

Carbon Footprint Calculator No.1

In order to reduce the carbon foot print methods were put in place. The steps that took place included taking public transport instead of using a personal car to buy groceries have become environmentally responsible practices for this calculation. These were the carbon footprints before and after implementing reduction methods.

Before: After:

Carbon Footprint Calculator - Reflection

As a result of these changes, the total amount of carbon footprint has been reduced from 6.18 metric tons to 6.12 metric tons. This is a small decrease, however it had a great impact upon my life. Firstly the increase use of public transport has lead to the raise in the travel time taken. For example, trips to the gym would normally take 15 minutes by car on a normal day. However, taking public transport such as the train would prolong the time taken to 20 minutes. The increase in time would be related to the extra walking distance to and from the station, also train delays will also affect the travel time. As a consequence, this has forced me to become more conscious about time. Also the careful selection of the goods and services consumed also had an impact. Being more aware of carbon footprint has lead me to become more at tentative when it comes to consuming things. An example is the food consumed. At first I was not aware of the impacted each food source had upon the environment, however after careful examination and research, I have become more mindful of the foods I consume. The foods that are more environmentally friendly to produce are often more expensive and are not as appetizing. However, I am now more sensitive about what I consume and how it was produced. Overall this has had a positive experience, not only will it benefit the environment and help reduce global warming, this also helps me become more aware about the products I consume.

Carbon Footprint Calculator No.2

I took a similar approach from the first participant and looked at how I was myself impacting the environment and what I was doing but I did as well look the household and what the family was doing. I compared to the site as what were these footprint reduction methods.

Before: After:

Carbon Footprint Calculator – Ideas to consider

What I/family positively do: Turn lights off Use solar &heating power Do not use dishwasher or own

clothes dryer Efficient light bulbs Insulated walls Use fire place instead of air

conditioning Recycle grey water/catch rain water Walk to work very close proximity Catch bus as much as possible Buy local produce/in season

As much organic, free range and sow stall free product consumption

Recycle

What I/family need to improve on: Overfill kettle Multiple shopping trips Long showers Bottled water Consume plenty of meat/fish Buy overly packaged products Own 3 cars

Carbon Footprint Calculator- Reflection

Comparing my footprint to that of the country average I will say it’s a positive assurance that I have been taking the right steps to reduce my footprint. I see that limited use of my car has helped it’s a very small car which has only done 7,000km in 18 months (lower than average). Choosing to work very close to home and public transport further helps this. The issues I have improved on are the consumptions of large quantities of meat, bottled water, overly packaged products, long showers and becoming wiser in certain aspects such as doing grocery shopping after work (seeingas I work at Coles it would be beneficial).Reading the list on how I can improve significantly helped because I did not put into perspective some of those ideas. These recommendations have effectively helped lower my carbon emissions furtherfrom 0.16 metric tons to 0.14 metric tons.

Carbon Footprint Calculator Comparison

It was evident that there was a heavy reliance on cars in participant number one as well as secondary emission contributions.

Participant two had a reliance on packaged products and food consumption.

Reading the list evidently helped both participants throughout the week with reducing their personal CO2 emissions by 0.02 metric tons.

Music Genre – Indie, Pop

Artist: Sophie Lowe, Sydney NSW. Genre: Indie, Pop Song Title: SOLO- ‘Dreaming’ Influences: Nancy Sinatra, Fiona Apple and Lykke Li Website: http://triplejunearthed.com.au/ Indie Music Definition: Music produced independantly from

major commercial record lables or their subsidiaries, a process that may include and autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording and publishing.

Pop Music Definition: Music, usually played on electronic instruments, that is popular with many people, consisting of a strong beat and simple tunes that are easy to remember.

Music Genre

Origins: The genre that I have selected is Indie Pop. The tem ‘indie’ means that such artists haven’t branched of any known artists but chosen to be independent and create their own style of music. This genre is usually known to be stripped down and raw with elements of simplicity. Although many claim that Indie rock is an independent style it developed its cultural origin in the United Kingdom in the 1980’s. Artists in this era were experimenting different music styles such as punk to create new styles of music. Developing new styles of music soon becoming prominent therefore the trend followed in the United States soon after. The term Indie pop or ‘Indie’ Music is used to differentiate between mainstream alternative acts and music that isn’t as well known in the music industry.

Specific Artist and Production: Artist Sophie Lowe is 24 years old. The Song ‘Dreaming’ is a story about her experiences of being in love. Her target audience would young adults. They produce her image by taking a cinematic apporoach to her video and lyrics which can be relatable to by young adults. The colour scheme through her music video also consists of warm colours which represent a youthful nature of being content.

Music – Global Change

The song ‘Dreaming’ has been played 19,373 on YouTube since it’s publication online in 2014. Globalisation creates connections between cultures and people.

Technology and the Internet now allows for a greater distribution of material and communication worldwide. SOLO uses Platforms such as YouTube and Soundcloud to create greater accessibility of audio and digital recordings.

Media has become prominent in global change, as many genres that are popular today have been commercialised through media sources.

Australia’s identity is being constantly challenges by the development in global culture as we are notably influenced by American and British culture in the music industry.

Spread of work:

Interview – Stefan Mraz Production and Consumption – Matthew

Carson Carbon Footprint Person 1- Ka Chan Carbon Footprint Person 2 – Sandra

Marciniak Music Genre – Daisy Pineda

Macquarie Geography ChallengeENVG111 – Group 60

(Sandra Marciniak, Daisy Pineda, Matthew Carson, Stefan Mraz, Ka Chan)

Tutor: Jessica McLean