Well, those of us that have been focused on the environment have known that petrol prices were likely to rise significantly, so all the hand-wringing and shouting comes as little surprise.

It’s a shame that the emphasis has been on short-term relief by the way of the government dropping the excise on petrol. Although I really feel for the folks that are finding it tough with daily commutes etc. I think that dropping the excise is a terrible idea.

Even if the petrol companies don’t see it as an opportunity to wrestle more profit out of the market (which is a likely scenario) - the price of petrol will only continue to rise, making this a very short-term solution.

Instead the government should announce that it is funneling the revenue generated from the excise into alternatives - public transport in particular, but also better planning of areas to alleviate the need for car transport in the first place.

Another area the government could invest in is building Australia’s R&D capacity in car manufacture. It’s a pet subject of mine - I’ve ranted enough on the topic here that regular readers will know my views. But in a competitive market I find it incredible that the industry, and government in general, continues to subsidise big car development for the middle eastern market at the expense of alternatives like hybrids and electric vehicles.

I did have to laugh, though, reading this article by Richard Glover a few weeks back: Here’s to high petrol prices. Some choice quotes:

HOORAY for high petrol prices. No one wants to say the unpleasant truth, so I’ll say it again. Hooray for high petrol prices. They are changing our behaviour faster than decades worth of hand-wringing over the environment.

… What’s frustrating is that there are real ways in which our politicians could help; not by making false pledges of cheap petrol but by helping us permanently adapt to this new world of highly priced energy.

… Whatever we do, we won’t be able to avoid pain. Australians of past generations showed great fortitude in the face of the global challenges of their time; they proved themselves to be resilient and adaptable.

… Will we need to make sacrifices? Of course. Will those sacrifices be as difficult as those faced by the generation who lived through the Great Depression, or World War II? Um, no.

The biggest irony, of course, is that when I viewed this article, this was the ad that came up:

An ad for a petrol hungry 4WD…

I’ve been remiss in not mentioning here recent band news. We’re launching our new EP Between your lines next Wednesday (25 June) at the Hopetoun Hotel.

Come down and help us celebrate: our friends Underlapper and Karoshi will be playing earlier in the evening. If you’re on Facebook you can RSVP for the event there.

The EP is also on a range of music download services, most notably iTunes if you want to get the tracks before the launch.

We’ve also got t-shirts for sale, featuring the CD art, on RedBubble. They’re going for AUD$24.95, are printed on American Apparel tees, and are available in a range of colours (just click on the colour chart below the image to preview).

Update: And we’ve just launched a new-look website…

• Eco-Friendly Business Cards by Moo - Damn I wish I had good enough Flickr photos to print some Moo cards. Now they've got an environmentally friendly option - making them even cooler and more lustworthy…
• GetUp! Fuel watch - A superb piece of work by GetUp!
• Australia’s Climate Friendly - My friend Jess at Climate Friendly interviewed by the Carbon Catablog - a good introduction to Climate Friendly, who I recommend.
• Shift to electric cars becomes inevitable - Great article on hybrid and electric vehicles at drive.com.au
• OpenAustralia.org - "Are your Representatives working for you in Australia’s Parliament?" This service allows you to search for what you’re MP has been saying in Parliament (among other things). Based on the open source software developed for theyworkforyou.com

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• Barack Obama Democratic Nomination Victory Speech - This is great news….
• Solar energy as cheap as coal! - "a magnifying glass … concentrate[s] the sun?s energy into a single high efficiency solar cell. Each unit features a lens that magnifies the sun?s rays 2,000 times, focusing it onto a solar cell that converts more than 37% sunlight to energy."
• Why Zappos Pays New Employees to Quit?And You Should Too - A great article on one unusual aspect of Zappos' hiring and training strategy…
• First Look: OLPC XO-2 - Next-gen XO laptop announced.
• Tesla Motors - I've been remiss in not pointing to the news that Tesla have opened their first dealership and shipped their first production vehicles. Great news!!!

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GetUp’s latest campaign action: Ban the bombs:

As the international community is meeting in Dublin to ban cluster bombs - that saturate the ground with mini-bombs awaiting innocent civilians - our government is going out of its way to frustrate the process.

They’re calling for their own stockpile to be excluded - and for the treaty to be watered down. We’ve got just a few scarce days left before the fragile international agreement is drafted.

The petition calls on Kevin Rudd to support the ban without loopholes or exceptions…

• BIG W Men - Organic Apparel - I love it when big retailers educate the market on our behalf Big W doing organic cotton menswear.
• Little Bird Electronics Arduino Workshop - Just learnt about these fun-bots through a friend. Booked in for this workshop on 31 May - looking forward to letting my inner-child/geek have some fun.

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When I first announced here that I was restarting my efforts in the ethical clothing arena, I mentioned Nau as an inspiration, having read about them in an issue of Fast Company.

The news this week, of course, is that Nau have called it a day (more here and here).

Check over the fold for my further thoughts on Nau’s farewell.

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• Designing for the Social Web: the Book - Joshua Porter's book has been released - this is a must-read for me - will be grabbing a copy in my next Amazon order…
• Sustainable clothier Nau pulls the plug - "Nau Inc., the Portland apparel startup that tried to forge a new sustainable business model, said today it would cease operations." This is really disappointing news. Nau was a real inspiration for me.
• "Fuzu - Between Your Lines" T-Shirt @ RedBubble - My band now has a t-shirt! Printed on American Apparel tees and available in a range of colours for AUD$24.95
• Cutting-Edge Cardboard Interior in Greece - I really love the effect of this cardboard interior design.
• Optus scores iPhone: report - When the iPhone launched in the US I predicted a June 2008 launch. I'd hoped that 3 would get the deal, but it looks like Optus. Hopefully they'll have a kick-ass data plan… UPDATE: Seems initial rumours were jumping the shark: News Limited is reporting Vodaphone as the successful network.

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• Lovethreads - Australian ethical fashion retailer
• Frasers Broadway: Australia’s Greenest Development - Is this really going ahead? Looks like an amazing development, though the artist’s impressions leave a lot to be desired…
• Adidas Originals D-Nizza, re-made eco style - "Now that many of the classic Adidas styles are back in vogue, the label has chosen to re-release them in its Originals range. … the retro items are being made with environmentally conscious materials."
• Eco-chic no passing fad - "Green fashion is more than a passing fad. It's a lifestyle choice, says Cynthia Spencer, a trend-spotter from New York."
• Hemp given green light in Australia - NSW has just passed legislation allowing industrial hemp to be grown in the state. Pity that most of our processing infrastructure (spinners and weavers) have shut down - this could be a great crop for them to boost the industry.
• Handcut Australia - Re-fashion house creating one off pieces from vintage clothing.

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Ever since I first worked with Digital Eskimo (while I was working on the Future is man made site re-launch for WWF) I’ve really admired their approach to using qualitative research methods to underpin their work.

The research we did for the FiMM site was really valuable and useful - giving us a much clearer picture of where sustainability fits in people’s lives and what sort of site/support people would find most benefit in.

So, in starting down the path of launching a new business, I felt strongly about embarking on a research project to underpin the brand and product development.

Keep reading over the jump for more information about the research process.

Update: I was remiss in not mentioning that I was first introduced to the idea of ethnographic style research for business and the web by Stephen Cox, who is now doing great work at News Limited.

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