1. MACQUARIE
GEOGRAPHY
CHALLENGE
Group 60: Sandra Marciniak, Daisy Pineda,
Matthew Carson, Stefan Mraz & Ka Chan

2. Fieldtrip to Ashfield – Taste of
Shanghai
 Mode of Transport: Train
 Meeting Place: Ashfield Station
 Address: 264 Liverpool Road, Ashfield 2131

3. Meeting at Ashfield Station

4. Restaurant: Taste of Shanghai

5. Traditional Foods

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. Interactive Map
 https://www.google.com/
maps/d/edit?mid=zKGvP
KpwndWo.kBtcf2q9u_Uc
 The map is interactive.
Start at New York then
click the different
locations.

11. 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:

12. 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

13. 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:

14. 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

15. 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 (seeing
as 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 further

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. Macquarie Geography
Challenge
ENVG111 – Group 60
(Sandra Marciniak, Daisy Pineda, Matthew Carson, Stefan Mraz, Ka
Chan)
Tutor: Jessica McLean