Solar PV installations in West Hobart?

I wonder how many solar PV systems have been installed in West Hobart.  Looking at the fabulous website pvoutput.org, where the proud owners of solar pv systems upload data on their kWh output, there seem to be only a couple of West Hobart systems listed.   But there must be many more solar PV systems installed in our area.  This website is a neat way to collect information on renewable energy that has actually been produced by households.  So, if you have a solar PV system, think about uploading your data to share with the community! 

Of course, if you can automate the data collection and the uploading to the internet, that's the easiest way to go.  Whirlpool is a good website where you can learn from others about the ins and outs of "Green Tech" (and heaps of other fascinating IT subjects).

Another great website which aims to track greenhouse gases avoided, is The Butterfly Project.  Householders can register on this site and keep a record of changes they have made to reduce their carbon footprint and the resulting impacts on their electric power bills.  Another good one to check out during the holiday season!

Witness King Tides - starting on 14 December

This is an excellent project which is now going national.  Green Cross Australia, supported by the NSW OEH, Tasmanian Climate Change Office and numerous coastal councils, is proud to deliver the Witness King Tides project for the first time, for all of Australia. 

Witness King Tides is a community photography initiative that asks people to head out during the king tide to capture pictures of the higher water levels and its impacts on coastal areas. The idea of the project is to help people understand what sea level rise is and what impacts it may have on their part of the coast. Seeing how high the sea level gets will really bring home what we can expect with sea level rises in the future

This is really worth promoting to friends and to schools, pls pass on the message.  There is copy for newsletters, suggested social media posts, a flyer and images available here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hgv7npecuhn7ur3/0m9BMSlvhW.

Visit the Witness King Tides website – www.witnesskingtides.org -  to find out when the king tides will occur in our area, and to register to participate (and receive enews). 

The next king tide in Hobart is at 8.53am on Friday 14 December.  Will any West Hobartians be out there with their cameras??  Let us know if you are going to catch the Hobart tide! 

Update from our Gardens and Food group

1. Produce Exchange
Let's start our local produce exchanges next Saturday 8 Dec.  3 - 4 pm.  We'll start it off at 190 Goulburn St (top of Goulburn just past the Y) and then if you would like to have an exchange on your verandah or in your garden let me know. Bring spare produce - not everyone has a glut of broad beans or rhubarb! And how about spare excess seedlings or seeds, jams, potted plants - I will pot some little Cape Gooseberries and anyone who wants to dig up a boysenberry runner is welcome. Recipes for using our produce would be nice too - I'll have Sally Wise to hand (in bookform!). There maybe be freshly baked sourdough bread too.

 

2. The Tassievore Eat Local Challenge 

This summer the Tassievores are challenging you to eat, shop, grow and live more locally.  The benefits to buying locally go beyond what’s on your plate.  Joining the Tassievore Eat Local Challenge helps growers, producers and local businesses, supporting the Tasmanian economy and the environment.

The challenge is to ‘Eat Local’ for six month and you can choose how you want to do that.  Either by going the ‘whole hog!’ or simply being a ‘part-timer’ one day a week or all-Tassie fruit and veg.    So the choice is yours and you decide your challenge!!  Even our parliamentarians are getting in to it.  We have also had wide support from local producers and restaurants across Tasmania.

You can sign up at www.taseatlocal.com

3. Urban Permaculture Course

There will be a full permaculture course specifically focused on the urban environment at UTAS in Autumn next year.  It will be a wonderful opportunity to learn from experts.

Margaret S

Bird Walk this Sunday (tomorrow)!

Just a quick reminder that there is a guided bird-walk with highly entertaining and knowledgeable bird expert, Don Knowler (who has a great passion for all things avian), in Waterworks Valley with the Waterworks Valley Landcare Group this Sunday 2 December (there is a type in the schedule).

So if you’re interested brushing up on your knowledge of your feathery friends then please contact Robert Rands on 6223  6116 for further information.

Next gardening working bee - 24 Nov

Many thanks to those West Hobartians who came along on our Spring gardening outing in October to assist Lawrenny Court residents with their gardens.  We achieved a great deal in one afternoon!

The next Lawrenny Court working bee will be held on Saturday 24 November at 2:30-4pm.  Please meet at Lawrenny Court, adjacent to the hall on Hill Street,  and bring garden gloves and tools you think may be useful.

This is a rewarding activity that is very much appreciated by the residents. Afternoon tea provided. All welcome.  Please RSVP to Miriam - my_mort@hotmail.com

Sustainable Living Festival 2012 - Your last reminder!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The days are getting longer, weather is warming up and we’re thinking about all those projects around the house and in the garden..... building that new energy efficient renovation, installing solar panels and getting the garden beds ready. But not sure about the best solar panels, really want to renovate but don’t know where to start and want the best information to get results in the garden.....

Well, put aside the 10^th and 11^th of November for the 2012 Sustainable Living Festival. Here all your questions can be answered in the one space. You can talk to expert exhibitors about all your home and garden projects to get the best results and do the job right.

“This year the theme is “Food for Thought” promoting happy healthy sustainable communities. A Festival first, cooking demonstrations will be showcased in the main pavilion. This will be a highlight of the festival and demonstrations will feature some of Tasmania’s best chefs using Tassie ingredients” said Lissa Villeneuve, Festival Director.

Cooking demonstrations include: 

Sourdough Breadmaking with Margaret Steadman; Jamming without Pectin with Greg Woodward; Thea Webb making Energy Balls; Fail Proof Scones with Sally Wise; Rodney Dunn’s Pancetta, Goats Milk Ricotta and Spinach Rotolo; Alan Whykes with his Super Spring Rolls and Pumpkin Salsa; Seasonal Recipes with Rebel Black; and Stuart Addison Making Burgers with Tassie Game and Fungi.

And if cooking and eating food isn’t enough they will also be debating food.  The question of The Great Debate on Saturday at 1.30pm is “Can Tassie feed itself?”

Panelists debating the question include Dr Richard Doyle, senior Lecturer in Soil Science at UTAS; Roberto Perez, Director of Foundation for Nature and Humanity, a NGO in Cuba; Hannah Moloney, President of the Australian City Farm and Community Garden Network; Jenny Dudgeon, teacher and Slow Food Hobart Convivium leader;  and Tony Scherer from Frogmore Creek with our MC Charlie Webster.

On Sunday at 1.30pm a second Great Sustainable Debate will explore the question “Is prosperity without growth possible?”

Panellists include Paul Gilding, writer of The Great Disruption and advocate for sustainable economies; Greg Barns a columnist for the Mercury and writer for ABC’s Drum; Jack Redpath founder of the Tasmanian branch of Australian Youth Climate Coalition; Phil Harrington from Pitt & Sherry; Mardi Dungey, UTAS Professor of Economics & Finance; and Ross Harvey, Founding Director of SenseT @ UTAS.

The festival will also be a visual delight showcasing an array of sustainable art including sustainable seats made from recycled materials for the festival by students, artists and community groups.  Attendees will be asked to vote for their favourite seat.

There will be heaps of interactive sustainability workshops including beekeeping and working with recycled timber to name a few and there are yoga demonstrations, live music and interactive kids stuff all weekend.

Bike valet parking will be provided by Bicycle Tasmania, so you can come down on your bikes and park right at the door.

The weekend will culminate with The Totally Tassie Picnic on Sunday afternoon launching the Tassievore Eat Local Challenge encouraging people to eat more Tasmanian grown and produced food.…. It’s all at The 2012 Sustainable Living Festival.

Sat 10^th and Sun 11^th November, 10am – 4pm, PW1 Hobart Waterfront - Entry by donation

Draft Queens Domain Master Plan - have your say!

The Hobart City Council has developed a draft master plan for the Queens Domain, which incorporates a draft master plan for the TCA Ground.  The draft plans are currently on public exhibition until November 25th.

View the plans and have your say…

Opportunities to view the plan, find out more about the project, or offer comments include:

·         Check the Council website where both of the full master plan reports, the key A3 plans and explanatory information are available to view and download.

·         Visit either the display at the Hobart Council Centre, 16 Elizabeth Street, Hobart or the information booth in the Elizabeth Mall

·         Attend a public forum -

1.    Tuesday 30th October 5.30 - 7.30pm (Domain Athletics Centre, Upper Domain Road, Queens Domain)

2.    Sunday 4th November 3pm - 5pm (Phillip Smith Education Centre, 2 Edward Street, Glebe)

·         Complete the online survey

·         Email the Park Planner, Greg Milne - milneg@hobartcity.com.au

·         Send comments by post - addressed to the General Manager, Hobart City Council GPO Box 503 Hobart 7001. Envelope to be marked - 'Submission – Queens Domain Master Plan' or 'Submission – TCA Ground Master Plan'

Sustainable Living Festival Sat 10 - Sun 11 November

The Sustainable Living Festival 2012 is Tasmania's pinnacle sustainability event, showcasing positive examples of creativity and innovation in our community.  SLF 2012 is a celebration of how local businesses, schools, government, individuals and community groups are rising to the challenge and providing solutions to the social and environmental issues facing us.

This year's event will again offer a celebration of sustainability and an inspiring look towards the future.  
What's on:

• Celebrity cooking demonstrations with local Tassie produce
• Launching the Tassievore Eat Local Challenge - 12.30pm Sunday
• Recycled Gallery of visual art and Sustainable Seats
• Great Sustainable Debates:  
• "Can Tassie feed itself?"  - 1.30pm Saturday
• "Is prosperity without growth possible?" - 1.30pm Sunday
• Practical gardening and building workshops
• including:  Speed Date an Architect
• Live music and kids stuff all weekend
• Specialist exhibitors to answer all your sustainable living questions
• Try out an electric-assist bike - a great solution for commuting, shopping and recreational riding

Visit slt.org.au/festival for more info and a program.
Arrive by bicycle and your bike will be looked after by Bicycle Tasmania, who are providing a valet bike parking service.

Compost Kings and Queens!

Sustainable Living Tasmania is running a project through Hobart City Council with the wonderful Hannah Maloney to help people get going with composting or worm-farming their food scraps. There is space for a few more households!

Compost Kings and Queens is an exciting and innovative project designed to support residents to compost their food scraps at home is coming to Lenah Valley! We're looking for 30 Lenah Valley (and West Hobart) households to join the project. They will receive a subsidised compost system of their choice, free workshops and ongoing professional support to ensure they are composting successfully. 

Participants will reduce or eliminate food scraps going into their rubbish bin, create nutrient-rich compost for their garden and prevent harmful methane gases being released from landfill where food scraps usually end up!

In exchange, we ask that you record the amount of food scraps you're composting on a weekly basis so we can collect valuable data on how effective home composting can be. We'll provide you with a handy fridge magnet that you can write on to make this recording easy peasy!

Check out the website  www.slt.org.au/compost or email hannah@slt.org.au if you are interested.

State Government paper on Adapting to Climate Change

The Minister for Climate Change, Cassy O’Connor MP, has released an issues paper on Adapting to Climate Change in Tasmania .

  

The purpose of this paper is to seek input from business, industry, community groups, natural resource management bodies, technical experts and the general community about the key issues, priorities, risks and opportunities facing the State in adapting to a changing climate.  The feedback received will inform the Tasmanian Government’s approach to climate change adaptation in the future, with a focus on specific actions for inclusion in the 2020 Climate Action Plan to be released in 2013.

The paper provides some background information on climate change in Tasmania and discusses six areas where action to adapt to climate change is likely to be needed.  These areas are:

• ·  human settlements and infrastructure
• ·  natural systems
• ·  water management
• ·  industry sectors
• ·  natural hazards
• ·  human health and vulnerable communities

Download it from here: 

http://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/divisions/climatechange/adapting/adapting_to_climate_change_in_tasmania

If you would like to contribute to WHEN's feedback to the Government on this paper, pls contact Di via whenvnet@gmail.com.

October is Buy Nothing New Month

Visit the website:  http://www.buynothingnew.com.au/home/

This is an extract from it….

 

Buy Nothing New Month is the global movement for collective, conscientious consumption.

It's a little idea that started in Melbourne and has spread to the Netherlands and USA.  It's a one month challenge to buy nothing new (with the exception of essentials like food, hygiene and medicines) .

It's literally about taking one month off to really think, "Do I really need it?" If I do, “can I get it second-hand, borrow it or rent it? What are my alternatives? Can I borrow from a friend? Can I swap with my neighbor?" .    It's about thinking where our stuff comes from (finite resources) and where it goes when we're done (often landfill) and what are the fantastic alternatives out there to extend the life of our 'stuff'.

Our way of life, in Transition

"Our way of life in Transition" was the title of an excellent article in today's Mercury.  Peter Boyer introduces to readers what groups like ours are doing:

As you read this, chances are that somewhere in Tasmania the Transition movement is working on your behalf.....

and lists some of the many ways in which groups like WHEN are engaging in our communities: 

They might be drumming up support for the next local festival, monthly communal feast or food market day, or arranging bulk purchase of insulation or solar panels, or a community gardening roster.
They might be planning a ‘‘Be the Change’’ forum or a traditional skills workshop, or organising a visiting speaker, or lobbying for safer pedestrian and cycling facilities, or agitating for electricity supply systems that monitor usage and reward frugal users.
Or they might be discussing a whole new way for our communities to operate—things such as visionary plans for towns and transport systems, or local currency for local needs, or new ways we can grow and distribute food, or generate and conserve energy.

He reflects on the broader strategic directions of the movement, and also on the challenges we are encountering on the way.  Recommended reading!

Spring seedling sale at Eve's - 30th September

Spring Seedling Sale
Eve's Garden is hosting a spring seedling sale - heritage tomatoes, summer vegetables, herbs, flowers - robust, hardened and lovingly grown.
When: Sunday 30th September, 3-4pm.
Where: 14 Petty St, West Hobart .

Eve is happy to sell at other times - just knock. She also is in need of pots, especially punnets and three inch cubes; if you have any to spare, please drop them over her gate.

 

 

Phone apps to send alerts to local authorities

If you have a smartphone, and you might want to take action to tell an authority about an issue, here are a couple of Apps you might be interested in.

Snap Send Solve
is useful to advise your local Council about issues with streets, potholes, signs, vandalisation, rubbish etc.  For example, you are walking along and you see that a tree has fallen over a footpath, or a street sign has been vandalised.  You can open up Snap Send Solve, take a photo of the problem, add some words and when you hit "Send", an email will be sent to the Council immediately.  Turnaround on such alerts is apparently very quick, indicating that the message is directed to the relevant team fast.
This app is available for both iPhone and Android phones.

Bike Blackspot
is a new app produced for the Greens, which can be used to report bike blackspots and provide feedback about cycling infrastructure and safety issues.
This is only available for iPhones at present.

Do let us know of your experiences when you try these apps!

Living Smart course - free!

The Living Smart course is a free, six-week adult education program that steps people through ways of making their lives more sustainable and reduce their cost of living.

Starting on October 3rd, Living Smart will run every Wednesday up until November 7th (6:45pm-8:45pm)and will include some hands-on weekend workshops to ensure people are getting real-life, practical skills they can integrate into their lives.  Cool hey!

You can register for this course online at http://www.slt.org.au/livingsmart or email hannah@slt.org.au or give Hannah a bell for more info on her mobile below.

Hannah Moloney
0418 307 294

Reminder - Sustainable House Day, Sunday Sept 9th

Just a reminder that this annual event is on in two weeks' time.  Here is the current list of open houses:  http://www.sustainablehouseday.com/tasmania.php

The list is still being loaded, but at this stage it is possible that there may not be any houses in West Hobart listed!

If you were thinking of offering your house for people to visit but hadn't got around to it yet, now's the time to get in!  Here's where to register: http://www.sustainablehouseday.com/

Inaugural West Hobart Open Gardens Day

Our first Open Gardens Day went well.  The gates to four interesting WH gardens were thrown open on the day, and the weather was lovely.  About 15 visitors made the rounds, to check out vegie gardens and grill their owners about how they did it, what worked for them, etc.    People caught up with old acquaintances or made new friends, and there were lots of friendly conversations about gardening and 'life'.

Margaret followed up a week later via email to GAF members:
* several people asked Greg S about his choice of tomatoes. He has very kindly provided a note on good tomato varieties, tested over many summers by Greg
* a couple of people indicated that they were interested in getting soil tested for heavy metals (especially lead) following my experience in my garden - only relevant if you are growing food and are concerned about the possibility of toxic residues in the soil. Testing can be done at Analytical Services Tasmania, 18 St John's Ave, New Town; phone 6239 7003. You need to collect sample jars from the Lab.and testing costs $44 per test plus an admin fee. (This was the cost 2 years ago).  I'm happy to coordinate if there are a few folk who want to test their soil - email me at whengaf@gmail.com if you are interested.

What a great day and an inspiration to make this a regular event!

Reminder about the Winter Open Gardens Tour

Just a reminder about the local Winter Open Gardens this coming Sunday 12 August. There are 4 very varied local gardens for you to amble around. Please register to receive the addresses and garden notes. It's easy to register, just send a note to whengaf@gmail.com.

Sustainable House Day 2012

Sustainable House Day is an annual national event, aimed at providing an enjoyable, informative day that contributes to local community awareness of sustainable living. And its coming up again!  This year it will be on Sunday September 9th.

On this day each year, homes are opened for free, providing a fantastic opportunity for people who are interested in making their own homes or rental properties greener.  This gives people the chance to take a real-life look inside houses that have been designed, built or fitted out with sustainability in mind and talk to the owners, receiving unbiased advice.  Every year the organisers see greater investment in harvesting water and solar energy as communities realise our resources are finite and likely to become more expensive. By becoming energy efficient today, you’ll be on the front foot to save on energy bills and help the environment now and into the future. 

Would you like to be involved?  Do you have a house which was built to conserve energy, or which demonstrates sustainable living features?  e.g  reverse brick veneer / internal mass, passive solar heating, trombe wall, clever insulating techniques, water storage, permaculture garden,.....  The organisers of SHD would love to hear from you - there is a form to express interest on this page,  or you can contact them by email or phone 0438 988 345. 

They are also keen to hear from people who are available to simply help out on the day.

WH Winter Gardens Tour - Sunday 12 August 2012

Why not shake off that winter hibernation, come out and join fellow garden enthusiasts enjoying some lovely gardens in West Hobart?  See how your neighbours are dealing with the challenges of home fruit and vegie growing, get (and share) some tips, and chat with fellow gardeners.  Maybe go home with some cuttings or plants, and new ideas for your own vegie patch this summer : )

A number of West Hobart gardeners will be “at home” to neighbours on Sunday 12 August 2012. 

The open day is organised by WHEN’s Gardening and Food group (GAF), and is inspired by the highly successful “Gardening with the Bush” Garden Tour which was organised by Sustainable Living Tasmania  some years ago.

The day will be divided into morning and afternoon sessions, with some gardens open in the morning, and others in the afternoon.   To respect the privacy of our generous host gardeners, people planning to participate will need to register with GAF.  You will then be given a copy of the day’s schedule, with the garden addresses and opening times.  You then create your own tour, deciding which gardens you will visit on the day.

We are also looking for more gardens to include in the tour.  Are you interested in opening up your garden?

To register as a participant for the Winter Gardens Tour, or to offer your garden for inclusion, please contact Margaret on  62314751 or email Di at whenvnet@gmail.com .