FREE Sustainable Living Workshops

Council is once again offering a series of FREE Sustainable Living workshops for the community. These are a fantastic opportunity to learn about how to reduce your impact on our environment and save some money as well! For more information, click on the image below to make it larger.

These workshops are being held as part of Council's Werrington Creek Rehabilitation Project.

Council staff have a clothing round up!

Sharon from the Salvo's is presented with a ute-load of clothes, donated by Penrith Council staff.

What happens when you have a clothing drive at Penrith Council? You get that many clothes you need a ute just to transport it all! Here in the Sustainability Unit we wanted to promote ‘Buy Nothing New Month’ to Council staff, and we figured a clothing drive was a great way to do it. We chose to donate the clothes to the local Salvo’s op shop – the Salvo’s are a partner of ‘Buy Nothing New Month’ and they do some great work for the community.

So with that we put the word out to staff to have a Spring clean and go through their wardrobes. They did the rest and the result was a ute-load of clothes! We didn’t count them (we’d still be counting), but we ‘guesstimate’ there’s about 200kg of clothes in there – a decent haul by any standards. Sharon, the Manager of the local Salvo’s Store, was thrilled with the result. In recent times they’ve been having difficulty attracting donations, so these clothes were warmly welcomed.

How about having a Spring clean of your own, and donate it to your local op shop? It’s a great opportunity to make some more room in your wardrobe and help out a charity. And why not ask your boss if you can do a clothing drive at your work? All it takes are some emails to your fellow staff and some signs to remind people – it’s easy to organise, doesn’t take much time and it’s great ‘social capital’ for a business.

Blue Mountains Eco Homes Tour

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to participate in the latest Eco Homes Tour, which was held in the upper Blue Mountains. The tours are organised by Blue Mountains architect Nigel Bell, who specialises in designing sustainable homes. The homes are graciously opened by the home owners, and there is always a selection of different homes and building styles on show. All the money raised from the tours go to the Katoomba High School P&C, so you’re supporting a good cause too.

If you’re interested in hearing about the next tour which is likely to be held in May or so next year, visit www.ecohomestour.com.au, add your name to their email list and they’ll let you know when it’s happening.

The first stop for the day was a house still very much under construction in Blackheath. The home is designed to make the most of the views and the sun, with lots of windows on the north side. What caught my eye most was the timber work in the house. The timber was almost all from the house block itself, they felled the timber and had it milled on site. The builder handling the timber work was a craftsman in the true sense of the word, his previous work including restoration work on the Globe Theatre in the UK. This was the playhouse where many of Shakespeare’s plays were held, and the restoration was period correct – traditional methods and no power tools! The Blackheath home also featured earthern walls using soil from the site. This provides ‘thermal mass’ which basically helps to regulate the temperature inside the house.







Back on the bus and we travelled to Little Hartley to visit Hartley Green Power. They had a range of solar and wind generators, with most of them in use so you can check them out in action. What got most people’s attention was the electric Caterham style sports car – which was charged with solar power! There were also a number of electric bikes and scooters on display as well.







The next stop was a short trip around the corner to a house in Little Hartley. This house was actually designed by Nigel, and the happy owners had been living there for a while. It features passive solar design, strawbale walls with an earthern covering, was completely ‘off the grid’ through solar PV and was self sufficient for water as well. It was a great chance to talk to the owners and see what it was actually like to live in a house like this.







After a brief stop for lunch we visited a heritage listed cottage in Lithgow, originally built in 1878. The cottage had been restored, and it also featured a new extension using passive solar design and recycled materials. The owner was a history buff and the home was a great reflection of that – it felt part way between a museum, an antiques store and a home design magazine photo shoot! What’s more is the beautiful garden was almost all food plants, so it was really practical too. I was particularly fond of the office chair made from a WWII bomber seat – what a great example of upcycling!







The last stop on the tour was another house still under construction in Mount Victoria. Dubbed ‘the house that ebay built’ by the owner, it featured a stack of recycled materials in its construction which were bought cheaply online. The owner was also saving money by doing almost everything by himself, and only calling on specific trades people as he needed them. The highlight for me was the home made rammed earth walls, which used soil from a construction site in Katoomba. They were low on embodied energy and looked fantastic, and a have strength similar to concrete when complete.





Overall the Eco Homes Tour was a fantastic opportunity to visit a selection of sustainable homes and talk to the owners, builders and architects involved in bringing them to life. If you’re looking at building or renovating your house and making it more sustainable, or just enjoy checking out eco homes and sustainable architecture, it’s well worth getting along to the next Eco Homes Tour.

Water in Penrith Photo Competition

The Water in Penrith Photo Competition is on again! There are some fantastic prizes on offer, not to mention a free nature photography walk (booking essential). For more information click on the image below.

Love food? Want to learn from a Masterchef in some FREE cooking workshops?

Why not come along to one of Council’s Love Food Hate Waste workshops? We’ve got Jay Huxley from this year’s Masterchef doing some cooking demonstrations at the Hawkesbury Harvest Farmers and Fine Food Market, as well as a range of different cooking workshops for you. The workshops include:

Recipe Planning and Cooking – Create healthy and interesting menus to save money and time, while learning tasty cooking tips.

Kitchen Gardening with Kids – Pot some seedlings, plant bean sprouts and learn how to cook a yummy omelette or salad with them.

Sustainable Food Shopping and Menu Planning – Learn hints and tips on creating a weekly menu and shopping list, and how to make the most of leftovers.

Booking is essential for the workshops. For more information click here visit the Council website

Sustainable House Day - Sunday 12 September

We love Sustainable House Day - a day when owners of sustainable houses open their doors and let everyone check out the amazing things they have done. We love being able to see what other people have done, but more importantly to be able to talk to people who have done things with their own money in the real world - without the usual sales pitch or rolled eyes you usually get when asking about the sustainability credentials of products and appliances!

To find out more about Sustainable House Day and to see the houses opening their doors near you, visit their website by clicking here.

Walk to Work Day – 16th September

Walk to Work day is on again! Now in its 13th year, the Cancer Council National Walk to Work Day is an annual event which helps people to build regular walking into their daily routine.

Did you know that people who walk before and during work are generally healthier, more productive and creative and less likely to be sick? Regular walking can also help to relieve feelings of depression or anxiety, and it improves our environment by reducing car dependency.

We’d love to hear about the creative ways you will participate in Walk to Work Day on the16th September. Let us know what you’re up to by emailing us at mdesmarch@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au

Here are some suggestions on how you can Walk to Work:
• If you can't walk all the way, get off the bus or train a few stops early and walk the rest of your journey
• If you must drive, leave the car at least a kilometre from your destination and walk the rest of the way.
• Take a half-hour walk at lunchtime and where possible, use the stairs.
• If you are required to sit a lot at work, get up and walk around at least once every hour.

So, step into Spring, put your feet first and register at www.walk.com.au to take part in Cancer Council Walk to Work Day.

Spring Gardening Festival - Sat 10 September

Well the days are getting warmer and Spring is just around the corner – what better way to enjoy it than by getting outside in the garden? The good news is the Library have organised the Spring Garden Festival to celebrate all things gardening. If you've got a green thumb (or you’re like me and you wish your brown thumb was a little greener), the Festival is not to be missed. On the day 1000 trees and shrubs will be given away! There are also a range of really interesting talks throughout the day:

Talks in the Library Theatrette
10am – Sustainable gardening in suburbia – I did it, you can too!
11am – Container growing – veggie garden in a box
12pm – Composting
1pm – Worm farming
2pm – Sydney Food Fairness Alliance

Talks in PC Training Room
10am – Benefits of a garden club
10.30am – Bush regeneration
11.30am – Fuchsias
12.30pm – Therapeutic properties of herbal teas
1.30pm – Salvias

Talks in Woodlands Room
10.30am – Pest management the permaculture way

In addition to all of the talks, a range of friendly experts will be on hand with information on different gardening topics, plus there’ll be pruning and propagating demos, plant varities to check out, handouts and so on. If you’ve got a question you’d like to answer, these are the people to ask! Some of the groups who’ll be on hand to help you include:

• Nepean Bonsai Society
• The In-Ground Fuchsia Group
• The Bromeliad Society of Australia
• The Australian Geranium Society
• Bushcare
• Blue Mountains and Nepean Herb Group
• Blue Mountains and Penrith Districts Orchid Society
• Hazelbrook & Woodford Garden Festival
• Lower Blue Mountains Garden Club,
• Penrith City Garden Club
• Sydney Food Fairness Alliance
• Permaculture Blue Mountains

We’re really looking forward to it, and we hope to see you there! For more information call the library on (02) 4732 7891.

E-Waste Drop Off Day - Sat 10 Sep

Following the massive success of the first E-waste collection day, Council is holding another one on Saturday 10 September. This is a perfect opportunity to dispose of items like old TVs, computers, phones etc in a sustainable way.

The E-waste collection day goes from 9am-3.30pm at Jamison Park (South Penrith), and entry is via Jamison Road. More information on the day, including the items you can drop off, can be found on the Council website, please click here to view it.

The first E-Waste recycling drop off day was held on 19 February 2011 at Jamison Park. In under 7 hours, 1095 vehicles dropped off a massive 72.5 tonnes of computers, televisions and other old electronic appliances!

St Clair couple reduce their annual water and energy bills by almost $1000 with simple changes!

Have you ever wondered what effect all those little things you could be doing at home would have on the environment and your wallet? Sure they say all those little things add up, but how much? A couple from St Clair recently wondered this, and what they’ve achieved is outstanding!

Zuzana Cernak-Frketic and Robert Frketic of St Clair became inspired after attending one of Penrith City Council’s recent Sustainable Living workshops. “The workshop we attended ‘Home sustainability basics’ gave us the motivation and inspiration to do something about reducing our water and energy use” explains Zuzana.

“The first thing I did was to determine what our daily usage was by calculating the average of past water and electricity usage bills (this was based on 12 months) using a spreadsheet. Our average daily usage was 471 litres of water and 19.5 kWh of energy. The next thing I did was an itemised water audit to determine how much water each water activity uses. I did this by doing a water meter reading before and after each activity. Then I did an audit of what we used”. By doing this, they were able to track their energy and water usage and work out exactly how much they were saving.

So what did they achieve?
Zuzana and Robert were able to achieve a massive 68% reduction in their water use, and a 52% reduction in their energy use – this equates to saving a total of $985 a year! “The results blew us away. We are so pleased that we are doing something for the environment and our wallets”.

Their energy and water usage and what they were able to save is outlined in the table below.




How did they do it?
Saving almost $1,000 on your annual energy and water bills is an amazing achievement in itself – not to mention the positive outcomes for the environment. So we asked Zuzana what they did to get such fantastic results. We’ve outlined their top tips below, and we challenge you to take on some of them in your own home and see what you save!

Zuzana and Robert’s top tips for saving energy:
• Turn off all electrical appliances/services at the power point when not is use
• Cook in bulk (make 4-6 servings per dish)
• Cook more than one item when using the oven
• Trade your rechargeable cordless phone for a phone with a cord – this means there’s no need to charge your batteries all the time
• Use hot water bottles and multiple layers of clothing to heat up and stay warm
• Use the torch to move around the house at night instead of flicking on light switches
• Have two 24 hour TV/computer/radio free days
• For parties use a wood fire oven and wood fire pot to cook for your guests
• Once a week eat only raw food. Have a competition of who can make the tastiest and most creative salad made from either vegetables or fruit, and use herbs from the garden

Zuzana and Robert’s top tips for saving water:
• Shower for 4 minutes (use a shower timer)
• Only use the washing machine when it’s full, and use cold water only
• Use a bucket in the shower to collect the initial 30 seconds of cold water until it heats up and use this water to fill up the washing machine
• Wash vegetables and fruit under a bucket and use it to water the garden
• Mulch your garden (this cuts down on watering and improves the soil health)
• Use a broom instead of vacuuming tiles and floorboards
• When rinsing dishes, turn off the tap between dishes
• Use several buckets to collect water for the garden
• Wash your car in the rain
• Flush your toilet only when it’s needed (we have the motto “if it’s yellow let it mellow, if its brown, flush it down” attached on our bathroom wall for all to see)

Where to from here for our sustainability champions?
You’d think that they’d be pretty happy with what they’ve achieved, but Zuzana and Robert have even more goals that they want to achieve. In the short term this includes buying a more water efficient washing machine, borrowing a power mate meter from the library to determine the energy being used by each of their appliances, installing rain water tanks, and reusing grey water from the washing machine.

Within 6 months, their aim is to reduce their water consumption to less than 100 litres a day and their energy use to less than 5kwh per day. Using our energy and water costs from before, that equates to:
• An annual energy bill of $361 – that’s $90 a quarter!
• An annual water bill of $76 – that’s $19 a quarter!
We can’t wait to catch up with them at the end of the year and see how they are doing.