Tuesday 20 October 2009

Sustainability Street Graduation 2009

Saturday 19 September was an important day for members of Penrith's newest Sustainability Streets, Wallacia-Mulgoa Valley Rotary Club and St Clair Holy Spirit Church, with participants of the program graduating in a celebration held in the lovely grounds of Mamre House.


The day was a huge success, with many people helping to commemorate this momentous occasion, including special guests: former Mayor of Penrith City, Councillor Jim Aitken OAM, one of Council's Sustainability Champion, Councillor Karen McKeown and one of the founders of the Sustainability Street Approach, Frank Ryan of Vox Bandicoot, who travelled all the way from Melbourne to be there. We also had some Sustainability Street veterans from the more established Sustainability Streets there to celebrate including John and Susan from Mulgoa, and Shirley, Brian and Barry from Banool Avenue. Thank you to everyone who attended this graduation and made this day such a memorable event.


Frank was keen for everyone to see a video that would show how the Sustainability Street movement was part of a bigger global movement towards sustainability, but unfortunately the video wouldn't work! If you are interested in having a look you can watch the video via the following link to youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1fiubmOqH4.


Frank also gave away an amazing prize at the graduation - $25,000! Of course, he was quick to point out that money can come in lots of forms and it wasn't necessarily in cold hard cash. Shirley from Banool Avenue in South Penrith was the lucky winner, picking up a very handy household thermometer which is used to make sure that you are heating and cooling your home and appliances to the right level. Even one degree difference either way can make a huge difference to your energy bills. If you would like your very own thermometer contact Council on 4732 8121 or send us an email.


A huge novelty cheque was also presented to both groups as part of the graduation ceremony to allow them to get a community project of their choice underway with both the Wallacia-Mulgoa Valley Rotary Club and St Clair Holy Spirit Church choosing to create a community native garden. And as part of our graduation celebration, each street member was presented with a certificate, a “local super hero” hat and a native seedling.

A big thankyou to both Roger French of the Wallacia-Mulgoa Rotary Club and Jeanne Appleton from St Clair Holy Spirit Church who got up and spoke about their Sustainability Journey, and for all their background efforts rallying the teams and organising meeting rooms.

It will be great to see how these groups continue their journey towards sustainability - we look forward to posting some photos of their project in the near future!

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