Dreaming of a Green Christmas

Christmas is a time for celebration, giving and spending time with family and friends. For most, it is a positive time, but it can also be a time of great stress and expense.


Penrith City Council’s Dreaming of a Green Christmas campaign celebrates the fun and festive aspects of Christmas while encouraging people to think about ways to make it more sustainable. From shopping to gift-wrapping, food, decorations and entertaining, there are many ways to keep the festive season fun while reducing the negative social, economic and environmental impacts.


Under the heading Twelve Ways for a more Sustainable Christmas, we have pulled together a range of options for a greener Christmas. This includes:

1. Shop locally
2. Shop with companies with a fair trade ethic
3. Buy sustainable gifts
4. Give a gift that keeps on giving
5. Wrap presents with recycled paper
6. Turn Christmas lights off overnight
7. Spend lots of time with family and friends
8. Buy locally-grown or organic produce for you Christmas lunch
9. Give charity, recycled or e-cards
10. Make a donation to a good cause
11. Buy Green Power for you Christmas event
12. Pool you Christmas shopping into fewer bags

For more information on how to have a more Sustainable Christmas visit Penrith City Council’s website at http://www.penrithcity.nsw.gov.au/

November Edition of the Sustainability Street Newsletter Out Now!

The latest edition of the Sustainability Street Newsletter for Penrith is out now. Click here to download your copy.

Read for stories on:

- Continuing the Sustainability Street Journey
- Upcoming Street Dates
- Sustainability Street NSW Conference 2008 - A big success!
- Solar Power & Climate Change Workshop - 29 November
- Centres for Sustainability
- The News in Brief

If you would like to be added to our mailing list to receive a copy of the newsletter automatically just email Krystie Race and specify whether you would like to recieve it electronically or in the mail.

Climate Change & Solar Power Workshop- Sat 29 November

Keep hearing media stories about– ‘global warming’, ‘changes in rainfall’, ‘increases in severe weather events’, ‘rising electricity and fuel prices’. Want to find out what this is all about, how it affects you, and what you can do about it?

Or are you interested in going solar and want to find out how it all works and what rebates are available? Penrith Council is hosting a workshop to address all these areas and much more.

Date: Saturday 29th November 2008
Time: 10.00am – 2.00pm
Venue: Lewers Art Gallery, 86 River Rd, Emu Plains

Morning tea and lunch provided.

Highlights of the workshop include:

• Presentations from climate change and solar power experts
• Find out how climate change affects you
• Learn about the benefits of going solar - costs, savings, rebates
• What you can do to reduce your impact climate change, and how we can work together to respond to climate change
• Have your say on climate change

Project Coordinator from the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, Marnie Kikken, said: “This project will enable our communities to directly contribute to climate change decision making at both a local and state level. “

RSVPs are required. To RSVP or for more information contact Krystie Race at Penrith Council on 4732 8050 or krace@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au

The NSW Climate Summit is coordinated by The Nature Conservation Council of NSW. This project is assisted by the New South Wales Government through its Environmental Trust.

Walk Against Warming 2008

Climate change is the most critical issue of our time, so join in the Walk Against Warming to be held on the Great River Walk at Weir Reserve on 15 November at 11am.

Walk Against Warming 2008 comes at a critical point, when the community's voice has never been more important to demand strong, urgent action from our government and justice for developing nations affected by global warming.

Supported locally by Council, the event is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of people in cities across Australia for the largest community day of action on climate change.

Walk Against Warming will be critical in showing leaders across the political spectrum that we expect Governmet to take action now.

Come and enjoy a walk along the Great River Walk and bring a picnic and a banner. Walkers will also be encouraged to 'have their say' on climate change. The first 100 attendees will receive a free sausage sandwhich, drink and native tree. You can also get a free temporary tattoo from Council's sustainability mascot the Eastern Water Dragon. For more information on the walk call 4732 8121.

Sustainable Times Newsletter T4 2008

Latest Sustainable Times Out Now!

The latest edition of Penrith City Council's Sustainable Times Newsletter is out now. The Sustainable Times is a newsletter aimed at local schools, and provides information on activities, projects and upcoming initiatives that might be of interest to schools and school children.

To download your copy simply click here. If you would like to be added to our mailing list send Krystie Race an email stating your prefernece for an electronic or hard copy. The term 4 edition for 2008 is packed with useful information, including stories on:

- Solar Boat Challenge State Finals - A big success!
- Planting Days - Tench Reserve Penrith
- Keep your worms cool!
- Next SpenSEN Meeting
- Reducing our Carbon Footprint wtih Organics
- Get down to Earth - FREE Compost Bins for schools
- Walk Against Warming
- Nominate Outstanding Penrith City Citizens
- Activate 2008

Time to get rid of your 2nd Fridge!

The popular Fridge Buyback program is again ready to collect fridges in the Penrith Council area. Residents can hand in their old, inefficient working second fridges by calling 1800 708 401.

Fridge Buyback was very popular with a number of residents taking it up when it was first offered. I am delighted that this service is again available to residents and encourage you to take advantage of Fridge Buyback’s fantastic offer. It is a tangible step that residents can take to cut their energy bills and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

In the first two rounds of Fridge Buyback a number of residents handed in their working second fridges, saving $320 and 18 tonnes of greenhouse gases being emitted.

As well as free collection from their home, residents may also be eligible to receive a $35 rebate for handing in their fridge, Councillor Karen McKeown said. Residents will receive the $35 rebate if 6 stairs or less are involved in removing their fridge. Residents will receive free fridge collection from their home by experienced removalists if 20 stairs or less are involved in removing the fridge.

Fridge Buyback accepts working second fridges that are 250 litres or more in size and 10 years or more old. These are often the beer fridges in people’s garages. Older fridges are expensive to run and residents frequently don’t realise it’s costing them around $190 a year in electricity and creating a tonne of greenhouse gases every year.

Fridge Buyback has received funding from the NSW Government’s Climate Change Fund to collect, degas and recycle 19,000 working second fridges over the next three years, saving the residents who participate more than $24 million in avoided electricity bills and 150,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases.

The Climate Change Fund also provides rebates for rainwater tanks, climate-friendly hot water systems, ceiling insulation and washing machines.

For more information visit the Fridge Buyback wesite at http://www.fridgebuyback.com.au/index.html

Server Consolidation Cuts Council's Power Consumption

Council has cut server and power costs, improved system availability and our ability to recover from an IT disaster, and decreased the pressure on floor space through virtualisation and server consolidation.

Virtualisation is the ability to run multiple operating systems on a single server. The number of physical servers can therefore be reduced by consolidation.

Database administrator Ian Honeysett said Council has been able to stem the expansion of the number of physical servers and keep spending on servers to a minimum.

“We also want to reduce emissions, by reducing server power and cooling costs.” Ian said.

“One of the major Key Result Areas for my job is business continuity, minimising interruptions to IT services, and virtualisation will drastically reduce the time it takes to get computer systems up and running after any major IT disaster.”

Ian said tasks like server upgrades and patching are much easier since the consolidation.

The first phase of the project involved replacing a block of 14 servers with two high level Dell PE2950s. The old servers - a combination of Dell PE650 and PE2650 - were still operating effectively, but they were five years old and warranties were no longer available on the systems.

“There was enough budget to replace each server, but research found server consolidation was by far the best long term option,” he said.

Council's extensive server fleet runs 108 applications. Future plans around greening IT at Council include the use of virtualisation technologies out at the desk top.

For more information on Council's greenhouse gas abatement initiatives click here.

NSW Climate Change Summit

Have your Say on Climate Change

Climate change is one of the greatest environmental challenges to face humanity. It is an issue of local, national and global significance affecting every Australian. How we respond today will have far reaching implications in our lifetimes, and those of our future generations.

With climate change now firmly on the agenda of all levels of government, we must determine: How should we prepare for the impacts of climate change? What is the most appropriate course of action?

Penrith City Council has joined with the Nature Conservation Council of NSW and 16 other NSW councils to gain community input into how we address this critical issue.

Randomly selected community members will be invited to attend a two day forum to explore the issue of climate change and develop recommendations for Council and the NSW State Government. Following the local forum, participants will be invited to attend the NSW Climate Summit to be held in February 2009.

At the NSW Climate Summit, community representatives from across NSW will join with a broad range of stakeholders to discuss and debate how to best address climate change. By finding common ground, summit participants will produce a set of recommendations to present to the NSW Government which are reflective of a NSW consensus view.

Penrith residents are encouraged to participate in this important project. In addition to the local forum, Penrith City Council is encouraging residents to have their voice heard by making comment either via the Council website or at one of the displays located throughout the City, Council recognises the importance of the values, concerns, opinions and expertise of our community, and the need to consider these in our decision making and planning processes.

Climate change affects us all. By working together, we can address this issue. This project will enable our communities to be included in deliberations that directly contribute to climate change decision making at both a local and state level. Giving the community a stronger voice in decision making processes, and enabling action on climate change to be more reflective of community views.

For further information on this project visit www.nccnsw.org.au/nswclimatesummit or contact Bernadette Riad at Penrith City Council on 4732 7629

This project is coordinated by the Nature Conservation Council of NSW.
This project has been assisted by the New South Wales Government through its Environmental Trust.

WHY DO YOUNG CHILDREN NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE

There is a great article on Early Childhood Australia web site http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/ discussing the pros and cons of talking to children about climate change and whether this would be a frightening topic for children.

The article argues that it is irresponsible not to share information about how climate change may affect the lives of young children both now and in the future. We would also be missing an opportunity to help them learn how their actions can impact on the future of the planet. We can do this in a way that uses play and is not designed to make children anxious or depressed about their world. No doom and gloom approach should be used but rather a positive approach about how they as individuals can help their planet.

The best approach is to work with families, because they are the prime role model for their children; and with the children to enables them to learn through hands-on, concrete experiences how they can care for their world.

“A play approach to sustainability may involve, for example, children saving drinking water after meal-times to place on the garden; or it may include setting up a miniature compost bin in the home-corner kitchen so children can role-play putting scraps in the bin (as well as placing real food scraps in an actual compost bin).”[1]

Learning about sustainability can begin with very young children staff can role model and communicate what they are doing to children so that children learn e.g. simple comments like “lets put the tissue in the bin so it is safe and doesn’t end up as rubbish in the playground” can start sewing the seeds in children of a better way to behave to help the planet. From these simple beginnings of communicating with children to working with children on projects in the centres is just a short step. There are a myriad of centre based activities and projects children can be involved in as well as moving towards involving children in local and nation wide projects like “Clean up Australia Day”. The community and nation wide projects are ideal activities for school aged children to be involved in and through the children and their enthusiasm we can involve families which may well change some attitudes in adults.

By involving children in sustainability we are opening up their world to a range of knowledge e.g. science, technology, geography and social studies. There is also the benefit of assisting children to develop habits and attitudes that will last them a life time.

Submitted by: Joanna Pickford

[1] Source: Early Childhood Australia. 2008. Why do young people need to kknow about climage change. Early Childhood Austalia. Available from: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/resource_themes/sustainability_global_warming_and_climate_change/why_do_young_children_need_to_know_about_climate_change.html

Sustainable House Day - 13-14 September 2008

Homeowners open their doors, so others can learn how to live sustainably in comfort.

As part of the 7th annual Sustainable House Day, homes across the country will open so others can learn and experience the benefits of all aspects of sustainable living. And what’s more, these houses appear normal on the outside…so it’s only when stepping inside that the learning begins!

Event organiser Judy Celmins said “Over the 7 years Sustainable House Day has been showing people the benefits of energy efficiency in their homes, we have seen a dramatic increase in interest. People now realise they need to reduce their energy, water and waste needs in their home…but are confused on where to start.

That’s where Sustainable House Day can help. There is nothing better than talking to people who have already done it. You can learn the good, and the bad, from the home owner’s personal experience and talk to architects. And once you have experienced living in a home that is cool in summer, without airconditioning, and warm in winter with little or no heating, it’s hard not to get excited.

There will be a variety of sustainable living tips on display at the houses open this year. The aim is to motivate, and provide information so people can go home and start implementing some of the fundamentals straight away.

You can find an open house in your area by logging onto http://www.sustainablehouseday.com/ . Tickets can be purchased at any house visited for $5 per person per house, children free.

NSW Sustainability Street Conference - 30 August 2008

Sustainability Street Participants Gather to Share their Stories

Penrith City Council is hosting the first ever NSW Sustainability Street Conference, with the theme ‘Sharing Our Stories.’ The Conference will be held at Muru Mittigar Aboriginal Education and Cultural Centre, in Castlereagh on Saturday 30th August 2008 from 10.00am to 4.00pm.

‘Sharing our Stories’ will be a gathering of over 100 Sustainability Street participants from across NSW, where the program has been running successfully since in 2001. The Conference gives participants the opportunity to share their stories, present their unique experiences and to tell others about the projects that they have worked on with their Villages.

The conference will begin with a video introduction by ABC Broadcaster and Sustainability Street patron Geraldine Doogue. The Keynote speaker will be author and adventurer Lincoln Hall, whose books include ‘Dead Lucky': Life After Death on Everest’. Lincoln will share his unique perspective on the importance of looking after our earth and of what can be achieved through commitment and determination.

The Sustainability Street Approach (SSA), devised by environmental educators Vox Bandicoot, is a basic training program in sustainable living, which brings communities together to work for the future. A Sustainability Street Village, can literally be a street, or any other locally based community, such as a sporting club, workplace or school.

‘Keeping it very local is best’ says Vox Bandicoot Director, Frank Ryan. ‘We suggest you try and travel no further than you’d be prepared to walk or ride, to have a cup of tea with your neighbours and chat about your worms!’

‘Sustainability Street is about addressing the two biggest challenges facing humanity, how we can get along better with each other as a species and how we can get along better with the other 30 million species on the planet’ says Ryan. ‘It is like the ecological and social development equivalent of the slow food movement. It is a quiet revolution at a very local level, but it gathers a great deal of momentum and achieves big outcomes.”

The Sustainability Street Approach helps participants achieve significant reductions in waste, water and energy use around the home. It also encourages groups to work together on locally relevant sustainability based projects.

Since the first Sustainability Street Village began in Wollongong, over 60 villages have emerged across NSW, with over 200 villages across Australia. The NSW Environment Trust has provided support for eight council areas to run Sustainability Street in NSW.

Penrith City Council who are hosting the conference, have been great supporters of the Sustainability Street. Penrith’s Sustainability Street program has been running since late 2004, with six communities now up and running within the Penrith local government area. One of the highlights of the conference will be the opportunity to tour some of Penrith’s Sustainability Street Villages, including Penrith SSA pioneers, Banool Avenue.

For bookings or more information about NSW Sustainability Street 2008- Sharing our Stories, contact Krystie Race on 02 4732 8050 or krace@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au

Centres for Sustainability Launch

Residents who meet and use Kingswood Neighbourhood Centre may be unknowingly doing their bit to conserve our environment through Council’s Centres for Sustainability program.

Kingswood Neighbourhood Centre is one of the community’s newest centres and was designed using sustainable design principles including the choice of building materials and its placement to maximise solar efficiency.

On 23 July 2008, Council and community members celebrated the addition of solar panels and rainwater tanks, which make the centres even more friendly to the environment and cost effective.

Council’s Sustainability Champion Councillor Karen McKeown said: “Early indications are that the solar panels are actually producing more electricity than the centre uses.

The centre is important in that it makes for vibrant, healthy local communities through the activities that take place each week from a wide range of groups including playgroups, sporting groups, religious groups and training groups, as well as attracting many private functions.

This project is just one step towards realising Council’s vision of a sustainable City. Solar panels and water tanks have also been installed at Floribunda Community Centre in Glenmore Park. Council is taking a range of practical steps to make our own facilities and operations as sustainable as possible.

Latest Sustainable Times Out Now!

The latest edition of Penrith City Council's Sustainable Times newsletter is out now. The Sustainable Times is a newsletter aimed at local schools, and provides information on activities, projects and upcoming initiatives that might be of interest to schools and school children.

To download your copy simply click here. If you would like to be added to our mailing list send Krystie Race an email, stating your preference for an electronic or hard copy.The Term 3 edition for 2008 is packed with useful information, including stories on:

- The 'Eco Pursuit' Board Game

- Safety Around Pets

- Waste Wise Initiatives for Schools Update

- Next SPenSEN meeting

- International Solar Boat Challenge 2008

July Edition of the Sustainability Street Newsletter Out Now!

The latest edition of the Sustainability Street Newsletter for Penrith is out now. Click here to download your copy.

Read on for stories on:

- Continuing the Sustainability Street Journey
- Upcoming Street Dates
- Sustainability Streeters Keep the Vibe Going!
- Sustainability Street NSW Conference 2008 - 'Sharing Our Stories'
- National Tree Day - 27 July 2008
- Nature Reserve . . . In your backyard
- The News in Brief


If you would like to be added to our mailing list to receive a copy of the newsletter automatically just email Krystie Race and specify whether you would like to receive it electronically or in the mail.

Council achieves Milestone 5 of the Water Campaign

Council joined the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives Water Campaign in December 2003 and was awarded Milestone 5 on 26 May 2008 signifying the completion of all milestones in the program.

During the program Council reduced its water consumption by 35.28% from the baseline year (2001/2002), developing several policies and implementing several programs, including:

- The development of WaterWay: Councils strategy for improving corporate and community water quality and conservation;
- The development of the Data Management System in Finance 1: allowing Council to track and report on Water and Energy consumption at Council facilities;
- The incorporation of water conservation actions and key performance indicators in Outcome Manager: ensuring the delegation of responsibilities for water conservation and requiring regular reporting of progress against key performance indicators;
- Training of Council staff and community members on the importance of water conservation, and;
- Continual review and improvement of public open space irrigation: with public open space irrigation accounting for a significant proportion of Council’s water consumption.

Council’s participation in the Water Campaign has resulted in clearly defined objectives, strategies and actions for managing Council and community water resources and Council is committed to ensuring that these are achieved. The Water Campaign also assisted Council in integrating these water conservation objectives and actions into Council’s Strategic Plan, Management Plan and Annual Report. These were large tasks and have aligned Council’s Sustainability Plans with its Corporate Plans.

From more information on the Water Campaign visit Council's website at http://www.penrithcity.nsw.gov.au/index.asp?id=3769

Sustainability Streeters keep the vibe going!

Three months after the Sustainability Street graduation of the two latest streets – The Straight Rd Mulgoa and Penrith City Garden Club- the streets are about to embark on two community projects in the Local Government Area, with the Mulgoa Sustainability Street group working with Mulgoa Public School to build a community garden, and the Garden Club working with Mamre House to improve their plant propogation and irrigation systems.

The Mulgoa Sustainability Street group project will help to establish a community garden that can be used to grow fruit and vegetables for consumption by local residents and the school students. This will provide valuable learning experiences for all about how to establish a successful garden and provide additional opportunities for the school to undertake lessons on related sustainability issues such as ‘food miles’, recycling and composting, organic gardening and the importance of being waterwise. Susan Ward from Sustainability Street said: ‘This is an excellent opportunity for the information and knowledge gained from the Sustainability Street program to be shared more broadly with the local community’.


The Penrith City Garden Club community project with Mamre House to improve their plant propogation and irrigation systems will allow Mamre House to continue to propagate seedlings and provide the community with a beautiful range of local native plants. The project will also provide a great opportunity for a closer link to be developed between Mamre House and the Gardening Club and for the Garden Club members to add their own gardening knowledge and expertise to the project.

Both projects are expected to be completed by the end of June, with the bricks already laid down for the Mulgoa community vegetable garden. The funding for these community projects was made possible through grant funding provided by the NSW Government’s Environmental Trust, with Penrith City Gardening Club providing additional funding to go towards their project.

Council attends the Science in the Suburbs Expo

On 27 and 28 May staff from Council’s Sustainability Unit and Building Services Department participated in the Science in the Suburbs Expo at Sydney Olympic Park with an interactive display on the Solar Boat Challenge.

Science in the Suburbs is one part of the outreach programs undertaken as part of the Science in the City project run by the Australian Museum and the University of Sydney. Modelled on the successful Science in the City event, the expo provides students with the opportunity to attend talks, shows, workshops and activities on science and technology. The first day is for high schools and the second day for primary schools.

Council’s display on the Solar Boat Challenge gave kids the opportunity to find out more about the challenge, have a closer look at the model solar power boats and how they work, and learn more about solar energy. Some of the other organisations there on the day included University of Sydney, Questacon, Jenolan Caves, NSW Department of Primary Industries, University of Newcastle and Fizzics Education.

Science in the Suburbs events have been held since 2004 and cater for schools in outer Sydney and regional areas. The project is supported by the Australian Government through the Science Connections Programme administered by the Department of Education, Science and Training.

Purchases made by Council go sustainable!

Last month more than 100 staff attended Council’s Sustainable Purchasing Briefing Sessions. Staff from Financial Services and the Sustainability Unit undertook seven staff briefing sessions on the recently adopted Sustainable Purchasing Supply Policy. All staff where invited to attend to find out more about the policy, how to implement it and what sort of things they need to consider before making a purchase on behalf of Council.

The objectives of Council’s Sustainable Purchasing Supply Policy are to:

• Demonstrate to the community that Council’s purchasing decisions can improve markets for environmentally preferred products, enhance environmental quality; be resource responsible and contribute to progress toward sustainability,


• Purchase environmentally preferred products whenever they perform satisfactorily and are available at a reasonable price,


• Reduce impacts on the environment and human health through changing purchasing behaviour,


• Eliminate unnecessary purchasing,


• Make purchasing decisions in line with the waste hierarchy to avoid, reduce, reuse and recycle, and


• Improve the environment and contribute to progress towards sustainability
  

With this in mind all employees are now endeavouring to purchase goods and services with the most beneficial environmental impact and are considering the content of the product/service, products that are reusable and /or recyclable, and the environmental performance of goods, service and of the supplier.

To showcase some of the sustainable products available we also had Complete Office Supplies and the LGSAs Sustainable Choice Program there as well, demonstrating the wide variety of green products that are becoming more and more widely available.

To find out about some of the sustainable purchases Council is making click here.

Latest Sustainable Times Out Now

The latest edition of Penrith City Council's Sustainable Times newsletter is out now. The Sustainable Times is a newsletter aimed at local schools, and provides information on activities, projects and upcoming initiatives that might be of interest to schools and school children.

To download your copy simply click here. If you would like to be added to our mailing list send Krystie Race an email, stating your preference for an electronic or hard copy.

The Term 2 edition for 2008 is packed with useful information, including stories on:

- Schools come Clean
- Waste Wise Initiatives for Schools
- Walk Safely to School Day
- Every Drop Counts in Schools program.
- Children to run Council meeting
- Science in the Suburbs
- Next SPenSEN meeting

April Edition of the Sustainability Street Newsletter Out Now!

The latest edition of the Sustainability Street Newsletter for Penrith is out now. Click here to download your copy.


Read on for stories on:

- Now's the Time to Continue the Sustainability Street Journey!
- Upcoming Street Dates
- Last Words from Vanessa
- The Growers vs Green Thumbs
- Talkin (Sustainability) Shop
- Keeping that Enviro Momentum Going
- More Sustainability Streeters Now On the Street!
- The News in Brief

If you would like to be added to our mailing list to receive a copy of the newsletter automatically just email Krystie Race and specify whether you would like to receive it electronically or in the mail.

Winner of the Name the Water Dragon Competition

Council recently held a competition to name its mascot for sustainability, the Eastern Water Dragon. The water dragon has been chosen as a symbol of Council’s Sustainable Penrith program because it lives along the banks of local waterways and represents Penrith City’s social, environmental and economic health.

More than 200 entries were received with many creative and innovative names suggested for our friendly lizard, making the job of judging a difficult one for our panel.

The winning name for the competition is ‘Echo’ the Eastern Water Dragon. The name ‘Echo’ was suggested by local resident, Karen Silversides of Glenmore Park. Karen put a lot of thought into the name and felt that the name was a perfect match for our mascot because how we treat the environment now will continue to echo down through generations to come. The name also has connections to the words ‘ecological’ and ‘ecosystems’ which are important within the sustainability context of our City.

By suggesting the winning name Karen not only wins the right to officially name our Eastern Water Dragon, she also receives tickets for 2 adults and 2 children to attend Taronga Zoo’s ‘Roar and Snore’ adventure, which includes overnight accommodation, meals and special behind the scenes access and tours through the Zoo.

Congratulations Karen and thank you for the thought you put into naming ‘Echo’. Naming our Mascot will help Council further promote awareness of the values for which he stands.

Earth Hour 2008- Business & School Update

Since our last blog entry (yesterday!) we have already had another organisation - St Marys Area Community Development project Inc. (SMACD) and another business - Crystal Clear Filtration Systems (Aust) Pty Ltd sign up for Earth Hour as well as another seven local schools, including Emmaus Catholic College, Oakville Public School, Caroline Chisholm College, Kingswood South Public School, Montgrove College, Mary MacKillop Primary School and St Marys North Public School. So that’s now a total of nine local schools, seven businesses and three organisations. Keep up the good work!

If you haven’t already signed up to show the world you care and pledged your commitment to Earth Hour all you need to do is click here to be directed to the Earth Hour website where you can register your business, school or organisation.

Earth Hour 2008 Update

As most of you would be aware Penrith City Council is once again throwing its support behind Earth Hour - an annual event coordinated by WWF Australia to raise awareness of climate change, while at the same time encouraging households, schools, businesses and organisations to take the practical steps that are needed to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 5% over the coming year.

Along with millions of others around the globe, Penrith City Council will "power down" for one hour on Saturday 29 March at 8pm by turning off non-essential lighting across Council owned facilities and encouraging all staff to switch off machines and unplug appliances at the power point before they leave the office.

The inaugural Earth Hour event in 2007 saw Sydney plunge into temporary darkness as more than 2 million residents turned off lights and appliances, which, as a result, helped cut energy usage by 10 percent. This year Earth Hour has grown significantly, with more than 20 cities around the world signing up and millions of people in households, communities, businesses and corporations set to take part.

Several Council facilities, as well as a number of schools, businesses and organisations across Penrith City will be participating in Earth Hour this year – most noticeably by switching off their lights for one hour on Saturday 29 March at 8pm. Currently we have 89 residents across the Local Government Area; two local schools, including Holy Cross and St Clair Public School; six local businesses, including Altank Sheet Metal, Lindsay PieMaking Equipment Pty Ltd, Holistic Healing Therapies, eSpire Solutions, Colliers International and The Candle Hut and two organisations, including Technocrats Association of Australia and UWS have signed up, not to mention 10 Council owned facilities as well. Way to go Penrith City!

If you haven’t already signed up to show the world you care and pledged your commitment to Earth Hour all you need to do is click here to be directed to the Earth Hour website where you can register your home. Let’s see if we can hit 200!

Even if you can’t switch your lights off for the one hour period you can still participate. Earth Hour is as much about making the small changes needed to reduce energy consumption as it is about switching off the lights, so why not sign up for Earth Hour and start looking for areas where you can save 5%?

As an extra incentive to get involved Penrith City Council will commit to plant a native tree or shrub on behalf of each home, business or school that signs up to participate in Earth Hour 2008. The planting will be undertaken with assistance from NRMA Insurance through their communityhelp Grants Program and the planting will be undertaken in Werrington Creek Park, Cambridge Park.

For more information on Earth Hour and how you can make a difference, go to www.earthhour.org or visit our website.

Graduates of Sustainability

Saturday 1 March was an important day for members of Penrith's newest Sustainability Streets, with participants of the program graduating in a celebration held in the lovely grounds of Muru Mittigar.

After a week of rain Saturday dawned bright and sunny - just perfect for our requirements, with the sun lasting throughout the ceremony and through to the lovely BBQ lunch and bush tucker tasting, which seemed to be well and truly enjoyed by all.

Some special guests (apart from the Sustainability Street participants) were on hand to lend some ceremony to the occassion and included:

• The Mayor of Penrith City, Councillor Greg Davies;


• Council's Sustainability Champion, Councillor Karen McKeown;
  
• One of the founders of the Sustainability Street Approach, Dave Seignior, a Director of Vox Bandicoot Pty Ltd; and
  
• Group mentor, Vanessa Steele.

The highlight of the morning were some passionate and heart felt speeches from some of our sustainability graduands, putting into words how the Sustainability Street experience had affected them and what they had gleaned from the workshops since the program began way back in July 2007.

A big thanks and congratulations to Lee, Irene, Gretel and Janis who were the brave ones to get up and speak in front of the crowd!

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 the Mulgoa group choosing to work with Mulgoa Public School on a community vegetable garden, and the Garden Club working with Mamre House to improve their plant propogation and irrigation systems. The funding for these community projects was made possible by grant funding provided by the NSW Government through their Environmental Trust.

To find out more about the Sustainability Street program and getting your street, club or community involved email Council's Sustainability Education Officer or call 4732 8050.

February Edition of Sustainability Street Newsletter Out Now

The latest edition of the Sustainability Street newsletter for Penrith is out now. Click here to download your copy.



Read on for stories on:

• Newest Streets to Graduate


• Upcoming Street Dates


• Streets Avoid Toxic Chemicals


• Borax...Green Cleaner or Not?


• Earth Hour is Approaching: Show the World You Care!
  
• In Case You Hadn't Noticed...
  
• Independent GreenPower Advice Now Available
  
• Name the Water Dragon Competition

If you would like to be added to our mailing list to receive a copy of the newsletter automatically just email Carmel Hamilton and specify whether you would like to receive it electronically or in the mail.

Australia Day Celebrations- A Big Hit!

Australia Day celebrations were once again a big hit at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, with the Australia Day summer sun out in full force and thousands of people flocking to watch and participate in the day’s activities and events.

From the largest Australian Flag (15,000 sq.ft) in Australia being flown beneath a helicopter above Penrith Lakes to the Roulettes aerobatic display, helicopter and aquatic stunt shows, main stage performances from Dean Geyer, Deni Hines, James Reyne, Dora The Explorer, Blinky Bill and the Australian Pro Wake Board Championships to name a few, the day was filled with action packed events on water and land.

The Sustainability Enviro area was also a huge success with interactive workshops and displays happening all day long. Our Sustainability display created a lot of interest with young kids, teenagers and even adults trying their hands at racing our model solar powered boats. A bit of cloud cover slowed the boats down for a short period of time, but the sun’s determination to shine through meant that the boats were back in action again in no time.

Unfortunately, like any race we had a wash out in the afternoon and the Red Rocket had to retire for the day with a broken rudder. But that didn’t stop the competition with the Blue Bandit still in action and slashing some of the best times of the day. Jacob (in the picture) had the fastest time of the day with 14.44 seconds - what a time!

We also had some great entries for the naming of Council’s Sustainable Penrith Mascot, the Eastern Water Dragon. Now remember the competition doesn’t close until the 29 February so keep those entries coming. If you need a copy of the entry form click here to download your copy. It might pay for you to think a little about the reason behind your suggested name – why not check out our fact sheet on water dragons for some inspiration.

Latest Sustainable Times Out Now

The latest edition of Penrith City Council's Sustainable Times newsletter is out now.

The Sustainable Times is a newsletter aimed at local schools, and provides information on activities, projects and upcoming initiatives that might be of interest to schools and school children.

To download your copy simply click here. If you would like to be added to our mailing list send Carmel Hamilton an email, stating your preference for an electronic or hard copy.

The Term 1 edition for 2008 is packed with useful information, including stories on:

• Name our Water Dragon & Win!
  
• Clean Up Schools Day: Coming Soon


• Endangered Species at Home in Penrith


• Playgrounds Go Smoke Free!


• A Win for Werrington Creek


• Cultural Exchange to Japan: Be an Ambassador for Penrith


• School Kid Celebrities!

Australia Day Celebrations

The next big event for the Sustainability Unit is to attend Council's FREE Australia Day Celebrations, being held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, on Saturday 26 January 2008.

Staff from the unit will be there from 9am through to 5pm and will be located in the SITA Environmental Solutions Sustainability Centre, located near the entrance to the main island for some hands on fun, competition and helpful tips for living more sustainably.

Come and try your hand at racing our model solar powered boats and see if you can beat the best time of the day. Take a turn of the 'Blue Bandit' or 'Red Rocket' and see just how far you can push this alternative technology, of course picking the brightest part of the day will also give you a good head start!

We will also have a piloted solar boat on display as part of our promotion of the 2008 Solar Boat Challenge. Come and find out more about this great event and how it works - you can even register your interest to get your school or group involved in 2008.

Council’s Sustainable Penrith mascot, the Eastern Water Dragon, will also be there, and this year our friendly mascot is looking for a name. Enter the naming competition and you could win a pass for a family of four to Taronga Zoo's 'Roar and Snore' adventure. This great package includes overnight camping accomodation, meals, behind the scenes tours and access and general admission (value $550).

So, put your thinking caps on for a great name for our lizard and come and fill out an entry form on the day. The winner will be announced in March 2008, with final entries to be received by 29 February 2009.