October Edition of the Sustainability Street Newsletter

The October edition of Penrith's Sustainability Street newsletter is now available! Click here to get your very own copy!

Inside you will find:

The Wallacia-Mulgoa and St Clair Group Graduation
Native Plant Species information
A hot offer from Sydney Water
The website of the month
And great opportunities to attend FREE sustainability workshops such as Eco Lighting Day, Living Sustainably and the Organic Processing Tour!


To be added to our mailing list send your details to the Sustainability Unit or call on 02 4732 8050.

The 2009 Solar Boat Challenge

Hundreds of dedicated solar boat enthusiasts came from far and wide to take part in the Penrith City Council sponsored Solar Boat Challenge held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre on 25 September 2009. 11 teams from local schools participated, competing against schools from as far away as Tasmania and Queensland.

Local schools included Cambridge Park Public School, Claremont Meadows Public School, Werrington Public School, Cambridge Park High School, Colyton High School, Glenmore Park High School, Jamison High School, Kingswood High School, Nepean High School, Penrith Anglican College and Penrith High School.


The Challenge aims to increase awareness in the areas of sustainability, climate change and alternative energies in an interesting way as teams work together to build a fully functional solar boat.



There were two categories available in the challenge. Groups could choose to build either a remote controlled, or a wire guided boat, catering for a range in levels of experience and expertise.



The remote controlled race is split into primary and secondary school divisions. Boats in this category are remote controlled and compete in an endurance race on the lake by undertaking a circuit, relying exclusively on solar power, with no batteries allowed (photo below).





The second event is the wire guided model race. These boats are not remote controlled and rely instead on a wire hanging above the boat to guide them on the track from one end of a pool to the other. These boats compete in a straight sprint race relying exclusively on solar power (photo below).



While the racing is important - that's not all that the event is about. The challenge requires that each team also show their understanding of the design, manufacture and racing process by creating a graphic presentation which is essentially a diary or log of the project from beginning to end. This helps to make sure that the teams are learning along the way and that the learning is an integral part of the challenge for all participants.

Marks are also provided for the presentation of the boat and it's design, with winners of each category decided on an aggregate of all components.

Penrith's primary schools were very successful with Cambridge Park Public School taking out first place in the Junior Wire Guided category, with Claremont Meadows Public School and Werrington Public School taking out second and third place respectively. Jamison High School also placed second in the Junior Remote Control Class.

Mrs Chris Jobson from Cambridge Park Public School was pleased the students did so well, picking up first place with their HMAS Featherduster, so named because it is so light!

Mrs Jobson said “”The Challenge was great and the kids really enjoyed what they did. They undertook research, investigated solar boats and then did all the building and shaping themselves. They worked as a team and there was great team spirit. They are a great group of kids.” (photo below)

They were many other activities on the day for the students to participate in while they waited for their race. Penrith City Council had information stands and fun activities including the “Eco Pursuit” board game. The Power House Museum also had a science exhibition with experiments running throughout the day (photo below).

If you are interested in finding out more visit the Solar Challenge website - http://www.solarchallenge.com.au/.

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!

August Edition of the Sustainability Street Newsletter

The August edition of Penrith's Sustainability Street newsletter is now available! Click here to download your copy for stories on:

Gardening at Mamre House
Preparing the Perfect Veggie Garden
A Vegertable Planting Guide
Companion Panting
Gardening Resources Available
The Age of Stupid" film review

To be added to our mailing list send your details to the Sustainability Unit or call on 02 4732 8050.

Interest Free Loans for Green Items

July 1 saw the launch of a new Green Loans scheme by the Australian Government. The scheme provides assistance to Australian families interested in installing sustainable technologies, like solar, water saving and energy efficient products.

Under the program all Australian households are eligible to receive a FREE home sustainability assessment and report, which is valued at around $250. This assessment will provide householders with information on where they can make improvements to the sustainability of their home, and where the biggest gains are to be made. You can register now for your free assessment by visiting the Green Loans website or by calling 1800 895 076.

Once households have had a sustainability assessment completed they will become eligible to access a subsidy from the Government that will cover the interest on a loan of up to $10,000 over 4 years to implement the actions that were identified in the home assessment report. The household can chose which participating bank, credit union or building society they wish to apply for a loan with.

This is a fantastic opportunity to identify and fund sustainability improvements in the home. It's also worth noting that once the loans scheme becomes operational it still doesn't prevent you from accessing any of the rebates that are currently available, including those for hot water systems, insulation, rainwater tanks and greywater systems.

Latest Sustainability Street Newsletter

The July edition of Penrith's Sustainability Street newsletter is now available. Click here to download your copy for stories on:

• Giving Toxic Chemicals the Flick!


• Recipes for Success


• A Farm Yard Tale to Make You Think


• Sustainability Streets Catch Up


• Penrith Farmers & Fine Food Market


• FREE Family Fun Day


• FREE Home Sustainability Assessment

To be added to our mailing list send your details to the Sustainability Unit or call on 02 4732 8050.

Download your copy of the June Edition of Sustainability Street! Simply click here. In this issue, you will find great stories on:

• Living Green While You Clean


• Watching Their Waste Line


• The 3R's - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle


• Composting Made Easy


• Worm Farms & Worm Troubleshooting


• Farmers Market Comes to Town


• Website of the Month: TipJar

If you would like to be added to our mailing list to receive a copy of the newsletter automatically please email Carmel Hamilton with your name and contact details and specify whether you would like to recieve it electronically or in the mail.

FREE Help to Cut Power Bills for Low Income Households

Penrith Council is partnering with the Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW in a Western Sydney pilot to help low income households in our area save money on their power bills and reduce carbon pollution.

The program is being offered to 1,000 homes in Western Sydney as part of a pilot which began in May 2009 and will finish at the end of July. The main program will be rolled out across NSW later in the year.

Every home that signs up will get a free:

• home visit by a trained assessor to find ways to save power in your home


• power saver kit to help kick-start your savings
  
• power saver action plan to show you other ways to save power and money.

People signing up to the program are expected to save at least $95 a year on their power bills. After the trial in Western Sydney, the program will be rolled out to a further 219,000 low income families across the rest of NSW.

If you have a pensioner, low income or veteran card or are registered as an energy retailer hardship customer and own or rent a private home, call the Environment Line on 1300 361 967 to book an assessment and start saving power, money and carbon pollution for free. Visit http://www.savepower.nsw.gov.au/ for details.

World Environment Day 2009

On World Environment Day, 5 June 2009, Penrith City Council will be presenting a cheque to the winners of the first funding round of the Pratt Foundation ‘Penrith Social Sustainability Grants Program’.

The grants were open to community organisations with deductible gift recipient status that support the vulnerable and disadvantaged in our community, made possible through the Pratt Foundation.

The Pratt Foundation has generously allocated $140,000 to be distributed for community benefit over the next six years, of which $40,000 has been allocated in 2009 to successful receipts in the first round. Council is proud to be the administrator of the local grants on behalf of the Foundation.

The grants will encourage community cohesion and cultural identity through projects that help to provide basic food, shelter and protection from harm, the maintenance of cultural and community identify and social and environmental actions that unite the community.

Three of Penrith’s Principles for a Sustainable City, adopted in 2003, strongly relate to social sustainability, including:

· Achieve long-term economic and social security;
· Empower people and foster participation;
· Expand and enable cooperative networks to work towards a common, sustainable future

The term ‘social sustainability’ is used to describe programs and projects that promote social inclusion, participation, cultural enrichment and connectedness. It also emphasises initiatives which support the vulnerable and disadvantaged in our communities.

Accordingly, the Visy Grants Program provides another important opportunity for Council to put into practice our commitment to social sustainability, and it will directly benefit the local community.

Congratulations to the successful applicants - keep up the great work and I hope this grant makes your job a little easier.

World Environment Day 2009 - Your planet Needs You – Unite to Combat Climate Change

This Friday is an important day for communities worldwide – both present and future. It is World Environment Day.

World Environment Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Celebrated annually on June 5, World Environment Day is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and attracts political attention and action.

The theme for this years World Environment Day is ‘Your Planet Needs You! Unite to Combat Climate Change’.

On this World Environment Day, people from all walks of life are encouraged to take steps towards making the planet greener and cleaner. Switch off the lights. Take public transport. Recycle. Plant a tree.

Our planet needs more than just action by governments and corporations; it needs action from each and every one of us. Although individual actions may seem small in the face of global threats and trends, when billions of people join forces in common purpose we can make a tremendous difference.

World Environment Day is ‘a people’s day’, which means it is your opportunity to be part of the global action to promote the protection of our planet, the sustainable use of our natural resources, and the adoption of a lifestyle that is friendly to the environment. Be part of the growing voice that calls for all peoples of the world to unite and take positive action to combat climate change.

Remember, whoever you are, wherever you’re from, you can make a difference.

For further details see - http://www.unep.org/wed/2009/english/