FREE TRAINING

Would you like to find out more about:

• How to reduce your ecological footprint?;
• How to reduce your power and water use?;
• Organic gardening?;
• How to create a healthy home?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then come along to the free Living Smart course being held over 6 weeks in Darlington.

When: Saturdays 2pm-4pm from September 13

Where:St Cuthbert’s Good Shepherd Meeting Room in Darlington

Cost: FREE!! Refreshments provided

RSVP: Phone Gary Warden 9293 4968, or click on the link below

The Living Smart program was put together more than two years ago as a join initiative of the Department of Planning and Infrastructure, Murdoch University and the Southern Metropolitan Regional Council.

This is the first time this program will be run in the eastern metropolitan area, so don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity.

Click here to register your interest in attending. Find out more here.

One of the first steps before you can start to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions is to understand what are your biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

I've created a simple on-line tool to help you create your greenhouse gas emissions. The tool also provides useful tips for what you can do to reduce your greenhouse emissions in the areas where the greatest opportunities for reduction exist for you personally.

One of the challenges of the interent is to create a tool that will work for everybody regardless of their platform (eg PC versus Macintosh) or browser (eg Internet Explorer versus Firefox).

I'd appreciate feedback if there is some element of the calculator that doesn't work for you. Just send me an e-mail, and let me know the problem and what platform and broswer you are using.

Click on the image to load the calcultor.

For the average Australia household, electricity represens almost 20% of total household greenhouse gas emissions. For households with air conditioning, multiple refrigerators and TVs ths figure may be significantly higher.

Yet television shows like Carbon Cops and Eco Change show that reductions of electricity usage of in excess of %50 are possible for most households without making significant sacrifices.

In order to know where to start in reducing your electricity consumption, it is first important to undertake an electricity audit to determine where you are using the most electricity.

A few years ago you would have had to organise an electrician to do this work for you. Last year, Toni and I bought a meter that we could use to test the consumption of our appliances ourselves. This cost about $300.

I was delighted to find a similar power meter available over the internet for just $40.00.

The unit is know as the "Monitor My Power Meter" and is available from latestbuy.com.au

You just plug the unit into the outlet, and plug your appliance into the meter to get real time power monitoring.

Enter your local electricity rates and the unit will tell you exactly how much the appliance is costing you to run! It also tracks the electricity used to show you exactly how much power you're using now and the peak levels that have been drawn. And it features backup batteries so you won't lose your information in a blackout or when you move it to a new socket.

If you know of a cheaper option available in the market place, then please let me know.

Hills Climate Action Group member Terry Howlett informed a recent HCAG meeting that the City of Melbourne is currently setting the standard for environmentally friendly building codes within Australia.

Melbourne's committment has been demonstrated by its new Council House building, known as CH2 which achieved Six Green Stars and incorporates sustainable technologies into every conceivable part of its 10 storeys. A water-mining plant in the basement, phase-change materials for cooling, automatic night-purge windows, wavy concrete ceilings, a façade of louvres (powered by photovoltaic cells) that track the sun – even the pot plant holders have involved a whole new way of thinking.

One of the Hills Climate Action Group's subgroups is focussed on pressuring local councils to reinforce their building codes to ensure the construction of more environmentally sustainable buildings, following te exciting lead set by the City of Melbourne.

Visit the CH2 website for more information on this fantastic project.

Australia’s livestock herds discharge more than three million tons of methane a year, accounting for 14 per cent of Australia’s output of greenhouse gases.

Kangaroos on the other hand produce no methane. Without going into the details of how we know about this startling fact, this does provide a good option for red meat lovers who are struggling to beat their addiction.

Kangaroo meat has the added advantage that Kangaroos graze on native bushland. They aren’t raised on farms, so there are no emissions associated with the use of fertilizers on pasture and livestock feed.

Kangaroo is now freely available in most supermarkets, so there are no longer any excuses for not giving it a go. We’ve even included a recipe below if you are looking for some inspiration.

Kangaroo Fillets with Honeyed Beetroot

Ingredients

2 Medium Beetroot

50g Butter or Ghee

2 Tsp Red Wine Vinegar

2 Tbsp Water

1 Tbsp Honey

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

4 Kangaroo Fillets

1 Tbsp Green Peppercorns

1/2 Cup Port

1/2 Cup Beef Stock

Method

For the Honey Beetroot:

Trim the ends from the beetroot and the peel and coarsely grate.

Place the beetroot in a small saucepan with the butter, vinegar and water.

Place over a medium heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer covered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the honey and season to taste with freshly ground pepper and salt.

For the Kangaroo:

Heat the olive oil over high heat in a medium frying pan.

Season the kangaroo with freshly ground salt and pepper and cook for 3 minutes each side or until cooked to your liking.

Remove and set aside.

Add port, stock and peppercorns to the pan and simmer until the sauce is reduced by half.

You can make the sauce extra rich by adding a knob of butter at the last minute.

Serves 4