Smartflo guttering installer for Sydney

Here is an installer to consider for your Smartflo roof gutters that I use as they are self cleaning: Wayne Miller does the majority of the Smartflo supply and fit work in the Sydney area. He lives at West Pennant Hills but travels well to all Sydney locations. He has been working regularly with Smartflo since 2005. You can contact Wayne on 0414 782 513, or e-mail : buildingonyourideas@gmail.com For information on the gutters: www.smartflo.com… May the gutters be with... Read More

How to make a country unsustainable

The New York Times this week ran an opinion piece by Patricia McArdle (19 June) about how the US has gutted and is ending one of Earth’s most sustainable food systems. Where would they do such a thing? In a place where they mean to do ‘good’;  Afghanistan. Read this  and try not to open your mouth with amazement: www.nytimes.com… As some counterpoint, however, trivial by comparison, there’s this: www.abc.net… “And so we beat on, boats... Read More

Special series on cities

This week The Australian newspaper carries a series of articles on cities, here: www.theaustralian.com… There’s an interesting one about planning, here: www.theaustralian.com… I’ve written one about the future of roads, here: www.theaustralian.com… Enjoy, Michael  Read More

Heat island goes mainstream at last

On 30 June the Melbourne Forum will host a free conference, Combating the urban heat island. The flier for it says: Urban development dramatically changes the landscape. Buildings, roads, and other infrastructure replace open land and vegetation. Surfaces that were once permeable and moist become impermeable and dry. These changes cause urban regions to become warmer than their rural surroundings, forming an “island” of higher temperatures in the landscape. The negative... Read More

Book talk at Shearers On Norton

Shearer’s On Norton talk The bookshop, Shearer’s On Norton, Leichhardt, is putting on a talk evening where I’ll talk about the new book, what worked and didn’t over the last 14 years; this is a story of the house where no sewage has left the site (how can you keep over 1.5 million litres of sewage on your house lot?), energy and water bills are less than $300 a year, and lots of mistake and lessons were made and learnt that can help you go sustainable at... Read More

Learn how to make a vertical garden from a timber pallet

Gardeners Tomorrow when we garden from 9 til 11 am most of the time it’ll be in the ‘temporary shed’ – my back yard. We’ll make a vertical garden from a timber pallet in my back yard. Cost? $Nil – everthing will either be recycled at no cost to us or grown by us:  as follows - -        timber pallet (carried back from building site on City Road by Gardener Thais) -        hessian backing (free from Tobys Estate) -       ... Read More

A beautiful bridge

• 'Te Rewa Rewa bridge Photo: Judy Rapley The ‘Te Rewa Rewa bridge is in New Plymouth, New Zealand. My friend took the photo during her visit there last Christmas – thanks. It’s been written that ‘the 19 ribs of the bridge resemble a whale skeleton arching with the prevailing westerly wind.’ Designer Peter Mulqueen shaped the bridge to “touch lightly” on the western side of the river to honour the dead in nearby burial... Read More

Enough of me, what about you?

The Sydney Writers Festival runs from 16 to 22 May.  In the city it’s at The Wharf, and out at Parramatta, and at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. The venues and program has been published and is on the Net here: www.swf.org… It’s a terrific moment in Sydney’s life and there’s so much to read, listen to, join in and enjoy. You’ve been invited to tell others how you would save the planet.  The event is called, You save the planet.  The spotlight... Read More

New Chippo group supports Sustainable Streets Plan

A new group has been set up to support the City Council’s Sustainable Streets and Community Plan. Called, Sustainable Chippendale, the idea for the group and the moving force behind it are Andrew Jacobs and Thais Nascimento.  They’ve set up a Facebook page and say this is how to find and join the group or obtain information there: - The link is: www.facebook.com… , but if you go on Facebook and just look up for SUSTAINABLE CHIPPENDALE , you will see us and... Read More

Terrific new insulation

Here’s a new insulation that I’ve been introduced to by a friend who builds her buildings sustainably, and owns one a few doors up from me, Sarah. It’s called, Polyair: -1300767776 - www.reflectiveinsulation.com….au There are five options.  All use the same design approach:  reflect the hot summer sun with the top layer, have a multi-layer inner core for insulation, use a lower layer to reflect and retain the winter warmth within the building. Use it... Read More