Chippo to be a trial demonstration suburb

On Monday night Sydney City Council resolved: RECOMMENDATION It is resolved that: (A) Myrtle Street and the surrounding areas, Chippendale, be used by the City as a demonstration site to showcase sustainable street technologies and programs; (B) a detailed plan for the site be developed over the next six months, for funding consideration in the 2011/12 budget; (C) the Chief Executive... Read More

Food box data

Sydney Food Connect has provided data about this months boxes: “Households/week: 247 City Cousins: 32 Price to farmers: 40c/$ Organic or chemical free: 100% Food miles/week: 173km Our market comparison with five other organic and non-organic produce box services this month showed we are on average 14% cheaper!” Julian Lee, co-founder of Sydney Food Connect, is one of... Read More

Understanding water: the developer and the elder

Here, in her own words, is a story my friend, Fran Bodkin, an elder of the Dharawal people, told me yesterday as we walked back from the opening of the garden for the Asylum Seekers Centre, Redfern, where Fran had advised on plants to provide food, and I’d provided a native stingless bee hive.. “ Okay, It was in the 1960s, the exact year I can’t remember, but it must have... Read More

New Second Edition of Sustainable House to be reprinted

The publisher of the second edition of my book, Sustainable House, tells me that since it was published in October this year it’s 5,000 copies are almost sold out and they’re reprinting it in January. Thanks again to UNSW Press, Elspeth Menzies my commissioning publisher there, to Jessica Perini for excellent, professional editing, Saima Ali for the new photos, and all... Read More

Arbolito signs up

Michael, A sign for Arbolito, Beth, Beth's hat, Andres Close up of sign Arbolito, ‘The little tree”, has signed up and is fully ‘out there’. We put a sign up made of a used plastic drink bottle;  we laminated an A4 sign, used duct tape to affix it to the bottle, then placed the bottle over the stake for the tree and . . . voila, a sign. Andres who planted... Read More

Five houses tracking their energy use in Darlington

One of the houses tracking energy use There are five houses tracking daily energy use in Darlington. You can see which ones they are because they have signs on them facing the streets like the one above. This one has come fifth for the last day’s energy use.  See how the sign says it used 38% more energy use? May the low energy bills be with them – and thanks to you... Read More

Sustainable linen

Bamboo sheets.  Mmmm. Just slept in new ones I bought this week.  $140 on special. Better to the touch than cotton, and, I’m told, warmer in winter and cooler in summer. And, of course, the bamboo uses far less water than cotton to grow, so it’s a material that, in the growing at least, causes less damage than does cotton growing. They cause no allergies, apparently. May... Read More

Costa calls me a ‘weed’

Costa calls me a 'weed' Costa explains what a 'weed' is Last Thursday I gave a talk at Ultimo Tafe and Costa (the gardener on SBS TV) gave one, too. Costa warned me that in his talk he was going to call me a name and I shouldn’t take offence at it and wait ’til he explained it. He called me a ‘weed’. Ahuh. He then said something like, “A... Read More

Great road gardening last Friday – then comes the next day

Andres from Ecuador plants a tree: L to R: Xavier, Helen, Beth, Andres, Sarah, Harry, Michael Gardening today was sensational. There were ten of us a-road-gardening on Friday: Xavier (let’s put an “x” first for a change), Helen, Janet (who took this photo), Harry, Beth, Andres, Sarah (who comes all the way from Marrickville and is one hell of a quiet achiever). As... Read More

Emotions can cause physical illness, and restore health

Dr. Gabor Maté is the author of the book, “When the Body Says No: Understanding the Stress-Disease Connection” The Vancouver-based Dr. Gabor Maté argues that too many Western doctors seem to have forgotten what was once a commonplace assumption—that emotions are deeply implicated in both the development of illness and in the restoration of health. Based on medical... Read More