The "Eco Village at Currumbin", seen in this week's ABC Four Corners program is grabbing some big attention. Check out the following press article:
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/ecovillage-sweeps-industry-awards/2007/06/24/1182623724164.html
In many respects, we are further ahead down the same pathway, so it's good to see such positive reinforcement for so many eco-Village concepts.

During the past year (i.e., the period from 17/5/06 to 23/5/07) 5371 kilolitres of SA (town-supply) water was used within the AAEV site. Of this, 2557 kl was used for private purposes by the lot owners (plus all the rainwater collected in residents' tanks). The remaining 2814 kl's of town-supply water were used for watering trees and plants around the Village. This water has cost us a total of $2,787 plus $360 in supply charges - ie, a total of $3,147

During this same period the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) pumped 1989 kl out on to the small wood-lot on the farm.
Since the previous email about wastewater, outflow of the WWTP has risen from 5.4 kl to 7 kl a day.

As we are enjoying such good rains at the moment and the woodlot certainly does not need additional water just now, I can't help but wonder if a previously mooted suggestion to store the WWTP winter output in the dams on the farm shouldn't be revisited. If this were done, the wastewater could potentially be shandied with collected storm water, allowing for improvement of the quality of WWTP output for irrigation purposes. In the early part of the dry period this same water could then be pumped onto the farm area. Might be worth thinking about as water becomes more of an issue for the future?

Check out this inspiringly creative EcoVillage in the USA - sent in by Bridget O'Donnell:
http://www.ourecovillage.org and their photo tour at: http://www.ourecovillage.org/photo_gallery/tour/pages/5-PA230037_jpg.htm

I recently went to the Hay-on-Wye Guardian Literary festival here in the UK - http://www.hayfestival.com/ - where I heard among others Australia's own Tim Flannery speak about his new book 'The Weather Makers' - http://www.theweathermakers.com/  - he was an excellent speaker. Also very importantly I listened to Thomas Homer-Dixon a Canadian talking about his book 'the Upside of Down' - http://www.theupsideofdown.com/ . On the book website it says 'The Upside of Down sets out a theory of the growth, crisis, and renewal of societies. Today's converging energy, environmental, and political-economic stresses could cause a breakdown of national and global order. Yet there are things we can do now to keep such a breakdown from being catastrophic. And some kinds of breakdown could even open up extraordinary opportunities for creative, bold reform of our societies, if we're prepared to exploit these opportunities when they arise.' The 'Upside of Down' is due for release in Australia on July 2nd. I recommend it - its given me a view of the 'bigger picture' I was needing.

All best wishes from the presently soggy UK (we have warm weather that quickly deteriorates into thunderstorms). 
Deb Harding - Lot 112 (under construction)

Hi everyone,

I have mp3 audio files of the five BBC Reith lectures for 2007 given by Professor Jeremy Sachs if anyone is interested. The files are no longer available for download from the BBC. The titles of the five talks and subsequent discussions are:
1. Bursting at the Seams
2. Survival in the Anthropocene
3. The Great Convergence
4. Economic Solidarity for a Crowded Planet
5. Global Politics in a Complex Age
See the link for full details: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2007/

Regards - Ray Mines

Check out the following website for "Eco-Dome", an interesting and attractive earth building technology:
http://www.calearth.org/EcoDome.htm

Reinforcement for not using herbicides on our site is not that hard to find. Now it appears that the plant "disease" called "Mundulla Yellows" that affects many native trees in settled areas is not actually an infectious disease at all but a result of herbicide spraying for "maintenance" of open space. You can check this out at: http://farrer.csu.edu.au/ASGAP/APOL27/sep02-5.html
Thanks to Steve Poole for sending in the link.

Thanks to Steve Poole for sending in the following:

"What permaculturists are doing is the most important activity that any group is doing on the planet.” - David Suzuki