The next Armchair Movie session will be on Tuesday 21 September. Watch the News Feed for more details closer to the date.

For sale: Cottage at 23 Seaberry Walk; $250,000 ono; Contact Pete on 0402 123 606.

Less than 1yr old 2-bedroom cottage with carport, builtins to both bedrooms, gas heater, 12,500 lt rainwater tank, solar hot water and power, garden shed, landscaped gardens with fruit trees. (Note for investors: Other Cottages are rented at $240pw.)

Hi all,

I have recently had donated to myself a large 4-draw lockable filing cabinet. The person who donated it was very specific in that it was for my work (I work in a community service organisation) and not intended for personal use.
 
I do not have a need for it and thought that there might be a need within the village. I do need to stress that it must be for Village use only and not for personal use, as that is the way it was gifted to me.

If any of the committee’s within the Village would like to make use of the filing cabinet then please give me a call on 0414 513 080 and I can arrange delivery. I need to move the cabinet on by Friday 10 September.
 
Vikram H.

‘The Rose Room’ bed-sitter, attached to the east side of 7 Yacca Way, is available for weekend and short-term rental.  A local manager is needed as the contact for enquiries, to handle bookings, check people in and out, and keep it neat and tidy, in exchange for 20% of the rent.

If interested contact Rosanne DeBats on 8293 2120 to discuss. 

Give Away Holiday:  7 days accommodation at the Port Pacific Resort,  Port Macquarie from Friday 10 September.  Purchased using timeshare points and I am unable to use it.

Contact John Turner on 0413 565 874 if interested. 

Does anyone have a cycloid(al) massage pad - e.g., Niagara - they would lend to the O'Connells?  If so, please contact Jane on 0411 121 951 or 8557 6078 or by email.

Just in case some of you don't know, Toby and I have the brand of Thistle Be Good - worked out of the Community Kitchen in Willunga. 
 
We are happy to offer our range of Dukkah and Rubs to Villagers at 'Mates Rates'.  The Dukkah’s RRP is $8.50 and the Rub is $4.50
 
You are welcome to buy directly from us at $7 for the Dukkah (Egyptian, Bush Tucker and Chilli) and $4 for the Rub (Moroccan, BBQ, Tandoori and Bollywood). If you are interested, see our website: http://www.thistlebegood.com
 
Makes great gifts at Xmas time too!
 
Just email me and we'll arrange a pick up, thanks!
 
Jacqui Good - 8556 6459 - 3 Clematis Walk
 

Hi there,

Register by return email or by phoning 8556 6226 or 1800 644 733 for your chance to attend
 
‘DESIGNED TO WIN’ health seminar
 
hosted by Leonie Hick and presented by two of Australia’s leading health practitioners, Gary Martin and Dr Eric Davis.
 
Full seminar details are on the ATTACHED flyer.
 
Book early to avoid disappointment – limited places available.
 
Port Noarlunga, 20 September
Adelaide, 21 September
 
Hope to see you there! (And please forward this message and flyer on to friends and family)
 
Leonie 
 

Designed to win seminar flyer

Homoeopathy in the Home presents: Homoeopathic First Aid - LEVEL 1

Starting SUNDAY, 19 September, 12 pm - 4 pm (See ATTACHED flyer)

The focus for the course is learning how to ‘Get In First’ with Homoeopathic First Aid and Trauma Remedies, Bach’s Rescue Remedy or Herbal Tinctures. You also learn how to treat common everyday ailments using the Tissue Salts. 

Held once a week for 6 weeks, the lecture lasts for 3 hours with a break in the middle. However, I recommend that you have a good 4 hours to spare not only in case we run overtime  but also to give you the time you need to medicate remedies or socialise. While I plan to run the course weekly, I am aware that life happens, so classes can be altered to meet the majority of students' needs.

Fees: $275 (Working) or $200 (for Health Care Card Holders).  A 10% discount applies if you pay the whole of the course fee on or before day one. Payment by instalments is also available. There is a $50 Registration fee (deducted from your course fee), payable at least one week before class commences.  Students medicate and purchase only the course remedies they need, however the cost of the remedies is extra to the course fee.  Excellent notes are provided free.

If you would like to know more, call me on 0405 098 243 or email me

I look forward to working with you - Josephine Firns

Homoeopathic First Aid Course

For Sale: 3 Follett St, Aldinga Beach. 3 year old, 3 Bedroom timber frame home on courtyard block. Solar panels, rain water tank, wood fire, reverse cycle air con, food forest garden with raised veggie beds, 19 fruit trees, chook run, 2 under cover outdoor areas, eco painted. Great neighbours. Close to shops, drs, beach, park and schools... bike ride to all! Willunga Farmers market and food coop 10 mins away. $250,000 - 255,000.

Phone Silvia Hart on 0439 341 072.

Exercise can help prevent cancer, researchers say. World Cancer Research Fund says even moderate exercise such as brisk walking can reduce risk of cancer. Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/aug/31/exercise-help-prevent-cancer

U.S. Economy Grinds To Halt As Nation Realizes Money Just A Symbolic, Mutually Shared Illusion: The U.S. economy ceased to function this week after unexpected existential remarks by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke shocked Americans into realizing that money is, in fact, just a meaningless and intangible social construct. Trust “The Onion” to make people weep! Read more at:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/us-economy-grinds-to-halt-as-nation-realizes-money,2912/

The facts of climate change have made even Bjorn Lomborg, one of the most vehement climate skeptics, change sides. Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/30/bjorn-lomborg-climate-change-u-turn
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/31/climate-change-bjorn-lomborg

Ancient coral reef uncovered in South Pacific may provide clues to what will happen to coral when sea temperatures rise. Researchers from Australia and New Zealand have discovered a huge 9,000-year-old reef surprisingly far south. Lord Howe Island is 600km east of the Australian mainland and has a small modern coral reef - the furthest south in the world. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11153193

New Climate & Energy Policies Could Create 2.5 Million Jobs, Hold Down Energy Costs: New greenhouse gas emissions and energy policies at the Federal level could generate as many as 2.5 million new jobs and $134 billion in economic activity in the United States while keeping energy costs down, according to a new report from the Center for Climate Strategies, published with Johns Hopkins University. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-climate-energy-policies-could.html

Help GetUp campaign to reform political donations: View the “funny ad” video at:
https://www.getup.org.au/campaign/PoliticalDonations&id=1384

South Australia’s Strategic Plan - Join the conversation:
http://community.saplan.org.au/
http://www.youtube.com/YourFutureSA

South Australia’s community news, events & services:
http://sacommunity.org/

Eco Voice - latest Eco News - Issue 77:
http://www.ecovoice.com.au/eco-news

[Thanks to John H, Cruxcatalyst, GetUP, SA Community, and EcoVoice for the links.]

Could parents please encourage their children to protect the vegetation in the mounds.  It is hard enough, and a lot of work, to encourage the growth in the mounds, but even harder when children clear swathes across them for bike jumps.  

The mound at the bottom of Yacca Way is regularly targeted as a bike jump, and last weekend, a whole swathe was cleared, with ground cover ruthlessly cleared out down to bare earth. 

The boys who did it, were in the process of also of digging up a sheoak tree when they were very politely asked to stop, but they argued that they "were allowed to dig it up & replant it". After further argument, they were finally chased away, and the tree was saved, but the ground cover is gone. 

Please, parents, point out that they must respect the mounds and the work that has gone into trying to establish them, and that they are not play areas. 

Annette 

The City of Onkaparinga's Field Operations Centre at Railway Road, Seaford will be one of seven e-waste drop-off locations across Adelaide on Saturday & Sunday 11 & 12 September.

This will fully funded collection at no charge to residents and all items will be recycled. See
the ATTACHMENT for more information.

Due to circumstances beyond the Councils control there is only a short lead time to this event, so please spread the word to your family and friends. If 200 tonnes is collected across Adelaide it will be repeated again next year.

ZER027_press_v6[1]

Hi all wonderful AAE villagers,
 
Hope this message finds you well!
 
Our news is that we are having a great season and have planted quite a few new fruit varieties and that the Gawler River is finally flowing. We have a range of short courses starting soon, which kick off with the Open Day on Sunday September 5 (see ATTACHMENTS below).

Graham and the English film maker Sam Collins are about to complete a movie about permaculture and The Food Forest. Called 'Design for Life', it is a 68 min documentary that takes you on the journey when Graham and Annemarie met in Holland, quested for a sustainable land-use system and set up The Food Forest as a permaculture demonstration property. It is based on interviews with the Brookmans and David Holmgren and is rich with footage of the operation of the home and farm, filmed over a full year. A 25-minute Virtual Tour of the property is included on the DVD we will release in September.
A flyer about the DVD is ATTACHED.
 
Please also find ATTACHED our detailed brochures for:
1) Spring 2010 workshops; including details for our Open day on Sunday September 5.
2) Building with Strawbales weekend workshop, October 30 & 31
 
In Summary:

Open Day: Sunday September 5
- Morning 10am-1pm: Strawbale Building Info Session
- Afternoon 2pm-5pm: Permaculture Property Walk & Talk
 Workshops
- Building with Strawbales:  October 30, 31
- Introduction to Permaculture: November 13
- Organic Vegetables & Free-range Poultry: November 14                                    
- Fruit & Nut Growing: November 28
- 10-day Permaculture Design Course with David Holmgren: Starting April 2011

We hope you find the open day and workshop information of use. If you are interested in attending a workshop, the registration forms with cost, times etc is at the end of the ATTACHED PDF brochures, and also as separate ‘doc’ files.
 
YouTube: Food Forest TV Channel
The Food Forest has launched micro movies onto Food Forest TV. These 'how to'  videos, ranging from practical straw bale building techniques to controlling codling moth in your apple trees can be veiwed on: 
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFoodForest Click on “Uploads’’ on the Food Forest TV page to view all segments.
 
Please feel free to forward this message to people you think may be interested.
 
Kind regards - Annemarie & Graham Brookman - at The Food Forest
Phone/Fax: 08 8522 6450; Email: foodforest@bigpond.com; Web: www.foodforest.com.au
 
View The Food Forest on ABC Landline, broadcast on April 6, 2008 http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2006/s2208413.htm
 
We sell our produce at The Adelaide Showgrounds Farmers Market
every fortnight. See www.asfm.org.au

FoodForest_DVD_release_Sept2010
Spring_Workshops_2010
Booking_Form_Spring_Workshops
Spring_STRAWBALE_Workshop_2010
Booking_Form_STRAWBALE_Workshop

Although, unfortunately, we had to postpone our screening of Latcho Drom last Friday, we have decided to make September our month of Gypsy film by presenting two of Tony Gatlif's amazing films.

Friday 10 September -  LATCHO DROM   (Movie Details)

Saturday 25 September - EXILES  (Movie Details)

We'll be sending out more information closer to the dates! Both are fantastic films and we look forward to seeing you at the Arthouse!

Cheers - Greg & Sarah at the Black Cockatoo Arthouse - Phone: 8323 9294
Email: blackcockatooarthouse@gmail.com

The latest (Winter) issue of the Newsletter of Friends of Port Willunga is ATTACHED for your interest.

FOPW Newsletter Winter 2010

With researchers increasingly turning their attention to the social and environmental impacts of community gardening, the Australian City Farms and Community Gardens Network (ACFCGN) has just published a fully revised and expanded second edition of its Annotated Bibliography of community gardening research and analysis. The new edition provides a comprehensive summary of the latest research right up to August 2010 including how-to manuals as well as publications in academic and professional journals, books and theses.

The Australian City Farms and Community Gardens Network has produced the Bibliography in response to requests from students and researchers, and to assist gardeners seeking evidence of the benefits of community gardening to support their applications and submissions. We hope it will meet their needs and encourage further research.
Copies of the 50-page booklet are available for free download from:
http://communitygarden.org.au/bibliography [pdf 676 KB]

Here’s an interesting alert sent by Sarah West, an ecovillage network colleague. It involves two blocks of land for sale in Tasmania with potential for ecovillage-style development. The blocks are owned by Janet Down, a member of the Transition Town movement, whose original message follows:

************************
“My brothers and sisters and I inherited 5 acres of land on the north-west coast of Tassie and it is on the market. It is a beautiful spot on the coast (facing north) with excellent rainfall, natural springs, and bordering a creek, and has good fertile soil. The land is right in the heart of a small town called Sisters Beach, 20 minutes drive from Wynyard (which has an airport called Burnie). Currently my grandparents' little house  is still standing and though basic is habitable.

We thought we would be selling to a developer who might develop some kind of tourist accommodation there, but then I had the thought that this land could turned into a small community running a market garden for the whole town. The town is surrounded by national park, so very beautiful.

We also have on the market 41 acres on the hills at the edge of the town, bordering the national park. This is pristine bush and some of it is steep, with some flatter parts suitable for building on, and there is a creek on the property.

If you know anyone who might be interested, you are welcome to send this info on.
See http://www.robertsre.com.au  for details of the two properties.

Jan Down - Email

Monbiot sees the politics of climate change as a self-fulfilling prophecy: Quietly in public, loudly in private, climate scientists everywhere are saying the same thing: it’s over. The years in which more than two degrees of global warming could have been prevented have passed, the opportunities squandered by denial and delay. On current trajectories we’ll be lucky to get away with four degrees. Mitigation (limiting greenhouse gas pollution) has failed; now we must adapt to what nature sends our way. If we can! Read more at:
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2009/03/17/a-self-fulfilling-prophecy/

The longer you sit, the earlier you die: Unlike most bad news, this one is best heard standing up: people who sit more than 6 hours a day are more likely to die earlier. That's even for people who exercise regularly after long sit-a-thons at the office and aren't obese. That's the sobering news from a new study that tracked more than 100,000 adults for 14 years. See:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sns-health-healthy-aging-sitting-early-death,0,6105710.story

Friends of the Earth urges end to 'land grab' for biofuels: European Union countries must drop their biofuels targets or else risk plunging more Africans into hunger and raising carbon emissions, according to Friends of the Earth (FoE). In a campaign launching today, the charity accuses European companies of land-grabbing throughout Africa to grow biofuel crops that directly compete with food crops. Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/30/biofuels-land-grab-friends-of-the-earth

“Human kind still has a lot to learn about the nature of value, and the value of nature,” says Pavan Sukhdev - head of the UNEP Green Economy Initiative and an expert on the natural capital that gets left off today’s corporate balance sheets. His pioneering work considers what it would take to put nature on the balance sheet - so that we do not continue borrowing from the future to pay for the present. In an interim report released by the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity Project, he pointed out that we’re trying to navigate this complex terrain using a defective economic compass.  He also referred to Adam Smith’s observation that prices are often out of whack with what things are really worth.  Water is essential for life, yet incredibly cheap.  Nobody dies without diamonds, yet diamonds are expensive. At the link, you can WATCH Pavan Sukhdev’s Sydney lecture filmed for the ABC's Big Ideas Program, or READ the transcript, or LISTEN and download the podcast:
http://cpd.org.au/2010/08/value-of-nature-pavan-sukhdev/

‘Deepwater Horizon’ fears resurface as rigs probe for oil under Arctic ice: In a few days' time, officials at the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum in Greenland will reveal the winners of a new round of licences to drill for oil and gas in its waters. The announcement promises to be explosive. Among those waiting to drill are most of the world's leading oil companies, including ExxonMobil, Shell and Norway's StatOil. Watching with equal attention will be the planet's leading green groups, who have pledged to block every effort to drill in the Arctic, fearing a broken well could gush for years in such a challenging environment. Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/29/deepwater-horizon-greenland-oil-drilling-arctic

Crybaby Capitalists! The big guys on Wall Street, they can't take their losses - they're crybaby capitalists, they preach capitalism for everybody but themselves! See this excellent ABC program - 'Overdose', a documentary on global financial crisis (43 mins total):
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/crybaby-capitalists.html

The price of Britain's disappearing wildlife: Food is relatively cheap and plentiful in Britain today, but will that still be the case in 50 years? Overfishing and the decline of species on land has left some experts saying it is getting both harder and more expensive for the UK to feed itself in the long term. That decline also opens up questions about the sort of countryside being left to future generations as nearly half of Britain's native land mammals are now considered a priority for conservation. See:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_8950000/8950389.stm

[Thanks to John H, Cruxcatalyst, and The Centre for Policy Development for the links.]

Hello everyone at AAEV,

My family and I would like to stay in the EcoVillage for a holiday, to explore the idea of moving over from Melbourne. We are looking to stay sometime during November / December for a period of 1 to 4 weeks. We are happy to take care of plants etc if someone is going away during this time.

Please email me if you have something suitable. Thanks Natalie Miroch

Thanks to Pat F for the following good laugh:

Kulula is a low-cost South-African airline that doesn't take itself too seriously. Check out the ATTACHMENT to see their new livery! And have a read about their Customer Relations. For example:

"Your seats cushions can be used for flotation; and in the event of an emergency water landing, please paddle to shore and take them with our compliments." Now read on:

Kulula Airways

Stop wasting food - save the world’s energy! The energy footprint of food is enormous. We could save an enormous amount of energy by tackling the huge problem of food waste. Doing so is likely to be quicker than many of the other options on the table, while also saving money and reducing emissions. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/stop-wasting-food-save-worlds-energy.html

Think Australia’s cities have traffic jams? Try China! China’s hellish 10-day-old traffic jam now stretches 100 km and could last another three weeks. It's a metaphor for a nation that sometimes chokes on its own breakneck growth. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/chinese-traffic-jam-extends-60-miles.html

A cup of cold undies - how silly can you get!!! This is surely one of the more ridiculous examples of unnecessary consumption and packaging! In reaction to one of the longest heat waves in Japan’s history stores everywhere have been stocking ice cold panties in disposable cups. To see how dumb marketing can get, see:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/cup-of-cold-undies.html

New eco-philosophy to permit new “One Planet” homes in rural Britain: In areas of Britain, the construction of new homes has long been forbidden in rural areas. However, there is now a radical new policy being implemented in Wales to permit qualifying homes in which people will live nearly self-sufficiently with an eco-footprint that uses on their fair share of our one planet’s resources. Read more at:
http://www.pembrokeshire.econews.org.uk and http://www.ecocymru.org

19th Century economist had a better idea for valuing natural resources: Herman Daly, US Professor of Ecological Economics, says nineteenth century economist Henry George has much to teach us about how to share the value of common natural resources... Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/modernising-henry-george.html

Calling all ‘Future Eaters’! The human species during its brief time on Earth has exhibited a remarkable capacity to kill itself off. And now we sit passive and dumb as corporations and the leaders of industrialised nations ensure that climate change will accelerate to levels that could mean the extinction of our species. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/calling-all-future-eaters.html

The politics of climate change denial: It was Australia's second climate change election. Climate change deposed the former leaders of both main parties: Kevin Rudd (Labor) because his position was too weak, Malcolm Turnbull (Liberal) because his was too strong. When Julia Gillard, the new Labor leader, also flunked the issue, many of her supporters defected to the Greens. Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/aug/23/deniers-climate-change-rightwing-handout

Amazon, droughts driving drop in plants' ability to store carbon: Recent observations have led to worries that land use changes and rising temperatures themselves might start inhibiting the natural carbon sinks (plants and oceans). A new science study provides some evidence that this may be taking place: droughts over the past decade have caused the amount of CO2 taken up by land plants to drop. Read more at:
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/08/amazon-droughts-driving-drop-in-plant-ability-to-store-carbon.ars

“Your Development”is a new website for sustainable urban development: It allows assessment of a development and provides information as Fact sheets; Case studies; Brief case studies; Links to other sites; News articles and more. See:
http://yourdevelopment.org/about/

Climate Change Science - Questions & Answers: This PDF publication from the Australian Academy of Science gives the latest on peer-reviewed climate change science. See:
http://www.science.org.au/reports/climatechange2010.pdf [Large file 1.2 MB]

[Thanks to Vanda R, John H, Deb Harding and Cruxcatalyst for the links.]

Thankyou for all of your generous donations!  I am pleased, grateful and somewhat proud to announce that Jay and Jespa, with their muffin making, garden produce selling and village busking (with Isodore and Chaska) have raised $300.

Last week we purchased a fully enclosed and covered-spring trampoline! (meeting the need for safety of the village children).

I have to say at first I felt a little overwhelmed by Jays desire and insistence in making this happen. As a child I didn't have this kind of experience as my parents were probably concerned about the safety aspect (we always lived in suburbia). But for my children they are truly blessed to live in a village where I as a mother know and trust that the children are safe and supported in their passions to strive and make a difference to people’s lives. So thank you again. It really is such a gift to me as a Mother and to my children to live here!!

Initially we were looking at making it an in-ground structure but, due to impatience (on both mine and the children's parts) we have decided to have it free standing. We will place it in the existing playground area between Nonie's house and the Cottages, as that is an area where there are many children under the age of 12 already playing.

So for clarity's sake it is purely for use to children under the age of 12.

Thankyou all once again for your support. It has not only been a tremendous experience for my children but also for me.

Happy bouncing - Cheers - Billie-Joe

Taken from 20 Yacca Way last Thursday evening 19 August - two solar garden lights, including one which changes colour.

Please return them ASAP - no questions asked.

Any queries or relevant observations to Keith at 20 Yacca Way

For  Rent:  Cottage at 9 Seaberry Walk in the Village; 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, all as new.  $240 per week neg.  Available mid september.

Contact John Turner  0413 565 874. 

We have been given 250 gm of green tea as a gift from a friend who is just back from China.  We do not drink green tea, so we will leave it on the table in our carport at 3 Clematis Walk if someone wants to come by and pick it up - enjoy!
 
Jacqui Good - Phone 8556 6459 or email

I have a top-loader washing machine for sale; in good condition; $120 o.n.o
It is currently on my verandah at 23 Yacca Way (Lot 19) for interested parties wanting to look.

Cheers - Clare D - Phone 8556 5224 or email

We have FOR SALE: Two never-been-used WILLOW SCREENINGS 4m (length) x1.5m (high) at $40 each (or nearest offer)

Christy and Josh Spier at 22 Seaberry Walk (the grey / blue cottage on Port Road side)
Phone: 0402 677 502 or email

Does anyone have a working guillotine for cutting card & paper in large amounts that they would like to lend/sell/or give away?  Please contact me if you could help, or even if you know of one that someone may be happy to part with.

Annette - Phone: 8557 8180 or email

There are two Community Development positions being advertised with the City of Onkaparinga. The links for further information are below, please forward to those who may be interested.

Community Development Officer - Neighbourhoods Job Type: Contract until 30 June 2011 Job Status: Part time working 0.7 FTE Contact: Megan Guster Phone: (08) 8384 0665 Ref No: 3035 Applications close 5 pm on Monday 30 August 2010
- Position description
- Advertisement

Community Development Officer - Seaford/Moana Neighbourhood Centre Job Type: Permanent Job Status: Part time working 27 hours per week Contact: Jan Brown Phone: (08) 8384 0736 Ref No: 3038 Applications close 5 pm on Monday 6 September 2010
- Position description
- Advertisement
 
How to apply for a position

Applications can be emailed to recruitment@onkaparinga.sa.gov.au or posted to:
Contact Officer (mentioned in the advertisement) C/O Human Resources, City of Onkaparinga, PO Box 1, Noarlunga Centre SA 5168

The 2nd semester program for the Music Advisory Committee Lunchtime concert series is available at the following link:

http://www.flinders.edu.au/ehlt/humanities/lunchtime-music-concerts.cfm

These concerts take place on Wednesdays at 1pm in the Noel Stockdale Room, Central Library (unless otherwise advised), and feature a variety of excellent musicians playing in a great variety of styles, from baroque to contemporary. Entrance is by gold coin donation. All welcome to attend.

I'm sure that most of us have seen and read this Desiderata piece at some point (ATTACHED). I have not read it for many years, and it is so beautiful and relevant.  Take a couple of minutes to read it if you can.

Jacqui G
Go placidly

Thanks to Annette I for sending in the ATTACHED set of hilarious quotes from a book called “Disorder in the American Courts.” They are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters who suffered the torment of staying calm and straight-faced while these exchanges were actually taking place.

Here’s a preview:

ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.

Now read on:
Silence in Court

Thanks to Hugh R for sending in the ATTACHED alert to our present national debt that affects all of us - to the average cost of $733 per month. Forewarned is forearmed for the resulting pressures we will soon be facing!

The National Debt

Population: The Multiplier of Everything Else: When it comes to controversial issues, population is in a class by itself. Advocates and activists working to reduce global population growth and size are attacked by the Left for supposedly ignoring human-rights issues, glossing over Western overconsumption, or even seeking to reduce the number of people of colour. They are attacked by the Right for supposedly favouring widespread abortion, promoting promiscuity via sex education, or wanting to harm economic growth. Others think the problem has been solved, or believe that the real problem is that we have a shortage of people (the so-called “birth dearth”). One thing is certain: The planet and its resources are finite, and it cannot support an infinite population of humans or any other species. A second thing is also certain: The issue of population is too important to avoid just because it is controversial. Download this Post Carbon PDF reader (1.5 MB) at:
http://www.postcarbon.org/Reader/PCReader-Ryerson-Population.pdf

UK also has open day for Eco-Houses - much like our Sustainable House Day: See:
http://ecoopenhouses.org/

Privatisation of beaches for the wealthy causing angst in Italy: Class war breaks out on Italy's beaches, as the ultra-rich carve out their patch of sand. Private beach clubs are taking over the country's coastline, forcing average families onto crowded patches of shoreline. See:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/22/italy-beach-berlusconi-rossi-zucchero

Rising temperatures reducing ability of plants to absorb carbon: Research shows warming over past decade caused droughts that reduced number of plants available to soak up carbon dioxide. Droughts have wiped out plants that would have absorbed the carbon equivalent of all the man-made greenhouse gas emissions from the UK every year. Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/19/rising-temperatures-plants-carbon

Critical plant bank in danger: Plant scientists around the world are warning that hundreds of years of accumulated agricultural heritage are in danger of being ploughed under after a Russian court ruled on 11 August that the land occupied by a world-renowned plant genetic resources collection on the outskirts of Saint Petersburg may be transferred to the Russian Housing Development Foundation, which plans to build houses on the site. Read more at:
http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/57617/

[Thanks to Deb Harding, John H, Steve P and the Post Carbon Institute for the links.]

We are trying Meditation on Monday evenings, 6.15 to 7pm, beginning next Monday, 23rd of August.
 
Sue Gebhardt - 8556 6717

A reminder for our up and coming Nonviolent Communication workshop day Saturday 4 August 10am - 5pm in the Sharing Shed.  See the ATTACHED flyer.

Registrations close Friday 27 August.  And remember scholarships and family concessions available, so cost need be no barrier to attending.  Lunch provided.
 
Looking forward to sharing this valuable tool with you.
 
Jane Sanderco

100812 Be Heard & Understood

Hi to all.  We are having such a lovely time at playgroup.  The children are now so familiar with what to expect and very much enjoying their play toys. 
 
We are soon preparing to celebrate the birthing of Spring Time (yay!) with a special celebration on Tuesday the 14 September. Please bring some flowers for decorations and weaving into garlands for our hair and we will sing and dance to celebrate and give thanks that Spring time is here.  Grannys most welcome. 
 
This will also be the last playgroup for this term and we will recommence Tuesday 12 October.
 
For those who do not yet know, playgroup is on every Tuesday through school term 9.30am - 11.45am at the sharing shed ($5 donation).
 
If you think you know someone who is new to our village who does not yet know about playgroup, invite them along.  Its such a blessing to have an already established community of people to be included into.......so important!
 
See you there - Jane

I have curtains to give away.They are a patterned polished cotton in a dull pink, green and fawn pattern. Two are 95cm x 300 cm and two are 155cm x 300 cm.

Jill Wilson - Phone 8557 7733 - 7 Grevillea Way

Does anyone have any plain (uncoloured) wire coathangers? I need 12!

If you can help, please leave them on the chair near my front door.

Thank you - Sue E

I am intending to hold a private function at the Sharing Shed and Pizza Oven on Sunday 5 September from 11 am to about 3 or 4 pm.

If this might conflict with your plans, please contact me to discuss. I can be contacted on 08 7220 5664 or 042 052 4135 or email

Regards - Anita Priadko

Hello friends,

Coming up in November is Permaculture Education Zone’s very first Permaculture Design Course.

This 11-day course will run over three blocks, Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 November at Warriparinga on the Sturt River, Thursday 18 to Sunday 21 November at Format, Adelaide city, and Friday 26 to Sunday 28 at Black Cockatoo Arthouse, McLaren Vale.

The course is facilitated by Kim Hill, Tamara Griffiths and Stuart Muir Wilson, with guest presenters.  There will be practical activities, interactive exercises and design projects. Topics will include permaculture ethics and principles, learning from patterns in nature, design for
urban and rural settings, soils and composting, water harvesting, forest gardening, community
food systems and Transition Towns.

There will also be fieldtrips to community gardens, an eco-village, urban eco-housing development, food co-op, and an indigenous history and bushfood tour.

The course cost is $980, with a discounted price of $900 for registrations received by 1 November.

For more information contact Tamara on 0407 457 707 or email

This course is auspiced by the Permaculture Association of South Australia.
Please forward the details to anyone who might be interested - thanks!

Volunteer-assisted eco-build in Holland:

This summer and autumn a challenging building-event is taking place in Holland. 

Ecodorp Brabant (www.ecodorpbrabant.nl) is building a passive house with volunteers on 
the premises of “De Kleine Aarde” in Boxtel near the town of Den Bosch. For details of the project look at the buttons: “bouwen” and “voortgang” of the website. 

The aim of the project is: 
- To show that sustainable building is possible; 
- To demonstrate sustainable building methods, materials and technology that work. 
- To demonstrate that sustainable building is possible at a fair price; 
- To prove ourselves that we are capable of managing such a project and to experience it. 

We invite volunteers (international) who would like to come and participate in this rather 
unique but professional building experience. 

Preparing food, caring for children, building and entaining is mutually prepared every day 
by all participants. You can choose what you like! We have a camping site (free) and great vegetarian food (free). You can rent a room if that suits you better, 10 Euro per day/night. 

Please email to: bouwen@ecodorpbrabant.nl and let us know if and when you to would like to come and join the party, or if you have any questions. 

Love to meet you soon - Rolf Grooten - Facilitator Ecodorp Brabant 
 

Vandalised Earthship will not be re-built:  The earthship at Greenhead Moss that was destroyed by arsonists in March this year will not be re-built. A meeting of the Trust Board decided not to continue with the project due to financial constraints, lack of site security and concern over persistent break-ins at the park.

We would like to extend our thanks to all of you who have supported us through volunteering, donations and cheering us up after the fire!

[Thanks to Deb Harding for these news clips.]

The Climate Change Elephant-in-the-Room gets a TV interview: A little comic relief amongst all the hype and spin of the election campaign - from the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. See the video clip, and listen to the news anchor start giggling when the reporter begins to interview 'the elephant'!!
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/climate-elephant-in-room.html

GetUp’s Election Issues scorecard: An independent guide to where the parties stand on the issues. See:
https://www.getup.org.au/campaign/election2010&id=1354

Win Australia’s Greatest Train Journey: To celebrate the launch of Great Southern Rail’s new and improved user-friendly website, we are giving people the opportunity to experience Australia's greatest train journey with three of their friends. It's easy, simply click on the link, choose your dream itinerary, enter your details and you're in the running:
http://www.greatsouthernrail.com.au/site/competitions/win_australias_greatest_train_journey.jsp

New political party, Stop Population Growth Now fields an election candidate for Mayo: Stop Population Growth Now, a body of Australians seeking to reduce Australia’s population growth, has formed a new political party in time to field a first candidate, Bill Spragg, for the SA seat of Mayo. This is a direct response to recent polls that show a majority of Australians do not support a “big Australia”. Read more at:
http://www.stoppopulationgrowthnow.com/ and http://www.billspragg.id.au/

Earth is officially in overdraft from Saturday: Data from the Global Footprint Network reveal that, as of this Saturday 21 August, humanity will have demanded all the ecological services – from filtering CO2 to producing the raw materials for food – that nature can provide this year. From now until the end of the year, we will meet our ecological demand by depleting resource stocks and accumulating greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/overdraft-notice-served-on-earth-21.html

Confessions of a recovering environmentalist: This is one of those rare pieces that lays down the gauntlet to the climate change movement - in essence it asks the question are we concerned for the planet or merely concerned to hold on to what we have?  Can we continue a consumption driven lifestyle and still claim to be concerned for the environment? Without stating it this piece highlights the problem of removing population growth from the sustainable equation. This is a very moving essay for anyone truly concerned for our global environment:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/paul-kingsnorth/confessions-of-recovering-environmentalist?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzEmail&utm_content=201210&utm_campaign=On-Demand_2010-08-16%2013%3a27

[Thanks to Deb Harding, Cruxcatalyst, GetUp, and Zero Carbon Future for the links.]

Bin owners,
 
Can I please ask that if your bin is put out on Port Road for emptying, that it is collected and taken back to its home as close to Monday as possible? There have been quite a number of bins left out on Port Road, or just inside the entrance recently, sometimes for up to a week.
 
Many thanks - Jacqui Good

Due to personal circumstances, 10 Dianella Walk (Lot 78) will be put on the market at the start of September; price range $349-359,000.

If you or anyone you know are interested please contact Sam at Smallacombe Aldinga on 0403 369 384 or by email.

Erin P

Commercial Kitchen for rent in (Community Kitchen) Willunga – Thursday, Friday & Saturday - immediate entry available

Kitchen is council recognised and has the following:
- 2 x commercial ovens
- 4 large gas burners and large pots (in excess of 100 ltrs)
- Large areas of stainless steel bench space
- Large Hobart dough mixer
- Robot coupe type food processor
- Cool room space
- Storage space
- Food Producers Product and Public Indemnity Insurance at group rate

The kitchen is set up as a Community Kitchen, i.e., different food producers use it on different days. 

Rent is $120 per day for 8 hours when used regularly. This includes power, cool room and storage. If longer hours are required, it is $20 per extra hour. 

Please call Jacqui Good on 0412 182 365 or email for more information or to arrange to visit kitchen.

A while ago, Josh and Christy Spier (22 Seaberry Walk) helped to put together a local compilation CD entitled "Where's Darfur?"... featuring music by Josh and other acoustic / folk Adelaide artists, with all proceeds going to TEAR Australia's community development project in Darfur.

If you would like a copy, please let Christy know by email. Price: $5.00

For more information about the Darfur tragedy, please visit Darfur Australia Network's website

Cheers - Josh

Hi everyone,

I really appreciated your kind donations to my 40 hour famine. I have almost hit target ($150). I have $20 to go, and only have till friday to get to my target. It would be great if you could support me.

Here is the link to donate:
http://www.worldvision.com.au/40HF/ProfilePage.aspx?preferredurl=karriNott3 

Thanks - Karri

“Why Food Security is a National Security Issue”

Senator Nick Xenophon - featured speaker at the Royal Adelaide Show Breakfast

Thursday 9 September, 7.00 am for 7.30 am; 8.45 am finish; in the Members' Banquet Room, Adelaide Showground.

See ATTACHED notice for details:

Xenophon on food security

Brad N has forwarded the following for our information and possible action. It was sent to TM Organics by Russ Grayson on behalf of food industry concerns:

A group of people working in food systems is sending a letter to the federal Minister for Agriculture, the shadow minister and The Greens asking for the inclusion of community sector food interests, social enterprise and small business in the proposed national policy on food.  

We thought you or your organisation might like to join us in co-signing the letter, as a number of organisations have already done. The letter is ATTACHED for your consideration.

Our motivation in taking this move is that it is likely to be only big business and large organisations that are consulted in the production of a national policy on food. Yet, there is a large small business food industry that includes farmers and an emerging social enterprise and community-based food sector whose interests could be ignored. We believe a national policy must be developed through a democratic and consultative process that includes all food interests.

In producing this letter we are driven by the impending federal election. Thus, we would prefer your response by end of business Monday next, 16 August.

Would you consider adding your organisations, or your own name if you are an individual engaged in food issues or food production, to the attached letter?

Thank you - Russ Grayson

Collaborative food policy statement

Feeling clever? Thanks to Malcolm Dispain for passing on these “Brain Break” questions from Science Week:

Brain Break Questions

Want a good laugh about “ocker” shed culture? Try the “Institute for Backyard Studies”:
http://www.ibys.org/shed/?page_id=7
especially Hoke’s Tool Co: http://www.ibys.org/shed/?page_id=101
and Deep Shed Culture: http://www.ibys.org/shed/?page_id=17

A different system of ‘eco burial’: An Australian company is claiming to be the first in the world to offer a watery grave. The new service will present bereaved families with an alternative to burial or cremation that involves essentially dissolving a body in hot water. A newly registered business, Aquamation Industries, aims to appeal to people who want to eliminate the 200 or so kg of greenhouse gases associated with a typical cremation. The first ''aquamation'' unit is expected to be declared operational on the Gold Coast today. See:
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/dissolve-a-loved-one-and-save-the-planet-20100811-11zqe.html

Weird buildings - Who said buildings had to be straight or perpendicular! See:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/gallery-e6frg6n6-1225904799702

The Greens famous “Gruen Nation” ad: Watch it as a YouTube clip:
http://greens.org.au/content/have-you-seen-ad-everyone-talking-about

GetUp’s Climate Change T-Shirts: Show your support for climate change action:
https://www.getup.org.au/campaign/election2010&id=1312

Thoughts on ‘peak population’ for Dick Smith: With his documentary 'The Population Puzzle', Australian entrepreneur and adventurer Dick Smith has done something very brave, and very important, in working to break the taboo on speaking about population. Read more:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/thoughts-for-dick-smith.html

Dick Smith’s $1 Million Wiberforce Award for population action:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/wilberforce-award.html

Nurture not nature makes boys and girls think differently: A new slant on whether boys and girls brains are really wired differently. Seems they hardly differ at all! Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/15/girls-boys-think-same-way

Portugal’s clean energy makeover. If they can do it, why can’t we? Nearly 45 percent of the electricity in Portugal’s grid will come from renewable sources this year, up from 17 percent just five years ago. Land-based wind power — this year deemed “potentially competitive” with fossil fuels by the International Energy Agency in Paris — has expanded sevenfold in that time. And Portugal expects in 2011 to become the first country to inaugurate a national network of charging stations for electric cars. Read more at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/science/earth/10portugal.html?_r=1

Sun’s quiet period explained: Solar physicists may have discovered why the Sun recently experienced a prolonged period of weak activity. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10967292

[Thanks to Sue E, John H, Malcolm Dispain, Cruxcatalyst, and The Greens for the links.]

60 sqm of floor tiles; 330 mm square; colour ‘Cafe Latte’; $850 o.n.o

Call Andy Coe - 8557 6268 or 0401 998 283

Gas stove, ‘Euromaid’; 4-burner; with oven. Near new; hardly used. $150 o.n.o

Call Andy Coe - 8557 6268 or 0401 998 283

Thanks to Francoise C and the Aldinga-Sellicks network, we now have in the Library a copy of the “Kids Alive” DVD “Living with Water.”

This 80-minute DVD is a comprehensive information source for parents of young children. It covers:

Introducing baby to water; Water safety around the home; Important information on learn to swim; Pool fencing; Successful supervision; What to look for in a good swim school; How to perform CPR; Fun water safety songs to entertain your kids.

You can borrow the DVD from the “reference section” of our Library which is still housed at Elizabeth & John’s place, 14 Hakea Walk. Check by phone (8556 6892) to make sure one of us is in.

We are intending to hold a private event at the Pizza Oven on Sunday 28 November from 12 noon onwards. If this might conflict with your plans, please get in touch.
 
Jacqui Good - Phone: 8556 6459 or email

Francoise C has provided us with a copy of the latest Aldinga Community Centre news bulleting and schedule of activities for Terms 3 & 4 (July - December 2010)

It is a bit large (2MB; 8 pp) to attach here, but if you send me an email request, I can forward a copy to you individually.

Elizabeth H - email

Thanks to Malcolm Dispain for passing on this piece of “food for thought.”

The ATTACHED pictures of a day at the beach in China might well be an image of our future if If Government policy favours a “big Australia”:

Future of a Big Australia

Thanks to Kymbo P for passing on the ATTACHED information on all the health benefits of ginger.

All about ginger

Thanks to Bridget O’D for passing on the ATTACHED bulletin from “Adelaide - Live it Love it”

Adelaide LiveItLoveIt

Turning sterile housing estates into vibrant villages: We are, to a surprising extent, what the built environment makes us. Many of the problems we blame on individual behaviour are caused in part by the places in which we live. Build loose suburbs carved up by busy roads and without green spaces and you help to create a population of fat, lonely people plagued by criminals. Build dense, leafy settlements with mixed uses, protected from traffic, and you help to create safe, fit and friendly communities. Read more at:
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2010/08/09/turning-estates-into-villages/

Greenwell - a way of making sure trees get the water you give them: Greenwell is a simple-to-assemble “dam” of recycled plastic that makes a water-saving collar around trees. Read more at:
http://greenwellwatersavers.com/

Extreme weather around the world consistent with climate change: Regions across the world have been buffeted by extremes of weather, drought and floods. The extremes of rainfall are getting heavier and are entirely consistent with climate change predictions. See:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/09/floods-mudslides-drought-extreme-weather

Greenland ice sheet faces 'tipping point in 10 years’: Scientists warn that temperature rise of between 2C and 7C would cause ice to melt, resulting in a 7m (23ft) rise in sea level. Signs are that it could happen sooner than first thought. Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/10/greenland-ice-sheet-tipping-point

China deals with polluting industries by edict from the top: China has ordered more than 2,000 highly polluting, unsafe or energy inefficient plants to shut down within two months, state media reported today. Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/09/china-orders-pollution-factories-shut

[Thanks to John H and Cruxcatalyst for the links.]

Bushwalk No. 2: Sunday 22 August at Kuitpo

Meet at the Port Rd carpark at 10 am.
Bring lunch, snacks, water, sturdy shoes, raingear depending on the weather.

We plan to have a choice of shorter and longer walks.
We're thinking of making a cup of tea around a campfire at the end of the walk.
Returning to the village at around 4 pm (or earlier if you don't stay for the cuppa).

Maarten Ryder (8557 6046) & Peter Morrison (8557 8980)

Creative Dance for Kids 2-5 yrs: Four week program August 23, 30 Sept 6, 13. Mondays 2-3 pm at Black Cockatoo Arthouse McLaren Vale. $40 for 4 sessions pay upfront or $15 per week. See also notice ATTACHED.

These fun and creative workshops are for children and their parents / caregivers to explore different ways of moving and expressing. They involve dance, yoga and song.

To book please call Kat Worth on 8556 5855 or 0412 992 513 or email



Creative Dance for Kids

Request for information - Maxkon 12L-17L 1300W Convection Oven Express Cooker
 
I am considering buying one of these 'Convection Oven Express Cookers'.  If any Villager has used one of  these, would they please contact me to give me the benefit of their experience? 
 
Carol Hadert - 6 Tetragonia Walk; Phone: 8557 6964 or Email 

Garage Sale & Sausage Sizzle Cancer Care Fund raiser

WHEN: Saturday 14 and Saturday 21 August, 9 am
WHERE: Unit 2/8 Richards Road Willunga
 
For a single mum with an inoperable tumor who is relying on alternative therapies for healing. Asking for any donations of household items to support this worthy cause.

Telephone Christine on 8327 1475 to arrange for drop off details.

There is also an opportunity to donate more valuable items to be sold through “EBAY”. These items can be left at 5 St Judes Street Willunga.

This is for a friend of mine - Jane Sanderco

Thanks to Malcolm Dispain for letting us know why men are just happier people:
Men Are Happier

And thanks to Brad and Shelley for giving us the jump on the latest innovation in e-nonsense - “emooning.” [WARNING: Don’t open if you are upset by the ‘A-word’ as a reference to the human “derriere”.]
EMOONING

How about powering our cars with poo?! A "poo-powered" VW Beetle has taken to the streets of Bristol in an attempt to encourage sustainable motoring. The Bio-Bug runs on processed methane gas generated as part of the raw sewage treatment process. See:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-10881080

Dick Smith’s “Population Puzzle”: As Smith sees it, population growth is the thread that links myriad issues that the Australian public - if not its policymakers - has grave concerns about: urban growth, housing affordability, a stretched health system, environmental destruction and the impact that has on food and water supply and border protection. See:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/dicks-population-puzzle.html

Nature's choreography - desert and rainforest dance together: A world heritage meeting has hailed one of the most remarkable discoveries of the last decade: the role of deserts as deliverers of nutrients to the rainier parts of the planet. Around 40m tons of dust is carried by prevailing winds from the Sahara to fertilise the Amazon basin each year. Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/09/editorial-environmental-research-amazon-sahara

GM plants are now well established in the wild! Researchers in the US and Japan have found new evidence that genetically modified crop plants can survive and thrive in the wild, possibly for decades. A US research team has found proprietary herbicide-resistance transgenes in 80% of wild canola plants surveyed. They suggest the GM traits may help the plants survive weedkillers in the wild. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10859264

‘Alien horrors’ in our homes: The little critters in our homes are totally shriek-scary when seen with the help of modern electron microscopes. See some amazing ‘scary’ pictures of such domestic wildlife as flies, fleas, silverfish, dust mites and daddy-long-legs, etc, at:
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/gallery-e6frer9f-1225901601728

“The Secret Life of Things” is a set of short animated videos exploring the hidden environmental impacts of everyday things. See, for example, “Life Pscycle-ology - the secret life of a little mobile phone:
http://www.thesecretlifeofthings.com/

Australian agriculture faces climate upheaval: 'Land available for agriculture in Australia, one of the world's largest food exporters, is in danger of shrinking because of climate change, a leading scientist said on Tuesday. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/australia-agriculture-faces-climate.html

Europe to step up “raw materials diplomacy”: An EU expert group has identified 14 raw materials seen as "critical" for EU high-tech and eco-industries and suggested that the European Union's global diplomacy should be geared up to ensure that companies gain easier access to them in future. 'Materials diplomacy?' That sounds ominous...seems a resource constrained world is sneaking up on us faster than we think... Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/eu-to-step-up-raw-materials-diplomacy.html

Planning the new sounds of the city: Urban design is only really concerned with abating noise made by public transport or industry: the subtle and interesting sounds that can enhance cities are overlooked. With the internal combustion engine on its way out, though, the acoustic fog created by cars, buses and trucks will finally lift and other sounds of the city will emerge. Will we like what we hear? Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/beyond-decibels-planning-new-sounds-of.html

Arthritis patients 'may benefit from weight training’: A regular weight training regime may help treat rheumatoid arthritis, research suggests. A study of 28 patients funded by Arthritis Research UK found those who pumped iron saw improvements in basic physical function. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10864601

Beating dementia - there much we can do to help: Preventing diabetes and depression could have a dramatic impact on cutting cases of dementia, a study suggests. Boosting levels of education and upping fruit and vegetable consumption would also have a big effect, the British Medical Journal said. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10881685

Ecuador cashes in on NOT drilling forests for oil: Ecuador signed a deal on Tuesday creating a trust fund to hold donations from Germany and other rich nations willing to pay the Andean country to refrain from drilling for oil in an Amazon wildlife reserve. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/ecuador-will-not-drill-in-amazon.html

[Thanks to John H and Cruxcatalyst for the links.]

Straw Bale Cottage to rent at Aldinga Arts EcoVillage:  Two bedrooms; updated kitchen and bathroom; available immediately.

Contact Kristen at First National McLaren Vale - 8323 8099 or 0407 710 665.

ATTACHED is the latest issue of Between the Lines, a selective analysis of policies and politics affecting the wellbeing of Australians, from the Australia Institute - http://www.tai.org.au

Reading Between the lines this week:

1. Big business behaving badly
2. Well resourced: Influence of the resources sector on the mining tax and CPRS debates
3. The hand that feeds – corporate donations and political parties

100803 Between the Lines

Thanks to Michael V for this “Friday Funny”.

Terms of dismissal - an interesting essay by Paul Kingsnorth: Terms Of Dismissal – let’s call them ‘TODs’ for short, are a crucial feature of all political and cultural debate. Humans are social creatures and tribal animals. We exhibit a need, apparent in every human culture, both to band together with others and to mark ourselves out from other, opposing tribes. This behaviour spills over into politics daily, where it is disguised, often very thinly, as rational disagreement about policies or positions. The function of TODs is to delineate tribes, so that other tribes may be easily dismisssed without the need to respond seriously to any arguments they might be making. Read more at:
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/53651

Economics dumbed down for the election: Notice something strange in the opinion polls? Essential Media polling has surveyed Australians on a number of specific issues, asking which party they would trust to handle various issues. On education, jobs, industrial relations, housing affordability, climate change and the environment Labor easily scores ahead of the Coalition. Yet on the question “management of the economy”, the Coalition still leads by a comfortable margin. There is a strange contradiction in these figures. If economic management isn’t about ensuring high employment and harmonious labour relations, conserving scarce environmental resources, keeping housing affordable, and investing in education, what is it about? Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/economics-dumbed-down.html

US Food Waste Worth More Than Offshore Drilling! More energy is wasted in the perfectly edible food discarded by people in the US each year than is available in oil and gas reserves off the nation's coastlines. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/us-food-waste-worth-more-than-offshore.html

New Climate & Energy Policies Could Create 2.5 Million Jobs, Hold Down Energy Costs: New greenhouse gas emissions and energy policies at the Federal level could generate as many as 2.5 million new jobs and $134 billion in economic activity in the US while keeping energy costs down, according to a new report. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-climate-energy-policies-could.html

'Conflict-Free' Electronics Bundled in US Financial Reform Law: The Washington Post reported late last week that the 2,300-page financial reform bill contained a provision focused on eliminating the use of four materials that are commonly sourced in war-torn Congo: Gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/conflict-free-electronics-bundled-in.html

Labour promises national Food Strategy: Agriculture Minister Tony Burke has announced a national food plan that would investigate food security, quality and affordability from paddock to plate, including possible regulation of foreign ownership of farms. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/08/labor-promises-national-food-strategy.html

Man poisoned by mail-order Ayurvedic medicine: The severe lead poisoning of a Sydney man who bought traditional medicines from India has sparked warnings from NSW health professionals. Read more at:
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/warnings-as-man-in-hospital-with-poisoning-from-traditional-ayurvedic-medicine/story-e6frea7l-1225901186686

SA Community - the hub of community information: Find local organisations and services, and subscribe to an email news service at:
http://sacommunity.org/

Eco Voice Eco News - issue 76 August 2010:
http://www.ecovoice.com.au/eco-news

GetUp Campaigns:
GetUp women speak out on Tony Abbott’s statements:
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/WomenSpeakOut
GetUp’s mental health vigils next Tuesday 10 August:
www.getup.org.au/campaign/vigils

Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) election issues: Follow the link below to find ACF election statements, and to subscribe to ACF email news:
http://www.acfonline.org.au/

[Thanks to John H, Cruxcatalyst, SA Community, EcoVoice, GetUp & ACF for the links.]

Hi everyone,

I’m doing the Forty Hour Famine and I would be really grateful if you could sponsor me.

If you would like to support me by donating, you can follow this link (NOTE NEW LINK):
http://www.worldvision.com.au/40HF/ProfilePage.aspx?preferredurl=karriNott3

Thanks - Karri

We have two vintage singer sewing machines to give away.

Sue E. has a beautiful old foot peddled singer sewing machine with table to give away.
Lucy C. has an electric vintage singer to give away. 

We also have a tall white melamine bookshelf to give away.

If you have an interest in any of these items please contact Lucy C on 0402 008 038.

For Sale:  Wool Supreme mattress (King Size) from The Natural Bedding Company
All natural materials, see:
http://www.naturalbedding.com.au/programs/share/index.asp?P=59&ICID=135&FRF=n&
and click on natural fibre mattresses and then wool supreme; picture here:
http://www.naturalbedding.com.au/provider/0000/0059/images/806596272.jpg 

Was only used as a spare and always had a mattress protector on it.  $350.00

Phone Cathryn B (Lot 130) on 8556 5799

Willunga Environment Centre presents a talk on Solar Energy
Presenter: Ben Calder (City of Onkaparinga)

WHEN: Thursday 26 August, 7.00 pm
WHERE: Willunga Environment Centre, 18 High St

Community Owned Renewable Energy (CORE) is a foundation project of the Climate Change Strategy that seeks to support the uptake of renewable energy by the community within the City of Onkaparinga.

See the ATTACHED flyer for details
 
Registration Essential; please phone 8556 4188 or email: willungaenviro@westnet.com.au

Solar Energy Aug10

Wow - Michael V is about to participate in a global adventure! And maybe you could too!



Zero Race (http://www.zero-race.com) is the first race around the world for electric vehicles powered by renewable energy. It starts in Geneva on August 16 and will take entrants 30,000km across 16 countries in 80 days of driving. ‘Team Trev’ will drive the car named “Trev” (see picture)

Michael will be driving for a day in Russia.

See the ATTACHMENT for all the details and race route:

Drive a unique electric car in Zero Race

For the interest of local “Permies”, and for all who might like to know more about Permaculture by attending a ‘Convergence’, The latest (July) APC10 Udate is ATTACHED together with the full 4-day program.

APC10 July Update
APC10 programme

On Saturday at the Arts & Cultural meeting, “eco-awareness” was talked about as a potentially important theme for arts in the Village. Now, in a very timely contribution, Steve P has sent in a good example of art in the environment encompassing what must truly be an intimate knowledge of, and respect for, local biodiversity. See the ATTACHMENT.

Art on African tree

Calling all volunteers who would like to help the Greens hand out their voting cards to the masses on election day 21 August 2010.

Please contact Janet Cashmore 8557 8341 if you can do a booth in Aldinga or Sellicks Beach, & Joy Forrest 8556 4609 if you can go further north into Morphett Vale and surrounds.

Thanks everyone, and go the Greens!
 
Cheers - Michael Vawser

London saddles up for new bike hire scheme: A bike hire scheme designed to encourage thousands more cycle journeys in central London has begun. So far, more than 12,000 people have signed up to the idea, far outstripping the 5,000 bicycles which will be available at special docking stations. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-10810869

Calcium pills 'increase' risk of heart attack: Calcium supplements taken by many older people to ward off bone fractures could be increasing their risk of a heart attack, research shows. The study, in the British Medical Journal, said people who took supplements were 30% more likely to have a heart attack. Data from 11 trials also suggested the medicines were not very effective at preventing bone fractures. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10805062

Getaway or Get Away! Do Aussies do it any better? In the UK, millions are setting off on their summer breaks, but for many the experience will be anything but relaxing. Why do we persist with the ordeal of family holidays? The kids are squabbling on the back seat, and beside you, your partner is getting increasingly agitated at the prospect you might miss your flight - pushing up your blood pressure even further. Right on cue, you remember that you left your passport at home. And that's before you've even had the chance to face sunburn, dodgy accommodation and your luggage ending up who knows where. The family holiday may be a byword for mishaps, rows and the overwhelming pressure to have a good time. Yet each year we put ourselves through the ordeal - and pay good money for the privilege. Why? See:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-10790074

Chernobyl zone shows decline in biodiversity: Scientists say contamination in the Chernobyl exclusion zone has affected biodiversity. The largest wildlife census of its kind conducted in Chernobyl has revealed that mammals are declining in the exclusion zone surrounding the nuclear power plant. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10819027

Plankton decline across oceans as waters warm: Phytoplankton is essential for life in the oceans. The amount of phytoplankton - tiny marine plants - in the top layers of the oceans has declined markedly over the last century, research suggests. Writing in the journal Nature, scientists say the decline appears to be linked to rising water temperatures. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10781621

[Thanks to John H for the links.]

Village Handyman available for

- Small jobs: painting, woodwork, welding
- Also: digging, mulching, gardening, etc

$25 per hour - less 10% for Village people.

Phone Peter M on 8557 8980 or 0457 782 577

To Borrow Please:
 
Toby is having a birthday party on 28 August and I need to borrow some:
 
Large crock pots
 
Large rice cookers
 
I'm also wondering if anyone has a bay-marie or something similar that I can keep a veg dish warm in.
 
Hopefully you wonderful villagers will come through again!  Please let me know asap so that I can stop thinking about this!

Jacqui G - 8556 6459 or email
 
PS: There will be a thank you tub of dukkah! 

• Child's bed, timber, raised 1.2 m off the floor, with storage cupboard underneath, plus room for a desk, playspace or another bed   $60
• 2 Ikea slatted bases for single bed (SULTAN LONEVÅG, adjustable)  $40 each * 2 Ikea clothes racks $5 each
• Small circular pool, 2.4 m diameter x 0.6 m high (Sterns splasher pool) with pump and filter (Clark Filtrite) $160.

All in good condition.

Contact:  Maarten Ryder, Tel 8557 6046 / 0409 696 360 or email

My mum would like to donate a BBQ to the village for social functions but requires someone to pick it up from Craigburn Farm in the next two weeks.  It is a 4 burner BBQ with hood and side burner (as pictured below) and apart from needing a clean up, probably works better than the current BBQs we have. 

If you are able to assist in transporting this to the Village, we would love to hear from you.  If you are interested in purchasing it for yourself and making a donation to the village savings fund, you can make us an offer.
 
Beau S - Phone 0403 320 123 or email

Transition Willunga presents a public screening of the movie: The End of Suburbia

WHEN: Friday 20 August, 7:30 pm
WHERE: Blue Doors, 44 High St, Willunga

For more information, see the ATTACHED flyer, or email: willungaweaver@gmail.com

End-of-Suburbia

In fond memory: A tribute on the recent passing of David Nurton (1953 – 2010)

From Steve Poole:

“A little history for all of us connected with ‘the Aldinga Arts EcoVillage ‘(AAEV).
There was a time when Dave Nurton played an important role in the kick‐starting of what is now the AAEV. Dave gave me great support when I needed it. Time ‐ will remember him as a Passionate Environmentalist Activist and a long term member of the ‘Friends of the Willunga Basin’ and a former Councillor.”

Read Steve’s full tribute to David Nurton in the ATTACHMENT:

In fond memory David Nurton

People tend to think their Facebook “friends” are indeed friendly. But not everything is as it seems. Increasingly Facebook is being used for scams that rely on folks thinking the other party is a real friend. See the cautionary tales in the ATTACHMENT:

FaceBook scams

Selling off the Farm: Foreign interests including state-owned companies from China and the Middle East are increasingly looking to Australia to secure their food production by purchasing key agricultural assets. In recent years, and especially since the global food shortage in 2008, China, South Korea, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states have all been engaged in massive agricultural purchases around the world inclucing Australia. New South Wales Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan says Australia risks losing control of its wealth-creating agricultural assets. He believes the Federal Government is not paying sufficient attention to the issue of global food security. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/selling-farm.html

Defining an EcoCity: As the consequences of climate change and resource depletion manifest themselves more and more clearly, the way we have built our cities, particularly in the past half-century, has come into question. Building more ecologically sustainable cities has become a necessity - but what sort of city qualifies genuinely for the term “ecocity”?
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/defining-ecocity.html

UK’s first city-wide reuse and repair service: Funding has been announced for creation of the world's largest 'reuse network', helping household items find a new home rather than being chucked away.The London Reuse Network will be made up of 'clusters' of organisations, including local authorities and charities who will work together to deliver an easy-to-access and consistent reuse service to residents and businesses within their area. It will collect, store, refurbish and sell on everything from furniture, books, carpets and bikes through to cookers and fridges. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/uks-first-city-wide-reuse-repair.html

Naming the nameless: The problem is this: that it is hard to persuade people to care about something they can’t pronounce. English species are disappearing at the rate of two a year. But many are vanishing unnoticed and unmourned by almost everyone, partly because we have no cultural connection to them. Scientific names, which are given in Latin or ancient Greek, are essential to proper classification, but to most people they are cold, incomprehensible and offputting. The answer? New names. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/naming-nameless.html

Drinking alcohol can 'reduce severity' of arthritis: Drinking alcohol can not only ease the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis it appears to reduce disease severity too, research suggests. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10776758

Smart houses key to keeping the elderly at home: SMART houses equipped with movement sensors and intelligent systems are the key to keeping aged people well and living in their own homes. Elderly-friendly smart homes would use built-in systems for movement detection, fall prevention, home diagnostic equipment, medication management and simple communication devices for linking to family and support networks. Read more at:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/smart-houses-key-to-keeping-the-elderly-at-home/story-e6frgakx-1225897190017

[Thanks to John H and Cruxcatalyst for the links.]

One of our newest resident families is increasing already!

Bert and Ellie, who have just moved into their lovely new home at 3 Yacca Way, will be having a new baby around the end of October. It would be so nice if all their Village friends could contribute a knitted, crocheted or felted square to a baby rug. (This call is not just for “Laugh-n-Craft” groupies - it’s for anyone who would like to contribute.)

Ellie says, “Preferred colours are oranges and reds and I suppose autumn scheme .... I love spirals ... but whatever is created will be lovingly received.”

Squares should be 15 cm x 15 cm in size ..... and perhaps felting and crochet specialists might like to think about creative spirals.

Please label your square(s) with your name and Ellie & Bert’s names, and either give it to Jill Wilson at 7 Grevillea Way or bring it with you to a Laugh-n-Craft evening.

And - the next Laugh-n-Craft session will be THIS Wednesday 28 July, from 7 pm at 4 Hakea Walk. For enquiries, contact Julie on 8557 6268.

If anyone has a small bike (smaller than standard 10-year-old’s bike) that is not in use anymore, please contact Blaise Howard on 8557 7669
 
Thanks - Melissa P

Wooden two level car garage (hand made) approx 450mm x 450mm - suit match box cars etc; great condition.
 
Collect from table under our car port if interested.

Jacqui Good - 3 Clematis Walk

Well, here’s a turn-up! Deb Harding, former resident of one of our Terraces townhouses showing us how to cut grass - the quiet, peaceful, sociable, and sustainable way.



Deb says:

Perhaps people at AAEV may also be interested to hear from me that I have just moved in to my newly bought Herefordshire home - the purchase has been ongoing since mid Feb! Typical uk scenario :-( 

But it is just a mile from my fields, where the hay has just been mown (.... local farmer with a tractor). I've ordered the top fruit trees for the mixed orchard for planting this late autumn in November, and hopefully have shed and polytunnel going up by September. All keeping me very busy.

I went over to west Wales for a day learning to use a scythe, and helped to mow some meadow by hand. See attached photos. I was using an 'Austrian Scythe' as I have, I think, mentioned in a previous email. http://www.thescytheshop.co.uk/  I was surprised at what an enjoyable experience it was.
 
I learned there are 4 points to good scything 1) skilled and regular blade sharpening with a wet stone every 5-10 mins or when the blade is dull, 2) blade sharpening 3) blade sharpening 4) skill.
 
I was taught how to use my body in an unstressed and upright stance to swivel through 180degrees + with the blade. You get into a regular momentum, sweeping the blade round in a semicircle and inching forward repeatedly. The scythe was set up with the adjustable handles suited to my height etc, and the blade fitted specifically for me; I didn't get any aches and pains, though I don't know if I was standing quite as one should. As you'll have seen the weather was wet, but the work was very sociable, and peaceful with no machinery noise and just the swishing of each blade through the grass. Very labour intensive of course ...!
 
I understand people who know Tai Chi or Yoga would be able to apply that knowledge to the correct body movement required.
 
I hope things are going along well at AAEV. I read the newsfeed when it drops into the inbox, so pick up on some of the 'happenings'.
 
Best wishes - Deb H

Hoarding 'an anxiety disorder', expert says: The psychological disorder of "hoarding'' is poorly understood by the expert community, and often not adequately treated. And while it is commonly associated with those extreme cases of homes filled with rubbish, the disorder involves "compulsive shopping'' as well as the "collecting of free objects''. Read more at:
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/hoarding-an-anxiety-disorder-expert-says/story-e6frea73-1225890819367

The “Low-Impact Living Initiative” (LILI) is a non-profit organisation whose mission is to help people reduce their impact on the environment, improve their quality of life, gain new skills, live in a healthier and more satisfying way, have fun and save money. The site also features resources, fact-sheets, books, magazines, and an electronic newsletter. See:
http://www.lowimpact.org/

Germany’s “Mother of all Street Parties”: About three million people recently turned a busy motorway into one of the biggest open-air festivals in Germany's history. A 60 km (36 mile)-long section of the A40 Autobahn between the western German cities of Dortmund and Duisburg was closed to motorists and turned over to pedestrians, cyclists, skaters and picnickers. Some 20,000 tables were set up on the motorway for what organizers called "the longest banquet in the world." Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/germans-hold-60-kilometres-long-party.html

Beancounters strike again: The British coalition government is intending to axe its sustainability watchdog in order to meet targets for public sector spending cuts. Perhaps it was just too effective!!! Proponents of the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) argue that its remit to advise government on reducing its carbon emissions and other resource use saves far more money that it costs. It costs 3 million pounds to run, and its work has helped govt save 70 million pounds!! Cruxcatalyst says, “This is **JUST TYPICAL** of the myopic stupidity of bean counters and razor gangs!!” Read it and weep!
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/bean-counters-strike-again.html

The Great Hunger Lottery: ‘Risky and secretive' gambling on the price of coffee, cocoa and wheat is leading to unstable food prices and exacerbating poverty and malnutrition but creating billions of pounds for the banking sector. Banks such Goldman Sachs are making huge profits by gambling on the prices of key commodity crops such as coffee, cocoa and wheat. By creating funds to allow investors to speculate on the price of food, in the same way they would invest in the shares of a company, banks are able to bet on the price of food. However this is leading to higher and more volatile prices which make it more difficult for farmers to plan and invest and also lead to damaging price rises which hit the poorest families in less industrialised countries hardest. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/great-hunger-lottery.html

BP accused of 'buying academic silence’: Bob Shipp said BP wanted to hire his entire marine science department. The head of the American Association of Professors has accused BP of trying to "buy" the best scientists and academics to help its defence against litigation after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. "This is really one huge corporation trying to buy faculty silence in a comprehensive way," said Cary Nelson. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10731408

Cut down on meat to lose weight: Eating less meat may be the key to keeping a healthy weight, say researchers. A European study of almost 400,000 adults found that eating meat was linked with weight gain, even in people taking in the same number of calories. The strongest association was found with processed meat, such as sausages and ham, the Imperial College London team reported. It suggests that high-protein diets may not help slimmers in the long run. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10726414

Bone 'turnover' link to blood sugar and diabetes: The skeleton has a key role in regulating blood sugar and may be the underlying cause of diabetes in some people, say US researchers. A study in mice found that the breakdown of old bone to make way for new bone growth also helps to keep a healthy level of glucose in the blood. A hormone called osteocalcin seems to be the link. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10727169

GetUp climate action campaign: GetUp says, “We’re running out of time to solve climate change and reduce our rising carbon pollution - and we can't settle for policies that don't even veer close to the kind of strong action the science demands. Now is the time to step up our climate change ad campaign.” See the ad at: http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/StopRisingPollution

GetUp’s High Court challenge on electoral enrolment: In a recent poll, GetUp canvassed the question: should we pursue legal action to defend Australians' right to vote? An overwhelming 86% of GetUp members voted yes - so GetUp has filed a case for online enrolment in the Federal Court. You can find out more and follow progress at:
https://www.getup.org.au/campaign/DontLetThemStopYouFromVoting&id=1223

[Thanks to John H, Deb Harding, Cruxcatalyst and GetUp for the links.]

Big thanks to Beau Summer who has offered to coordinate a Village response to Sustainable House Day in September if no one else has their hands up for the job. See the website:
http://www.sustainablehouseday.com

Beau Says:

“We are seeking interest from anyone interested in opening their house this year.  We also need volunteers for coordination, tours and setup.  If there is interest in having fund raising stalls and food, we will need a coordinator specifically for this role also.  This is a great way to promote the village and sustainable building practices and has been a great success in the past.  Hopefully with the support of volunteers, we can achieve the same again this September.  Please let us know ASAP if you can help in any way.”

If you can help (or if your hand is already up for coordinator), please contact Beau by phone on 8556 6360 or 0403 320 123 or email

Climate Change and the Food System: What is simultaneously one of the greatest contributors to climate change and one of its greatest potential solutions?  Believe it or not, it’s how we farm and eat.  Indeed, food and climate change are inextricably linked.  The same global food system that is making us sick, increasing food insecurity, and polluting the environment is also contributing to climate change.  Climate change, in turn, is contributing to rising rates of hunger and food insecurity.  But the good news is all of us can be part of the solution.  WHY Hunger has released a brand new online film called “The Food and Climate Connection: From Heating the Planet to Healing It,” Check it out:
http://www.whyhunger.org/programs/fslc/topics/climate-change-a-the-food-system.html

Africa looks to its forests for Carbon Credits: Will placing a value on pristine rain forests through carbon trading schemes help the conservation of these vital “lungs-of-the-Earth”? In Africa, it seems there are some hopeful signs of new awareness. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/africa-looks-to-vast-forests-for-carbon.html

Are you suffering from apocalypse fatigue? Aapocalypse fatigue n. Reduced interest in current or potential environmental problems due to frequent dire warnings about those problems. Are you beginning to suffer from it? So are many others. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/word-spy-apocalypse-fatigue.html

New UN Body To Put Value On Planet: The world relies on a range of services nature provides - water filtration by forests, pollination by bees and a supply of wild plant genes for new food crops or medicines. If nature charged for these, how much would it cost? Most such values are excluded from measures of national economies and from prices and markets which would force businesses and governments to recognize them, and the result has been a bias toward development over conservation. UN states have proposed a new body, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), to advise on valuing nature and conservation targets. Says Cruxcatalyst, “All well and good, but I do wish we could find some way of making decisions and understanding values without having to reduce everything to dollars...! Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-un-body-to-put-value-on-planet.html

‘Transformer Man’ - the biggest scrap metal statue in the business! Check it out:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/transformer-man.html

[Thanks to Cruxcatalyst for the links.]

Hi there fellow villagers,

Due to change in work circumstances I am on the look out for a ride home nightly (5) from Tatachilla Lutheran College for my 13-year-old daughter Xanthie Rickard.

If anyone is able to help out could you please make contact with me via email or phone on 0438 287 475.

I am more than happy to take children to school in the morning or alternatively offer petrol money.

Cheers and best wishes Kymbo J

We are considering renting our 2 bedroom Village house which will be available from 6 September until 12 November.  Rent would be a maximum of $150 a week in exchange for watering and keeping an eye on the garden.  Skills in paving and painting may be considered in exchange for some of the rent.

Contact Jenni and Wayne by email or on 8556 5227 if you are interested.

Hi everyone,

While doing the latest set of updates for the Village Directory this past weekend, I have also done a new "ball-park census", which shows we now have approximately 197 residents (including regular weekend and holiday residents). Here is the breakdown:

Stages 1 & 2 - 93 adults and 39 pre-school & school-age children - Total 132 residents
Stage 3 - 25 adults and 4 children - Total 29 residents
Seaberry Walk Cottages - 27 adults and 9 children - Total 36 residents

Overall Village totals: 145 adults and 52 pre-school and school-age children - for a Grand Total of 197 residents.

(This is probably a minimum estimate as I might have missed a few Cottage occupants - I am still trying to get up to date with Seaberry details in the directory.)

You may also be interested to know the "ball-park" census of vacant and built-on lots: We now have 95 dwellings built, 12 in various stages of construction, and 63 vacant lots (including 14 Townhouse lots in Stage 3 and Development lot 143 between the Cottages and Clematis Walk).

Elizabeth H

Circus classes for teenagers and adults: Thursday nights 6.30 till 8.30 at the Black Cockatoo Art House, Park St. McLaren Vale.

The two hour class includes, warm ups, stretching, theatre games and a range of circus skills such as acro-balance, acrobatics, juggling, hula hoop.

Cost $20 per class. Sorry no classes for children under 13 currently available.

Contact Emma Harper by email or on 0423 114 362.

The local government election will be held in November this year.

Nominations for Council open on Tuesday 7 September.

See the ATTACHED notice for more information.

During the recent Neighbourhood Group strategic planning meetings, the desirability of having a Community member on the Onkaparinga Council was highlighted by a number of people. Now might be a good time to start thinking about encouraging a villager to nominate.

Note: To enrol as a voter for local, state and federal elections, make sure your current details are on the state electoral roll. Visit:
http://www.aec.gov.au/Enrolling_to_vote/Update_enrolment.htm

Local Govt Enrollment

Here (ATTACHED, thanks to Steve P) is the third instalment of crazy reasons we love our kids:

Why we love kids 3

The Crises of Capitalism: Clever animation: This short lecture video is not just a talking head, but a animation showing why capitalism lurches from crisis to crisis. David Harvey, geographer and Professor of Anthropology, looks beyond capitalism towards possibilities for a new social order that would allow us to live within a system that could be responsible, just and humane. See the video at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/crises-of-capitalism.html

Dangerous new phone / computer scam: If someone (especially with an Indian accent phones you, quoting your name and address, and says, "I'm calling for Microsoft. We've had a report from your internet service provider of serious virus problems from your computer,” don’t believe it!!! Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/18/phone-scam-india-call-centres

Palestinians put solar-powered cars on the road: Visitors to the West Bank town of Hebron this summer might find a strange-looking white vehicle motoring through its streets – the first Palestinian solar-powered car. The product of an environmentally friendly project for Palestinian engineering students, the car is bedecked with banks of solar panels and doesn't manage to reach a speed much above 19mph (30kph) – but it is being lauded as a feat of creative engineering in the face of limited funds and scant resources. Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/18/palestinian-territories-solar-power-car

We need a new science of physical economics: It's time we put economics into some sort of physical scientific context that makes sense. Economists have drifted off into a disconnected world where, blinded by massive amounts of money and mystery, they see themselves as a kind of high priesthood calling the shots for practically everything. Meantime they are not developing anything like a strategy for a recovery that actually fits the situation on our oh-so physical planet Earth. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/we-need-new-science-of-physical.html

One man’s dream of a perfect city: There’s an old joke that you know you're in heaven if the cooks are Italian and the engineering is German. If it's the other way around you're in hell. In an attempt to conjure up a perfect city, TV frontman David Byrne imagines a place that is a mash-up of the best qualities of a host of cities. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/talking-head-dreams-of-perfect-city.html

Britain trails China in dash to low-carbon economy: Britain and other western countries are in danger of being left behind by China which is investing "furiously" in low carbon technology, aiming to profit from tough climate change targets in the next 20 years. Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/19/britain-trails-china-low-carbon-economy

Update your Electoral Roll details: If you recently moved into the Village, you may need to update your enrolment details before THIS Thursday if you intend to vote in the upcoming election 2010. You can do it at:
http://www.aec.gov.au/Enrolling_to_vote/Update_enrolment.htm

And if you missed it last time - Check out the funny video “BP Spills Coffee”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AAa0gd7ClM&feature=PlayList&
p=7D8AA104E179945B&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=13

[Thanks to John H, Michael V, Steve P and Cruxcatalyst for the links.]

We need someone to help us with house cleaning - hopefully someone from within the Village. Times, days, frequency and cost are all negotiable.

Please contact Coralie or Peter on 8556 6751.

Oh those crazy kids - why do we love them so? Here’s the second instalment of Steve’s funny reasons! (ATTACHED)

Why we love kids 2

Fabulous art - Driftwood horses: Hey neighbours, A great Idea for decorating our hill! When the horses go, we could remember them! See the link below. Bridget O’D
http://www.rense.com/general70/drift.htm

We’ll never see dancing like this again .... just sit back & enjoy: It  seems as if Eleanor Powell was just too good for Fred Astaire, as he never wanted to be paired with her again. He evidently was upstaged by her, but they were both great. Eleanor Powell is fully clothed, with a dress below her knees. Sadly, a bygone era of civility and grace. The year: 1940 (70 years ago) The narrator is Frank Sinatra. It was filmed in ONE unedited camera shot! It is considered by many as one of the best dance scenes ever filmed. See:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toDl2hXt8BM

What would BP’s oil spill look like closer to home? To put the sheer size of the BP oil spill into perspective, these guys have created a program to let you measure it against the land mass surrounding your home town.  Click on the link, then enter your town, state and country in the location box top of page, and 'move' the oil spill:
http://www.ifitwasmyhome.com/

‘Hippo Rollers’ - Women’s lib for the developing world: Hippo rollers, a simple water transport device, have proved to be life-changing in Africa. By using them, poor villagers cut down on the number of trips to their water sources. Most African men think going for water is women's work, so many young girls miss school to help their mothers make multiple trips to rivers or lakes. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/working-to-bring-hippos-to-haiti.html

Eco Voice has just posted its 75th issue - featuring “Say No to junk mail” and many other topics of interest. See:
http://www.ecovoice.com.au

National Waste Policy Implementation Plan Adopted: The National Waste Policy Implementation Plan has been endorsed by the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC). The National Waste Policy itself aims to avoid the generation of waste; reduce the amount of waste (including hazardous waste) for disposal, manage waste as a resource and ensure that waste treatment, disposal, recovery and re-use is undertaken in a safe, scientific and environmentally-sound manner. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/australias-national-waste-policy.html

The UNEP Green Passport is an initiative of the UNEP International Task Force on Sustainable Tourism Development. The aim of the Green Passport website is to introduce potential travellers to some of the things they can do to help make tourism a sustainable activity, by which we mean an activity that is not only respectful of the environment but that is also good for the economic and social development of the host communities. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/unep-green-passport.html

GetUp dares politicians and the electorate to be credible on climate change. Check out their new spoof ad at: http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/StopPollutionRising

GetUp Election Get-Togethers: On Thursday July 22 from 7pm - 8.30pm, GetUp members will be getting together to discuss major election issues. Click on the link below to find an 'Election Action GetTogether' already organised in your neighbourhood - or host your own: http://www.getup.org.au/community/gettogethers/series.php?id=28

The Greens new campaign ad: Check it out at:
https://greens.org.au/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=59

[Thanks to Bridget O’D, Sue E, Steve P, Cruxcatalyst, GetUp and The Greens for the links.]

A couple of times in the last few days, we have found the battery unhooked from the electric fence around the chook pen on Lot 73.

Please do not touch this set up as the electric current in the fence is the only protection the chooks have from an active fox family living close by in the linear park.

And if you happen to see the fence has been disconnected from the battery, please call Sue E on 8556 6441 or Coralie D on 8556 6751.

Hello everyone at AAEV,

My family and I are interested in visiting SA in the next few months for a holiday and to seriously explore the idea of moving to the Aldinga Arts EcoVillage. We are interested in a 5-10 day rental for 3 adults and two young well-behaved children (who can sleep on the floor if required). Access to a kitchen / kitchenette would also be needed. We are looking to come sometime between September and December this year, again dates are flexible. We are happy to “house sit” if someone is going on holidays.

Please let me know if there may be something suitable.

Thanks - Natalie Miroch - Melbourne - email

Buddhist Meditation - Every Monday Evening 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm

Theravada Tradition; Samadhi (Calm) and Vipassana (Insight) Meditation Readings and Discussion; Serendipity Meditation and Dharma Group; Member - Buddhist Council of SA

See ATTACHED flyer and call Lindy Warrell on 8557 8377 for details

Meditation Flyer

Learn to write - your life in a series of 5 Fortnightly workshops with Dr Lindy Warrell, Starting 24 and 31 July

Life Writing covers a range of sub-genres from travel and sojourn writing to memoir and from autobiography to meditations on places or people. You can write personal essays, anecdotes or vignettes or even use letters to tell your story. Whichever way you go, in just five workshops you will learn to match genre and style to content and audience.

See ATTACHED flyer - and Call Lindy on 8557 8377 for further details.

Creative Life Writing Flyer

So you are avoiding cholesterol and buying polyunsaturated margarine instead of butter and olive oil? Well, we have news for you!

Thanks to Kymbo P for the ATTACHED chapter on fats and oils from Elaine Hollingsworth’s popular book “Take Control of Your Health and Escape the Sickness Industry.”

Fats & Oils

ATTACHED’ is the latest issue of “Between the Lines”, a selective analysis of the policies and politics affecting the wellbeing of Australians, from the Australia Institute:
http://www.tai.org.au

Reading Between the Lines this week:
1. Putting the cart before the horse
2. The return of the dog whistle
3. Political donations

100709 Between the Lines

Why do we love our kids? For a myriad reasons - many hilariously funny!

Thanks to Steve Poole for the ATTACHED first instalment of very good reasons:

Why we love kids 1

Check the toxicity of your cosmetics: Here is a fabulous website database tool where you can enter your cosmetic products and check out any toxic ingredients and their levels: 
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

On Thursday 22 July, GetUp will be holding Election Action GetTogethers - short 90 minute gatherings of local GetUp members - to develop local action plans for the 2010 election. Our goal is to have at least one GetTogether in every electorate. That's why we're inviting you to host a GetTogether. It's fun and easy - we'll provide you with everything you need on the night (even the guests!). All we need from you is to pick a venue, whether it's a local cafe, pub or community hall, or your living room. Find out more: http://www.getup.org.au/community/gettogethers/series.php?id=28

GetUp’s funny enrol-to-vote video: Featuring Julia Gillard as James Bond, Tony Abbott as Bruce Willis and a cameo by Bob Brown, our hilarious action-hero enrolment video is going wild online and in the news. But there's a serious message too. Incredibly, there are still 1.4 million Australians - especially young Australians - not enrolled to vote. Hundreds of thousands more may be unable to vote because they've moved house or changed their name since the last election. Know someone who should be enrolled? Send them this link:
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/Enrol

[Thanks to Kym P and GetUP for the links.]

WOW - My kind of shopping - check it out! Wouldn't this be great? No climbing in and out of clothes to try them on; no messed up hair. And no one else would have actually tried on your garment! No more makeup smears on your favorite selection either! Great invention! And they already have this tech in Japan.... See:
http://www.flixxy.com/future-shopping.htm

Imagining Ecocities: Uses an “imagining” technique to show how badly we have lost the logic of human activity in today’s vase cities. Interesting - and makes a point well. “Cities are the main things we human beings build: the homes, offices, factories, schools, streets and parks gather there, as do the vast supply lines pumping in water, food, lumber, gasoline - and pumping out waste. And yet, the way cities are built, the logic of their internal functions and their connections with resources and natural environment are virtually ignored - they are not seen as potentially whole, living organisms. We can see houses as homes, and so it should be with cities, but even more so.” Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/imagining-ecocities.html

Defining what an ecocity is - and what it is not: “Ecocity” is becoming a buzz word like “green”, but what defines a genuine ecocity? Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/ecocities-setting-standards.html

This Side of Paradise: Discovering Why the Human Mind Needs Nature: As awareness of humanity's relationship with the environment has increased - buoyed of late by the larger popular concern about climate change - so has empirical evidence for nature's psychological benefits. Scientists now know that nature has a remarkable ability to restore attention, that it soothes aggression, and that it may even ease mild depression. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/this-side-of-paradise-discovering-why.html

Launch of “Love Food Hate Waste” in Australia: The NSW State Government has launched Love Food Hate Waste - an internationally successful campaign to help thousands of households and businesses reduce growing amounts of food waste (now a massive 40% of the total rubbish in our household bins). Love Food Hate Waste is a partnership programme based on a successful campaign in the United Kingdom which supports households to adopt simple and easy behaviours that work to reduce food waste. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/love-food-hate-waste-launches-in.html

40 Years of Earth Day - The Planet then and now: Heralded as a success, the first Earth Day 40 years ago resulted in the implementation of a number of U.S. environmental policies, and the movement quickly went global. But what have we really achieved in those 40 years? World population has almost doubled, from 3.7 billion to 6.9 billion. The amount of land paved over to build houses, cities and roads has increased 75 percent, from 228 million global hectares to 400 million global hectares. The amount of productive forest land required for fuelwood, paper and timber products, has gone up 53 percent to close to 2 billion global hectares. The productive land and sea area we need for food – for fishing, crops and grazing our livestock – has increased 69 percent, to 5.6 billion global hectares. In spite of Earth Day and similar efforts, we are clearly loosing the sustainability battle. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/40-years-of-earth-day-planet-then-and.html

Tea a 'healthier' drink than water: Drinking three or more cups of tea a day is as good for you as drinking plenty of water and may even have extra health benefits, say researchers. The work in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition dispels the common belief that tea dehydrates. Tea not only rehydrates as well as water does, but it can also protect against heart disease and some cancers, UK nutritionists found. Experts believe flavonoids are the key ingredient in tea that promote health. Read more at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5281046.stm

[Thanks to Pat F, John H, and Cruxcatalyst for the links.]

We understand that David Roberts Builders - based at Willunga - have constructed a number of homes on the Village.
 
We'd appreciate, in confidence of course, any comments Villagers may have on their experience of building using David Roberts. 

Thanks - Terry & Carol Hadert - Phone: 8557 6964 or 0439 016 292 or email

We have some coloured, ceramic plant pots to give away at the end of our driveway at 3 Olearia Walk.
 
Jenni & Wayne

Canon pixma iP1700
Works perfectly, includes software disk, instructions and leads.

Still has black cartridge with ink in it but the colour cartridge will have to be replaced as it is empty (if you want colour). So... ready to print in Black and White.
 
Please call Melissa P on 0429 190 600 (pick up from 10 Hakea Walk)

Hi there, I am doing the Overland Trek on Cradle Mountain in October.
I would love to borrow some essentials if anyone has any of the following:

- Trangia (light weight camping stove)
- Stocks (walking sticks x2)
- Backpack (suitable for a 7 day trek)
- Sleeping mat (inflatable)
- Gaiters (preferably knee high)

Thanks - Bridget O’D - Phone:  8557 6123 or email

Yamaha P-85 nearly new, only used 4 times, bought new a few months ago. $700
- Compact & light - less than 12 kg - occupies less space than most coffee tables
- 88 weighted keys & built-in stereo speakers
For full specs, go to
http://music.yamaha.com/products/main.html?productId=727928&hierarchy_id=20019_20018_16277

Josh Spier - 22 Seaberry Walk - Phone: 0434 203 008 or email

Thanks to a contribution of $91.20 from refundable bottles and cans, the Village Savings Fund has grown to $2,690.

Keep those refundable drink containers going into the orange-lidded bins. It’s well worth it!

Elizabeth H

Ecovillages vs. Big Cities: What’s Better for the Planet? I was surprised when I first entered Earthaven Ecovillage in North Carolina and immediately heard the rumbling sound of a tractor on a barren patch of land that had obviously been forest not long before. How can an “ecovillage” have heavy machinery and clear its forests? And when it came to answering the question of who has a smaller carbon footprint—an Earthaven resident or a New York City resident - the answer is not as clear as you might think. In the end, the most significant role of ecovillages is their contribution “to a radical transformation of values… that may make the transition to sustainability easier and more graceful.” They do this in four ways: “delinking growth from well-being, reconnecting people with the place where they live, affirming indigenous values and practices, and offering a holistic and experiential educational ethic.” read more at:
http://blogs.worldwatch.org/transformingcultures/ecovillages-vs-big-cities-what%E2%80%99s-better-for-the-planet/

Help dump the radioactive waste dump! Imagine for a moment how you would feel if the Government decided to dump radioactive waste in your community without listening to your concerns. Well, this is exactly what it is trying to do at Muckaty, near Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory. Muckaty is being pushed by the Federal Government as the site of a new radioactive waste dump, without the consent of local Indigenous communities. Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is seeking your help with a petition to “Dump the Dump.” See:
http://www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=2917

GetUp’s mental health funding campaign: Public pressure has got the pollies attention, but this is no time to let up. If you wish to help, please visit:
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/mentalhealth

Using gravity as a cosmic zoom lens! Did you think gravity was just a force that makes things fall down - think again. It has now been used as an astonishing cosmic magnifying lens. Read more at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10481197.stm

[Thanks to Jenni M, John H, GetUp and the ACF for the links.]

Nature, Wisdom & the journey of the Self

A Deep Ecology weekend, 9-10 October 2010, at the Gudhara Retreat, NSW.

With Nature as our Teacher, we will journey through personal and ecological landscapes as we explore our connection with Nature and each other with a special emphasis on Self Renewal... using Deep Ecology processes, sharing circles, meditation and creative expression. Deep Ecology invites us to experience ourselves as part of the living earth – rather than separate from it – and supports us to follow our visions and inspirations courageously and easefully.

If interested, see the ATTACHED brochure and registration form:

Deep Ecology weekend
RegistrationForm(DeepEcology10)a

We now have three cats that have chosen to call our garden home, mostly at night but increasingly during the day.  They all have bells on and are obviously pets. 

I am feeling increasingly upset about this and despairing too.  We have spent considerable energy creating habitat around our home specifically for the smaller birds that have it the toughest as the shrubs and grasses that they need to find shelter and food have largely disappeared from our region.  When we first moved in we had blue wrens hopping around our front porch but they have long gone.  A quail that caused much excitement in our courtyard lasted two days.   Although there are many reasons birds come and go, the sight of watching cats from our front window walk the same beat around our house night after night is so dispiriting, and so utterly avoidable. 

Can you please respect the by-laws of the community that you have chosen to live in, and my choice to live with birds and without cats.
 
Jenni McGlennon - 3 Olearia Walk

The latest (June) newsletter of the local environmental group Friends of Willunga Basin is ATTACHED. Among the items of interest are updates on the proposed Willunga Basin walking trail and Washpool conservation.

FOWB Newsletter Jun2010

Thanks to Pat Fraser for sending in the following piece of humorous wisdom (also ATTACHED as a PDF to share with friends:
_______________________

A Holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, 'Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.'

The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in... In the middle of the room was a large round table, and in the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water.

But the people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful. But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Lord said, 'Now you have seen Hell.

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one.
There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water... The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking together.

The holy man said, 'I don't understand.” 'It is simple,' said the Lord. 'It requires but one skill.

You see, they have learned to feed each other. The greedy think only of themselves.'

[And could the moral of this little story possibly be that too much “me” and not enough “we” might make a place Hell to live in?]

Heaven and Hell

Thanks to Tom D for this nice set of pictures from last weekend’s successful Winter Solstice Party:

Hi everyone,

Don't you sometimes wish you could hear the stories neighbours have to tell about their lives? There would be some amazing and interesting stories to hear! Unfortunately, in today's "rush-rush" culture, chances to listen to these types of fireside tales are very rare indeed - and all the more so because talking about ourselves has somehow become politically incorrect. Are we cowed by the "tall poppy syndrome" that cuts down anyone who might pop up their head above the others - or are we still conditioned by past childish playground voices accusing us of "skiting"? 

Well - here's an antidote to all that! Villager Hugh Robinson of 7 Clematis Walk has written a "fireside chat" about his colourful and fascinating life, and published it as a book, entitled "Making it Happen in South Australia." It contains a wealth of personal detail, including hair-raising tales about Hugh's own amazing exploits as a young 'bushie' and bush pilot, together with experiences in business consulting and teaching in Australia and China. But not only that - it also gives unique insights into an era of South Australia's development that saw the State's south-eastern region brought into profitable agriculture with a spirit of entrepreneurialism many enterprises have since lost in becoming mainstream.

And this is definitely not a book that cow-tows to political correctness - thank heavens! In a fireside chat, we would expect a friend to be honest, authentic, and down-to-earth. In his book, Hugh is truly authentic. He lets us see his likes and dislikes, his political views and opinions. We can agree or disagree with elements of opinion, but this just makes the chat all the more interesting. And in the end we do really get to know this very special neighbour of ours. What a treat. I really didn't want to put the book down once started.

Hugh didn't ask me to write this. He actually brought a copy of the book to me to place in our Library and I, not unnaturally, took the opportunity to have a read before I put it there. Once started, I soon decided we had to buy a copy for ourselves - and have done so. And you can buy one too - I thoroughly recommend it - and only $32. Purchase direct from Hugh at 7 Clematis Walk. (Phone 8557 6954 or email).

Elizabeth H

How wonderful to know that one of our newest Community members is an inspirational local conservationist! Congratulations to Paul Rosser of Lot 33 on Yacca Way, whose award has earned a write-up in the latest (June) edition of “On the Coast”:

Hi guys,

Just found this new concept of cheap accommodation which already exists in the UK and Ireland.

Wouldn't it be nice to have this in our Village?

Please let me know if you are also interested. It is easy to set up and I think our Village is an excellent spot for it.

Cheers - Tom D - 7 Dianella Walk

******************************
http://www.bedandfed.co.uk

Welcome to bed&fed, the UK and Irish directory of 'home from home' affordable informal dinner, bed and breakfasts from £30 (35€) per person, per night.

We're here to help you make money and save money: no single supplements and no booking fees. Additionally bed&fed offers an opportunity for any homeowner with a spare room to benefit from this innovative & flexible system.

Bed&fed is the no-fuss solution to cheap, convenient, friendly accommodation.

Congratulations to villager Paul Rosser who has won the 2010 Individual Award as part of the City of Onkaparinga Environment Awards.

Paul has been recognised for his outstanding service to local environmental groups for over 30 years including growing more than 6000 trees for Trees for Life, his work as a volunteer bush carer, and his involvement in the Willunga Hillsface Landcare Group, Willunga Environment Centre, the Washpool Committee and if that wasn't enough planting over 75 000 trees on his own property.  It is wonderful that we have such extensive experience and expertise within the village.  Paul was nominated by Amanda Rishworth MP and will receive his award from Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg at the Sustainability Expo at 10.30 on Saturday.

[Thanks to Jenni McGlennon for the alert.]

Although there won’t be a lot of action on the ground this year the revegetation of our stretch of Port Willunga creek is still underway.

The State Government owns the hill and this land, and Planning SA was responsible for the hundreds of plants that went in on the hill and in the creekline adjacent to Old Coach Rd last year.

Some of the old fencelines in this area were recently pulled out to make it easier to get in and do some weed control which will start in spring. Meanwhile a more detailed revegetation plan is being developed for the entire stretch between Old Coach Rd and Bowering Hill Rd, with more planting planned for 2011. The lease for the horse owners has expired and as revegetation cannot go ahead while the horses remain, it is unclear what will happen in this area.

A field day is planned for us in September to explain the entire project which I imagine will be of great interest to all of us.
 
Jenni McGlennon

Dear villagers

We are pleased to announce the exciting news that six villagers have recently formed Evolution Trading Pty Ltd.

The mission statement of the new venture is:
 
"By enabling innovation and activating entrepreneurship, Evolution Trading will create a group of social enterprises which operate Sociocratically, for the benefit of the participants and the local community."

The Directors of Evolution Trading Pty Ltd are Michael Vawser, Ray Mines, Wayne Allen, Adrian Oakey, Bradley Nott and Kevin Chan. Our intention is to help enable development and innovation both within the Village and the wider local community. This is separate to our current roles on various Village committees and we see the company's work as complementing the whole of village plan.

We'd like to collaborate with other interested parties to form a small number of ventures per 
year in key priority areas. If you have any questions please feel free to contact one of us.

Best regards - Evolution Trading Pty Ltd"

Handyman Available for all small jobs including:

- Small concreting jobs
- Fencing and Screens
- Redgum planterboxes made to order
- Painting and oiling of timber and walls
- General clean-ups and rubbish removal
- General garden and landscape maintenance

Pease call Shane Schilder (2 Olearia Walk) on 8557 7955

Hello villagers at AAEV,

I am a Council Employee who works in Libraries. My hobbies are Visual Arts (my whole life); I have studied Massage therapy (not certificate qualified though); I am vegetarian, own 2 budgies and garden. I am a 27 year young female who values her independence and goals in life. That is a general overview about what stands out about me.

As a deferred Visual Arts Specialisation student for 2011, I need to condense and simplify life and live somewhere where the environment supports how I need to live. I am keen to have a small place of my own or live on someone else’s property in a separate “granny flat” with the necessities of a stove, light, shower, access to power for a laptop and/or MP3 and small TV. I plan on moving with one carload of things and the finances to purchase/barter for and or exchange \"labour\" for good quality furniture (only what is needed)!

All help is appreciated in finding accommodation (even referrals elsewhere).

Kind Regards - Monica Lubanska - email

Small woodwork, welding and painting jobs

Manual digging jobs
- post holes
- trenches
- garden beds
- spreading mulch
- planting trees

Modifying and fitting second-hand timber kitchens

Can also assist in purchase of above

Rate: $22.50 per hour

Call Peter Morrison - 0457 782 577 or 8557 8980

Bearing in mind our collective concern over keeping salt levels down in AAEV waste water, how about a laundry cleaner that is a simple natural plant material with NO added salt, that cuts down the requirement for rinse water, and that can be tossed straight into the compost bin after a few washes? Too good to be true? It seems not. Soap nuts from the tree Sapindus mukorossi can do just this. See the ATTACHMENT for more information.

There are local sources so it is definitely worth a trial. (Elizabeth H.)

Soap Nuts

Sick of waiting for Google Maps to update our photos?  Wait no more!

“Nearmap” - http://Nearmap.com/ - has 3 lots of photos taken 19/10/09, 1/12/09 and 26/12/09.
The definition seems very good and the contrast in three months to some houses and gardens is amazing!

Jane O’Connell

Hi everyone,

Let’s start recycling our aluminium foil and food containers rather than putting them into the general waste stream.

Please put suitable items (see below) into the green bin with black lid labelled “Aluminium” in my carport. I will pass them on to Chas Martin who is running a collection scheme.

Below is a message from Chas that explains why and what to recycle this way.

Sue Eltahir - 24 Dianella Way - 8556 6441

Chas writes:
I have been collecting aluminium materials for fundraising for Friends of Willunga Basin (F.O.W.B.) for 3 years now for the following reasons: Although aluminium is a very energy intensive material to produce, it is not covered by kerbside recycling unless it is a container deposit item, so if it goes to landfill there is a lot of energy wasted. The embodied energy in a 5 gram meat pie dish is 1⁄4 of a killowatt hour. The electricity taken to produce 1 killogram of aluminium from ore is of the order of 50 killowatt hours, but it takes less than 10% of that to recycle aluminium.

The price of salvaged aluminium is low because of the outrageous subsidies via super low electricity prices to aluminium refiners. I feel that by recycling our aluminium we can highlight the issues involved, minimize our own carbon footprint from using this material and make a bit of income for community groups.

The photo below shows some of the items which are suitable. As a general guide if you scrunch it up and it holds the crumpled state it is suitable. If it mostly bounces back it is probably a plastic and unsuitable. Whilst recycling aluminium is good, reducing its use where possible is even better.

Remember it takes approximately one whole unit of electricity (1Kg carbon emission) to produce the aluminium for the takeaway dinner containers for one person for one meal if it is produced from alumina. Put another way, if you have a 1 Killowatt solar array feeding into the grid, those containers take equivalent to about 1/6 of your daily electricity output. Aluminium is extremely undervalued if we consider the very high energy cost (i.e., fossil carbon release) per kg to produce it. A carbon tax would give it its proper value and dramatically increase recycling rates.


Examples: Pie plate, food tray, coffee tin sealer, tops of yoghurt containers, chocolate wrappers, small bottle caps

It has been noted by a number of villagers that the “Swap Table” near the mailboxes is not working the way it was intended. Most produce items are ruined by the sun before being picked up by others, and the table has become a general dumping place for big stacks of mail items intended to go one-each to all community members.

Rather than leaving your produce on the table to desiccate in the sun, why not take it to any / all of the social activities, committee meetings and other village groups you attend. That way, you can rescue and redirect it if it is not needed by others. If you are not attending such groups, why not pass it over to a neighbour who is.

This Friday there is a social / shared meal at the Sharing Shed so produce for swapping could be put on one of the tables in the Shed during the event.

Sue E and Elizabeth H

Can you believe that this photo (below) is of Port Willunga Jetty?  It is an undated photograph that I found on the City of Onkaparinga library website where they are progressively digitising all old photos of the council area.  There are some fascinating pictures of the Onkaparinga River in flood and families on ‘our’ beach  wearing clothes that I am glad are not required any more! See: http://www.onkaparingacity.com/libraries/localstudies/index.asp

Jenni M

Ever had a speeding fine? If so, you will love this one - very nearly a bit of exquisite revenge!

[Thanks to Hugh R for sending it in.]

Top this speeding ticket

Here’s a close-by source of honey, olive oil, and various fruits in season (recommended by satisfied villagers):

Hi everyone,

We’re starting our own 100-Mile Diet! For our New Year's Resolution 2010 my family will source all of our food from within 160Km (100 miles) of our home. We want to learn more about where our food comes from, reduce our food miles - (the distance food travels from the farm to our plate); and get a glimpse of what a post carbon and peak oil world might taste like.

We are on day 5 and discovering new things about food every day. Even Aarod is keen on this venture, and his cousin who came to stay with us for a few days has become a convert too and may be influencing his mother's shopping list! I hope that you find this as interesting as we are, we are taking it slowly, easing into it as our pantry stores slowly diminish. I sense that as we get further along the track we will become more informed and hence more strict with our diet. I don't want to rush the process and want to keep it engaging, exploratory, and fun, not a regime that we end up rebelling against. Most importantly we want to make changes that we can live with long term. One of the foreign items in my pantry that I knew I would miss big time was anchovies, so we called it "Life without anchovies" In all honesty, I love them so much that I bought them in a big jar, so we will not be running out for a few months, he he!

Bridget O’D

You can follow Bridget & Michael’s “hunting and gathering” experiences via Bridget’s new Blog - Life Without Anchovies - at:
http://lifewithoutanchovies.blogspot.com/

I have also linked it to our Village website. Click on “Sustainability” in the main menu and find “Life Without Anchovies” in the sub-menu. Elizabeth H.

Over the last week there has been fox and feral dog activity in the Willunga Creek line approximately opposite the area between Hakea Walk and Yacca Way. Onkaparinga rangers, called in to investigate a feral dog that threatened Kylie M while walking her dog beside the creek, found evidence of its presence but not the animal itself. However, they confirmed the presence of a pair of foxes, who have also been spotted in the area on a subsequent occasion. In addition, again while walking her dog, Kylie M found a dead part-grown fox that may have been a victim of the bigger feral dog.

The rangers suggested that we keep dog & fox sightings diary for a while to confirm that either or both are still in the region. This will enable (1) the return of the rangers to deal with the dog if it is still around, and (2) a visit from the Fleurieu pest control board to deal with the foxes if they are permanent residents with a local den.

I am happy to keep the diary and communicate with the relevant authorities as needed but I need your help with information. Please send me details (when, what, circumstances) of any sightings of foxes or large loose dogs in the creek area.

Let’s keep Village kids (and chooks!) safe from harm.

Elizabeth H - 8556 6892 or email

Assuming we get no further rain between posting this news and midnight tonight (New Year’s Eve), the total rainfall recorded unofficially for 2009 by the gauge in our garden is 534 mm.

This compares with 241 mm in 2006, 477 mm in 2007, 362 mm in 2008, and a long-term average for the region of 520 mm.

So finally, our annual rainfall has cracked average - but I, for one, will not be in the least surprised if “average” is now permanently down on where it was. This has already happened elsewhere across southern Australia (Perth and Melbourne).

Let’s hope for some “tropical in-feeds” to provide summer rain and help ease the stress on gardens.

Elizabeth H.

For those who enjoyed Vanda’s smorgasbord of bean salads at the Village Christmas Party and would like to try making some or all of them, the recipe leaflet is ATTACHED:

With cheers from Vanda R
Bean Salads Xmas 2009

From University of Adelaide research comes the news that biodiversity loss attributed to invasive exotic species is actually a consequence of aggressive dingo control measures. Where dingo populations were allowed to recover, invasive and opportunistic species declined considerably, and native biodiversity increased. Dingos were consistently found where threatened species were surviving. See ATTACHED article.

So - banish shooters and poison bait, bring back the dingo and cherish that yellow Aussie dog!
Dingo benefits ecosystems

Hi there,

I came accross this very inspiring website through an article about Brad Lancaster (Permaculture Guru) in G Magazine. These videos show Brad in Tuscon Arizona harvesting rainwater from the road outside his home to produce a green landscape that is self sustaining and provides habitat, shade, and edible indigenous food. The videos took ages to open on my computer, but were well worth the wait. Very topical for our neighbourhood group as we are looking into street trees at present and could possibly use a similar system to water the trees. The area only receives 304mm. rainwater annually so is a good indicator of what is possible here in Aldinga.
http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/wp-content/uploads/sustainableroute1.mov
http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/wp-content/uploads/sustainableroute2.mov

Bridget O’D

[Note from Elizabeth H while posting Feed: These really interesting videos suggest to me that, where appropriate, we could replace roadside mounds (that shed water) with roadside planted swales (that collect water). Also, the slope of associated parking bays could be adjusted to feed water into the swales rather than having it wash out across the roads as happens in a number of places at present. John and I have thought for some time that the parking bay and mound outside our house on Hakea Walk could be modified this way - to grow trees better and stop gravel washing out of the parking bay across the road. We were originally told that the high earth mound was to block car headlights, but trees and shrubs would do this just as well in the fullness of time. Perhaps the NEC could consider the above videos in this context.]

Hi there everyone,

Just a quick note to say thankyou to all of you who devote precious time to helping our community run and flow with ease and pleasure. This is such a special place to live, and it is truly inspirational living and working together on beautiful Earth. What an exciting year it has been; how the Village has grown and changed!

Merry Christmas, Solstice and Happy New Year!

Heidi Karo

Congratulations to villager Anthony Steel, whose new book “Painful in Daily Doses” is hot off the press this December. See the Wakefield Press release flyer ATTACHED.

“If anyone can be said to be the father of festivals in Australia, it is Anthony Steel. He changed the way we experienced the arts, and set new standards for us to aspire to, both as audiences and artists.” – Robyn Archer

In this engaging memoir Anthony Steel tells his story, from growing up in a wealthy steel manufacturing family – the Steels of Sheffield – where music was a fundamental part of daily life, to his triumphant staging of Adelaide’s 1986 Festival ... ...
Painful in Daily Doses flyer 2

Too often the elderly in our society are treated as peripheral, as nuisances, like children, or even as though they have somehow become invisible as real people. The ATTACHED poem, currently in general circulation through the internet, strikes a blow for better visibility and appreciation for elders in our society. [Thanks to Anne W for sending it in.]
Grumpy Old Mans gift

From today's ‘Indaily’ of the The Independent Weekly (Thanks to Jane O’C):

Rainwater declared safe for daily drinking 
A major study of Australian households with a water tank has found drinking rainwater had no impact on their health.

The study was based in Adelaide, the nation's tank capital, and took in 300 homes that used rainwater as their primary drinking source. All of the homes were given a benchtop filter and told it would remove any potential gastroenteritis-causing bugs from their water, but half of the devices intentionally did not work. The rate of gastro cases recorded across the households over 12 months was found to match that seen across the broader community, who drank treated tap water. "There were just under 770 episodes of gastroenteritis reported during the study or 0.77 episodes of gastro per person," said Associate Professor Karin Leder, head of the infectious diseases unit at Monash University's department of epidemiology. "Interestingly, this rate is very similar to the rate of gastro reported in other studies both in Australia, and in ! other industrialised countries, amongst non-rainwater drinkers." Gastroenteritis rates were the same for families who used the working filters and those who had the dummy devices. The research contrasts with official advice from state health departments that discourages rainwater drinking where treated water is available. (AAP)

Aldinga on Display is over!... Blue balloons over the township did so well with the help of whirling kites that, in the afternoon, even the sky decided to join in the celebrations. There have been wonderful happenings all over Aldinga and the village offered excellent moments to its visitors. Thanks to all those who contributed:

Jane and Michael offered the most delicious pizzas..! Lynda and Tony took visitors around and Elizabeth and Tony explained the ethos and the environmental advantages of the village. Margaret and Anne exhibited lovely baskets and were joined by Audrey (a possible future villager) who spins soft and colourful wools. Justin had a well deserved success with his sculptures, as did Charlie and Violet with their pottery. Lou offered great music and the Village Singers sang some spirited songs.



See the ATTACHED “Village Happenings” for more pictures of the activities
[Thanks to Ken C for the photos.]
 
VILLAGE HAPPENINGS AoD

Lots of thanks also to those who made the village so neat and appealing, who put up the flags; who covered the give away table with delicious fruit and vegies from their gardens; and who offered their welcome all over the village... 

It was a great way to enjoy a day when at last, there was no rain, little wind, and just enough cool to feel well and alive.

And for the children: there are lots of FREE blue balloons to find around the Village. Please take them down for your play wherever you can find them   

Francoise C

********************************************
A very big thank-you to Francoise for all the preparation, including going to many organising meetings, and to both Francoise and Ken for all the efforts that went into preparing materials and liaising with participants for our Village part of the day.

Thank you also to the landscape workers who had the common land looking wonderfully cared for; to the artists who showed their work in progress, and to Lynda, Tony and Elizabeth for the stimulating show-and-tell activities with interested visitors.

Gillian C

Thanks to Vanda R for sending on the following letter and ATTACHMENT sent in to the Natural Earth Burial Society (NEB):

Dear NEB - The Hunter Organic Growers Society Inc produces a magazine for which I am the editor, designer etc. I thought you might be interested in adding to your list of publications the ATTACHED article I put together for the magazine last year about natural burial. I drew on various resources, including ABC radio, to put the article together.

It seems that a number of our members (drawing on the Hunter Valley)  were very interested in the article and it has done the rounds. Some people (including me) changed their will to include this sort of burial even though it is not available in this area .... yet.

Cheers - Angela Finney
Bury, burn or compost

We moved into our new house on the village in Yacca Way, on the 9th of October one year ago. The ground was brown and barren looking, the trees and gardens looked unhappy, we were in a recession, we hardly had any water in our tanks, but we were hopeful.

Now, a year later, we have a green garden, the Village has happy gardens, the trees are rejuvenated, the recession is finished, we have full tanks, and we have just experienced a year of wonderful "village moments". 

We have had endless willing help, a wonderful welcome to the village, fruit left on our doorstep, cakes, flowers, vegetables given to us, offers of help with our chooks, smiles from people as we pass on the road, and we can't stop saying that the very best thing we've ever done is move here!

With thanks to everyone,

Annette & Dick Inwood - 12 Yacca Way

Hi everyone,

Regarding lightbulbs and batteries:  There is a recycling facility at IKEA store as well as the Willunga Environment Centre.  We are happy to collect lightbulbs and take them periodically to these centres.  There is a pale blue box outside our back door (where cars are parked); please put them in there.

Lesley & Jan - 5 Tetragonia Walk; phone: 8557 6193

Hopefully by the time you read this, Old Coach Road will have been re-opened and because the closure has been causing traffic hassles I thought you might like to know why the roadworks are happening.  SA Water have been laying large underground water pipes that will supply treated wastewater to 2000 homes in the new Seaford Meadows development.  The water will be fed to the houses for use in their gardens and toilets, and for the Council to irrigate parks in the area.
 
The project affected local traffic because the water will be sourced from the Christies Beach Waste Water Treatment Plant and then at times of the year when demand is lower than supply (winter) it will be piped to new holding ponds at the Aldinga Waste Water Treatment Plant near Aldinga Airport for storage, photo attached.  In summer at times of heavy demand this water will be piped back to Seaford.   Old Coach Road was blocked off completely during the pipe-works at the recommendation of Safe Work SA to ensure the safety of workers. 
 
The project is part of the City of Onkaparinga WaterProofing the South Stage 1 project which is extending the use of use of treated wastewater already used extensively in McLaren Vale to irrigate vineyards to other areas of the council. See:
http://www.onkaparingacity.com/web/page?pg=2806&stypen=html 
 
Jenni McGlennon

English is a funny language! There are so many nuances of meaning - so easy to get hilariously wrong if English is not your native tongue! See examples ATTACHED.
Signs of our times

Good ideas are so precious - how come everyone seems to want to kill them! See the ATTACHED list for 50 ways to kill creativity. Funny? Yes - but possibly tragic too because we recognise just how commonly they are used.
How to kill creativity

Our historic namesake - the good ship Aldinga from the earliest days of steam:
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/shipping/2/1

The Bank of I.D.E.A.S - Ideas to fire up creativity and action with an interesting e-newsletter you can subscribe to:
http://www.bankofideas.com.au

Food production is going to have to rise 70% to feed the Earth’s future population. Where will we grow it all? Does this mean the end of ornamental gardening is approaching?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8303434.stm

Union Climate Connectors: The Australian Conservation Foundation is joining forces with Australian Unions to help raise awareness of the climate change crisis in workplaces and beyond:
http://www.climateconnectors.org

TEAR Australia’s Gift Catalogue for gifts that help all over the World:
http://www.usefulgifts.org/

GetUP tackles the Coal Lobby: Their latest satirical TV ad is quickly becoming a hit. Funded by everyday Australians, it has the nation's media in a spin. On Monday it featured as the lead story on ABC 7pm TV News, and now it is scheduled to be shown and discussed on this Sunday's Meet the Press - and all this coverage before the ad has even formally gone to air. What makes this a story is thousands of everyday Australians, making small donations to put an ad on the air that challenges the bloated marketing budget of the coal lobby. If you haven't already seen it, you can check it out here: www.getup.org.au/campaign/NewNameSameOldCoal

[Thanks to Erik R, John H, and Vanda R for the links.]

Little Gloria, daughter of Maia, granddaughter of Julia Elischer was born on the morning of the 7 October, the same birthday as her aunty Raea (nine years later), and one day after her future neighbour, little Gracie across the road!

Mum, dad Shannon and bubs are back home at Clematis Walk and are all adjusting beautifully.

LIZARDS NEWS:
Lizards are on the move.  They crawl on to the black road surface to warm up their blood, and cannot move as quickly as later in the season, so please take care when driving.  A lovely sleepy lizard was mutilated by a car on Yacca Way on Saturday:

______________________________________________________

Goodbye Sleepy Lizard!

On Saturday we had a sad loss here on Yacca Way. Our beautiful resident sleepy lizard who has lived here for years was run over and killed with the increased traffic here for the Garage sale. Please drive carefully and watch out not just for our children but for all the other creatures that make this place their home. For future such events, perhaps signs could be erected asking visitors to take care of ALL our residents.

Kate Gebhardt

_______________________________________________________

SNAKE NEWS:
Snakes are also on the move again as the weather begins to warm. Tom Deliveyne has reported sighting a large one, probably a Brown Snake (see picture) behind Coralie's house near the pond. Be especially wary, especially near long grass, hay bales, and anywhere where they might be attracted by mice.



BIRD NEWS:
We have a very friendly and greedy young magpie working his/her way around the village,
aware that he has started life in a generous land of plenty!  Remember he has to learn to
fend for himself, so don't be too kind to him.  Please keep dogs and cats under surveillance
when on roads and common land, and never feed milk or bread to magpies.
 
A pair of birds new to the village has been sighted, on vacant land near the linear park.  They are believed to be the black-tailed native-hen. As these are ground frequenting birds, who may be nesting by the pond on Hakea Walk, it is really important not to allow dogs and cats to harass them. Please keep your pets contained on your lot. The following photos were taken by Elizabeth between the Hakea pond plantings and the chook pen on lot 64. Any further identification ideas or photos would be very welcome.



[Thanks to Gillian, Kate and Tom for the notes.]

This past weekend, ABC TV’s Gardening Australia featured a segment on our urban sister ecovillage at Christie walk. If you are interested, you can watch it on your computer.

Go to Catchup on iView at: http://www.abc.net.au/iview/ or download a videocast from
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/video/download.htm  

If you would prefer a print version, find the Gardening Australia Fact Sheet at:
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2707831.htm

[Thanks to Vanda R and Tricia O’D for the links.]

Last week in the feed I wrote about the Hart Rd wetland and there has been a query about my statement that it would dry up over summer.  Roughly 60% of the wetland is designed to  be ephemeral (seasonally dry) with some pools of 1 - 2 m deep that remained last summer.  I have ATTACHED an aerial photo from last February, and a consultation plan map that shows photos of the different habitats that will develop over time. [NOTE THAT THE MAP IS A LARGE FILE - 4MB] 


 
Wetland layout consultation plan [LARGE FILE - 4MB]

Last year the wetland was only receiving stormwater run-off from the Bayswood Estate, although this is still a large area at around 80 hectares so it only takes a couple of light showers to pool water in the ponds.  The Village is 34 hectares by comparison, including the Farm.  It should have more water in it this summer as Sunday development has since been built which will double the area of hard surfaces to channel the rain into the ponds.  It was intended that the ponds were going to be lined, however when digging they found a layer of clay that was sufficient to hold the water so that the only artificial lining used was higher up the slope to keep water from infiltrating into the topsoil.
 
It is worth mentioning that it is hard to generalise about 'wetlands' as the term is used to describe both naturally occurring water bodies and artificially created drainage and storage systems that differ greatly in their reason for being. Naturally occurring wetlands can range from permanent lakes such as Lake Bonney, to estuarine wetlands in the Onkaparinga River or the ephemeral coastal lagoon of the Aldinga Washpool.  There are 24 different types of naturally occurring wetlands in the SA Wetlands Strategy to give you some idea of the range. 
 
Artificial wetlands are instead constructed with a goal in mind.  They are designed and engineered primarily to either reduce the risk of flooding downstream; to cleanse water and store it - usually for irrigation; or to cleanse water before it is released to the ocean, creek or groundwater. 
 
Cleansing the water can be achieved through using rubbish filters, geotextile fabric, sand & rock layers and/or natural means such as reedbeds.  Creating habitat is usually a significant aim of the project but not the primary reason for construction.  The reason for the wetland dictates the design, and sometimes all of these outcomes are achieved in the same wetland as is the case with Hart Rd. 
 
Jenni McGlennon

Gardening Australia Fact Sheet on Little Raven Wetlands in Melbourne:

In Australia, we are so sensitive to water conservation that we try and save every single drop. At the Chisholm Institute of TAFE in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, they've come up with this tremendous system to not only save the water but clean it also. John explores the wetlands and meets Conservation and Land Management teacher, Jeff Smith. Read more at:
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2688745.htm

[Thanks to Tricia O’Donovan for the link.]

Save water and grow beautiful plants with a clever efficient means of watering: A “Wetpots” system uses as little as 1/2 a litre per emitter pot per week compared to 1 litre every 15 minutes for some "efficient" drip irrigation systems. Wetpots can be used for all types of gardens, small to large - flowers, vegetables, pot plants, planter boxes and for establishing trees. Not cheap, so probably best for small intensive gardens. Read more at:
http://www.wetpots.com/

There is a "significant risk" that global production of conventional oil could "peak" and decline by 2020, a report has warned. The UK Energy Research Centre study says there is a consensus that the era of cheap oil is at an end. Read more at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8296096.stm

A scary message from the past: Researchers have used ocean sediments to plot CO2 levels back 20 million years. The CO2 levels commonly regarded as adequate to tackle climate change were associated in the past with sea levels 25-40m (80-130 ft) higher than today. Read more at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8299426.stm

Children can 'imagine away' pain! Abdominal pain with no identifiable cause is common in children. However, children can be taught to use their imagination to tackle frequent bouts of stomach pain, research shows. A relaxation-type CD, asking children to imagine themselves in scenarios like floating on a cloud led to dramatic improvements in abdominal pain. The US researchers said the technique worked particularly well in children as they have such fertile imaginations. Read more at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8299719.stm

Oh no! A web mail scam that propagates itself: The industry-wide phishing scam that has affected popular web mail services such as Hotmail and GMail, is spreading, according to experts such as Security firm Websense. This is because infected accounts are sending personalised e-mails to contacts suggesting shopping sites, which are in fact fakes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8294714.stm

[Thanks to John H and Tony G for the links.]

Beautiful baby girl!!!

Gracie Summer was born 19:42 Tuesday 6 October 2009.  All doing well and home now.  She is feeding well. Jodie is happy and healthy.  Gracie was born in the water, which she was always bound to be after helping Jodie swim to Rottnest earlier this year.

Gracie weighs 3.5kg or almost 8 pounds and is 52cm long.  She was born with a very full head of hair - just like her mum.

The frame of our home at 13 Clematis Walk (Lot 95) has started going up, so hopefully Gracie will get to enjoy part of her first Summer in the village.

Jodie, Beau & Gracie Summer

Hallo all,

You’ve (hopefully) signed the petition, now it’s time to lobby directly!

The Legislative Council will vote on the Willunga Basin Protection Bill (no 63) next Wednesday 14 October 2009. The Liberal Party will support the bill. So will Family First. Labor is against it.

So these are the people to lobby, send an email to encouraging them to support the bill etc etc: (The Independents and smaller parties have the balance of power in this vote):

Hon Ann Bressington, Independent Member, Legislative Council
Ann.Bressington@parliament.sa.gov.au

Hon John Darley, Independent Member, Legislative Council
john.darley@parliament.sa.gov.au

Hon Mark Parnell Greens SA, Member, Legislative Council
parnell@parliament.sa.gov.au

Hon David Winderlich, Democrats, Member, Legislative Council
David.Winderlich@parliament.sa.gov.au

Suggest you say something along the lines of:

“The various agricultural, horticultural, environmental, tourism, heritage, landscape, community and other assets of the region bounded by the Onkaparinga River Riparian Zone, the Adelaide Hills Escarpment, Sellicks Beach and the sea - and otherwise known as the Willunga Basin - require legislative protection and I/we therefore encourage you to support the Willunga Basin Protection Bill with your vote.”

If the Legislative Council supports the Bill, that sends a strong message to the government that the community wants legislative protection for the Basin.

Stephanie Johnston (Lot 144), Spokesperson for the Southern Community Coalition

ATTACHED is the latest (October) issue of “Ecovillage Musings”, the newsletter from the Ecovillage Research Group Inc. (ERG), a not for profit Incorporated Association located within Crystal Waters Ecovillage, South East Queensland.
ERG Vol 6 October 09

Wow! The Village Knitters and Wool Artists thought we were working on three baby rugs - but we are actually working on four! Isn’t it exciting to have so many young families in our Village - and nice to know we have such a nice tradition going. (See some pics ATTACHED).

More knitted, crocheted, and felted squares please - 15 cm x 15 cm. Here’s a great chance to use up all those odd balls of wool and synthetic yarn.

We could do with some more acrylic squares as one of the rugs will be intentionally in synthetic yarns.

You can bring squares along to

Knitting Group THIS Wednesday 7 October at Julie’s place, 4 Hakea Walk

Or, you can drop them off with Julie T (4 Hakea), Jill W (7 Grevillea), or Elizabeth H (14 Hakea).
AAEV Baby Rugs

I'm pretty sure we have quandong moth (Paraepermenia santaliella) in our small quandong orchard between Hakea Walk and Yacca Way.  The moth larvae burrow around in the fruit, in the layer of flesh next to the kernel, leaving brownish-black tracks.  We found that quite a few of the fruit that ripened early had this problem.

This moth is a serious problem in quandong production:  (a)  Fruit is poor quality, and  (b) the only known control is chemical.  

Can I suggest that we practice good orchard hygiene as a start in trying to control this problem, otherwise it will probably get worse next season.

1. We should pick up the fruit & kernels that have fallen to the ground under the trees and dispose of them off-site (or burn, but not into the compost).
2. The scraps from fruit that has been taken to home kitchens should be put in the garbage to go off site, not into compost.

Kaye Ferguson in Adelaide (SARDI) did a study on this moth a few years ago. Some of the results of her research are available at:
http://www.sardi.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/91621/quandong.pdf

Maarten Ryder - 8557 6046 or email

Garden getting out of hand? Need help? Here’s an answer:

Is this the future of short-haul air travel – planes filled to the point of standing room only?
 
The picture shows a proposed concept sketch for vertical “seats” in Ryanair planes. Boeing has been asked to provide the stand-up “seating” design that would allow passengers a 50% discount on conventional fares. It’s not such a radical move, either – the Chinese are almost there with a bar-stool type seat already in use by Spring Airlines.

[Thanks to John H for translating from the Dutch language news.]

The “bionic ear” was an amazing breakthrough for the deaf. Now there might be a new technology in the pipeline that allows blind people to see with their tongue! See:
http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,28348,26016956-5014239,00.html

For babies suffering the dangers of oxygen starvation at birth, there is a new simple breakthrough that could prevent brain damage. See:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8283738.stm

In Holland, it seems, Camel’s milk is the latest agricultural novelty. Watch a short video of the first commercial camel milk production farm at the following link. (Note you will need to endure a short commercial video first!)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8287540.stm

And here’s a very different map of Australia - based on population numbers:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46477000/jpg/_46477189_australia.jpg

[Thanks to John H for the links.]

A bunch of keys attached to a pink clip has been lost in the Village. If you find them, please return them via the Secretary by placing them in the green Community Corporation mailbox near the noticeboard. Thanks for your help.

Did you know that there is a huge wetland system only 5 minutes drive away from the village? 

It is on the corner of Rowley Rd and Hart Rd at Aldinga Beach and it captures stormwater run-off from both the Bayswood and Sunday estates - a 180 hectare area.  It has only just been planted so it will be great to watch it transform over the next few years. 

It is a great time to visit right now because it is full of water and if you walk into the Scrub which is right next door you will see huge ponds that have not been full for 20 years.  This is attracting a lot of wildlife including loads of kangaroos and there have also been sightings of a rare bird - the Painted Snipe. 

Apart from replenishing the Scrub, the water is being injected into the aquifer in winter to be used on local parks in the summer.  The wetland will dry up naturally over the summer months. 

Dogs have been banned from the area in response to community concerns about migratory birds. 
 
Jenni McGlennon - Strategic Planner Environment Sustainability - www.onkaparingacity.com

Forget “nanotechnology” (the art of molecular-scale manipulation). NannaTechnology is the future we want to see!

This future will look a bit like it did for our Nannas - a future of healthy, resilient and creative individuals and communities. A society positively and proactively responding to challenges. Blending the good bits from the past with the good bits from the future. To create a hybrid philosophy, focussed on simple individual actions creating healthy people and a healthy environment ... ... See: http://nannatechnology.com.au/

'Forty-five nations face a population “bust” that has some leaders wringing their hands. They worry about the costs of supporting an aging society and the loss of national and economic power.’ Australian leaders seem to believe a population boom will cure the problem, but what they are advocating is really just “Ponzi Demography”! See:
http://opaleye.blogspot.com/2009/09/ponzi-demography.html

If you are interested in learning more about how climate change is proceeding, and how peoples around the world are beginning to adopt strategies for adaptation, you might like to check out the Google Climate Change Tours. See the introductory video clip narrated by Al Gore at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7ygf-puKm0

If you would like to follow the progress of the forming Sydney Coastal Ecovillage, check their website at: www.scev.org

You can catch up with the news, information from overseas ecovillages, and also subscribe to their email newsletter.

The latest issue (No. 4 2009) of Sustainable Development Update (SDU), featuring the interactions between ecological issues and social and economic development, is now available at: http://www.albaeco.com/sdu/

From the Contents:

- Invest in ecosystems to climate-proof vulnerable economies.
- Scientists warn: Compounding crises outrun our ability to deal with them.
- Cost of adapting to climate change much higher than previously thought.
- Editorial: Swedish EU Presidency + biodiversity = music to my ears!
- Sustainability School: Planetary boundaries

SDU focuses on links between ecology, society and the economy. It is produced by Albaeco, an independent non-profit organisation, in cooperation with the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University; the Beijer International Institute of Ecological Economics; the Resilience Alliance; and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). It is produced with support from Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

The latest two issues of Between the Lines from The Australia Institute - https://www.tai.org.au/ - are ATTACHED

In the contents:

090921
1. Electricity and pricing signals …
2. … How is our behaviour affected?
3. The Australian home: a sacred site for tax policy?
4. The slippery slope of the war on terror

090928 - The Equity Edition
1. Does the Rudd Government deserve a tick for its stimulus package?
2. Could you live on $228 a week? How Australia compares with the rest of the world
3. What about when businesses go belly-up? Guaranteeing workers’ entitlements
4. Fat cat payouts

Between the Lines 090921
Between the Lines 090928

How bizarre! Could hook-worm infections guard against the rising tide of asthma and dust-mite allergies? See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8268584.stm

[Thanks to John H for the link.]

Two coloured fleeces for sale - $12 each - one silver grey and one black - shorn last Saturday and completely free of grass seeds or burrs and  very good quality - suitable for spinning  or felting or whatever.

To inspect or for all enquiries, ring Cam or Anne W  - 8557 6281 or 0431 922 072

The latest issue of the journal “Small Talk” from the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Natural Resources Management Board is ATTACHED. While primarily directed at farmers and rural land managers, it contains a lot of useful information on environmental matters in our region.

[Thanks to Jane O’Connell for sending it on. Jane also has the paper version.]
Small Talk_Spring_09

Just a reminder about the call for folks interested in learning about beekeeping:

Bees are vital to our food production here in the Village and yet we hardly give them a thought. Ever pondered life without bees? Ever wanted to know more about this amazing creature?

Chris Worsman is hoping to hear from you to set up an interest group. Don’t forget to let her know if you would like to be included - or even just kept in the loop.

Chris W - Phone 0414 900 399 - 15 Kennedia Walk (Lot 134)

How much of the food you buy each week ends up in the rubbish bin? According to Tristram Stuart, the author of a soon-to-be-released book on food waste, Australians throw out about $8billion worth of edible food, or 13 percent of what we buy - and Americans are even more wasteful. What a scandalous waste! Read more at:
http://opaleye.blogspot.com/2009/09/waste-not-want-not.html

Here’s an interesting article (ATTACHED) from the latest (Sept/Oct 09) issue of “EcoGeneration” - www.ecogeneration.com.au - outlining how the huge masses of peach stones from the Goulburn valley canning industry are now to be directed into a biomass energy generation system. Thanks to Sue E who sent in the article with a comment about collecting our stone-fruit stones to add to mallee coppicing as a future local bioenergy source.
Peach power

Thanks to John T and John H for gathering up and cashing in our accumulated drink bottles, cans and some scrap metal. Their efforts have added $86 to the Village Savings Fund, which now stands at $2,111.

There have been a number of confirmed and suspected cases of whooping cough (Pertussis) in the Village.  This is a very contagious and unpleasant disease (as those who have had it will tell you!).  The Chinese call it the 100 day cough for good reason. About 1 in 200 babies who get whooping cough before they are 6 months old will die from the infection.

Appropriate diagnosis and treatment with the correct antibiotic will limit the time a person is infectious to about 5 days, otherwise it is 3 weeks. Vaccination for whooping cough is not life long and adults should consider vaccination – both to protect themselves and the more vulnerable in our community.

Vaccination is available at GP Plus, Aldinga Beach, on Thursday 9.30am - 11.30am. For adults, it costs $32 per person, and the clinic requests you call ahead to let them know you are coming in.

For information about whooping cough, see:
http://www.cyh.sa.gov.au/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=303&id=1851#5

[Thanks to Jane O’Connell for the alert.]

Hello all, We’re pleased to let you all know that our beautiful new website website: http://www.friendsofportwillunga.com is now live. Friends of Port Willunga Committee

Thanks to Brad Nott for sending in the ATTACHED press release about new research from the French Agency for Food Safety (AFSSA) showing that organic foods are more nutritious than their conventional counterparts. The debate rumbles on but it seems there is increasing evidence in favour of organics!
Organics more nutritious

Hi everyone,

I need newspaper for use as an innovative building render on our new Village home.

If you can donate your old newspapers, please put them into the 44-gallon drum provided at the front of Lot 99 at the end of Clematis Walk (9 Clematis Walk).

Thanks - Danny Filmer - Ph: 0407 971 290

Hi All
 
If you are not already subscribed, you might be interested in the current version of the Zero Waste SA newsletter Rewords - it's available online at:
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs069/1102051918980/archive/1102658296765.html
 
You can also read previous issues at: http://zerowaste.sa.gov.au/About.mvc/Rewords
 
If you'd like to be sent regular updates from Zero Waste SA, you might like to subscribe to Rewords at: http://zerowaste.sa.gov.au/About.mvc/Rewords
 
Cheers - Sharon Ede, Project Officer, Zero Waste SA 

Broadband promised to unite the world with super-fast data delivery - but in South Africa it seems the web is still no faster than a humble pigeon. Read more at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8248056.stm

[Thanks to John H for the link.]

Questions from the village regarding the wetland proposal to be presented at the AGM have been presented to Consultant Barrie Ormsby for comment.

EVAPORATION CONCERN
A study done on evaporation involving Hindmarsh Island, where conditions are windy ,cool and vegetation sparse verses Loxton with a hot dry climate. Conclusion to this study revealed the cooler, windy site had greater evaporation than than the hotter site.

Barrie indicated wind was probably the village’s main source of moisture loss.

Solutions: Reduction in pond surface area and shelter the water with wind breaks and aquatic plantings. The cooling effect of tall trees would be beneficial.

GROUND WATER
Village soil profile consists of shallow red brown loam over limestone and judging by the pits dug out for in-ground water tanks, a clay layer at about 2m down. It is in the clay layer that the ground water is stored and at that depth large trees benefit.

By reducing the size of the ponds a greater seepage occurs as well as producing surface water for biodiversity and the wetland design is a self flushing system with the overflow dispersing through the landscape via the swale drainage both moisturizing and nourishing the surrounding land.

DAMS VERSES WETLAND
Dams (Reference, Peter Andrews, Back from the Brink, Chapter 25): Shallow dams are an inefficient way to store water and "conventional dams fail badly in terms of water quality". Dam water is designed to be collected in a large bowl thereby becoming static and produces a " fertility sink", with increased nutrients, oxygen is removed from the water causing a dead zone( Andrew Thomas Onkaparinga wetland supervisor). This phenomenon causes die back, restricts biodiversity and algae infestation a possible outcome. With the wetland system, water is flushed across the landscape in imitation of ancient natural water courses, taking moisture and nutrients over a large area and forming a living ecosystem.

The Project aim is for an attractive landscape, better habitat by increasing biodiversity, both terrestrial and aquatic.

Maria B - Ph: 8556 6340

For those interested in keeping up with the renewable energy scene, Michael V has sent in the ATTACHED update of the Renewable Energy Target (RET) regulations in light of new legislation passed recently.
RET Regulations Update

ATTACHED is an article to get us thinking about the role of our Village ponds. It features an innovative (but not necessarily aesthetic) solution to water evaporating from ponds - something to think about if we are serious about retaining some water in the ponds for use over summer!

Are our ponds storm-water holding vessels? or is their purpose to slow down water flow in order to retain local soil moisture for longer periods? (and if so, is a 'pond' the way to go, considering that evaporation via wind and sun is significant and ways to slow down evaporation can be ugly)....I'm sure there must be a permaculture solution ....

Tricia O’D.
Reducing evaporation

There has never been a more important time to save energy. Not only is it becoming more vital with every passing year to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, but the rising price of energy is adding to the pain of households already hit by the Global Financial Crisis.

The new, just launched, CSIRO Energy Saving Handbook shows us exactly what we can all do as individuals to cut our energy use without cutting back on our lifestyles. It is possible to be eco-friendly, save money and be just as comfortable!

For more details and ordering information see:
http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/display_title.asp?ISBN=9781405039611&Author=Wright,%20Osman%20and%20Ashworth

Hi everyone,

I have recently come across a local (UK) company www.biologicdesign.co.uk whose aim is 'creating multi-species constructed wetlands for sustainable wastewater purification, biodiversity enhancement and resource production'. (Theirs is not a gravel reedbed system). Although obviously based within the UK environment, I thought perhaps some of the principles described on the website might be of interest to the 'wastewater treatment' or 'wetland/pond' people in the village. I know that this company uses bentonite successfully to line ponds in situations where the water would otherwise drain away, and including situations when the pond is dry for some of the time.
 
Deb H

If you were interested in the work of artist Chris Jordan, featured in the News Feed earlier this month under the headline: Art as a strong environmental statement, then you might also be interested in “meeting” the artist via a You Tube video clip at the following link, and learning more about the intention behind and making of is art.

http://opaleye.blogspot.com/2009/08/intolerable-beauty-chris-jordan.html

From Abundancy Partners (via Opaleye): "Open Letter to the Queen" - 14 August 2009

A letter signed by a range of eminent thinkers, activists, academics and businesspeople... including Rob Hopkins of the Transition movement. A similar letter to the Australian Government is badly needed:

We, the undersigned, noted with interest the letter to Your Majesty of 22nd July 2009 from the British Academy in which they respond to your question about how the current economic meltdown was missed. They talked of a "failure of the collective imagination of many bright people" and a "psychology of denial".... .

....Our premise is that our current economic malaise is symptomatic of a far more serious systemic failure to acknowledge what Archbishop Rowan Williams has identified in saying "It has been said that 'the economy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the environment'. The earth itself is what ultimately controls economic activity because it is the source of the materials upon which economic activity works".

Energy underlies everything – Scylla and Charybdis of peak oil and climate change. The underlying cause of the current economic meltdown is a multi-generational debt-binge inextricably linked to a concomitant multi-generational energy-binge. The Academy's letter focuses on some "imbalances in the global economy". However, the key to addressing our current situation is to recognise the far more serious imbalances between our insatiable hunger for energy, its finite nature and the environmental pollution in its use.

Read the full letter at: http://abundancypartners.com/open-letter-queen

There are some great things that could grow in a society that has gone beyond the current “economic-growth-at-any-price” paradigm, as identified by James Gustave Speth in Harvard Business Review:

“Of course, it is abundantly clear that even in a postgrowth society, many things do need to grow, such as the number of good jobs; the incomes of the poor; the deployment of climate-friendly and other green technologies; the availability of health care; security against the risks of job displacement, old age, and disability; and investment in public infrastructure and environmental amenity. We need targeted government policies to address such objectives. Of particular importance are policies that temper growth while improving social and environmental well-being—policies establishing, for instance, shorter workweeks and longer vacations; greater labor protections, job security, and benefits; restrictions on advertising; a new design for the twenty-first-century corporation, one that embraces rechartering and stakeholder primacy rather than shareholder primacy; rigorous environmental, health, and consumer protection; greater economic and social equality; heavy spending on public services; and initiatives to address population growth at home and abroad.”

Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2009/08/doing-business-in-postgrowth-society.html
and full article at:
http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2009/09/doing-business-in-a-postgrowth-society/ar/1

In response to Jacqui's “Village Moments” message of the previous newsfeed, here, in the present UK half of my life, I too treasure the often small but meaningful “moments” between people. I expressed similar sentiments in a piece of my (UK) artwork last year...... Image ATTACHED - and see the PDF also ATTACHED, which explains the work and also shows it exhibited in the marketplace at Hay-on-Wye.

Deb H
Deb's Haymarket canvas

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba’s oil supply rapidly dried up, and, almost overnight, the country faced a major food crisis. Already affected by a US trade embargo, Cuba by necessity had to go back to basics to survive - rediscovering low-input self-reliant farming. Havana now has almost 200 urban allotments - known as organiponicos - providing four million tons of vegetables every year - helping the country to become 90% self-sufficient in fruit and vegetables.

For more, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8213617.stm
(There is also an interesting video clip - but you will have to endure a commercial to watch it!)

Cuba shows us what’s possible, and how “feeding the Village by 2020” is a worthy vision for future security in a lower-oil world.

For those of you who have not heard me enthuse, I LOVE living in the village.  There are many reasons but the shining one for me is the wonderful exchanges that happen between residents.  These can be fleeting and unplanned or quite organised.  I call these “Village Moments”.  Many of them make my heart sing.  I'm sure many others have these experiences  and I would love us to share them with each other.  I would like to volunteer to be 'Keeper of the Village Moment'.  These would be published in the Village Newsletter / calendar etc.  Who knows, one day we may have enough for a book!
 
A small example is that I was on my way to visit a friend in the village to use one of her kitchen machines, when another resident gave me a bag of silverbeet from their garden - yum.  Whilst using my friends machine, someone else popped in to borrow my friend’s kettle for drinks for a meeting and my son was beautifully happy being read to by the husband of my friend.
 
Nothing mind blowing happened in those exchanges but how delightful to live somewhere where we have these relationships with our neighbours.  It made me feel so blessed and warm that I have a life in which these opportunities arise.
 
Please keep your eyes, ears and hearts open for your own 'Village Moments'!
 
So, if anyone wants to share them with me, please just send me an email and I'll record them for future sharing.  Anonymous is good - names don't have to be mentioned.  'My neighbour, a resident, a visitor' etc is plenty.

Jacqui Good - Ph: 0412 182 365

It seems British folk are complaining that their newly built homes are too small. Funny - we don’t hear many grumbles about Australian homes being too big, even though our new homes are on average more than twice the size of those in Britain! As a nation, we must really enjoy doing lots of housework and paying for more heating, cooling and furnishings.

See the very telling graph in this story and in the ATTACHMENT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8201900.stm
Floor space of new homes

Calls to provide full compensation to coal-fired energy utilities from the emissions trading scheme are probably based on the premise that there is little or nothing they can do to reduce their emissions. But that may not be the case. Private Melbourne company MBD Energy is about to introduce technology that allows algae to capture half or more of the greenhouse gases emitted by a power station, at virtually no cost to the utility. What's more, MBD stands to make a small fortune from the algae by-products: fuel, plastics and meal for livestock.

Read more at:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25938026-30538,00.html

Signaling a bright future for sustainable energy, 15-year-old Javier Fernandez-Han has created a remarkable algae-powered energy system that is capable of producing food and fuel, treating waste, containing greenhouse gases, and releasing oxygen. Dubbed the VERSATILE system, the project recently netted him a $20,000 scholarship for winning this year's Invent Your World Challenge. See:
http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/06/24/versatile-system-by-javier-fernandez-han/
http://socialentrepreneurship.change.org/blog/view/
youth_taking_action_a_15_year_old_invents_the_future

A deadly plant that eats rats has been discovered by British experts. The giant pitcher plant - believed to be the largest meat-eating plant - lures rodents into its slipper-shaped mouth and dissolves them with acid-like enzymes. Read more - and even get to play a video clip of a rat falling into the trap - at: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/weird/2590769/Brit-scientists-discover-plant-that-eat-rats.html

Every year, farmers in the rural town Inakadate, Japan create rice field art by using red rice in with their regular rice in special patterns. A few others fields in rural Japan have also followed the trend of this beautiful rice field art. Inspiration for art on the Village farm perhaps? Could be quite a hit with a small-aircraft aerodrome close by!

To see more of the process, check out “Hemmy.Net” at: http://www.hemmy.net/2007/09/23/rice-field-art/

The answer it seems, depends on the angle at which the panels are mounted. In a nutshell: panels mounted on a steep angle are cleaned pretty well by the rain but those on a flatter roof may need occasional cleaning. Read more at:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/should-you-spring-clean-your-solar.html

[Thanks to Kevin C for the link.]

The residents of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs in Victoria are in process of funding their own private community wind farm. See the ATTACHMENT:

Could we look to using our abundant wind for something similar here in the future?
Hepburn Wind initiative

If you are into clever software, check out this download. You can run your own realistic solar system:
http://www.shatters.net/celestia/download.html

Check out the website below to turn an idle moment into someone’s meal:

It is a multiple-choice quiz on a variety of subjects. Every time you get an answer right you get a harder question. If you get it wrong, you get an easier question.

For each answer you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated to the United Nations World Food Program.

WARNING: This game may make you smarter!
http://www.freerice.com/index.php

New book: “SpeakOut: the Step-by-step Guide to SpeakOuts and Community Workshops” - www.speakoutplanning.com

How-to manual for innovative and highly effective community engagement by authors:

Dr Wendy Sarkissian, widely acknowledged as a leading authority in community engagement, has co-authored seven books on community engagement, including Kitchen Table Sustainability (Earthscan, 2008) and SpeakOut: A Step-by-step Guide to SpeakOuts and Community Workshops (Earthscan, 2009). She is Adjunct Professor, School of Sustainable Development, Bond University, Queensland.

Wiwik Bunjamin-Mau, a qualified Indonesian-born community and social planner. After a career as a community facilitator who utilizes the arts as engagement tool, she is establishing a community engagement consulting firm in Honolulu.

Hi everyone,

Here’s something for those interested in Earthships - more about the Scottish earthship with one or two interesting photos in the PDF ATTACHMENT.

Deb H.
Greenhead Moss Earthship update 060809

Is Local Food Better?

This excellent article by Sarah DeWeerdt from the WorldWatch Institute looks at all the angles.

The answer is yes, probably - but not in the way many people think. See: 
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6064

Rent-a-Chook - some good laughs on this one!
www.rentachook.com.au

Grandma’s Bottle Village - look what creativity can do with junk - at any age!
http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/08/03/grandma-made-village-out-of-tens-of-thousands-of-bottles/

Solar powered handbags - the solar panels on the front of the bag allow you to charge cellphones, cameras, and other small devices. On a bright, sunny day the battery should be fully charged in 6-8 hours. When fully charged, the battery pack will hold the sun's energy for several days.
http://www.inhabitatshop.com/home.php?merchant=NoonSolar

Renewable energy - Actually, Rudd DOES Break Promises! Despite proudly asserting that his Government mostly keeps his promises, Rudd's track record on climate change commitments is appalling. Mark Diesendorf lifts the lid on dirty dealings of politicians in cahoots with the fossil-fuel-based industries to limit growth of renewable energy! Read more at:
http://newmatilda.com/2009/08/05/actually-rudd-does-break-promises

Utne Reader online - US online magazine with plenty of “front” for the pursuit of controversial subjects:
http://www.utne.com/daily.aspx

EcoVoice - Australian ecoNews and product info free online:
http://www.ecovoice.com.au/index.htm

How I became a “Locavore” - the latest cool idea to find local seasonal foods (but probably not in Oz yet)
www.takepart.com/blog/2009/05/21/how-i-became-a-locavore/

Consumerism is eating the future - ‘New Scientist’ opinion piece by Andy Coghlan
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17569-consumerism-is-eating-the-future.html 

Meeting Environmental Challenges: The Role of Human Identity
By Tom Crompton and Tim Kasser, published by WWF-UK

This major new publication, written jointly with Professor Tim Kasser (Knox College, Illinois, and author of 'The High Price of Materialism') examines those fundamental aspects of human identity that operate to frustrate approaches to meeting environmental challenges.

The study suggests that some environmental campaigning currently operates inadvertently to exacerbate these unhelpful aspects of identity. It also points to ways in which environmental organisations could begin to work in order to activate more helpful aspects of identity.

Finally, it highlights new opportunities for collaborations across diverse civil society organisations to begin to address fundamental barriers to delivery on a range of concerns - from biodiversity loss to poverty alleviation, and racism to animal welfare abuses.

If you are interested in this publication sent to us by Zero Waste SA, send me an email request and I will forward an electronic copy of the book [93 pp; 604 KB]

Elizabeth Heij - Email

Did you know that fluorescent energy saving globes contain mercury and so should not be thrown in your bin?  They can be recycled locally though, so store them away until you have a few and then drop them off at the:

• Environment Centre, High St, Willunga
• City of Onkaparinga Field Operation Centre, Railway Road, Seaford Meadows, 8.00 am to 3.00 pm Monday to Friday. 

Ordinary light globes can be wrapped in paper & put in your red-lidded waste bin.

Making the point about the nightmare of floating plastic trash and other human abuses of the World’s oceans, art doubles as a strong environmental statement.

See artist Chris Jordan’s creation “Gyre” made from a mind-blowing number of bits of ocean trash, and also the other works shown that make daunting statements about the human harvest of sharks and tuna:

http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php?id=9
[you will need to scroll down the page for the actual artworks.]

Looks like the City of Charles Sturt beats the City of Onkaparinga hands down when it comes to community consultation and action on sustainability. See the ATTACHED outcome summary document on Greening the Western Suburbs.
One Planet Living - Charles Sturt Community Engagement Summar

The National Program for Sustainable Irrigation has made available online the book:

“Water Recycling in Australia” by D Stevens, M Unkovich and A Boland
See: http://npsi.gov.au/products/px061130

A good source of information on the use of reclaimed water in irrigation systems. 
 
[Thanks to Brad N. for the link.]

Dr Michael Roderick and Mr Wee Lo Lim, authors of the new book “An Atlas of the Global Water Cycle”, launched this week, use the synthesized numbers from 39 different computer modeling sources to predict that by 2099:

- Globally, rainfall will increase by an average of 46.9mm.
- While Australia's nationwide rainfall will have increased by an average of 8.4mm, an extra 11.2mm of evaporation across the country will mean a final loss in water availability of 2.8mm.
- The Australian averages hide wider predicted regional variations - the Top End will be receiving 50-100mm more rain than the 1970-1999 average; and
- All of Victoria, and most of South Australia and Western Australia, will receive up to 50mm a year less than now.

Read more at: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25877361-11949,00.html

[Thanks to John H. for the link.]

If you are interested in Earthship buildings, here is another link from Deb H.

Hello all - Have a look at our website and facebook page for some up to date pics of our progress on site.
Attached is a website link for the first earthship in south Africa. Ludvig and Reeta Everson joined us last week for the earthship courses. They are planning some low cost housing earthship 'pods' in central
South Africa and their website e s well worth a look. See: http://www.aardskip.com

Once they start building, they'll be looking for volunteers!

Best link to keep in touch with this project and other opportunities (once we've finished ours of course) is the Earthbuilds website or Facebook page: www.earthbuilds.com

Ann McKillop - Project Manager, Greenhead Moss Community Trust.

We're building an earthship - want to help? See our website for more details or get in touch!

Every day, Australians buy illegal timber without even realising it. Now the Greenpeace Good Wood Guide is set to change that.

The updated 2009 Good Wood Guide helps consumers make an informed, environmentally responsible decision when buying wood and wood products. It”s the essential shopping tool for builders, renovators, designers, architects and consumers. See:
http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/news-and-events/news/deforestation/goodwoodguide-010609

Hi everyone,

I’m forwarding the ATTACHMENTS in case it is of interest in the context of considering earthship type building for an education centre on the Farm at AAEV. The course and program described are to build an Earthship in a Nature Park for a similar purpose in the UK.

Deb H
Greenhead Earthship Workshop Programme
Earthship course details

Someone has already had their “thinking cap on” regarding reduction of sewage sludge. Perhaps one day we might see the application of aquatic worms in our sludge tank at the WWTP if this extract from a Dutch PhD thesis is any guide:

Municipal waste water treatment is mainly achieved by biological processes. These processes produce huge volumes of waste sludge requiring further processing. A decrease in the amount of waste sludge would be both environmentally and economically attractive. Aquatic worms can be used to reduce the amount of waste sludge. After predation by the worms, the amount of final sludge is lower. Additionally it has a distinctive granular structure with improved dewaterability characteristics. If a useful application can be found for the worms that are produced, then a valuable product would be obtained from a waste material.

Read more at: http://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/wda/lang/1908763#
[Thanks to Jane O’Connell for the link.]

Water for Good – a Plan to ensure South Australia’s water future to 2050
 
Water for Good, South Australia’s 40-year Plan to guarantee South Australia’s future water security until 2050, was released on Monday June 29, by the Premier Mike Rann and the Minister for Water Security, Karlene Maywald. More than 200 guests attended the launch.
 
Water for Good outlines more than 90 strategies to secure water supplies with more than 60 new actions such as:

• Substantially increasing our current stormwater capture and reuse across South Australia, with a target to recycle up to 75 billion litres a year in the long term.
• New rebates for water saving devices to further encourage water efficiency.
• A state-wide desalination policy to guide future plant proposals.
• Appointing an independent regulator to oversee service standards and pricing for monopoly water and wastewater suppliers while retaining government ownership of water infrastructure.
• Introducing legislation to foster a competitive water industry and allowing third-party access to government water infrastructure.

For more information visit  http://www.waterforgood.sa.gov.au

[Thanks to Tricia O’D for the alert.]
 

Dear Friends who do not live close to Hong Kong ...

FYI below is the invitation to the next ‘Conversation Places Matter’ (CPM) event. While you may not be able to attend in Hong Kong, the idea may be of use. This is essentially a facilitated social gathering in public space, of people who may not know each other, for an evening of lively experiencing of conversation, fun, friendship, and possible take-home ideas. It is not 'traditional' networking.


I am now also engaged in activities to do with the 'Awakening the Dreamer' Symposium, also known as 'The work’. Its purpose is to bring about - as a matter of urgency - an environmentally sustainable, socially just and spiritually fulfilling human presence on our little spaceship home. Many people are aware of the issues around our sickly planet earth. The Symposium – with its video and other materials which are wonderfully done educational tools - can change attitudes and bring about transformation in people within 2- 3 hours …

I wonder if you see links between the Symposium and ‘CPM’? Could it be that creating contexts – in many nooks world wide - in which people are passionately engaged participants rather than spectators is integral to ‘the work?’

Let me know if you would wish to learn more one or both of these. I wish you well and look forward to receiving any thoughts you wish to send.

Alan Stewart - alan@multimindsolutions.com

[Thanks to Vanda for passing this interesting idea on.]

The NEW prices for the 2009-10 financial year are:
Reduced annual residential supply charge of $137.60
$0.97/kL for water use from 0-120 kL
$1.88/kL for water use from 120-520 kL
$2.26/kL for water use above 520 kL

The current 2008-09 water supply and usage charges are:
Annual residential supply charge of $157.40
$0.71/kL for water use from 0-120 kL
$1.38/kL for water use from 120-520 kL
$1.65/kL for water use above 520 kL

Because the Village has only two SA Water mains connections and many water users, our usage is charged (and charged back to Villagers) at the highest rate (above 520 kL). In the coming year, therefore, water used in the Village will cost us 61 cents more for every kL - a good reason to save water wherever we can.

[Thanks to John Heij for the data.]

Blogger Don Arthur has coined a new term for a rising segment of society - the “Post-Materialist Consumer” or POMER for short. These folks have bought into the notion that unfettered consumerism and constant demands for “stuff” do not bring happiness and are damaging to the environment. The paradox is that they are earning and spending as much if not more than many of the consumerist souls they so earnestly criticise. How can this be?

They are concerned, even anxious, about doing all the right things for the right reasons, but find their expenditures ratcheting up as a result. How does it happen? The three main areas that contribute are:

1. Choosing a home location to minimise commuting and buy time for themselves
2. Buying services (e.g., organic foods, farmers market produce, fair-trade products, etc)
3. Buying “moral necessities” that make them feel they are making the family safe and sheltered (e.g., heavier car with multiple airbags)

Listen to Don Arthur in an interview clip on Radio National’s Counterpoint program of Monday 22 June: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/counterpoint/default.htm

[Thanks to Malcolm and Judy Dispain for the link.]

For an awe-inspiring look at our beautiful blue planet, this online movie by Yann Arthus-Bertrand is tops! a combination of satellite and aerial photography shows us in incredible beauty just what it is we have to lose if we do not learn fast to respect our only “Home”. Be sure to watch it if you have broadband download capability on your computer:
http://www.home-2009.com/us/index.html
OR http://www.youtube.com/homeproject

Hi everyone,

Following the newsfeed item about Mike Reynolds speaking in Adelaide about Earthships, into my email also came a news item from Scotland on an earthship being built by community labour as a visitor centre at a nature reserve. See the links below:
www.greenheadmoss.org.uk/id14.html
www.scotlandistheplace.co.uk/stitp/2204.1.1885.html

Deb H.

“The Great Disruption” by Paul Gilding is a 'must listen / must read'. Best exposition I've heard. See links below:
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/backgroundbriefing/ [Sunday 14 June 2009]
http://paulgilding.com/writing/scream-crash-boom-2

Paul Gilding has been an activist for sustainability for 35 years, working for NGOs, business and government. He explains why physics and biology have determined that our current model for economic growth is finished, and how the human race will face its biggest challenge ever.

Cheers??? - Vanda R

Co-operative bulk buying is a great way to access good deals on all the new sustainable technologies we want for our homes. Why not join a buyers group - in fact, why not join a local buyers group coordinated by Villagers.

For more information, see the ATTACHED flyer for the Onkaparinga and Willunga Buyers Groups.
Buying Groups

Here’s a really good book - of special interest if you are just joining the Village and want to get into growing your own food one step at a time:

One Magic Square: Grow your own food on one square metre

By Lolo Houbein (2008) published by Wakefield Press

One Magic Square shows how, with a ten-minute effort, you can start your own productive food garden on a single square metre. By following these plot designs you can keep your labour pleasurable as your self-sufficiency increases. Take control of your own fresh food supply! Food gardening is the most intelligent adult endeavour on earth – Lolo Houbein, a resident of the Adelaide Hills, gives lots of relevant information for our region, shows you how to do it, and why you should. See: http://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/books/onemagicsquare.html

It’s on our Library interest list for purchase but, in the meantime, you might like to get a copy. It is almost sure to become an ongoing valuable reference.

[Thanks to Sue E for the alert.]

Hi all - here's an opportunity for one and all to experience housebuilding with totally natural materials. 
 
I have just returned from yet another course. This was as inspiring as the last ..... or maybe more so. It was an intensive 5 day strawbale house building course here in Wales run by 'Amazonails', the leading strawbale builders in Europe. Through hands-on building and theory, I (and 20 others) learned about loadbearing and non-loadbearing walls, low embodied energy/high thermal mass solid foundations (lime or rammed earth) and post and pad foundations. We worked (and played) with 'breathing wall' systems/thermal mass involving clay (see image) and lime plasters onto the strawbale, inside and out, as well as decorative sculpting. We also learned about appropriate roofing systems.
 
Evenings included slide presentations of international strawbale houses and buildings, many built by Amazonails themselves or their 'ambassadors'.. Bee Rowan, the co-director of Amazonails, who led the course, was very interested one communal mealtime to hear from me about the development of the AAEV community, having recently spent time herself in NSW. She suggested, if people at the village would like her to, she would be pleased to run workshops in the village re strawbale building and or clay and lime finishes/foundations, etc during her next visit to Australia. 
 
Amazonails has been promoting cement free building over the last 10 years and has pioneered low impact (lime) foundation systems through the UK Building Regulations, which means anyone here is now able to build these foundations. 
 
This company is providing leading edge buildings and knowledge! For further information see www.amazonails.org.uk . or email me that you are interested. [And no, I'm not on commission!! they just came across as a thoroughly genuine human Eco Building Company trying to research and promote really good sustainable building practices worldwide :-)  ]
 
Deb H

If you are looking for a plumber we just used Neil from I & N Plumbing & Gasfitting and, as well as being a very nice chap, he arrived when he said he would and took his boots off without being asked!  His number is 0412 825806 and he is based at Seaford.  I am not sure if he fits out new houses but this would be worth an ask.
 
Jenni McGlennon

It is a myth that native plants do not need maintenance and now is a great time to prune.  Pruning encourages plants to grow into a more dense form that is both more attractive and provides a greater windbreak.  If the plants are small, pinch out the new growing tips much as a kangaroo would - this encourages side shoots to develop.  In an older plant – cut out any dead stems, and cut back new growth by around a 1/3, and if it is a flowering plant - wait until flowering has ended. The ATTACHED photos show the difference between village plants that have been pruned lightly since planting and those that have grown leggy.

Jenni McGlennon
Pruning Natives

Hearty congratulations to Aarod O Vawser (son of Bridget and Michael) whose book “The Eye of The Creator” has been selected for listing by Amazon.com

Check it out! Go to: http://www.amazon.com and enter the book title in the Search facility.

Well done Aarod. We hope there are good royalties to follow!

Dear all,
 
This is another $0 solar plan with Diamond Energy this time. Check out the links – I have found out since I sent you all the Nu Energy stuff that they may not cover the electrical wiring costs – which could be an extra $200 or so. Whereas it appears that Diamond Energy even throw in the import/export electricity meter as part of the deal, normally $450!! Check it out for yourselves.
 
http://www.solaroffer.com.au/default.asp
 
Michael Vawser

All villagers should be aware of this $0 solar PV plan.

Whereas with my buyers group last year we each paid around $1700 for 1kW of solar PV panels, the market has evolved now to the point where it costs $0! That means that in real terms the system is valued at $8,000 (because of the rebate) plus $2000 (because of the renewable energy credits) equals $10,000.
 
So NU Energy get the $10,000, and the buyer pays nothing (unless a meter is required - $440) and gets 1kW on their roof. My father-in-law found out about it through a retirement village in Elizabeth which had these systems installed on many of their houses this year. And I will be assisting my sister to do this on the house she has just bought. Ripper!
 
You can't get a better deal than that! A quote from them follows and extra details are attached.
 
"The NU Energy offer of a premium solar energy package for free is available for eligible homes in all states (except WA and NT). NU Energy will provide a solar system to any householder who is approved by the Federal Government to receive the Government’s $8000 solar system rebate. Essentially, the householder simply agrees that the rebate will be paid to NU Energy. Contact us NOW on: 1300 768 225"
 
I cannot see any trickery in this - oh - and if you read it and think that it is just giving a free install, not a free system, then that is their bad wording rather than trickery - like I said there are examples out there already and the whole thing, system and install, are FREE!!
 
Cheers - Michael Vawser
NU Energy Media Release
NU Energy FAQs
Nu Energy terms and conditions

Dear Intentional Community,

We are very pleased to announce that Intentional Communities Australia - www.communities.org.au - the new go-to site for ecovillages, cohousing projects, co-ops and communes in Australia, is now live and accepting registrations for profiles.

What do we want you to do? - Register on the site! www.communities.org.au/user/register - If you are involved in an intentional community project, or wish to propose one, create a project profile. - Sign up for our newsletter to receive updates about events.

What is the purpose of the site? - To gather together profiles of all the intentional communities in Australia. - To encourage the formation of new projects. - To develop a knowledge base of practical articles for making intentional communities happen in Australia. - To become a focal point for a national organisation, regular newsletter and perhaps a regular conference.

Who are we? - SLIC (Sustainable Living Intentional Communities) is a subgroup of the SLF (Sustainable Living Foundation) in Victoria, one of the premier environmental groups in Victoria. - SLIC aims to encourage a society that has ecologically sustainable intentional community as an available housing and lifestyle option.

Willunga Basin Protection Bill - Opposition supports Bill

Good afternoon - I am pleased to report that the State Opposition has indicated that they would support Family First's Willunga Basin Protection Bill. Whilst we could get the Bill through the Legislative Council with support of some of the independents (Hons John Darley, Ann Bressington, Mark Parnell & David Winderlich MLC), we are now seeking that the State ALP Government also support the Bill as a bipartisan indication of support for protecting the Basin. Over 1,000 petitions have been tabled so far and more are coming in.

If you would be interested in circulating petitions, please feel free to get a copy at this link:
http://www.sa.familyfirst.org.au/pdfs/Willunga%20Basin%20Petition.pdf
Circulate and return to our office as per the details at the bottom of the petition.

In the meantime, I invite your comments on a letter from the Minister for Urban Development and Planning concerning Bowering Hill (ATTACED TO NEXT MESSAGE IN THIS NEWS FEED). The letter was provided in response to my supplementary question regarding Government's plans for Bowering Hill. in Parliament on Wednesday, (see: http://tr.im/bowrg)

Hon Rob Brokenshire MLC, Parliament House, Adelaide.
Phone: 8237 9122; email: robert.brokenshire@parliament.sa.gov.au

Because it is the season for salting and preserving olives, it is a good time for a reminder about not putting spent brine into our wastewater system or onto our land. Here are the relevant portions of text from our Welcome Pack instructions about wastewater:

“You are probably aware of problems that can be caused by high levels of salt and phosphates in treated wastewater that is returned back into the environment.  These substances come primarily from detergents and other cleaning aids, and some food preserving and pickling processes also produce large amounts of waste salt.  Salt can build up over time in soil that is irrigated with wastewater, and blue-green algal blooms can be caused by high levels of phosphates in waste water discharged into rivers and waterways.  In our Village system, where the discharge is onto land, phosphate is less of a problem as it can be taken up as a ‘fertiliser’ by plants.  Salt, however, will potentially lower the fertility of the land over time, especially in our low rainfall zone where there is barely enough rain to wash salt through the soil, so it is best to minimize the salt level in our AAEV wastewater.” 
 
“And please, if you are dehydrating or pickling with salt (e.g., olives, cucumbers, egg plant, etc) never dispose of the waste salty water down the drain or on to land. If you absolutely have to pickle with salt, consider taking the spent pickling solution down to the sea where a bit more salt is not a problem!  We ask that you try to find low-salt and salt-free ways to dehydrate, pickle, and preserve food. Our land will thank you for it in the future.” 

Check out the west wall of the Sharing Shed near the main entrance - it now has a fabulous new mosaic sign.

What a classy contribution to Village life and facilities - thanks mainly to Vi Carpenter, who led the mosaic team and did the lion’s share of the work.

Well done - it looks great!

Bearing in mind that we need to be very careful of what added salts and chemicals go into our wastewater, particularly now that it is starting to be piped back to Village orchards, you may be interested in the latest analyses of laundry detergents from Lanfax Laboratories at:
http://www.lanfaxlabs.com.au

A concise summary is also ATTACHED
Laundry-Detergents-2009
[Thanks to Judy Dispain for the link.]

Thanks to everyone who put so much effort into Rebecca's beautiful rug. It will be a much loved blanket in winter. She's loving looking and feeling all the  different colours and textures on it - See picture ATTACHED.

Thanks - Corey and Katy
Rebeccas Rug

George Apap, our Village neighbour over the back fence from the Terraces, has won the local Giant Pumpkin contest!

At Satuday’s official weigh-in in Willunga, George’s pumpkin weighed in at 97.75 pounds (~ 44.5 kg). What a whopper! The runner-up entry was about 20 pounds behind, so George is the undisputed king of pumpkins.

George’s prize is a beautiful hand-blown glass pumpkin from the Willunga glass studio. He will bring it with him to our shared meal on Friday to show it around.

The pumpkin is looking for a worthy restaurant or soup kitchen to become pumpkin soup for multitudes.

Well done George - no doubt you can teach your Village neighbours much about big pumpkins!

This co village was described in my most recent Green Building magazine:
http://www.thevillage.ie/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1 
 
Deb H.

Here’s a site that will answer a whole host of questions on sustainability - while also retaining a sense of humour and plenty of practical good sense: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bloom/
[Thanks to John H for the link.]

In just 11 minutes, in a very simple plain language and cartoon format, here is a very clear explanation of the complex of factors driving global warming. If you watch this one, you will be prepared to discuss the problem with anyone!
http://wakeupfreakout.org/film/tipping.html
[Thanks to Kevin C for the link.]

Following up on the invitation to Transition Towns seminars in the last Feed (posted 19/3/09), here is an information sheet that will give you more background on Transition Towns and what they are about.
What is a Transition Town

Following on from mention in the last RSS Feed, of 'Building with Strawbale at the Food Forest', I had coincidentally previously been looking on the internet to see what came up when I used keywords like 'strawbale' 'australia' 'workshops'. The first I went to was
http://glassford.com.au/main/ and was so packed full of good information, that for now I have not gone any further. Especially see the section on 'How is it done?'
 
A linked UK website, leaders in their field are 'Amazonails' - there is an inspirational photo gallery at http://www.strawbalefutures.org.uk/projects.html (sample below)
 
Deb H

Dear friends,
The ATTACHED article will give you some appreciation of the predicament we face over the next few years. It is the best advice most of those interested in sustainability have seen to date. Interestingly, although it figures in the overseas media, the article was written by an Australian.

To survive we must change everything. It's that simple!

Thomas Friedman (New York Times) has argued the need to recast our responses to the combined emerging catastrophe of economic collapse and dramatic climate change. Friedman went on to quote the work of Australian thinker Paul Gilding. As Friedman wrote: "One of those who has been warning me of this for a long time is Paul Gilding, the Australian environmental business expert. He has a name for this moment -- when both Mother Nature and Father Greed have hit the wall at once -- 'The Great Disruption'." Unusually high praise from an American for an Australian.
Gilding says Change Everything

Hearty congratulations to Kat Worth who has received an award at the Adelaide Film Festival for “Necessary Games”, a tryptich of 3 short dance films. Kat is co-director and choreographer of “Sixteen”, one of the films.

Necessary games was an investment of the Adelaide Film Festival and premeiered at the Festival on 22 February. It won best short film at last week's SA Screen Awards and took out 3 additional awards as well!

A local screening will be coming soon!

This is fantastic news as, in comparison with our “eco” image, our “arts” image has been a bit quiet recently. Well done, Kat.

Elizabeth H.

Presenting….Ecovillage Musings March 2009 (ATTACHED)

Welcome to the first official newsletter of the Ecovillage Research Group Inc. (ERG), a not for profit Incorporated Association located within Crystal Waters Ecovillage, South East Queensland.

Our aim is to bring you topical and practical articles to assist you with the many facets of sustainability. With the pressures of the global economic downturn, global warming and reduction of our carbon footprint, it is possible for individuals at a grass roots level to adopt simple strategies that will make a difference.

Generations past have grown up with “backyard farming”, even in the suburbs, something which has become lost amidst today’s fast paced, quick fix lifestyle. Whether you reside in suburbia with limited space or the rural countryside, we hope that you find these interesting and practical stories featuring tips and tricks to lessen our impacts on the environment helpful to achieve a more satisfying and rewarding lifestyle.

Ecovillage Musings is a free monthly communication of topical and practical articles to assist you with the many facets of sustainability - from EcoLogical Solutions - Consultancy & Education Services, Crystal Waters, Queensland: www.ecologicalsolutions.com.au
ERG Vol 1 Mar 09

The Transition Handbook - Australia & NZ Edition: Creating local sustainable communities beyond oil dependency - by Rob Hopkins

Finch Publishing is excited to announce the Australian release of Rob Hopkin’s “The Transition Handbook (Australia & NZ Edition): Creating local sustainable communities beyond oil dependency. See:
http://www.finch.com.au/html/s02_article/article_view.asp?art_id=277&nav_cat_id=220&nav_top_id=70

Around the world, societies are facing the prospect of a future with dwindling oil reserves, an unstable climate and unpredictable food production. The Transition movement, already well established in the UK, is now in initial but rapid development here. It provides an effective model for ways we might engage our local communities to create a more sustainable future and move away from dependency on oil.

This new edition of The Transition Handbook includes profiles of Australian and New Zealand initiatives currently underway and shows the necessary steps to establishing a transition town in a local area, providing an achievable model for people who would like to transform the life of their community. These local accounts (together with inspiring reports from the UK) show how individuals have responded with their local communities to the twin threats of Peak Oil and Climate Change.

This practical book explains how we can ‘transition’ from fossil-fuel based communities to ones that are more self-reliant and generate less carbon emissions. It shows how such changes will result in a greater development of local food, local economies, local water harvesting and energy generation – and so create more sustainable communities in the longer term.

Hi to everyone at AAEV,

I finished my thesis late November, and with it my degree in economics. I have been growing my own business since then, in delivering certified organic fruit and veg to Sydneysiders. I am also now involved with a Permaculture group and a committee intent on connecting local growers with local eaters. 

So it is only now that I am able to offer what I promised last April when the community Sharing Shed had not a brick laid down... a summary of my research efforts (ATTACHED). 
Scott Xu EcoVillage QOL Summary

Please forward this on to all hose people at AA who helped me on my journey... my research adventures  has helped inspire me here in Sydney. 

I am completely open to any questions, thoughts, feedback, opinions, critiques of my work.

Thank you and thanks to everyone at AAEV who has given a role model for those improving suburban communities.

With much gratitude - Scott Tsung Xu - email

[If you are interested in Scott’s actual thesis and its data, you can access it from a link a few lines up from the bottom of the “About” page of the Community website at: http://www.aaev.net/about/index.html]

According to our rain gauge, the total rainfall for 2008 at AAEV is 362.1 mm. Once again this is well below the Adelaide long-term annual average of 520 mm.

The monthly rainfall record clearly shows our record dry spring. See ATTACHED chart.

Elizabeth H.
AAEV Rainfall 2008

Here are two pictures taken by a local resident and member of the group ‘Friends of Willunga Basin’ who keeps an eye on environmental issues at Maslin Beach.
 
The first picture was taken shortly after an 800m fence was installed at considerable expense by a State environmental agency along the storm-damaged face of the old quarry rehabilitation site at Maslin Beach – ostensibly to protect the overburden from further erosion.
 
The second picture was taken after the very next storm event on 15 September, shortly after the fence was installed.
 
It’s hard to know whether to laugh or weep. Residents walking along the beach have been shaking their heads in disbelief. One would be forgiven for thinking that our State Government environmental planners get their qualifications out of Weeties packets. Perhaps the planner involved here qualified at the King Canute School of tidal management!
 
Sadly, however, this is our taxes at work:

Congratulations to Aarod O’Donnell Vawser on winning the inaugural Literary Prize sponsored by STARS (Southern Theatre and Arts Supporters) with his entry “The Forest”.

Richard Clampett

As a young 13 year old, environmentalist David Suzuki’s daughter Severn gave one of the most remarkable, hard-hitting and eloquent speeches at the UN Earth Summit in Rio in 1992.

It is still a remarkable speech, but somehow poignant in light of how little the world’s leaders are doing - including our own Australian leaders who seem to have made little if any progress in nearly 17 years.

It’s time to listen to this speech again - and this time really listen! Find the video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g8cmWZOX8Q OR
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=11118465

Some interesting thoughts on rainwater harvesting from Greg Cameron writing in the Indaily, the online News Service of Adelaide’s The Independent Weekly:

“Rainfall will be nationalised this week when the Water Amendment Bill 2008 returns to the House of Representatives from the Senate. Labor has adopted the previous Liberal Government's flawed policy that the right to use rain that falls on a person's roof is vested in state Governments by state legislation. The Bill refers states' constitutional powers in relation to water to the Federal Government. Under the policy, "entitlement regimes" will be imposed in order to regulate a person's use of a rainwater tank. An entitlement regime of 50%, for example, would double the cost of rainwater.” See the article ATTACHED
Nationalising our rainfall

Here’s a book to help you transform your community engagement with sustainability!

Drawing on stories and case studies from around the world, Kitchen Table Sustainability is now on sale. It’s designed to help guide and support you through the challenges of engaging with sustainability so that you can make a difference for your community, your organisation and the Earth.

If communities are the heart and hands of the sustainability movement, community engagement is the life support system that connects the heart and the hands to enable the transition toward global sustainability.
Kitchen Table Sustainability offers a unique view of sustainability through the lens of community engagement. Find out more about this book via the following link:

http://kitchentablesustainability.com/

Nathan Godfrey, Lot 115, has negotiated a group buyers discount of 10% on all products from the online store www.greenleap.com.au

Says Nathan, “I think that the 10% Green Leap discount will prove to be a beneficial arrangement for many villagers.  This is a fantastic website with an owner who is very supportive of what we are trying to do at AAEV.” 

See ATTACHED flyer.
GreenLeap discount

Maybe we should be careful with nitrogen fertiliser and stick with organics - if this snippet sent on by Brad N. is anything to go by:

Nitrogen Fertilizer Dilutes Antioxidant Levels in Fresh Basil

In the first study exploring the impact of nitrogen (N) fertilization levels on the antioxidant and phenolics content of fresh basil, a classic inverse dose-response curve was found by a team of Texas scientists.  For most cultivars tested, the higher the N level, the lower the density of antioxidants and polyphenols.

Remarkably, the concentrations of some beneficial phenolics acids were four times higher at the lowest rate of nitrogen application, compared to the highest rate of N use.   In two of three varieties tested, total antioxidant activity was 2- to 5-times higher at lower levels of N, compared to the high-N plots.
 
Source: Phuong M. Nguyen and Emily D. Niemeyer, "Effects of Nitrogen Fertilization on the Phenolic Composition and Antioxidant Properties of Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.)," Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Vol. 56, No. 18, pages 8685-8691.

It seems the world's policy planners have been caught flat-footed by a looming global farm and food crisis. The ATTACHED article sent on by Vanda explains the reasons very clearly. By growing a major proportion of our foods on site in the Village and on the farm, we will help to "future-proof" ourselves against the inevitable rising food prices.
Tackling the global farm crisis
[For those without computer access or who do not wish to print out, there is a hard copy of the article in the Library at 14 Hakea Walk.]

The Village PA & Projector Fund has now been put to good use with the purchase of a new Toshiba TW420 projector (plus spare lamp). Many thanks to all who contributed to make this possible.

The key features of this projector are:
- 4000 lumens (meaning projector will still work well even before twilight – good to get the kiddies to bed earlier);
- 3000 hours of lamp life (in ECO mode – which would be the normal mode);
- Electronic and manual zoom and focus;
- Able to be connected to a network;
- Able to use a USB storage card (no laptop) for showing slide shows;
- Able to connect to a computer via wireless;
- Can take just about any media input;
- Has remote mouse and remote control (with laser pointer);
- Instant shutdown protection – for accidently pulled out chords or blackouts.
 
All in all a very neat unit – and in a solid carry case with a long power lead.
 
Now, as for booking the projector, please do one of two things:
1. Email me – I prefer you to send me an outlook calendar item which automatically will book you into my calendar;
2. Call me on 8557 6123, where you can book with myself or Bridget directly, or leave a message.
 
There are two types of bookings allowed:
1. AAEV use i.e. meetings, amphitheatre movies, other village business/functions. Can be used anywhere our Community business requires;
2. Private use on site – the projector cannot be taken out of the Village, and bookers must pay a maintenance fee of $5 to contribute towards an annual service for the projector, estimated at $150.
 
In either case, the user must be trained to use this specific projector – an A4 laminated cheat sheet will be provided, plus a once though guide by Michael or another trained user.
 
Any further questions, please call me.
 
Cheers - Michael Vawser
 

Ask not what your food can do for you, but what your food can do for your environmental footprint!
 
A German study which converted emissions from food production into car-trip equivalents found organic equates to a lower number on the clock for almost every type of food production covered. Organic production of 1kg of winter wheat crop was the equivalent of driving 1.5 km where conventional was 3.4 km. For 1kg of pork produced organic drove 17.4 km with conventional up at 25.8 km. And producing 1kg of cheese from 10L of milk took organic 65.5 km with conventional hitting 71.4 km.
 
When it came to diet choices, organic was also a ‘low-km’ winner. The study found an overall ‘eat everything’ diet including meat, dairy, fruit and veg took a conventional eater 4758 km from their starting point, with organic travelling 381 km less at 4377km. And where food choices were no-meat, no-dairy and organic, eater’s footprints were further reduced to a car-trip covering a mere 281 km, 6.8% of the conventional original drive, and 348km lower than a conventional vegetarian diet. The only area an organic approach didn’t come out in front was meat production from feedlots – organic was the equivalent of driving 113.4km, compared to 70.6 km for conventional.  

Dr. Andrew Monk, Biological Farmers of Australia Standards Chair, said it was important to remember overseas figures were not always relevant to Australia because production methods varied. He said conscious consumers would fare best by focusing on the whole “package”, not just on CO2 emissions, even if organic was a winner in this field. “For example, taking into consideration issues like growth hormones, excessive feed requirements and animal welfare in meat production.” He said there was no doubt organic food was more in tune with its environment. “Organic systems do not use fossil-fuel based chemicals that emit nitrous oxides and damage microbial soil life – the bedrock of fixing carbon in soil."

 [From Biological Farmers of Australia - www.bfa.com.au - Press Release 25 September 2008]

Following a very low key survey (and lifting help from Maria and Margaret) I have put a swap table for any surplus seeds, fruit, vegetables, plants, etc.near the letterboxes.

The suggestion is to put any of your surplus greenstuff and other perishables there on Fridays before people go to the market. Longer-lived produce (e.g., pumpkins, seeds, potted seedlings) could be put there at any time of the week.

I am not the best gardener but have had the odd surplus lettuce and cabbage. Who knows we may not need to go to markets as time goes on!

Trevor K.

Did you know that if you spend more than $150 on garden items that help save water you can get $50 rebate from SA Water?   Eligible items include mulch and compost, tap timers, soil wetting agents, compost bins, and drip watering systems. For more information see:
http://www.sawater.com.au/NR/rdonlyres/E7CE95CB-E4E7-495E-9E4C-54409BC6EB33/0/HomeRebateGardenOutdoor.pdf
or phone the SA Water Rebates Hotline on 1800 130 952.

Jenni McG.

Masanobu Fukuoka, the pioneer of ‘natural’ farming, which eschews ploughing, weeding and the use of fertilisers and pesticides, died of ‘old age’ aged 95 at his home in Japan on Saturday, his family said. Fukuoka was the author of, among others, ‘The One Straw Revolution’, a book that has been translated into English, Korean, Thai and several other languages, and who is the recipient of the Deshikottam Award, India’s most prestigious award, and the Philippines’ Ramon Magsaysay award for public service (both in 1988).

If you are interested in the revolutionary farming concepts Fukuoka pioneered, check the following links. His independently developed system is very similar to permaculture.
http://www.permaculture.com/drupal/node/140
http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC14/Fukuoka.htm
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1978-07-01/Organic-Farm-Masanobu-Fukuoka.aspx

Red Lentil and carrot soup (as served at Sustainable House Day)
 
280gm red lentils
280gm diced carrots
Medium/large Onion chopped
1.5 litre stock of choice
1tsp Tandoori Temptation Rub (one of my spice blends!) optional but very good! Can get at mates rates if interested!
 
Sauté onions in little olive oil until soft.  Fry spices for about 1 minute then add remaining ingredients.  Cook for about 40 mins.  You can leave chunky of blend smooth.
 
Very easy and freezes beautifully - enjoy!

Jacqui G - 8556 6459

In case you needed any more convincing that it is our generation who need to act, here's your reason.  Just "giving up" and "leaving it to the politicians" is the same as saying "we'll leave this environmental/population/economic mess to our kids to fix".
 
Dr. Albert Bartlett, professor emeritus, department of physics, University of Colorado at Boulder, believes that the greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function, and, if you watch the video series at the following link, you’ll understand exactly why that is. The link accessess 8 short videos in a Uni lecture format (with slides).  Fascinating stuff and well presented. Pass it on!
 http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/09/18/the-most-important-video-you-ll-ever-see.aspx?source=nl
 
Note: Thanks to Vanda for the link. We also have the complete video in the Village Library. So if watching on the computer doesn't appeal, you can watch from the comfort of your armchair. Elizabeth H.

Are you interested in recycling your plastic bread tags? They can be processed into items for horticultural use by a children's charity.

You can leave them in our letter box (labelled "CB & LA Waters", the most western letterbox under the Village noticeboard) and I will pass them on to a woman in my folk-dance group at Uni of 3rd Age who can direct them to this good use.

Anne Waters - 8557 6281 or 0414 086 622

Villagers have again been busy behind the scenes with knitting, crochet and needlework for the latest baby rug - this one for little Aurora Chan. The colourful squares were expertly linked together by Jill Wilson, who presented the rug to Aurora and her parents Lucy and Kevin at the Sustainable House Day 'After Party' on Sunday. The rug comes with the love and best wishes of the Community for a warm and loving future for Aurora growing up in the Village.

If you didn't get to see the rug at Sunday's party, check the ATTACHED file for a photo. 
Auroras rug

And a message from Lucy and Kevin:

We would like to thank everybody who contributed to Aurora's beautiful rug, it is absolutely gorgeous. It is amazing to see the love and support shown by the village and we are honoured to have been included in this tradition.

Thankyou!  Lucy and Kevin

An interesting paper has just been published by a CSIRO scientist that appears to vindicate the 1972 scenario modelling of the original Club of Rome - "The Limits to Growth" - predicting a severe outcome for our society by the middle of this century under a "business as usual" scenario. At the time, the Club of Rome prediction was vilified and discredited by big industry and vested interests. Now, Dr Graham Turner of CSIRO has compared the original scenario with 30 years of actual data to find that society does indeed appear to be heading pretty much along the "business-as-usual" track headed for collapse this century. 

A short summary of the paper is ATTACHED, but it may be worth downloading the paper itself from the link given in the summary, as the graphs comparing actual data with the original scenarios are sobering. (If you can't access the paper, I can email it to you on request - Elizabeth H. - email)
Limits to Growth vindicated  

For compelling information on world issues that we should all know about, but is never accessible through mainstream media, visit www.projectcamelot.org. I urge everyone to take a look.

Rae D'Esprit - Cottage 18

Thanks to Tricia O'D. for sending in the attached PDF cutting of a feature in this week's Messenger on Tony and Franka's home - The Straw Barn - at 5 Clematis Walk. You can be they are going to be busy this Sunday on Sustainable House Day!
Gerlachs eco-home

There are a lot of panels now coming in from China and other places that are attractively priced. Before you buy, however, you might want to ask yourself how you will go at getting warranty if you need it in 5 - 15 years time.

Over the years, we have seen even brand-name Western-made panels fail due to manufacturing faults etc.  So while panels are generally very reliable, there are occasional failures. If the manufacturer does not have an office / warehouse in Australia, you will be relying on the importer or retailer who sold you the panels for the warranty.  How long have they been in business?  Do you feel confident they´ll be there in 10 years if you need them?
  
Something to think about!
Michael V.

Cement, or the concrete that it forms, is the most consumed material on the planet, after water. About 2.5 billion tonnes of cement are produced every year, which amounts to almost 0.3 tonnes for every person on the planet. By 2050, global production is expected to reach 5 billion tonnes as housing booms continue in countries such as China and India.

Unfortunately, making cement is also a very carbon-intensive process. The process creates CO2 in two ways: by driving carbon dioxide out of calcium carbonate (from limestone) in a chemical reaction inside cement kilns; and by burning large quantities of fossil fuels to heat the kilns to the 1,450C necessary to generate the chemical reaction. For every tonne of concrete produced, the chemical reaction releases 0.6 tonnes of CO2, with up to another 0.3 tonnes generated in the burning of the fuel to heat the cement kilns.

The production of geopolymer cement generates just one-third of the carbon emissions associated with the standard grey powder. But regulatory obstacles stand in its way to becoming the world’s 21st-century concrete. For more information see the ATTACHED file:
E-crete

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has identified the challenges facing London from climate change, and the key measures that are needed to prepare for these. London is the first major world city to have produced a comprehensive plan of this kind.

You can find London's Climate Change Adaptation Strategy at:
http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/publications/2008/08/climate-change-adapt-strat.jsp

On Friday this week a new book will be released that is very relevant to what we are doing to manage our gardens and land here at AAEV:

"Composting: The Ultimate Organic Guide to Recycling Your Garden" by Tim Marshall, published by ABC Books

Everything you need to know about composting, including building a compost heap, compost ingredients, tools, worms, anaerobic composting, solving
composting problems, mulching.
[rrp: $29.95; large format full colour paperback; ISBN 9780733324161
See the ATTACHED media release flyer.
Composting Book PR

Check out this website for a very innovative static or rotating dome-home concept and beautiful use of mezanine design!
Thanks to Leonie H. for the link.
www.solaleya.com

Hi everyone,
 
Just came across this in my IONS email, and thought it might have relevance for us… Rosanne DeB. - 8293 2120
  
Managed Grazing
Goats and grazing animals have been used for countless years as land management tools and are a popular alternative to the land management conventions of mowing, disking, and burning. Managed grazing takes into account multiple levels of ecology and environment, including vegetation types, soil types, watershed functions, plant recovery mechanisms, nutrient flow, and energy cycling. IONS is welcoming 250 goats and sheep on campus as part of a managed grazing program implemented by San Francisco-based Living Systems Land Management - http://www.livingsystemslandmanagement.com/

Additional notes from Elizabeth H.
Integration of animals into our landscape for just these reasons has been under discussion in the Farm Committee off and on over several years. In addition, a group of villagers looked into the possibility of using livestock to manage the areas within the village we currently mow - i.e., vacant lots and common land areas that will be gardened in the future by Neighbourhood Groups. The group chose to look at alpaccas because of their soft feet, ability to ward off foxes, and greater respect (than goats) for fences and containment structures.

Unfortunately, our tour around local alpacca farms revealed that the animals are hugely expensive and extremely fussy eaters - i.e., will only eat the very best grass and not the weeds we wanted them to control. That's as far as the group have got, as there was still concern about the effect of goats grazing a very fragile and seasonally droughted landscape such as we have here.

The rationale behind the anti-feral fence proposal for the Farm that is coming to the AGM this month is to empower introduction of small livestock and poultry onto the farm (good control for white snails, and addition to fertility, etc), without the need for a whole plethora of unsightly internal fencing within the farm area. Having a good solid anti-feral perimeter will allow flexible managed grazing within the area to be controlled by moveable light-weight or electric fencing only.

Hi everyone - I think this article is brilliant. Michael V.

Going All-Electric - http://www.nanosolar.com/blog3/?p=93 

"The following is one of my favorite charts: How far a car can drive based on either of the following forms of energy, each produced from 100m x 100m (2.5 acres) of land:



How come that biofuel does not really cut it? Electric cars are about four times more energy efficient than fuel based cars. This is because fuel engines create mostly heat and thus waste the majority of the energy units available. Combine this with biofuel plants not being very efficient solar energy harvesters relative to semiconductor based solar electricity, and the result is this huge difference.

In other words, it is clear that if the goal is to maximize energy efficiency, the end point to go after is all-electric cars everywhere. Moving all of transportation to all-electric would essentially cut in half our overall energy consumption without compromising on distance to go.

I for one have vowed that the Prius I bought six years ago will have been the last fuel powered car I’d buy in my life. (Given that I may very well own the highest-mileage Prius on the planet, this presumably reflects my confidence in the quality of this vehicle and the near-term readiness of electric car technology). Presently, it is baking in the sun all day while I’m at work. My future all-electric car would charge up while idling under a solar carport."

Villagers might be interested in this article from 'Online Opinion' - an analytical critique of spiritual eco-communities from Dr Chris James, an artist, writer, researcher and psychotherapist who lives in regional Victoria. It contains some food for thought around a number of issues we have not really considered for our community as yet. (Maybe you can do better with a posted comment in response than those already there!)

See: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7822
 [Thanks to Brad N for the link.]

Wouldn't it be nice for householders with solar panels on their roofs if domestic feed-in tariffs for electricity put back into the grid were to be based on the GROSS amount of electricity generated, not just the NET amount of power fed into the grid. Well it may happen. See the ATTACHED media release from the Clean Energy Council:
Feed-in tariffs

Measure your carbon footprint with a fun new calculator!!

Earth Day Network - http://www.earthday.net/ - has just released its newest tool to combat climate change: The new, updated, and much more fun Ecological Footprint Calculator: http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.html

In this new tool created by Global Footprint Network, you can create a three-dimensional avatar of your choosing, and tour your virtual neighborhood. Then you will be asked a series of questions about your food consumption, energy use, favorite mode of transportation, type of residence, recycling commitment, and spending habits. You can even choose to take a long version or a short version of the quiz! The Footprint Calculator will tell you how many "planets" would be necessary to sustain human life - if everyone lived just like you, and how many acres of land and tons of carbon necessary to sustain your lifestyle. You can even revisit your quiz to see where she "went wrong", and find out how to reduce your carbon footprint.

From a distance, the agenda of the current US Government seems obvious - to maintain the American way of life at any price (i.e., political domination and hyper-consumption regardless of environmental impacts). But what do the American people actually want? Do they share this agenda? The answer might surprise you.

'Yes' Magazine - www.yesmagazine.org - has recently done a comprehensive survey of the opinions of ordinary Americans in 10 areas: Economy, Constitution, Energy & Climate, Health Care, Foreign Relations, Iraq & Iran, Elections, Criminal Justice, and Immigration. One can only hope their politicians are listening. See: www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?id=2836 

If you have a broadband internet connection, and have ever had concerns about the interactions of religion, politics, money, lies, hatred and fear in bringing about mass manipulation, the online movie "Zeitgeist" might be of interest. It appears a little slow to start with, but is confronting, intense and persuasively argued. It is about 2 hours long but contains much food for thought. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will have peace. We have a choice, right now, between fear and love!" [Thanks to Vanda for the link]

www.zeitgeistmovie.com/index.html  

Bloomington USA - An oasis of sanity in a sea of growthist madness?

An oasis of sanity in a sea of growthist madness? Could this be happening in the Land of MORE, MORE, MORE? The City of Bloomington, Indiana, supports a steady-state economy! Yes - you heard it right….

See: http://candobetter.org/node/725

How can we get to this level of enlightenment in our own city and State?

Following the recent successful public forum in Adelaide by Dr Mathis Wackernagel (originator of the Environmental Footprint concept), you may wish to view a video of his presentation "Living Well on One Planet". He is an interesting speaker with novel ways of expressing his message.

See: http://www.unisa.edu.au/isst/
[You will need Windows Media Player to view the video.]

In responding to a student request for data on AAEV, I have this week done a “quick-&-dirty” count of dwellings built, dwellings occupied, number and gender of adults, and number and gender of children under 18. Here’s the result:
 
There are 51 dwellings now built, of which 47 are occupied. A further 4 townhouses on Tetragonia Walk are built and essentially complete but not yet occupied. In addition to the ongoing construction of the remaining 7 townhouses, construction is also under way on another 9 separate residential lots, of which 5 are approaching completion.
 
As of 8/08/08, we have 78 adults living on site, comprising 34 men and 44 women. There are also 27 children under 18, comprising 15 boys and 12 girls.
 
While I don’t guarantee the absolute accuracy of my figures, they are close enough to give a reasonable snapshot of how WE ARE GROWING.
 
Elizabeth H.

If you would like to see a nice little synopsis of how capitalism is not quite working so well toward the best interests of human and environmental health, have a look at the following link: http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Allow about 20 minutes for viewing, but I think it's worth checking out.

Cheers - Tricia O'D

[If you would like to see it as a DVD so you can share the viewing with family and friends, you can borrow it from the Village Library (at 14 Hakea Walk). It has plenty of laughs but does get the message across big-time! Elizabeth H.]

Further to the successful Ecological Footprint Forum - "Living Well on One Planet" - presented by Dr Mathis Wackernagel at University of SA on 29 July, a “take home” summary has been created and can be downloaded from the following website:

http://www.unisa.edu.au/isst/ (also ATTACHED as a PDF file - 100KB)

LivingWellOnOnePlanet

It is hoped that in the near future a video of his presentation will also be available, so please visit our website for future updates.
Enquiries to Rita Mielnik, ISST, Uni SA, Mawson Lakes
Ph: 8302 5347 or email

In the context of various discussions going on of development in our region, Villagers may be interested in the comments of local Port Willunga 'Friend' Michael Gribble, as forwarded by Stephanie Johnston:

We drove home from Port Willunga yesterday and were quite startled at the number of big new building developments which have appeared in the last few weeks, pushing South, between Main South Road and Commercial Road. The advance of suburbia in less than the last 5 years is horrific, and seems to be accelerating. Remembering what that countryside was like, say 20 years ago - it begs the question of what it will be like in another 5, let alone 20, years!

The coastal suburban strip which now stretches from Brighton to Maslin Beach, looks as though it will shortly link up with the suburban hinterland at Aldinga, courtesy of freeing up Bowering Hill for "development." If I am right in thinking that this is inevitable, then I wonder if it might not be more practical to work towards a "Least Bad" solution, rather than try to maintain a "country-suburban divide."

Places like Kingston Park, Marino, and Hallett Cove have a suburban hinterland complete with suburban railway connections to the city, and are really not too unpleasant. The sea-side atmosphere is maintained, although they are not "country". I suggest that even now, the Port Willunga / Aldinga Beach housing development along Quinliven and Aldinga Beach Roads, is not all that different, except for the lack of public transport to the city.

If suburban development goes on without appropriate infrastructure, including schools, shops, etc. and particularly rail and road public transport to Lonsdale and the city, there is too great a chance that these new developments will become welfare-dependent ghettoes.

I really think that the key factor would be the extension of the (hopefully electrified) rail line from Colonnades (Noarlunga) due south to Seaford and on to Aldinga Central. I don't think that Family First's idea of using part of the old Willunga rail route would really help, since that follows a sinuous E-W axis, and to be effective, the Port Noarlunga, Seaford and Aldinga areas need a direct N-S route. Now is not a bad time to think of pushing this idea, while Government still owns a good deal of the land, and could avoid having to purchase privately held property.

I notice that the Council Business Plan 2008/09 skirts right round the worsening transport problems!

I have a spinning wheel and a weaving frame one metre in width .....both available for loan at any time.

Jill Wilson - 7 Grevillea Way (Lot 142) - phone 8557 7733

Thanks to Leonie H. for passing on this very useful piece of local information:

Robyn's Southern Spirit Tours - specialising in winery tours - will begin operating a new Saturday night shuttle bus service (6:30 - 11:30 pm) in the McLaren Vale region from 26 July. Drop-off and pick-up will also include regional restaurants so eveyone can enjoy a wine with dinner. $10 per person return trip within a 10 km radius. Could be just the thing for Saturday night out with friends! See the ATTACHED flyer:
Shuttle Bus flyer

Vanda Rounsefell, in the course of a contract research project for CSIRO, has produced an excellent new case study of our eco-village. You can find a copy on our website at:
http://www.aaev.net/about/assets/CaseStudyAAEV_VRounsefell.pdf [2.2 MB]

Congratulations, Vanda. This will be a very useful reference for us - and a good one to point people to if they are enquiring about our Village.

Thanks to Vanda for this thought-provoking comment on the use of targets for carbon emissions reduction from Urban Ecology architect Paul Downton - paul@ecopolis.com.au:

It's good to see people finally 'getting' the message about sustainability needing to start where most people live - in cities - but I don't agree about the targets analogy.

Much more to the point is a direct analogy with the moon landings. JFK said 'We'll land men on the moon before the end of the decade' and at the time there was only the vaguest idea of how that could be done – and a lot of naysayers said it couldn't. There was no prior knowledge of exactly what might be involved, just a general route map with a start and finish point... everything had to be worked out as they went along and tried to reach the goal. That's the only way we can move forwards now. 'Rigorous analysis of how emissions reduction might be achieved' is the same as not doing anything. We KNOW that the targets have to be reached. We KNOW that the atmosphere already has to much CO2 in it. There is no reason not to articulate ever more ambitious targets when those targets are basically science saying 'hey, you know, 20% by 2050 isn't enough, hell, 50% isn't enough, maybe 80% isn't enough'. We KNOW that what we really need is 100% emissions reduction. Aim at that and there's a chance we'll get somewhere, but any analysis will tell you that 100% is unachievable. The aim has to be as high as possible, then we just do our damnedest to get somewhere near it!

Thanks to Deb Harding for the following link to George Monbiot's pointed and satirical article on Peak Oil: "We Have Gone Mad, Your Majesty, And Only You Can Cure Our Affliction." In it he outlines many of the facts and issues surrounding Peak Oil, while pointing out the hypocrisy of the UK (and other) governments' policies and rhetoric. It is a brilliant piece of writing, well worth reading. Find it at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/may/27/carbonemissions.energy

Our electrical energy supply is a topic of rising importance. If you are interested in how the national energy system is set up, here is an information reference from the Centre for Policy Development: http://www.cpd.org.au/article/fencing-wire-and-mirrors-world-national-energy-system

Hi everyone - I just found this funny old historical summary document that I received from Richard Askew in 2001. Current Villagers might like to read it for the interesting perspective.

Vanda R.
AAEV Early History

Here for enjoyment is a link showing some truly creative body painting - "hand art". Thanks to Vanda R. for the link: http://yoke.cc/handart.htm

Peak Oil and Peak Water (the point in time when public need begins to exceed supply and continues to diverge causing critical shortage) are familiar concepts - but "Peak Phosphorus" is unheard of. Nonetheless phosphorus is critical to our survival and mine-able quantities are looking scarcer. A discussion on Bush Telegraph, ABC Radio National: http://www.abc.net.au/rural/telegraph/content/2006/s2280862.htm

Regards - Hans B.

Thanks to Vanda for sending in the ATTACHED interesting short article (2pp) on cohousing from the writings of the late sustainability author, Donella Meadows.
Donella Meadows on Cohousing

Hi everyone,

A couple of years ago Kirsten Bradley came to our village as a student attending a local Permaculture course (PDC) arranged by Mark Moody. S.ince then she and her husband Nick Ritar have set up Milkwood, a property promoting Permaculture and sustainability. Fellow villagers might be interested in perusing their website - perhaps subscribe to their RSS feed: http://www.milkwood.net/ 

Hans B.

The Post Carbon Institute offers research, project tools, education and information for adapting to an energy constrained world. The Institute was initiated out of concern for the environmental, social, political and economic ramifications of global over-reliance on cheap energy. The main response to these concerns is the strategy of Relocalization, which aims to rebuild societies based on the local production of food and energy, and the Relocalization of currency, governance and culture. The main goals of Relocalization are to increase community energy security, strengthen local economies, and dramatically improve environmental conditions and social equity. There are a variety of supporting resources posted at: www.postcarbon.org and you can subscribe to their regular newsletter at: www.postcarbon.org/publications/newsletters

Hi everyone,

In relation to the article on the award to Currumbin Ecovillage. in fact Currumbin has now won dozens of awards at state, national & international levels. Villagers may be interested in looking at their website: www.theecovillage.com.au/

Others of interest is include Somerville: www.somervilleecovillage.com.au/ and Dulaiwurrong: www.dulai.net - the developers are doing a big one called Bunjil, that is both ecovillage and CoHousing.

Vanda R.

Steve Poole has drawn our attention to how real the gathering international food crisis is becoming - and how important our ability to grow food is likely to become in the future:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1024833/Nine-meals-anarchy--Britain-facing-real-food-crisis.html

The website of the SA State Department of Water Land and Biodiversity Conservation can be a good source of information and resources for those interested in natural resource management and ways of "going green":
http://www.dwlbc.sa.gov.au/nrm/

Hi everyone,
 
A friend here in the UK told me about this local Suffolk art work, which I plan to see at its next venue. Here is the web address: www.flyintheface.com/46000.html. I thought it might interest people.  
 
Deb H.

Lochiel Park is a regular but more sustainable than usual government (LMC) sponsored development, in which John Maitland has had a hand in the design. It is doing quite a lot to encourage the development of Community in a commercially-driven project. As such, it may be of interest to anyone seeking to develop a better quality of community. If you are interested in finding out more, it is possible for outsiders to be registered on their internal website: http://www.lochielpark.com.au

Regards - Vanda

If you are interested in sustainable cities and sustainable urban living, praticularly as expressed in Christie Walk, Adelaide, you might like to check out the newsletter of Urban Ecology Australia (UEA) via: http://www.urbanecology.org.au

If you are interested in the growing trend to co-housing, especially for seniors, you may like to subscribe to 'Cohousing Magazine' via: http://www.cohousing.org

WOMADelaide Earth Station In a bid to bring a permanent presence of World cultures to South Australia, the WOMADelaide Foundation has scoured the state to find a suitable property. A recent statement by Ian Scobie, Director of Arts Projects Australia which oversees WOMAdelaide, is précised below, followed by a brief interview conducted by Peter Dawson:

The Foundation is working to establish a new annual festival (tentatively called "Earth Station"), to be staged on the second weekend of October from 2010, at a 250 acre property near Ashbourne, 75 minutes’ drive south of Adelaide.

The 3 day Earth Station festival will not be a replacement for WOMADelaide in Botanic Park, but it is planned to be entirely new and will focus on the land itself and the associated concerns for environmental sustainability through the presentation of music, arts, dance, discussions, workshops and demonstration projects highlighting for example, alternative energy and environmental practices. It will have some onsite camping available with the remainder of the audience being encouraged to stay in the surrounding region (Strathalbyn, Goolwa, Victor Harbour, Middleton, etc) in existing accommodation & camping facilities, or to just visit for the day. It is also planned that in the longer term, the site will host up to four short-term ‘workshop gatherings’ each year, where the ongoing environmental program will be discussed with artists, educators and members of the public. The Foundation also aims to establish some demonstration projects there e.g. solar power generation, water and waste water treatment via ponds and reed beds etc, and for tree plantings to offset the carbon footprint of WOMADelaide and the new festival.  A major revegetation / planting program is planned, which would see the restoration of much of the original cleared trees and plantings. The Foundation is currently working to secure planning approval for the development of the land so as to enable it to proceed with the purchase and development of the property in order to present the inaugural Earth Station festival in October 2010. The Earth Station is an ambitious long term project which will require significant detailed planning, community and financial support and the Foundation believes that this new initiative could be a major and ongoing legacy of the WOMADelaide Festival as an important new event and resource for the benefit of the wider community.

PD:  In the development of the Earth Station site, I would imagine WOMAD will certainly value the contribution of the local indigenous people and that of other aboriginal organisations?
IS: We will undertake an indigenous survey of the site as part of our planning and development process and certainly would expect to, both identify their local knowledge and history associated with the site, and to have an indigenous component of particular festival programs.

PD: The Bellingen Global Carnival is in October, so is there any cooperation with WOMAD to make available visiting overseas artists.
IS: No – but that doesn’t mean that there might not be in the future should artists of mutual interest become apparent to us. For WOMADelaide we regularly tour artists to related festivals / cities.
PD: Is it envisaged that the site will be developed along the same lines as Woodford Folk Festival with regard to infrastructure and camping facilities (eg. Shower blocks and toilets)?
IS: We have certainly visited and taken advice from Woodford and aspects of their environmental management and development of their site are certainly aligned with our thinking.
PD: The 1973 Aquarius Festival near Nimbin had similar aims and stimulated the growth of alternative lifestyle communities, music and the arts in northern NSW. Do you feel Earth Station will do the same for its surrounding area.
IS: No – our ambition is to present an arts festival which has as its focus issues of environmental sustainability. We would certainly hope that the surrounding area benefits from the combination of the focus upon the environment (the river Murray and its proximity comes to mind) and economic benefit through increased activity in the region.

Peter Dawson - email, mobile: 0403 808 526

Do you leave your gumboots and old shoes outside the back door? Don't do what I did last weekend and step into them on top of a redback spider. I knew there was a spider in there - I could see the web - so I put on a pair of leather gloves, groped around inside the boots and pulled out all the web, debris, egg cases etc. I assumed I would have got rid of the spider, but she was made of sterner stuff and had hung on grimly inside. When my foot began to crush her, she did what she was meant to do, and attacked with a vicious bite. The bite of an adult female redback is not funny at all, and can be potentially lethal, especially to a child. So please check carefully for spiders in any boots or shoes left outside the door.

For a picture of a redback spider and more information, go to:
http://www.aaev.net/management/nec/wildlife/index.html and click on the spider icon.

Elizabeth H.

Village residents are increasingly aware that interest in our unique ecovillage project supports a program of frequent tours by various adults and young people - often seen looking around the site. Many are fascinated by what we are doing and take the ideas away with them to classrooms and other groups who may well use many of them in the future. We can be proud of this potentially catalytic role - and it is certainly appreciated by those who come to look. Here's some great feedback received by Bridget from a teacher after a recent tour by a design class from Cabra Dominical College:

"To Bridget - Thank you so much for your preparation for the tour and your adaptability given the weather! [It was a wet day.] I know I am questioning many of my own lifestyle practices since, and I am sure it has impacted on the students in perhaps small ... ... but significant ways. I thought this voucher would be a good way to say thank you to Elizabeth and the Community for accommodating us."

This appreciative note came with a $30 book token which will be targeted by Bridget and Elizabeth to the Book or DVD of "Jamie at Home" by Jamie Oliver - a great source of inspirational ideas for cooking direct and fresh from a home garden.

If you are interested in thinking about helping to stimulate local economic activity there might be some inspirational ideas on offer through the BALLE Network (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies): http://www.livingeconomies.org/. Is this a direction that could get a Village "Economic Development Team back into action?

Also, on the off-chance you might be going in the direction of Brisbane this week, or know someone in the region with an interest in re-localising economies, check out the events on in Brisbane, Lismore and Sunshing Coast: http://www.climateleadership.net.au/

Yesterday, two Village toddlers were observed, on separate occasions, inspecting, playing with, and redistributing the mail in mailboxes close to the ground while their minders' backs were turned for a few milliseconds! It's hard for even the most beady-eyed parent to provide 100% supervision of this age group - and hard for them to understand the importance of what goes into which box so, if your mailbox is close to the ground, you might want to consider a lock for it.

The record has been broken! A sweet potato grown by Lynda and Sue at Adrian's place weighed in at 2.95 kg!!! This was witnessed by Charlie and Vi, as their scales were used. (But does size really matter if it is soft in the middle and mostly inedible?)

[And a reminder: For those who want to have a go for next season, I still have lots of planting material with shoots and roots on ready to grow. Elizabeth H.]

Dear friends,
Here is news about a very inspiring Victorian ecovillage initiative.
Regards - Sarah West

Original message from Brendan Condon, Director, Cape Paterson Ecovillage:
"We have prepared the ATTACHED newsletter to let you know how the Cape Paterson Ecovillage is progressing. If you have any questions about the project, please let us know - www.capepatersonecovillage.com.au."
080501 Cape Paterson Ecovillage

If you thought an "eco-home" was all about living more lightly on the earth, you may be stunned to see what it implies for the well-heeled and celebrity set! See the article "Who'd live in an eco-house like this?" in the UK "Independent" of Saturday 26 April:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/whod-live-in-an-ecohouse-like-this-815911.html

Escalating food prices and a growing world food shortage suggest that, in the longer term, our AAEV land and gardens will become an ever more precious Community resource. See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7361945.stm

Are you tired of the way our political system promotes economic growth at the expense of human and environmental wellbeing? If so, you may want to sign the national "Wellbeing Manifesto". See: http://www.wellbeingmanifesto.net/

If you missed Roberto Perez's recent informal visit to the Village and his talk in Adelaide, you can catch up with most of the content through the following short clips on You Tube:

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZMULe214Gc
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDFFgQTf2S0&feature=related
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocredL9-fG0&feature=related
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kenFA_97Aio&feature=related
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grb2URZfiKM&feature=related

plus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpBOyRXu6J8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm3PcU5BpRg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBkQ6B2fMks&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJjz1Q0waq8&feature=related

Thanks to Hans B. for sending in the links.

Dear Special Friends and Colleagues of Vox Bandicoot:
http://www.voxbandicoot.com.au

We are living through the truly most critical and exciting time in history.  There is still a seriously long way to go, but, being imbued with the optimism which must drive environmental education, we find current movements both inspiring ... and rewarding. Vox began in 1988 and now, 20 years later, the pinnacle of our work has just been published.  The Sustainability Street Approach (SSA) is our Magnum opus.  It reflects the values, techniques, focus and joys that have driven our little outfit since last century, namely ... ... a human scale and judicious mix of humour, science, art, education, sociology and aesthetics ... all glued together with a profound belief and sense of joy in and commitment to grassroots ideas and action  ... Indeed, the SSA reflects a little bit of the hundreds upon hundreds of communities around Australia with whom we have had the great privilege and pleasure of working.  This book is our offering back, based on all that we’ve learned.

“Sustainability Street – It’s A Village Out There; a manual for sustainability culture change” is now available for free or for the recommended retail, or for more; if you wish to further help contribute to our mission – for the next 20 years. See: http://www.voxbandicoot.com.au/virtuemart.html

Sincerely - Vox team - Vox Bandicoot Pty Ltd, Melbourne (03) 9417 2859
"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."

Here's an interesting technology alert sent in by Hans Banens that describes the latest technology in the pipeline for flexible and cheaper solar PV surfaces. If it performs as described, it will be a very exciting development indeed. See the short video at:

http://www.kqed.org/quest/television/view/399

If you thought your food bills were going up, up up ...... you are right! Explore some interesting facts and figures behind the rising price of food across the globe at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7284196.stm

Here's a 'Positive Energy' message to WeCAN, Aldinga LEDA's, and AAEV from Colin Endean & Anna Szava (Lot 73) and Liz Hearingwell - all the way from Findhorn ecospiritual community in Scotland:

Just a quick hello from Findhorn after an extraordinary week of Positive Energy Conference: Inspiration, Connection, Gratitude, Vitality and Excitement for "Cutting Carbon & Building Resilience" (Rob Hopkins) and "Work that Reconnects" (Joanna Macy). What a way to escape the Adelaide Record Heatwave! We've had all of Scottish weather hospitality except summer heat!
 
Here's the blog for the Conference: http://www.findhorn.org/events_report/
Here's another blog from Rob Hopkins: http://transitionculture.org/
 
We've purchased the Conference DVD set and are looking forward to the opportunity to share the contents and experiences when we get back in May and June (? Friday 30th May) - also the Rob Hopkins "Transition Towns" presentation and report back from the Transition Towns Conference: http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/Conference-UK-April-2008.

Colin's also keen to have some weekends in Burra in May & June during olive harvest where evenings of sharing the Joanna Macy workshops from DVD's and other resources and Richard Olivier's wonderful mythodrama using Shakespeare's "As You Like It" can engage and inspire. Already have overflowing luggage with new books including from Rob Hopkins (Transition Towns Handbook -http://transitionculture.org/shop/the-transition-handbook/) and Richard Heinberg (Peak Everything - http://www.richardheinberg.com/books.
 
ATTACHED are a few photos also with the flavour of Findhorn.
080414 Findhorn Pictures

The Natural Earth Burial Society (SA) now has a website giving information and access to membership:
www.naturalearthburial.com

President of the Society, Kevin Hartley of White Knight Funerals refers to a "totally HONEST funeral":

"When I was asked to conduct what was the first natural earth burial earlier this year, I knew we were making history, but what I didn't know was how it would make me feel.

I dervied more personal satisfaction from that service than any other because it was, in every sense, the most honest funeral I had ever conducted. There was no senseless waste, no guilt for for having sold a $400 (chipboard) coffin for $2000, the deceased person was treated in the most natural, dignified (eco-friendly) way possible and best of all the family were 100% satisfied.

The more I investigate the environmental impact of cremation and traditional burial (not to mention the waste of resources and money) the more strongly I believe in the natural earth burial concept. So much so in fact that I, and a group of like-minded souls have formed the Natural Earth Burial Society (SA) in order to lobby the State government to help establish dedicated natural earth burial cemeteries.

I invite you to visit the Society's website and if like where we're going, show your support by becoming a member (it's free to join and only takes a minute). Click here to go to the website and please feel free to forward this e-mail to others.

Also, if you can, tune in to ABC's New Inventors program at 8pm, Wednesday 9 April to see the Natural Earth Burial technology in action."

You may also be interested in the following message and links sent in from the UK by Deb Harding:

"I thought people might also find general useful information on the UK website at http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/. You'll see David Bellamy gets everywhere! I visited Colney Woodland Burial Park in Norfolk UK, http://www.woodlandburialparks.co.uk/colney/the_park/memorial_options/index.html last year and was very impressed. I do though personally feel it is important to have some sort of way to mark the burial plot itself (albeit wood that will rot away in time), I wonder what others feel? Deb (Lot 112, continuing to await completion)."

Thanks to Bridget for this interesting article from "Pigs Will Fly - The Can Do Community Blog" - featuring "CoHousing - A New AFFORDABLE Australian dream?"
http://www.pigswillfly.com.au/?p=1618

Vanda has sent in the attached information for anyone who is interested in promoting the introduction of natural earth burials in our region. Note that the associated new technology will be featured on ABC TV's "New Inventors" next week (9 April).
080403 Natural Burial Society

Solar power from roof-top photovoltaic panels is becoming a common feature of the change to more sustainable living - but are we just out-sourcing our industrial pollution? This article points out that while we can feel virtuous for installing solar PV systems, if they come from China, as many of our manufactured goods now do, the big-picture analysis of what we are doing is not as green as we would like to believe:
www.worldwatch.org/node/5650

Just a public note to thank Justin and John Turner and Pat for dashing down to our place when our barbecue went up in flames – not the meat (only), but the (non-fire resistant) paint – and raising the alarm to a newly-clean oblivious me still in the bathroom!

Whilst not aware of all details, I also am very much aware that some of the Village youngsters saw the smoke curling up from under our back veranda (on the “hidden” side of our house) and raised the alarm, very sensibly, to Justin, John and Pat. There may have been others but Wanjo, Jarra and Karri have a big thank you from us.

The whole event probably took less than ten minutes, but considering what might have been sends a few wobblies swishing roundabout, followed by some reasonably intense thoughts that barbecues are best made of non-painted metal.

ISN’T IT GREAT LIVING IN THIS VILLAGE

Richard C.

You may be interested to have a look at  the new website, permacultureprinciples.com, created by Permaculturist Richard Telford and scheduled to be launched at the Australian Permaculture Convergence in Sydney on Friday 21 March:    

http://www.permacultureprinciples.com/

The aim of the site is to help people understand the foundations of permaculture, and how the principles can be applied to everyday life.  Through the photolog on the site I am giving permaculture designers and practitioners at all levels the opportunity to share their photos and stories, and to showcase their projects. The photolog will evolve as submissions come in.  Some friends and I have put a few photos with stories onto the photolog to get it started. High quality photos can also be submitted for the 2009 Permaculture Calendar, which is hosted on the site. Your photos and your feedback are welcome.

Hi everyone,

If you check this world map with sea level rise and zoom in to the AAEV with 14m sea level rise, the village is waterfrontage! See: http://flood.firetree.net/
The bottom corner of the farm is where to tie up the boats. Maybe we could propose to the Farm Committee to get in early for a marina development!

Cheers - Colin E.

I would like to offer to anyone planning to buy Solar Hot Water and PV solar electric panels in the next 3 months or so to contact me because I am involved in a group wishing to buy panels in bulk. This would mean that we will get significant price reductions due to the size of the order.

Please contact Michael V. at 8557 6123 to put your name down. We should be able to get at least 10% off.

I would like to offer to anyone planning to buy a water pump in the next 3 months or so to contact me because I want to create a group of people wishing to buy pumps in bulk. This would mean that we will get significant price reductions due to the size of the order.

Please contact Michael V. at 8557 6123 to put your name down. We should be able to get at least 10% off.

What goods do we "consume", what do we really need, and what provides true satisfaction and wellbeing? If you are interested in this area, here's a useful discussion paper. Thanks to Vanda for the link:
www.sustainabletechnologies.ac.uk/PDF/Working%20papers/201b.pdf

What kinds of economic goods actually contribute to the satisfaction of human needs and promote human well-being, and which simply serve as pseudo-satisfiers or destroyers of the underlying needs?...these questions are amongst the most crucial questions of our time. In a world in which economic consumption is threatening to erode the integrity of the global ecosystems, it is particularly vital to be able to identify which bits of consumption contribute to human needs satisfaction, and which simply operate as pseudo-satisfiers and destroyers. And yet, the truth is that we have barely even scratched the surface in asking such questions, let alone formulated coherent answers for them.
[I will put a hard copy of this article in the Library for those unable to access electronically - Ed.]

Recently, Adelaide had a visit from "The Solar Taxi" - a solar-powered car on its way round the World without using a drop of petrol! See the attached pics and the Solar Taxi website at http://www.solartaxi.com
Solar Taxi

If you thought the environment around us was just about dried to a crisp - you are right. While there has been significant rain to the west, north, east and especially northeast, SA is really missing out this year. Some of you may have seen this summer rainfall chart published last week in The Australian. I't so graphic it's worth noting as the reason for our own Aldinga summer "dust-bowl" dryness.

If you have been tempted to believe government and business rhetoric about Economic Growth being a positive advantage, read the ATTACHED opinion piece commenting on a recent feature in The Independent - and have a long think about it!
080218 Econ Growth our foe

The ATTACHED PDF article is well worth reading. It is a personal account by co-housing author, Chuck Durrett, about his own experiences in avoiding a corrosive aspect of living in community.
Gossip-CoH article

If you don't want to download the PDF you can read the article on screen at: http://www.cohousing.org/cm/article/gossip

AAEV Friend, Sarah West is now the Coordinator, Secretary and Treasurer of The Ecovillage and Co-housing Network of Australia(ECNA) Inc. - http://www.ecna.org.au

The Network site allows you to sign up for forums, access to information and articles, and more.

You can contact Sarah in her Coordinator role by email or phone on 0406 086 681

Hi all - for info, interest from Vanda:

"New Online Resource Gets the Skinny on Eco-Labels" - By: GreenBiz.com
www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36592

From Vancouver, Canada, Jan. 28, 2008 -- Ecolabelling.org aims to take the mystery out of the bewildering herd of green labels by studying the foundations of all types of eco-labels aimed at both consumers and corporations.

Ecolabelling.org - http://www.ecolabelling.org - a project of the Vancouver-based web developing company Big Room, looks at the sources of more than 260 different ecolabels from around the globe -- labels covering everything from organic food to building products -- with the intent of cutting out consumer confusion around green labelling schemes.

Yes - it is possible to "retro-fit" suburban streets for more sustainable living. Here's an inspirational story of how sustainable living in the suburbs can be built out of restored community.

Below is a link to an article published by the Sunday Age Colour Magazine “M”, a few weeks back, publicising the Sustainability Street Approach (SSA), namely, the power of building local, human scale relationships for sustainability. An important point made in the article is that ... “after a while, Sustainability Street is not something the community does, it becomes something the community is!”
http://www.voxbandicoot.com.au/images/stories/Sustainability%20Street
%20approach/media%20release/Sustainability%20Street%20Age%20story.pdf
(The article is also ATTACHED as a PDF)
Sustainability Street story

There are now scores and scores of SSA Villages, around Australia, who have long since “finished the course”, but whose group identification and sense of belonging to each other is ongoing, based on their commitment to a sustainable future.  The very first ever Sustainability Street Village is now six years old and still hangin’ out together.

You can find out more about this great movement for urban sustainability through the Vox Bandicoot website at:
http://www.voxbandicoot.com.au/

Hi everyone,
I was thinking about various messages I've been reading in the newsletter about the lack of temporary accommodation for visitors to AAEV and those building. Two comments:

The place down by the beach my sister and I stayed last year when visiting AAEV can be booked at: http://www.aldingareefretreat.com
It's a 'quaint' '50's(?) fibro beach house but perfectly comfortable. 
 
Second, just for general info and to add to the 'melting pot', I am anticipating that for a year or two, I shall spend time in both SA and the UK so there will likely be periods of several months at least when my terrace home at 8 Tetragonia Walk, once it is finished (end of March?), would be available to people as a rental.
 
Cheers - Deb Harding (Lot 112)

Here's an interesting opinion piece with a view of our economic future quite divergent from the mainstream: http://candobetter.org/node/305
"The end of economic growth is a message of hope"

In this lecture Josh Farley tells us that we can't sell the Steady State economic model if we preach gloom and sacrifice. "Martin Luther King would have gotten no-where if he had given an "I have a Nightmare" speech! Farley demonstrates that it is we who have the positive message and that it will be the ideologues of classical economics who will have to purvey gloom and doom once it is apparent to all that there are no more cookies in the jar.

Looking for a more interesting garden shed, gazebo or utility room? Why not build your own geodesic dome. Purchase of a simple "starplate" set allows you to link the steel or wood skeleton at the correct angles. To purchase a set of starplates, contact Scotty on 8391 6524 (Adelaide number). See info attached:
080128 Build a dome

The following web site could be very useful to those villagers still in the planning process of building their houses. Loads of info on water wise products, all in one easy to use space. It includes water savings ratings as well. Also loads of products designed to be used within current houses to save water.
 
Check it out at http://www.savewater.com.au/index.php?sectionid=1
 
Vikram H

For those interested in Zero Carbon Houses and innovative developments of the ecovillage type, Hockerton Housing is a fantastic project.

By 2016 all new homes built in the UK will be expected to reach a zero carbon standard. This seems a world away from the type of houses that are being built today. If you listen to the building industry, reaching this standard will be extremely expensive, unrealistic, unfeasible or just plain impossible. These statements have been seized on by the press to forecast a future of very expensive housing (as if it wasn't expensive enough already!). However, this view is at odds with the Hockerton experience: http://www.hockertonhousingproject.org.uk/modules/News/ViewNewsItem.asp?ID=215

Thanks to Sarah West for the link and to Vanda R. for passing it on.

The concept of "water neutrality" is entering the mainstream. Adelaide is about to get its first water-neutral development, a new business park on Richmond Rd Keswick, at which black-water, grey-water and stormwater will be treated to Class A on site and Class A water will be exported to the community to offset any usage from the mains supply. Check the press release at: http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23054754-5014332,00.html

Developments of this type, where water is upgraded at distributed sites, will ensure greater water-use efficiency but will no doubt raise further questions of whether the community is ready for "toilet-to-tap" recycling.

Thanks to John H. for the Link

We are very grateful to Stefan Dispain for donation of an amplifer and microphone stand to the PA / Projector project. This will mean we can get going much faster than we expected.

Please thank Stefan when you see him. What a great community gesture!

Local community activist, Mos Day, has contacted several AAEV members about setting up a community driven, all inclusive, cultural development group for the Aldinga Bay area.

While involved in the Urban Boundary issue recently, Mos realized that submitting emails to bureaucrats and politicians to try and stop more development here in Aldinga before we had the appropriate social and transport infrastructure in place, was not really getting us anywhere. After talking to others, he decided that maybe another approach was needed - hence the drive to form a 'cultural' group (as opposed to an 'ecological' or 'community' group), which in turn could represent the wider Aldinga Bay arts and culture community to help maintain the integrity of the region, and the tourism that it offers.

Anyone interested in pursuing the idea should check out the ATTACHED proposal and / or contact Mos Day (whose background is performance, writing, directing and musical theatre) directly by email.
080114 Mos Day Proposal

The graph shows unofficial monthly rainfall figures for 2006 and 2007 as taken from the rain gage at Lot 63, with totals for the two years being 241 mm and 478 mm respectively. Compare these to our official long-term average in the district of 500 mm per year.

We certainly don't want too many years like 2006 with less than half of our average rainfall! It would be nice, however, if we received a few more "tropical infeeds" of the type that gave us a significant rain event in January 2007.

Elizabeth

Hi everyone - Vanda has sent in the following article of interest (ATTACHED). It contains good background stuff on the origin of ecovillages by Hildur Jackson, one of the famous founder/namer people of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), and some useful statements about what an Ecovillage is.
071231 WhatIsAnEcoVillage
It also contains a diagram for self-audit to assess if we can call ourselves an ecovillage(!) and to collectively identify where improvements could be worked on. An obvious critical issue is having a common identity.

To find out more about GEN and check links to other ecovillages, see:
http://gen.ecovillage.org/

Anyone listening to ABC Radio's "AM" program this morning would have heard the following interesting Christmas trivia. The statistics are from Britain, but the theme is equally thought provoking in our own context:

A family Christmas dinner for eight people produces 21 kg of CO2 emissions. That equates to 51,000 tonnes of CO2 resulting from Christmas dinners nationwide.

For British Christmas dinners, one of the costliest items (in terms of CO2 emissions) is cranberry sauce - the result of transportation from the USA!

And - for a meat-heavy dinner as consumed at Christmas, it is worth remembering that growing animals for the meat industry worldwide produces 20% of total CO2 emissions.

Enjoy your dinner :)

Here is a fascinating piece that could inform our AAEV farm discussions:
http://transitionculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/CanBritain.pdf

Cheers - Mark Moody

Thank you to everyone who was involved in making the beautiful rug for Jacob (See ATTACHMENT). It is very special to have so many wonderful women (young and not so young) putting their time and love into this welcoming creation for little Jacob. It will be a family treasure! A special thank you to Sue E. for organising it.

Kate and Jacob.
071220 Jacobs rug

Congratulations to Maarten Ryder (Lot 102) who, in his capacity as a CSIRO scientist, has recently received a prize for international Scientific Collaboration from the Shandong Government of the People's Republic of China. (See ATTACHED) news item.
Well done, Maarten.
071217 Award to Maarten Ryder

Pinakarri is an Aboriginal (Nyangamarta) word meaning "deep listening". The Nyangurmart aboriginal communities live north of Port Hedland. Our community was established in 1991 and we are the first housing co-op with public rental and home ownership in Western Australia. See: http://www.pinakarri.org.au/

Loving More Completely - a Pinakarri story
It took nine years for the community in which I live to come clean about its purpose - 'through Pinakarri we learn to love more completely'. Erich Fromm says that our greatest fear is not of rejection but of loving. We planned for 8 years to live together, we faced our fears of being rejected as we entered into the process of becoming members of Pinakarri and then we began to face our fears of being accepted! What did it mean to be part of this community, this group of people that had made a commitment to share their lives together? What was required of us?

It was nearly a year after we began to live together that we came up with the simple statement - 'through Pinakarri we learn to love more completely'. I couldn't really tell you how those few words came to us, in some ways it feels as they were an amazing and unexpected gift. Almost as if a hand reached out from some other world to offer it to us, a world we only have glimpses of in our daily lives but hold in our innermost hearts.

Read the rest of this inspirational story at:
http://members.iinet.com.au/%7Epinakarri/archives/lovingmore.htm

The EcoSolar Housing Design Guide by Solar Architect Derek F Wrigley can now be downloaded from the "BDC Documents" page of our Community website. See: http://www.aaev.net/management/bdc/bdc_documents/index.html
(last two items on list).

Ecohouse: A Design Guide, 3rd Edition, by Sue Roaf, Manuel Fuentes, and Stephanie Thomas

"Ecohouse: A Design Guide" is a big book to read straight through. Whether you read it from front to back or dip into specific chapters depends on who you are and why you are reading it. In any case, Ecohouse is loaded with interesting and important - shocking, disturbing, inspiring, and enlightening - information, as well as very useful and practical technical guidance for building with both the health of our planet and the health of people - individuals, families, and communities - in mind. See:
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/12/11/144809.php

Vanda has sent us the following link to an interesting and inspiring sister EcoVillage in the USA.

EcoVillage of Loudoun County, Virginia is a healthy alternative to ordinary residential development nestled on 180 organically managed acres north of Leesburg, VA. See: http://www.ecovillages.com

If you'd like to join a social cycling group, how about the "Willunga Peloton" - no rules (except "no lycra"), no politics - just good fun and good exercise!

Meet at the Black Duck Cafe in Willunga (Next to Finos) at 8 am on Sunday mornings and enjoy the ride. Any level of experience welcome.

Or - why not ride to Willunga Market on Saturday's - Sue rides there with a friend, so you could chat to her about it (8556 6441). [Leaving at 7:30 this Saturday 8 December]

A big thank you to all the people who so kindly and generously made me delicious meals for the first weeks after I came home from hospital with Jacob. It helped enormously. I felt so supported and cared for by the community. It has meant a lot to me (and Mum!).

A special thank you to Heidi for organising it.

Kate Gebhardt - (14 Yacca Way)

Chris and I would like to thank everyone who contributed their hard work and TLC to the stunning wall hanging for Amelia. I was speechless when I first saw it and you'll see from the ATTACHED photo why. I think we have a family heirloom on our hands, so thank you with all our hearts!

Gina
Thanks from Gina & Chris

I have been sitting browsing around the internet and came across:
http://www.lowcarbon.co.uk/home 
If you then click on the section 'Earthship Brighton' (UK) and follow the link at the bottom of that page:
http://www.lowcarbon.co.uk/earthship-brighton/earthships 
it gives a very interesting tour of all the features of the building. I don't know much about 'Earthships' and I am very interested and plan to visit the Brighton one if I can. Moving on, if you go to:
http://www.earthship.co.uk/rent-an-earthship.htm 
there's a better image of it, plus one in Scotland - both are community centres. At the bottom of the same page there are links to:
http://www.earthship.net/ 
which is the website for the people in Taos New Mexico who first developed this architectural concept. Are there any of these type of buildings in Australia, does anyone know? 
 
Deb - (presently in UK, owner of lot 112, ..... fast becoming 8 Tetragonia Walk)

The Village landscape is slowly filling in. Here's the latest Google Earth image.

Earthsong EcoVillage in New Zealand has some interesting information on their website about decision and discussion processes. We have already tried a simple version of the colour cards system at the last AGM and found it worked well for us. Might also be worth reflecting on their definition of "consensus" also. See:
www.earthsong.org.nz/infobook/groupprocess.html

Those with an interest in using pedal power might like to check out some simple concepts for pedal generators. Keep fit and charge things up! The third link might be of special interest for anyone thinking DIY.

 http://www.los-gatos.ca.us/davidbu/pedgen.html 
http://www.earthtoys.com/emagazine.php?issue_number=06.06.01&article=pedalpower
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Self-Powered_20Health_20Clubs

Dear participants in the Social Dimension Survey,
 
First of all, many thanks again for your collaboration in this study. As promised, here I send you a report with the results for your community (I apologise for the wait, but I had to finish the MSc Thesis this questionnaire was part of first, and that took me a good few weeks).
 
 The PDF ATTACHED includes the final scores for each category, your community scores compared with the other two communities analysed, a table showing the weights assigned to each answer option and the range of values covered by each indicator and, finally, the answers to some other questions that are not included in any indicator.
 
Due to low response rates, these scores cannot be considered statistically representative for the whole community. Nevertheless, they may well provide useful information to reflect on in order to improve the social aspects of our communities. I hope you will find this topic as fascinating as I have done.
 
Please, keep this report for your personal use only. For any comments you may wish to make about this research, do not hesitate to contact me at info@planning-sustainability.org.
 
Yours sincerely - Javier Montero
071108 Results Report Aldinga

Bridget and Michael have circulated this very interesting link to a powerful argument for taking action against global warming and climate change. The presenter does "go on a bit" but, even so, this is definitely food for thought!
http://www.slide.com/r/9qo6zGs85z_ARsAOIf1omf3v-cQSkBuN

Colin Endean has sent in a useful link to Sustainable Gardening Australia:
http://www.sgaonline.org.au/growyourown.html

Hi everyone,
I have just had info come in by email about an adobe (mud brick) dome construction course happening in Texas / Mexico. The info is at http://www.adobealliance.org/  for interest ......... or even if anyone wants to attend. For 'earthy' types it seems a good browse with some excellent photos.
 Deb (Lot 112)

Villagers may be interested in this photographic and historical book on the McLaren Vale region commissioned by vigneron Greg Trott (Wirra Wirra Winery). Find more information and an order form on the ATTACHED flyer.
071029 Book flyer

Villagers may be interested in an article in the Guardian newspaper about oil:
"Steep decline in oil production brings risk of war and unrest, says new study". Output peaked in 2006 and will fall 7% a year. Decline in gas, coal and uranium also predicted!
Read more at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,,2196435,00.html

With its "Geo-4" report, the United Nations tells us that most aspects of the Earth's natural environment are in decline; and that the decline will affect us, the planet's human inhabitants, in some pretty important ways. We've heard it before, of course, but this report is different. First there is the sheer scale. Hundreds of researchers from a huge variety of disciplines have compiled, written and analysed its 572 pages; thousands more have reviewed the various chapters; and second, Geo-4 covers the whole range of environmental issues, and the links between them. Our EcoVillage ethos moves us in the right direction - but is it enough? Read more at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7060072.stm

Hi everyone, this came into my email, and I thought it may be of interest. The two websites mentioned are worth a look:   
 
Natural (Earth) Building course in Thailand in collaboration with Whispering Seed - www.whisperingseed.org - a children's home and community living and learning center on the Thai-Burmese border. At Sangklaburi, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand January 5-18, 2008 and January 21-February 2, 2008. More info at http://sgnb.createsend.com/viewEmail.aspx?cID=492C3802C3BFB79E&sID=E60BC81625A70172&dID=5CB9CB5A1CE688CE
 
Deb Harding - (Lot 112)

Hi all - Some may be interested in the following message sent by the "Zero-Carbon Future" network:

On September 26th, journalist Katharine Murphy from The Age newspaper in Melbourne revealed in an article entitled "Don't mention the 'N' word" that the Federal government recently sent an official to Vienna to secretly sign the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) agreement with the US. GNEP is a plan which entails "trusted" countries like Australia enriching uranium, exporting the fuel rods for reactors overseas, then re-importing the high level very toxic radioactive waste, where it would either be stored in the desert for the next 500,000 years, or reprocessed - a potentially dangerous process which involves chopping up the fuel rods, dissolving them in concentrated nitric acid to remove the plutonium, creating large amounts of potently carcinogenic liquid waste. Plutonium has two main uses: it is the fuel for nuclear bombs, and can be used as fresh fuel in the new Generation IV reactors.

Read the article by Katharine Murphy about GNEP at:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/dont-mention-the-n-word/2007/09/26/1190486391722.html
A link to the article is also available at www.nuclearfree.com.au/background.htm#artic

In an oil- and emissions-constrained world, will Australians be prepared to compromise on personal mobility to embrace first car pooling and then ultimately car sharing? It's worth thinking about these future options.

Here's a website sent in by new community member Tom Deliveyne (Lot 75) to show us a system now in use in Belgium:
http://www.cambio.be/cambio/carsharing/en/2/stdws_thema/intro/intro0.html

And also, closer to home, Sue suggests checking out "GoGet" a similar system now operating in Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane):
http://www.goget.com.au/

Are we heading for a global food shortage? It seems world grain supplies are now at their lowest since records began. Check out this ScienceAlert article by Julian Cribb. It also contains some good reasons (if more were needed) for protesting against further urban sprawl:
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/opinions/20071810-16466-2.html

Here in the UK I receive the enews from www.newbuilder.co.uk which may have something of interest for people. Mainly however it was the news item 'Eco Village calls for Shareholders' that caught my eye. Their website is www.lammas.org.uk . They describe themselves as in the planning stages of creating a low impact eco village in Pembrokeshire, Wales. I thought others at AAEV might want to check out the site.

Deb Harding (Lot 112)

"Greenbang" tracks the explosion of the environmental industry. It's blogged by a small but growing team of reporters around the world, and anyone else who cares to join in... See: http://www.greenbang.com/
You can also subscribe to a free e-newsletter and send in your own environment business news.
[Thanks to Leonie Hick for the alert.]

If you ever doubted the political power of TV ads, check the pulling power of this one at:

https://www.getup.org.au/campaign/ClimateCleverer&id=128

From Hans Banens

Congratulations to Anthony Steel of 19 Dianella Walk (Lot 65) who recently received the Lifetime Award for his work as Festival Director. Anthony's award was highlight of the night at the Australian Business Art Foundation Awards in conjunction with the Ruby Awards, South Australia's annual, pre-eminent arts and cultural awards program.

Well done, Anthony! You are adding a shine to the "Arts" of our Arts EcoVillage.

Thanks to Michael Vawser for the following alert:
 
The Climate Institute (TCI) has just launched an innovative $2.5 million ad campaign, tackling climate change through the eyes of a nine-year old. It will be the biggest advertising campaign ever undertaken by an Australian climate or environment non-government organisation. Titled, “Change Climate Change” the campaign is designed to motivate people to speak up about their concerns about climate change and to encourage them to consider climate change policy when it comes to election day. You can have a look at the 45 sec version of the ad at:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Un4T9tAXNwI
 
The campaign will run until the end of 2007 Federal Election across TV, online, press and radio, focussing on three key policy areas:
 
1.    Reversing Australia’s rising greenhouse pollution in the next five years
2.    Ensure all new power is generated from clean energy
3.    Join the world’s only international agreement to cut greenhouse pollution by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol and agreeing to binding reduction targets
 
You can find Policy Briefs on these issues by clicking on "Factsheets" in the menu across the top of the Home page on the Institute's website at: www.climateinstitute.org.au

Thanks to Vanda Rounsefell for sending in this thought-provoking snippet:

Are you trying to keep up with the Joneses? Think about it - obsessing about money and materialism is a symptom of "affluenza" and our teenagers seem particularly susceptible to this condition.
 
Got five minutes? Maybe you can help stop the spread of teenage ‘affluenza’ in Australia. Watch this thought-provoking video clip. With its ironic humour and powerful message, the video has quickly become a monster hit. It received more than 200,000 hits in its first four days on the web!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFZz6ICzpjI&NR=1
 

This is further to the message I put out in the last News Feed (posted 6 September) entitled "Water and fruit: creating synergy of assets". The proposal was about using our plentiful reclaimed wastewater for irrigation of the fruit trees in our neighbourhood orchards under conditions of poor rainfall and increasingly expensive and restricted town supply water. I had several responses to the idea - all positive - and several offers to assist with putting in the extra irrigation lines.

It would be good, however, to get input from more community members.

What do you think of the idea?
Would you be interested in helping with the project?

If you would like to read the original news item again, you can find it via the following web link:
http://www.aaev.net/news/files/fa76efbf513c8b488d6594927c7ebeed-719.html
or in the PDF ATTACHMENT below.

John Heij - Phone: 8556 6892 or Email
070910 Water & fruit trees

As the winter has now officially ended and the time is near that we have to start watering our plants and trees again I would like to pass on some information about our water situation.

Thanks to the fact that we have our own Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP), we are in fact much better of than people in the suburbs. We can water our fruit trees with recycled water and reap the benefits of this. The fruit trees have now been in the ground for several years and we saw a dividend from the investment during this last year by being able to pick peaches, nectarines, apples, olives, apricots, etc.

I am perturbed, therefore, by hearing talk about which trees should be left to die to reduce money spent on watering etc.

Currently, we have the WWTP output of treated water connected to the irrigation system in 3 orchards: one at the end of Hakea walk, one at the end of Clematis Walk, and one at the end of Dianella Way. This takes care of about 160 fruit trees out of the total of about 600 planted in all the neighbourhood orchards. The treated water from the WWTP is very suitable for use with trees as the irrigation can be done below the soil surface. (If there are concerns about using reclaimed water in particular areas, the clean water currently in the big tank in Market street could possibly be used for watering trees in areas where Village kids tend to play.)

The output of the WWTP has been 48,000 liters per week over the last month. Considering that every tree needs approximately 10 liters of water per week during the summer, we could potentially water 4800 trees. This shows that water is not the problem.

Our problem at the moment is that we need to extend the delivery system to all neighbourhood orchards. This might sound like a big issue but, in fact, could be very manageable if the job is done in-house. Having observed the installation of the storage and pumping equipment at the WWTP, and the subsequent digging of the trenches plus the laying of the pipes, I would suggest that extension to the other orchards could be done by a group of villagers. We could also include the watering of the newly planted trees at Bowering Hill Road by extending the current irrigation system for the woodlot on the farm. With all this installed we would not have to worry about paying contractors to water neighbourhood fruit trees, or about paying for an increasingly scarce and costly SA water supply.

I see the bringing together of our reclaimed water resource with our fruit-tree resource as a matter of "essential maintenance" in the face of a rapidly drying climate. What do you think? Any ideas how to do the above project quickly and within a reasonable budget? I would like to hear from you. Respond from the News Feed via the "Email the author" function, or by direct Email.

John Heij

Thanks to Vanda for forwarding the following tip on a good website to help us all reduce our ecological footprint!

"Blackle" - http://www.blackle.com/ is the Google website but with a black background.

How is Blackle saving energy? Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. "Image displayed is primarily a function of the user's colour settings and desktop graphics, as well as the colour and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen." Roberson et al, 2002

How can you help? We encourage you to set Blackle as your home page. This way every time you load your Internet browser you will save a little bit of energy. Remember every bit counts!

Website of interest - "The Big Switch" - campaigning against global warming: http://www.thebigswitch.org.au/
 The list of climate change solutions that the group are using to lobby politicians ATTACHED. It's a good common-sense list of political demands. You might like to join the campaign.
TBS_Climate_Change_Solutions

While we are thinking of Levies it may help to contemplate what rates and charges we do not pay in The Village and the benefits this brings. See the attachment to find out how lucky we are.
 Kind Regards - Lou de Leeuw
070809 Water and Sewer Rates

In the middle of a damp winter, it's easy to forget the drought. Spare a thought for the citizens of the Turkish capital, Ankara, who have had their water supply cut to 2 days on and 2 days off because of severe drought. In the driest continent of all, could this be our water future? Check the following link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6929186.stm

Thanks to Bridget O'Donnell for forwarding this valuable reference - It is really great.

Dear Aldinga Arts EcoVillage,

All of you who live at AAEV have chosen to live closely with other people. Excellent choice! There is so much to be said for that. It is spiritually very supportive, and environmentally very efficient. We wish more people would do the same.

We would like to offer you all a gift, a short e-book that we wrote called, "Toward Enlightened Community." Please forward this e-mail to the inhabitants of AAEV.

Everybody knows that what the world needs now is love. And most people long for a sense of community. Yet, few people know, realistically, how to implement those dreams. One of the biggest challenges humanity is facing today is the challenge of learning to live together cooperatively.

We are a successful community who has been around for over 20 years now. Most of our members have been with us for at least 10 years. In those years we've learned a great deal about what it really takes to live together harmoniously. It has certainly been a challenge -- a very HEALTHY challenge. We've discovered a lot about ourselves, about human nature, and about what
makes community really WORK, in the process.

Now, having learned, we want to share what we know with others. Our e-book describes the many advantages of community living, and explains in detail the essential success factors that would permit any community to flourish. Here is the link to the e-book page of our website, where you will find it online:

http://www.soulprogress.com/html/eBooks/eBookMain.html

Once you get to the page, click on the link that says, "Toward Enlightened Community," and you will be given the option to either view a black and white printable version or a color version suitable to read onscreen only.

If you find the things you read to be beneficial, then please feel free to share this e-book. We would be very happy if you did. The information in the book is helpful to people both inside and outside of actual communities.

And if you have any questions, or want to talk about it, feel free to write to us.

Good luck with the extremely worthwhile and wonderfully beneficial challenge of community living!

Sincerely,

The Living Love Fellowship

[I have both versions as PDF documents so, if you cannot access the book online and would like me to email a PDF to you, please let me know - Elizabeth H. - Email. I will also be seeking to have a hard-copy printout made for the Library in due course.]

Following up from the recent local aquaponics seminar, if you are interested in aquaponics (the coordinated production of fish with hydroponic vegetables) you might like to check the big load of information available through http://www.aquaponics.com/

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.

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

Hi everyone,
Do you all know about Freecycle - http://www.freecycle.org/ ? I have just tried it out here (UK) after a friend told me about it. It is for recycling for free any items you don't want any more to other people who do want them - items that might otherwise have to go to landfill and the rubbish tip. There seems to be an international network, of local groups. I looked up what groups are around Adelaide - the biggest is
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_adelaide/ 
I leave you to judge it for yourselves. So far my experience of it is good.
Deb Harding - Lot 112.

Hi everyone,
I have just had an email from a friend who has a place at 'Taliesin' in the US on an Architecture Masters program. Looking up the school at http://www.taliesin.edu/ I discovered a very exciting site - at least for those of us keen on architecture - and felt others may be interested to read about it.
Deb Harding

Many of you will have seen the very positive article in the Southern Times Messenger this past week. Thanks to Trevor for facilitating the visit by showing the press reps around and pointing out village features. For those who haven't seen it yet, Bridget has sent in the attached scanned copy, with thanks to Carole at Sustainable Property Developments!
 070411 Welcome to village life on our doorstep Southern Times

For anyone out there who is attracted to natural and "organic" building techniques and definitely doesn't want a boring house, Hans Banens of Lot 137 has sent in the following weblink describing a new "tree house" concept:

News in Science - Architect plans living tree house - 23/01/2006
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1553264.htm
Growing a home from living trees instead of building a home from felled timber is the goal of an architect from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology ... ...

Deb Harding (buying Lot 112 from the UK) has sent on some information of potential interest to owner builders, and also to those who see the design and building skills now being developed in the Village as something we could build education workshops around in the longer term. Check out the following websites:

"Builders without borders": http://www.builderswithoutborders.org
Builders Without Borders - Networking Natural Builders Worldwide - is an international network of ecological builders who advocate the use of straw, earth and other local, affordable materials in construction. They believe that the solution to homelessness is not merely housing, but communities trained to provide housing for themselves. To this end, they create educational books, CD-ROMs, DVDs and videos, organize and promote hands-on workshops, and partner with other organizations to build affordable sustainable housing.

"The Lama Foundation": http://www.lamafoundation.org
Lama Foundation is: a "community", a not-for profit organization, and a "spiritual home" to many. Its mission is to be both a sustainable spiritual community as well as an educational center dedicated to all spiritual paths. Founded in 1967 about 20 miles north of Taos New Mecixo on just under 110 acres at 8600 feet, Lama Foundation is almost completely surrounded by Carson National Forrest. A mountain fire in 1996 destroyed most of the buildings and surrounding forest, but re-building efforts and the introduction of a permaculture system design have brought about new buildings, new infrastructure, and an opportunity to teach natural building methods on the job. Click on "Building/Permaculture" in the menu, and note the use of training workshops and apprenticeships.

Dear Villagers

When we bought into the Village we were told that, since it was an ECOvillage, there would be a waste minimisation programme. We would deliver our household waste to the two big (3 cubic meter) bins in the recycling bay– one for general rubbish and one for paper and cardboard recycling. Today's reality has turned out to be very different. [See ATTACHMENT]

Lotowners have collected rubbish bins from the council and many now put their rubbish out independently and individually. I do not wish to argue the fact that we pay full coucil rates and are entitled to the bins. What I would like an answer to is what we are going to do with all those rubbish bins when there are around 160+ households in the village. On Monday March 5th we had 23 rubbish bins, for 36 households, out on Port Road. It was not a pretty sight as most of them were lying on their back after they had been emptied, and many stayed there all day. Today March 19th there were 29 bins out for 36 houses and, again, many have been there all day.

The Village frontage is, not including the 3 entrances, approx. 205 meters wide. The council requires 1 meter between bins so the truck can pick up the bins without tipping full bins over. This 205 meter area gives us room for 137 bins + giving the village wall to wall rubbish bins. In theory we are entitled to put, with all houses occupied, 160 rubbish bins + 160 recycling bins out every second Monday. We would need to stack them two high though.

How do the owners of the commercial lots feel about this issue ? Will their customers even be able to find them on Mondays?
Does anyone have any solutions?

Yours knee deep in trash - John Heij
070319 Rubbish bins

I have found this amazing Web Site - www.solarvehicles.org  
 
When I watched the videos on it I got so inspired I decided to share it with the Community because I thought that anyone could build their own solar vehicle after watching these videos and downloading the plans for free.
 
I am pretty impressed with this concept, and I would like to encourage everyone to consider the possibility. One word of caution, don't take too much notice of the passionate political views violently espoused by the author. The message is worth persevering through his ranting. I am very inspired! I hope others enjoy this too.
 
Kind Regards - Bridget O'Donnell - Email

All villagers are invited to celebrate Barbara’s 80th birthday on Friday 23rd Feb at the Sales Shed from 6pm onwards. Mark it in your diary, come along, and help make it a great party for one of the founding members of our Community. [See Barbara's Profile in the ATTACHMENT]

BBQ food, drinks and seating.
 
NB if we have extremely hot conditions the event may possibly be postponed, so if in doubt ring Jenni on 8556 6435.
070213 BARBARA POWELL WEISE Profile

Australian of the Year, Tim Flannery, is a great teacher when it comes to explaining the nature of global warming and the challenges facing Australia and the world today.  If your computer system is capable of video downloads, check out his address to Melbourne secondary school students marking the recent launch of We Are the Weathermakers, the young-adult version of his acclaimed book on climate change, The Weathermakers.  It is quite something!
http://slv.vic.gov.au/multimedia/video/flannery/flannery.html