Have you seen Sustainability Street signs and wondered ‘what is that all about?’ Are you frustrated at the spinelessness of our politicians who are so fearful of being seen as economically irresponsible, they’re being environmentally irresponsible instead? Copenhagen failed, Malcolm Turnbull lost his job over it and the federal government that promised to lead the way has lost its way. It’s up to us – and we can have a lot of fun doping it.
What is Sustainability Street?
Sustainability Street is a program that brings people together to create healthier, safer and more environmentally friendly neighbourhoods. Developed in Melbourne by environmental educators Vox Bandicoot, Sustainability Street now includes more than 50 communities in New South Wales and Victoria.
• It helps participants cut energy and water consumption and waste generation.
• It saves participants money on their bills.
• It gives people the opportunity to meet their neighbours and make new friends.
Sustainability Street puts the idea of thinking global, acting local into practice. There is growing evidence to suggest that we all need to make changes to the way we live if we want to maintain our quality of life, not only for us, but for our children and grandchildren as well. The Sustainability Street program provides a practical way of making a real difference in your street and community.
The Rouse Hill- Stanhope Gardens News has joined forces with Rouse Hill Town Centre and Vox Bandicoot to bring the program to The Hills. This page aims to keep our community up to date with what’s going on in our Sustainability Street. From here you can read the latest news, join the group, keep up to date with meetings, find green living information, post sustainable living tips and click on links to other sustaiable living websites.
Once a street has completed a series of basic sustainability meetings it makes the transition to wherever the collective group’s imagination takes them. Perhaps the street will continue to meet to work on a local sustainability project, seek grant funding for a community garden, catch up for social get togethers or just say hi as you pass each other on the way to the shops.
In the past some Sustainability Street groups have:
• applied for a grant and built a native garden in a reserve to offset their carbon emissions;
• undertaken drain stenciling at their local shopping centre as a reminder to protect our waterways;
• organised guided walks through a local nature reserve for the local community;
• installed rainwater tanks and coordinated a community Garden Party to showcase sustainable items for use in gardens; and
• undertaken a tour through their local materials recovery facility to learn about the recycling process.
How Does it Work?
Members of the community meet to exchange the skills and knowledge that will make their home/street/area the most sustainable environment and community they can
The idea stems from the reality that everyone wants to create a safer and healthier living environment for themselves and their children. The best way to do that is by bringing people together to pool knowledge and resources.
Sustainability Street puts the idea of Thinking Global, Acting Local into practice.
What Does it Involve?
Being a Sustainability Street involves getting together with other communtiy members, attending workshops and bringing enthusiasm to the process of making our lives and our area more sustainable.
Three key workshops are planned for the first phase of the program. The first introductory session where everyone gets together in the street, we explain the process to you all and learn about each other's interests and skills.
The second two workshops will look at household energy and water use and how we can save on bills and reduce greenhouse emissions. As time goes by, we can run workshops on other sustainable living topics that members. They might include:
• Composting and worm farming
• Attracting wildlife to your garden
• Non-toxic cleaning
• Growing natives, vegetables, herbs
• Improving a local park or open space
As the program develops, the group may decide to hold extra get togethers, street parties or working bees. At a minimum, the program is a basic training course to help people to live more sustainably at home and in the neighbourhood. Anything above and beyond is limited only by the imagination and energy of the participants.
Outcomes to Date
Indicative results demonstrate three key things:
• Firstly, individual and household sustainable living behaviour has "improved" in terms of resource use by as much as 30%. (ie: reductions in water, waste and energy).
• Secondly, communal sustainability projects, which could not have been imagined or hoped for by agencies, have been successfully developed by small groups of local people. Previous projects include community gardens, demonstration water tanks in schools and neighbourhood houses, food co-ops, local sustainability festivals to engage the neighbourhood.
• Thirdly, on the human scale level, people have reported significant satisfaction in making connections with others in their "village".
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
Come along to a meeting, send us an email, give us a call or just use the information on this site to start making a difference. It costs nothing, it promises to be fun, and we can do our bit to save the planet.
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LINKS
www.s ustainabilitystreet.org.au
www. voxbandicoot.com.au
www.thehill s.nsw.gov.au/environment
if you find any more, let us know and we’ll add it to the list.
NEXT MEETING
If you're interested in coming to the first gathering, please give us a call IT DOESN’T COST A THING. YOU’RE NOT COMMITTED TO ANYTHING. BEST OF ALL, IT’S RUN BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE – We’re just starting the conversation.
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