Melton Sustainable Living Group

On Saturday, the Melton Sustainable Living Group hosted a home brew workshop at my house.  Kim filmed the workshop, and I have edited it into three parts.  I hope you find the time to watch this educational documentary, courtesy of the MSLG.  Part One Part Two Part Three with Q&A session The next day, I checked the Cider to see their progress.  The cider was not bubbling, so I took off the lid to ensure that it was indeed fermenting (which it was), so I screwed the lid back on super tight.  This sealed it correctly this time, and the airlock started working ferociously.  And as for the Cider today, well due to the fact that I only put in 500gm of Dextrose, it looks like it has finished fermenting as well.  I will check it with the hydrometer and possibly bottle it tomorrow night!  I can taste it already.

I attended the 3rd ACF GreenHome Community workshop on Tuesday night.   It was a great evening, with many passionate people from Caroline Springs, Melton West, Melton South, Altona, Werribee, and Bacchus March all who want to make a difference to our local communities. Terry White from Western Alliance for Greenhouse Action gave an inspiring presentation about some of the bigger actions that are possible in the Western region of Melbourne.  I filmed the entire presentation and managed to cut it into two parts and place them on YouTube.  Terry's presentation was very inspirational, and well worth watching. Please put your hands together for Terry! Western Alliance for Greenhouse Action - Part 1 Western Alliance for Greenhouse Action - Part 2

David appeared in the Melton Express Telegraph this week hugging his solar PV system! You can read the article titled " On the path to solar rebates " promoting the latest bulk Solar PV buying scheme for the Melton Shire residence. Well done David, for promoting the benefits of Sustainable Living!

Kim and I visited David on Saturday afternoon.  David is now the proud owner of a 1 kW solar PV system after a very, very long wait.  Here is a shot from the road. Another view of the system from the backyard. Of course, I couldn't miss a photo of the proud owner himself! Look for David and his solar PV system in this weeks edition of the Express Telegraph promoting the Melton Shires bulk PV scheme with EnviroGroup. Gavin.

  You’re invited to four FREE workshops You’ll be able to: • learn from energy & gardening experts • meet your neighbours • tackle climate change and sustainability in new and creative ways with your community. The Australian Conservation Foundation GreenHome program will help you reduce your environmental impact and take practical steps to save water and energy, produce less waste and grow local food. Tuesday 11th May Greening your home - part 1: Becoming energy efficient Learn more about energy efficiency, workshop ideas and hear from energy experts. Tuesday 18th May Greening your home - part 2: Gardening towards a sustainable future Special guest: Vasili Kanidiadis – presenter of Vasili’s Garden SBS. Hear form Vasili and other gardening guru’s about having a water efficient veggie patch, composting and worm farming. Tuesday 25th May Community actions for tackling climate change - part 1 Hear from inspiring speakers and tackle climate change in new and c...

Being resilient is about being able to withstand a shock to the normal way of life.  Recently there has been a shock in the form of the Global Financial Crisis, however I believe that it was tame compared to what is about to come in the next decade. Two big issues come immediately to mind.  Climate Change and Peak Oil. You have probably heard about the concept of Climate Change, and we are already feeling the effects of extreme weather events in our part of the world.  Doesn't it seem strange that we are getting more and more '1 in 100 year events' closer together and they are becoming more like 1 in 10 year events?  Not strange, but normal according the climatologists.  Climate change means more extreme weather, not just getting a bit warmer. Of course the climate changes over time and has many times before in Earth's history, but not in a matter of years or decades, we are talking centuries for these events to occur naturally. You can't take millions of ...

Community Announcement.  My family and I will be there, will you?   WALK AGAINST WARMING 12pm – 12/12/09 - State Library, Melbourne This year, we’re sending a safe climate message to the world. Are you in?   This December, our world leaders are gathering to decide how much they’re prepared to do about climate change.   Join thousands of Victorian individuals and families concerned about climate change at this year’s Walk Against Warming, and help us form a massive human sign on Princes Bridge –  a sign so big they’ll get our safe climate message all the way over in Copenhagen.   The Walk Against Warming is Australia’s biggest day of community action on climate change.  Similar Walks will be happening across the country, and across the globe as communities everywhere come together to tell their leaders they want action for a safe climate.    If you’ve ever replaced an old light globe with an energy efficient one, taken public transport instead of driving, switche...