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I am pleased to announce the initial stages of a Sustainability Street Approach initiative starting at Phillip Bay.  My wife, Leeanne, and I plan to extent an invitation the households in the three blocks surrounding our newly rebuilt local park, the Fred Williams Reserve.

Quoting from the Sustainability Street website, “the Sustainability Street Approach view is that the two greatest challenges facing our species in all of our human history are to ...

1-  get along better with each other and

2 - get along better with all the other lifeforms.

Getting together and enjoying each other’s company is hard wired into the human motherboard.  When we do team up and co-operate the results are astounding!!  A Victoria University three year evaluation reported Sustainability Street Communities achieving an astounding 49% greenhouse gas reduction (among an array of other sustainability accomplishments) and a salve for the times: each other & nature “I can’t clean up the whole world, but I can sure clean up my little bit of it!”

Most folks in community don’t have access to the big environmental stuff like Copenhagen, fish stock diminution, land salinity, etc, etc.  However research shows that people are deeply concerned (perhaps bordering on traumatised?) about the state of the wider environment.  Working together and creating projects locally for a better future, with like minded friends and neighbours provides a huge comfort and produces serious eco-results.”

Here is My Sustainability Street Mission Statement:

"I have long been aware of our obligation to tread lightly on the surface of our life-giving planet.  This began way back in the 1970s, when the shortage of food across the world became apparent to me.  Back then I bought Recipes For a Small Planet and started cooking with beans, lentils and rice.

Since then I’ve become aware of so many more global issues, feeling somewhat swamped and angry at the same time.  The west still has slaves.  They are the poorly paid third world workers who provide our consumer goods.  Enough of ideology!

As a middle class Australian, I am in the best position to support the retro sustainability making of my home. We’ve just installed a solar hot water system and will be installing a 2 kW PV system.  These will supply almost all of our electricity needs!  We’ll also be installing a 5,000+ litre water tank for flushing toilets and use in the washing machine as well as out mainly native, drought resistant garden.

I wish to proclaim the wisdom of these actions to all Australians and encourage every household, which can afford it, to do likewise.  The cost is around $10,000 after Federal and State Government rebates.  The savings generated will pay back that outlay in around six years.  After then, a profit will be made that can be put to more environmental uses!

Of course, these steps are the privilege of the middle class.  But hey, we have been able to get wealthy by world’s standards because of the subjugation of the third world and our environment. It’s time now to repay our debt."

In addition to the large cost, green retrofits above there are so many low cost and simple ways in which we can reduce our demands on our planet’s resources. I’ll be actively encouraging our neighbours to implement these as well via gatherings, information events and community actions.

The Federal Government now provides $10,000, cost free and interest free loans, Green Loans, over four years for any household making the sorts of financial commitment outlined about to greening their home.  They are delivered through a financial institution to eligible applicants.

Please follow the path of our vision here.  Post below as you wish.  I'll be updating as regularly as necessary.

Please also visit our other Live Local pages, Making Our Home Sustainable, Permaculture East Comes to Phillip Bay!!! and The Compost Revolution Comes To Phillip Bay.