February 25th newsletter 2011
Posted on 2 March 2011 by e-news
Price on pollution announced
MASG welcomes the announcement of a price on pollution by the Multi-party Climate Change Committee. This week’s announcement of a price on pollution starting in July 2012 is good news for our economy, environment and jobs. It will be opposed by the big polluters who have had a free ride in polluting without paying up till now- so expect lots of paid advertising from them crying poor and other other fear-based statements.
We know that people will pay a little extra and MASG will be working to see that the money raised from the pollution price goes to building the clean energy renewables we all want and to helping those who are finding it tough.
Meanwhile a new report says about $9 billion worth of government subsidies are flowing to the mining, gas and petroleum industries each year, helping fund the “poor me and higher prices” story they will be running against a price on pollution.
Comfy Homes
The Comfy Homes project has a great website that is ever-expanding with tips and ideas for keeping your homes comfy this summer and getting your bills down. You will find the link to Solar City for your free home energy assessment or contact MASG about our information and display of insulation, window treatments, draught stopping and local products and services.
Comfy Homes – DIY open houses needed
The Comfy Homes project is exploring self-organised short visits to energy efficient homes. We often hear from new home owners, retro-fitters and owner-builders who would value seeing good building and renovation practice such as straw-bale, passive solar, window treatments or low-water usage. We anticipate the visits would be occasional, brief and at the discretion of the home owner. If interested please contact Deanna at MASG on 5470 6978 or deanna@masg.org.au
100% renewables: the largest survey in Australia’s history on renewables. Is your street being done?
The largest community survey ever on Renewable energy is being organised by the 100% campaign and MASG is part of it. The campaign is working with over 60 groups across Australia to collect the opinions of 20,000 Australians and have them tabled in parliament by June.
MASG has signed up to get at least 500 in our shire….and to get to that number we need people who will survey their workplace or street? Let Ian know that you are up to survey your street/workplace on 54723645 or ianhutch@alphalink.com.au
MASG Members’ gatherings
Tonight and on the last Friday of the month 5 to 6pm @ The Hub Garden. Please join us this Friday, 25th of February. Hear about the latest MASG projects, share information, news, tips and hints on your own projects and have a informal catch-up with others. Otherwise we look forward to seeing you on March 25th.
Jottings from the Hub Plot
Gardening at the Hub Plot, rear 233 Barker Street from 9 a.m each Monday and Produce & recipe exchange – from 10 a.m Mondays plus a cuppa in the garden.
Some of our gardening group are keen to exchange produce. Please bring along any excess fruit and veg. We’ll be able to work out swaps and if there is too much then we can work out drying/bottling the rest. Also we can all do with recipes to help with using up/storing that oversupply of home grown food. Bring along some recipes to share or email them to heather@box311.biz and we can circulate them within the garden group and on e-news.
Thanks to one of our very youngest, Morrison, for being such a great help with digging potatoes in the garden. We gathered nearly 2 buckets full! If you’d like to help in the veggie garden and meet others also interested in food gardening come along to our regular Monday morning working in the garden.
WANTED: the MASG garden group are in need of the following items if anyone has any of them hanging around in sheds not being used:
• compost tumbler
• worm farms – the stacked up variety
• manual lawn mower
• wheel barrow in good condition
If you have any of the above items to donate to the MASG garden please contact Heather on heather@box311.biz or Peter on bundara@netcon.net.au
In the garden in February/March you can be planting :
Beetroot, carrots, peas, radish, turnips – white and swede, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower , Chinese cabbage , kohl rabi, lettuce.
Don’t forget to mulch well & protect veggies with sheets or shade cloth during the hottest part of the day. This will save on water and prevent sunburn and wilting.
Compost and worm farm workshop
Saturday 26th March, 10 a.m. to noon at the Hub Plot. $5 contribution towards costs. Learn how to improve your soil. Various methods of composting will be shown and valuable tips will be shared. Various styles of worm farming will be shown and ways to use worm tea and worm castings. Stay on for a cuppa and view our resource table. Also, is any one having success with Bokashi bins? Would you be willing to come and show your Bokashi bin in action during the Compost workshop
MASG is buzzing – help raise funds to keep us humming.
Do you have skills in grant seeking and writing, have great fund raising idea, know who and how to ask for money? Or want to learn to do all of that. MASG is having a fund raising meeting on Thursday 3rd March at the MASG offices at 12 noon. If you can make it, please come along. If you can’t, but are still interested, please contact Kerry on 5470 6978.
Committee meetings = Central organising Committee, the CoG in the smooth machine of MASG.
Working groups and members are most welcome to the next committee or CoG meeting on March 24th @ Hub 7pm. The Accountability Group is to meet afterwards.
Wash Against Waste trailer
There has been a recent surge of interest around the Trailer, which is very exciting as it is a wonderful thing!
“SENSATIONAL” to quote Mandy from the Bendigo Sustainability Group.
The Trailer went to Woodend on February 12th for their Sustainable Living Festival. It was a first time there and was very successful.
The Trailer will be at the Taradale Mineral Springs Festival on 13th March, then 19th March it will be at the PepperGreen Community Festival in Bendigo. Both fun events! Try and get to one or the other or BOTH! The Trailer can now be viewed on our website! .
Trailer Volunteers
We are in need of a core group to help out with the Trailer when it goes to Festivals and other events. These are usually really enjoyable times. If you want to find out more, please call Kerry at MASG on 5470 6978.
Trailer Towing
When MASG needs to get the Wash Against Waste Trailer to an event, we require a 4 wheel drive vehicle with a minimum 2000kgs towing rating! Does anyone know of such a vehicle available (with/without driver) to lend to MASG, occasionally?
A thank you for our work
received this week…
“Hi MASG and Jayson. Thought I’d tell you how delighted I was when my last 3-monthly power bill arrived and it was $14 in credit for the first time ever! In November 2009 I installed a one KW Solar PV system through the MASG scheme and since then I have been feeding my excess power back into the grid. Thanks so much to Jayson, Dean, Steve and all the other luminaries associated with that terrific opportunity to “go renewable! Sincerely, Marie”
Events by other organisations
Recent Extreme Weather – top scientists speak at free Melbourne lecture.
Tuesday, 1 March, 6:00–7:30 pm, Village Roadshow Theatrette, State Library of Victoria La Trobe Street. From monster cyclones in Queensland to floods in Victoria, bushfires in Perth, heat waves in Russia, snow storms in Europe …were these events due to normal climate fluctuations or to climate change? – hear from prominent climate scientists about how unusual these events were and what the science knows – and doesn’t know – about what caused them. All welcome and no bookings required, for more see here.
Resources on extreme weather and climate change: Beyond Zero Emissions {BZE}
a powerpoint and notes/ quotes from a recent presentation at a forum on “Extreme weather and climate change” are available from Beyond Zero Emissions: look at the
Powerpoint and what people are saying.
Bendigo Sustainability Group – Trivia Night
Saturday 5th March 7.30pm: Spring Gully soccer club rooms. Big donated prizes…show your sustainability and trivia skills. Tickets: $20 or $10 student/concession. For tickets contact events@bndigosutainability.org.au
or call Alison on 0407 517 729
Fruit and Veggies Exchange
Will be held at the Farmer’s Market on 6th March and then the first Sunday of every month. The Exchange will be under the cool of the oak trees in Victory Park. Commencing at 11:00am; please get there a little earlier to set up your fabulous display. Bring preserves, herbs, seedlings, veggies, fruit and anything grown or made with Valentine’s love. For more details contact bree.happyandfree@gmail.com
Great training course with Robin Clayfield from Maleny, Qld.
Robin is a leading sustainability trainer with 30 years’ experience. Robin will lead “Creative Community Governance and Decision Making” Day, at Eltham College on Tuesday, 8th of March. This is for anyone involved in community organisations or groups where making decisions and having discussion could be more energising, fun, creative and/or productive. Car share from Castlemaine available. Please email vsolomon@netspace.net.au for all details.
FOCAL Book Sale
The next fabulous FOCAL Book Sale will be held on Saturday 19 March. Open 9.30am – 3.30pm. At the Library Foyer. Children’s books from 50c and adult fiction and non-fiction from just $1. If you’d like to join FOCAL and receive the newsletter and updates about seminars, author visits and workshops, the annual fee is just $5. See you there!
More library news
Who borrowed the ‘Power Mate’ from the Library? Could it be returned? Or would a benevolent soul like to donate approximately $100 to replace it, either to the library or MASG.
National and Global News
Japanese operator plans world’s fastest train – Central Japan railway, whose high-speed trains carried more passengers than the world’s largest airline last year, is staking $60 billion on a 500km/h train.
Green public housing units break new ground
An apartment complex has become the first public housing estate in Australia to achieve a five-star energy efficiency rating.
Australia “could lead with world’s cheapest renewable energy”
Australia has the potential to produce some of the world’s cheapest renewable energy, meeting all its energy demands by 2050, in line with the release today of a major new study by WWF. The Energy Report, which breaks new ground with its global study of total energy needs, including transport and energy availability, found that the world’s entire energy needs could be filled cleanly, renewably and economically within just 40 years.
Windfarms to generate power … and cash
Councils on the Monaro in the New South Wales south east are to receive a regular cash bonus from a major windfarm project north of Bombala.
Transition Town Totnes
Read more about this inspiring movement here…
Greenhouse emissions to double unless action taken
Ross Garnaut’s latest update to his 2008 review found the economic shift towards developing countries was so great they would be responsible for 70 per cent of global emissions by 2030, up from about half today. The expansion of China and India was more than offsetting the dip in emissions growth in North America and Europe due to the financial crisis.
Australia was in a category of its own – a developed country with emissions expected to soar at an even faster rate than earlier predictions due to surging demand for fossil fuel exports. A climate change department analysis this week estimated Australia’s emissions would be 24 per cent higher than 2000 levels by 2020 under current policies.
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