If not us, then who?
If not here, then where?
If not now, then when?

Over the last three years in the middle of winter, thousands of Tasmanians chose to spend a day outside learning more about how to live a sustainable life.

This is a very popular event. It’s on again on Sunday, June 5th, so put it in your diary now.

Click HERE to see details.

Some brilliant good news to end the year, and it stems from this community’s successful solar bulk purchase efforts.

EcoTasmania Inc has awarded a $7,000 grant to the Peak Oil working group to conduct education and lobbying on peak oil – an emerging issue of great importance. EcoTasmania Inc is the corporate body that was set up from our community solar initiative to support sustainability projects.

For those wanting to know more about the peak oil issue (you will hear about it soon anyway!) you can read a good primer by clicking here.

And for those who don’t have solar hot water connected yet, the EcoTasmania solar enterprise is still going gangbusters, now set up as a normal business operation. You can contact them by clicking here.

We have the pleasure of announcing funding for three very worthwhile projects in South Hobart area:

• Seeding funds for development of a community orchard
• A project to educate community members on seasonal foods
• A series of home energy saving workshops

The funding has been made available as a result of South Hobart Community’s very successful solar bulk purchase project – which resulted in $1.5 million investment in domestic solar systems in recent times.

Congratulations to the project bidders.

Chris Harries (on behalf of SH carbon fund committee)

A number of people have asked about service people who can do basic home upgrades (to reduce energy losses) at reasonable rates.

We are compiling a list of such resources. Meanwhile try the following (South Hobart area):

Andrew Doube
Home assessment, retrofit planning and installations.
Ph 0429 015 371

Myles Griffiths
Smithy’s Handyman Service
Ph: 6224 3357
Mob: 0439 882 357

Patric Collin
Mob: 0408 236 935

Daniel Tardy & Cathryn Wynn-Edwards
Small weatherproofing / landscaping jobs etc
Mob: 0415 696 323

This is your invitation to a very timely Saturday workshop on September 18.

Energy prices are due to rocket within 5 years and this will place immense hardships on not only the Tasmanian economy, but on communities and individuals. Simply put: We Are Not Ready!

With this in mind, Waterworks community members are invited to a stimulating workshop to explore this theme – with people from other sustainable communities.

Download flyer HERE.

POSTSCRIPT: The workshop filled to capacity and has resulted in a similar one being held in Launceston next month.

All around our nation, home owners have been gradually insulating ceilings, windows and floors – because these are relatively easy to do.

And that leaves just the walls. And we don’t know what to do!

That’s because walls are hard to get at.

Now Waterworks Community has produced a ‘How to insulate the walls of your home’ guide for those who are keen to have a go. You can download it HERE.

This Sunday, June 27, there will be two in-house demonstrations on home insulation.

Come and see how Clear Comfort window insulation can be cheaply installed on your windows – at 1pm, 136 Waterworks Rd.

Come and see how to retrofit insulation into a weatherboard wall cavity – at 3pm, 195 Waterworks Rd.

Plugging energy waste in your home can be one of those rare investments that provide a guaranteed financial return.

By way of comparison, this graph (click on it to enlarge) compares your dividend on $10,000 invested in Microsoft shares versus investment in home energy saving retrofit (for a 5 year period.)

What the chart doesn’t show is 1) many energy saving measures cost almost nothing and 2) expenditures in energy saving keep paying back, year after year, for the life of the home. Once they have paid themselves back they effectively become a continuing source of household income. Full story HERE.

Dates for these are as follows: All start at 7.30pm.

102 Waterworks Rd Mon May 3
414a Strickland Ave, Wed May 5
152 Waterworks Wed May 12
14b Livingston Wed May 19
50 Bramble St Thurs May 20
195 Waterworks Rd May 24

Click on image to see details.

Please email us for queries.

Hello, if you are new to this site and are a householder wishing to contact us about the Climate Connect Project please email us at wwvalley@dodo.com.au.

A dedicated website link (Powerdown Tasmania) has now been set up so that project participants can find out the latest and contribute to the program.

Meanwhile, please feel free to peruse this community site. Feedback always welcome.

Having initiated the solar hot water bulk purchase scheme in 2007, solar installations are ballooning in our community as well as neighbouring suburbs.

During the past few weeks new solar systems have been installed at 46, 134, 141, 164, 178, 183 and 195 Waterworks Rd and at 22 and 30 Romilly Street – all these in addition to those already installed in the previous two years.

Taking a leaf from our book, South Hobart community’s bulk purchase scheme was overwhelmed with 300 expressions of Interest, many of those now being installed.

Solar systems are very visible sign of sustainable living, and are valuable not only in reducing our own energy footprints, but in advertising the concept of sustainable living.

During the coming six months our climate project will step up into top gear, with home assessments, free shower heads, collective insulation working bees and so forth. Watch this space!

The Project Team

Here’s a chance to meet neighbours and discuss how we make our homes more comfortable and sustainable.

Join us on Sunday October 18 for a house-to-house visit and a sociable Sunday chat. (Please visit between 10 am and 2 pm.)

Six families are opening their home to see what they’ve already done (and are intending to do) to reduce their home’s footprint. This is not a showing off event it is an authentic sharing of ideas.

You can download a summary of each home below:
Ridgeway home: 23 Bramble St
Waterworks Rd homes: 101, 134, 144, 187, 195

At 2 pm there will be a mini Home Energy Workshop at 195 Waterworks.

For more information please ring Carol Ph 6223 4653.

October 24 will see a huge global initiative to make people aware of 350 – the most important number on Earth. [350.org]

350 parts per million is the maximum amount of carbon in the atmosphere we must achieve to maintain our ecological balance on Earth. We are already at 390 parts per million.

With people all around the world participating in all sorts of different ways we can reach this target.

Local community member and national theatre director Neil Cameron is planning an arts event so we in Hobart can participate in this world-wide programme. You can join in by simply emailing here: hobart350project@gmail.com to register your name.

Click here to download the details.