IN THIS ISSUE
(Click on the story link)

OUR PARTNERS IN SUSTAINABILITY

SPECIAL OFFER THIS MONTH

ECO EVENTS

The Watershed Initiative

The Watershed is a Sustainability Resource Centre located on King Street in the heart of Newtown. It is a joint initiative of South Sydney and Marrickville Councils.

The Watershed has resources and experienced staff on hand to provide information and advice to local residents and businesses on ways to reduce our ecological footprint.

Visit the Watershed to find out about a wide range of environmental initiatives, such as, worm farming, composting, rainwater tanks, recycling, sustainable housing and permaculture. The Watershed runs free workshops on Saturdays, and is always looking for enthusiastic volunteers.

Contact: Vanessa John 
Tel: (02) 9516 6366 
218 King St Newtown NSW 2042 watershed@marrickville.nsw.gov

Handy Water Saving 
Hints for the Home

• Order and install a DIY "Greywater your garden kit" or a "Water Saver Kit"

• Install a Rainwater Tank to harvest rainwater from your roof (Book a quote) 

• Install a AAA rated shower head (cuts water use for showering by up to two thirds)

• Install a toilet flush water saver (see the Eco Starters Pack for more details)

• Buy a front loading AAA rated washing machine

• Put a cover over the pool to stop evaporation (also helps keep the pool warm)

• Wash your car on the Lawn (make sure you use a bucket - it is illegal to hose your garden during the current water restrictions)

CONTACT US

Ecological Homes Pty Ltd
PO Box 2504, Strawberry Hills
NSW Australia 2012
Phone: 1300 73 07 07
Fax: (+61 2) 9557 8422
twalsh@ecologicalhomes.com.au
www.ecologicalhomes.com.au

Our Shop Address:

230 Enmore Rd, Enmore NSW 2042

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© Copyright 2002 Ecological Homes Pty Ltd (ABN 71 002 980 047)

Best Home Loan Rates

Are you paying the best rate for your Home Loan?

Contact our friendly loans consultants at Hiley Home Loans to advise you on the best home loan rates and see how they can help save your thousands to finance your eco home renovation or installation.

Request a Free 
Home Loan Check 

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The Earth Repair Charter

Please Endorse the Earth Repair Charter

(If you haven't done so already)

Visit Their Great New Website www.earthrepair.net

Send an E-Card  
and Help Support Nature

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Vol 3 (Issue 2) August 2004

Please increase the MRET target Mr. Howard! 
According to Professor Andrew Blakers of the ANU, one of Australia's leading authorities on renewable energy, several key technologies and companies have already been lost overseas due to the woeful level of support from the Howard government for renewable energy initiatives. 

Other key renewable energy companies like Advanced Energy Systems, BP Solar, Origin Energy Solar, Solar Systems and Solar Heat & Power are destined to leave our shores for countries like Germany and Sweden which offer greater government support for emerging renewable energy technologies.

The Howard Government needs to increase, as a matter of urgency, the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) to 10% to provide the support needed to keep these companies and technologies here in Australia. 

Click here for more information on the MRET scheme

(Photo courtesy of the PM's Website)

Dear Reader,

This past month has seen more grim news on the environment front:

• Major desalination plant planned for WA - the drought continues to affect vast areas of the nation forcing the worst affected states like WA to initiate a desperate, controversial and very expensive project to provide water for Perth via a major desalination plant. 

• Curing the World of its Addiction to Coal & Oil - thanks to surging demand for oil from China and contracting world supplies of oil from the crazy war in Iraq and the attempt by the Russian Government to effectively bankrupt Yukos Oil with a billion dollar tax bill (one of the largest oil producers in the world), petrol prices recently hit a record US$44. We take a look at a major study exploring our long-term sustainable energy options.

• Painting your home with non-toxic paint - not many people are aware of the serious health risks associated with using most solvent-based paints in the home or workplace. We take a look at the fantastic range of Oikos non-toxic paints. 

• Winners of our Evacuated Tube Solar Hot Water System Giveaway - on a brighter note, this month we announce winners from our Evacuated Tube Solar Hot Water System Giveaway competition where we are giving away more than 100 prizes worth $28,000 - click here to see if you are one of the lucky winners.   

As always, we welcome your thoughts and feedback on the newsletter and stories related to the environment. The deadline for contributions to the next issue (September 2004) is September 3rd 2004. Send us your feedback or stories

Thanks ... The Ecological Homes Team

Q. What Does Ecological Homes Do?
A. We are Your One Stop Shop for Sustainability

We provide a "One Stop Shop" solution for all your eco housing and home finance needs including: 

Desperate measures for a thirsty city! 

Perth to get $350 million desalination plant

THE southern hemisphere's largest desalination plant – able to distribute 45 gigalitres into Western Australia's water system at a cost of $350 million – has been unveiled by the WA state government.

The plant, which is due to be completed in 2006, will adopt technologies used in the Middle East and the United States to remove salt and impurities from sea water, producing water equal to or better in quality than current water supplies.

It will be built alongside the Kwinana power station, 40km south of Perth. Premier Geoff Gallop said the plant would increase the water supply to Perth and its surroundings by 17 per cent each year.

"The threat of a drying climate is with us now, and desalination is a proven technology capable of delivering large quantities of water independent of the weather," Dr Gallop said. "Both our underground and surface water supplies are not being recharged to the appropriate levels."

Average household water bills are expected to jump by $50 a year to help fund the construction of the plant. The cost of water in Perth is set to rise to double its current cost to about $1.11 per kilolitre.

Growing environmental concerns over the plan

Professor Jorg Imburger, a professor of environmental engineering at the University of WA, claims the residue being pumped out of the proposed desalination plant will result in a massive 40 per cent of Cockburn Sound being covered in salt and eventually dying.

The WA Opposition Leader, Colin Barnett, says the state does not need the plant and his party will drop the idea if they win the next state election. In the meantime, former transport minister and National Party MP, Eric Charlton, has established a company called Wheatbelt Enterprise Technologies and along with four other directors has developed his own desalination plant plans - not for the city but for the country.

Clearly, access to clean drinking water is set to become a major political, social and economic issue in our drought-ravaged nation. 

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Curing the World of its Addiction to Coal and Oil

Surging demand for Coal - Global demand for coal is set to grow strongly as major newly industrialising countries like China and India demand more and more energy to power spiralling numbers of consumer electronic gadgets. 

Currently, China's 1.3 billion people use about 100 watts of energy per person per year thanks to having an overwhelmingly rural population dependent on time-old and low energy technologies with few consumer goods. China relies heavily on burning coal to produce electricity - coal accounts for about 75% of total power production. With the increasing penetration of consumer goods, average energy use is set to spiral, along with consumption of coal (and production of greenhouse emissions). China expects to triple its energy production from 300,000 megawatts to 900,000 megawatts in the next 15 years - most of this increase is likely to be derived from burning coal which China has vast reserves of. 

Demand for Oil set to double - on the Oil front, global demand for oil is set to double in the next 25 to 30 years further increasing the problems already being experienced already in meeting global demand. 

Last year, China accounted for about a third of the world's total increase in daily oil consumption to help fuel the nation's rapid growth in car use and other forms of petrol-based transport. But, as one leading Chinese environmentalist has warned: "If each Chinese family has two cars like US families, then the cars needed by China, something like 600 million vehicles, will exceed all the cars in the world combined."  

Consequently, we can expect the price of oil to soar far above its current record price of US $44 per barrel  in coming years.

Coal and Oil are amongst the worst sources of Greenhouse emissions - clearly, a future based on increasing consumption of these forms of energy spells disaster for the planet in terms of increasing greenhouse emissions and climate change.

Curing the World of our dependence upon Coal & Oil - a major study released by the Foreign Policy in Focus Organisation (www.fpif.org) has identified a strategy (titled the World Energy Modernisation Plan) to help the planet achieve a 70% reduction in global greenhouse emissions by the year 2040 - a target identified as necessary to stabilise the planet's climate.

This plan involves a number of key elements including:

• diversion of subsidies currently going towards industries using carbon based fossil fuels into the support of renewable energy initiatives such as wind power and solar power (the US currently spends more than $20 billion a year to subsidise fossil fuel use compared to an estimated $200 billion per annum spent by all industrialised countries to subsidise the use of fossil fuels)

• introduction of the "Tobin Tax" on speculative currency transactions and diverting some of this money into the establishment of renewable energy technologies in the developing world (currently, about $1,500 Billion is traded every day on speculative foreign currency trades by the international finance sector - a 0.25% tax would help stabilise world currencies by discouraging speculation and generate about $1,400 Billion per annum for investment in other areas like renewable energy)       

Download the Report: 
Towards a Global Energy Transition

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Paint your home with non-toxic paint

Most people are completely unaware that the overwhelming majority of paints used to paint their homes, workplaces, hospitals and schools (both inside and out) are extremely toxic.

All the well-known paint brands contain very high levels of solvents that use Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). The average tin of Acrylic household paint contains up to a third VOC based solvents (based on volume). A tin of enamel paint can be nearly half VOC based solvents!!   

Health Issues of Paint

Research conducted by the US Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) shows that exposure to paints containing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) has serious implications for your health.

Health problems that can arise from short-term exposure to VOC-based paints include:

• Eye and respiratory tract irritation
• Headaches 
• Dizziness
• Visual disorders
• Memory impairment

Long-term exposure to VOC-based paints can result in respiratory diseases and life threatening cancer. Newly painted rooms can have air pollution levels up to 1,000 times higher than the air outdoors. 

Recent research has identified VOC-based paints as a possible cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDs) amongst new born babies as a consequence of being placed in a freshly painted room. (Source: the Wannabee Foundation www.wannabee.org.au)  

Don't take risks with your health or the health of your family or employees, use the Oikos non-toxic paint alternative. These paints provide a professional and highly durable finish and offer great value for money - contact us today for more information or a free quote to paint your home or office the non-toxic way.

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Winners of our Evacuated Tube Solar Hot Water System Giveaway Competition!

The Best Water Heaters Under the Sun

We are happy to announce the winners of our Evacuated Tube Solar Hot Water System Giveaway which included the following prizes:

• A 22 tube solar hot water system combined with a Bosch 21E instantaneous gas booster - the best Water Heater under the Sun! (Prize Value $3,900 - before rebates)

• A 4A rated (AAAA) Front Loader Washing Machine supplied by Bosch Australia - highly water and energy efficient (Prize Value $999)

• 5 two week Australia-wide holiday accommodation packages for 2 adults (Prize Value $15,000)

• 24 x AAA rated shower heads & arms supplied by Green Environment Effects (Prize Value $1,440)

• 25 x energy efficient lighting packs supplied by Eco Globes (Prize Value $1,200)

• 20 x household water saving kits supplied by Ecological Homes (Prize Value $1,150)

• 2 x 1500 watt energy efficient space heaters supplied by NOBO Australia (Prize Value $1,150)

• 4 x Re-chargeable Handheld Lawn Trimmers supplied by Enviromower (Prize Value $876)

• 10 x Travel Sport water filter bottles provided by Wellness Australia (Prize Value $750) - each bottle replaces 800 plastic water bottles

• Non-toxic paint supplied by Oikos Paints Australia (Prize Value $620)

• 3 nights accommodation at Bombah Point Eco Cottages supplied by Bombah Point Eco Cottages (Prize Value $485) 

• 6 x Raintap rainwater diverters supplied by Tomthan Pty Ltd (Prize Value $270)

• 3 environmental cleaning sampler packs supplied by Environmental Marketing Australia (Prize Value $128)  

Click here to see if you have won a prize

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Wise Words that Inspire

"Each time you are honest and conduct yourself with honesty, a success force will drive you toward greater success. Each time you lie, even with a little white lie, there are strong forces pushing you toward failure." Joseph Sugarman

"The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision." Theodore Hesburgh

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