IN THIS ISSUE
(Click on the story link)

SERVICE PARTNERS

SPECIAL OFFER November 2003

ECO EVENTS

The Watershed Initiative

The Watershed is a Community Environmental Resource Centre located on King Street in the heart of Newtown. It is a joint initiative of South Sydney and Marrickville Councils and is funded by the NSW Stormwater Trust.

Resources and experienced staff on hand to provide information and advice to local residents and businesses on ways to reduce the impact on local waterways and protect Sydney's aquatic environments.

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 weekly workshops on Saturdays.

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

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)

Calculate Your 
Ecological Footprint

How much land 
& water do you need?

Worldwide, there exists 1.8 biologically productive global hectares per person. The average Ecological Footprint in Australia is 7.6 global hectares per person. We need 4 earths to sustain the Australian average lifestyle!

Q. How much earths your lifestyle require? Click here to complete a short Ecological Footprint Calculator and work out how many earths your lifestyle requires.

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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

FEEDBACK & ADVERTISING

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for the next issue. 
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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 2 (Issue 4) Nov 2003

Dear Reader,

This issue we focus on:

• Water ... too precious to waste - the emerging water crisis in Australia and the possibility of man-made drought

• DIY Water Solutions to address household water use, reuse & recycling including Greywatering Your Garden, DIY Water Saver Kit and a Low Pressure Rain-fed Sprinkler Solution

• Results of our Favourite Tradesperson Promotion

Experienced Installers Wanted - We are looking for experienced handymen (or women) who can help us install water saving kits in the major cities across Australia. If you fit this category (or know someone that does) - send us an email with your/their contact details.

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 (Feb 2004) is January 30th 2004. Send us your feedback

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: 

Story #1: Water ... too precious to waste 
& man-made drought 

Australia is in the early stages of a Water Crisis and there appears to be evidence that the last drought - "the worst drought in Australia since reliable records began in 1910!" - was largely a product of our own making! 

This is the conclusion reached in a disturbing report released last month by Monash University and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) exploring the causes of the 2002 drought. (Click Here for a review of the WWF Report)

Long-term drought now appears likely for Australia due to rising average temperatures. As temperatures rise, moisture levels over continent decrease and rain becomes less common = drought.

A Drought-led Recession? The environmental and social costs of drought are enormous. The economic costs are staggering! The Murray-Darling Basin, one of the key food producing regions of Australia, experienced an average increase of 1.2 degrees Celcius in 2002 and only 45% of its annual rainfall! The gross value of farm production is forecast to fall by $8 billion (or 21%) in 2002-03 due to the drought leading to fears of a drought-induced recession.

Man-made Drought - The really disturbing aspect about the prospect of prolonged drought is that is may be largely a product of our own making. Rises in average temperatures have been strongly linked to increasing levels of greenhouse gas concentrations in the earth's atmosphere (the 'Greenhouse Effect"). Due to our heavy reliance on fossil burning fuels, we are effectively manufacturing drought conditions, the report argues.  

The reports' findings should be ringing alarm bells in the nation's parliaments, forcing them to sign initiatives like the Kyoto Protocol which set enforceable limits on emission. But, according to our Prime Minister: "It is not in Australia's interests to ratify the Kyoto Protocol". (John Howard, Hansard, 5 June 2002) With leadership like that we are in deep, deep trouble!

Feel free to use the new "SOS the PM" feature above to express your own views on issues like water conservation and climate change. Maybe if enough of us email him, he will come to his senses and take remedial action - before it is too late!   

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Water Solution#1: Greywater Your Garden Kit 

Households can do much to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle their water - a lot of these things can be done quite cheaply and by the resident handyman (or woman). 

Ecological Homes has developed a set of affordable solutions for water harvesting, reuse & recycling water to help busy households on tight budgets and lacking a handyperson to implement solutions and help reduce water use and waste.

One such solution is our Greywater Your Garden solution:

What is Greywater? Greywater is wastewater from non-toilet plumbing fixtures such as showers, basins and taps. The average Australian home produces about 113 litres of greywater per day.

Depending on its use, greywater requires little or no treatment and generally contains fewer pathogens. Untreated can also be used for garden watering providing not only water but also a lot of nutrients for your garden.

If you have a small to medium sized garden and do a regular clothes wash, you can direct most of your laundry wastewater on to you garden using a Suldi Greywater Diversion Valve (on left) attached to a soaker hose running on top of a garden bed which is covered by garden mulch.

You can save up to 100 litres of greywater per day using this device and can control the amount and quality of water you save via a simple on/off valve. 

If you use a low phosphorus and rapidly biodegradable laundry detergent like Aware or Planet Ark, you can direct all your laundry water on to your garden saving even more valuable and nutrient rich water for your garden!   

The DIY kit includes: 

• Suldi Greywater Diversion valve
• 15m high quality soaker hose
• Hose fittings
• Easy to follow self-install instructions

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Water Solution #2: DIY Water Saver Kit

A great deal of water is wasted in a house unnecessarily. Every tap in the house, if fully turned on, will use up 20 litres of water a minute. Children especially (and thoughtless grown ups), are guilty of leaving the tap running while they clean their teeth or rinse out some dishes.

Toilet flushing is another problem area and consumes 1,100 litres of drinking quality water per toilet per week for the average household. You don't need a full flush every time you use the toilet.

Now there is an easy and fool-proof solution to reduce this water wastage by installing water flow restrictor valves in the taps around your home and a toilet water flush saving device in your toilet. This not only ends up saving you water, it helps cut down your hot water bills as you will be using less hot water too! 

The flow restrictor valves (see picture on the left) are easy to install for any home handyman or woman.

The toilet water flush saver (see pictures below) is also very easy to install. This kit will help you reduce your household water usage by up to 25%!

Alternatively, Ecological Homes can arrange for an installer to visit your home and install the devices for you. The DIY kit includes: 

• 3 sets of 2 restrictor valves (1 set of valves for your  kitchen taps, 1 for laundry taps and 1 for a bathroom vanity) 
• 1 restrictor valve self-installation kit
• 1 toilet water flush saving device
• easy to follow instructions on installation of the valves and the flush saver

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Water Solution #3: 
Low Pressure Rain-fed Sprinkler System

"Water your garden with gravity-fed Rainwater"

The average Sydney garden uses about 250 litres of water a day. It is currently illegal to use mains pressure watering systems in Sydney and Melbourne and other areas with water restrictions in place - as a result, peoples' gardens are beginning to die. 

This problem can be eliminated with the installation of a low-pressure watering system using rain water harvested from your roof without the need for an expensive pump! 

The rainwater is taken from a nearby downpipe and fed into a rainwater tank that is mounted on a low stand.

This water is then fed by gravity through a hose attached to an innovative new low-pressure sprinkler (see picture on left).

The sprinkler casts a spray about 1 metre in diameter simply using gravity pressure from the rainwater tank. It can easily be moved around your garden to where the water is needed allowing you to do other things than standing around watering your garden by hand.

This system is ideal for homes with small to medium-sized garden with a fairly level block. It can also be used for gardens at the front or back of your house, that are lower then the house. 

The System includes: 

• Choice of 500, 1000 or 2600 litre round poly plastic tank with tap and filter and all required fittings
• 400mm high stainless steel stand
• 18m garden hose (with brass fittings) 
• 1 x low pressure sprinkler

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Wise Words that Inspire

"A friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil; but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small, silly presents every so often - just to save it from drying out completely." Pam Brown

"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

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