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Climate Change is in the air. At times it is easy to feel overwhelmed by global warming, with thoughts of ‘what can I do?’ The smallest act can make a difference, and believe me once you make green choices the ‘feel good’ feeling takes over and you feel inspired to do more. Wouldn’t you want generations to come to experience the simple pleasure of a blue sky? Thankfully it’s not all doom and gloom. All of us are responsible for climate change, but we are also the solution. We have the capacity, the opportunity to change, but we have to back the right initiatives and we have to act now. The earth is giving us a wake up call. Here we share information and products we have learned about and used. For your home, your business, your workplace and your school, simple changes can be made. Green choices are sometimes not easily accessible, but it’s getting better, sometimes you just have to ask.
Grey Water Grey water comes from your washing machine and can be used to water your garden provided you use biodegradable washing products. Did you know … (more)
Recycled & Natural Products for your home, workplace and school For a long time it was difficult to find somewhere to buy recycled paper products, well not anymore. (more…)
Buy local produce and look at how you value food Cheap imports mean big profits for supermarket chains. Think of our farmers’ plight to get this food to your table. (more…)
Make Green Choices What can we do to help our natural wonders survive and save our way of life? By making our homes, workplaces and schools more energy efficient. (more...)
Recycle, Reduce and Reuse Recycling is not just for home, it should be part of you. At work, at school, we all must make an effort to reduce landfill. And it’s the little things that add up to big things. (more…)
Save the Rain! Catch as much rainwater as possible on your property, rather than sending it out to sea. The government is currently offering $50,000.00 to each school to do just that. (more...)
Get to know your Politician Before the next election, make a mindful decision on who is going to best handle climate change and how quickly they will act. Your voice is the biggest way you can affect climate change. (more...)
Volunteer Could you spare one day a year to volunteer and help with the many and varied environmental activities within Adelaide? (more...)
Go Carbon Neutral Offset your emissions. Many businesses are already doing just that, and may in the future have to. (more...)
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Use the back of envelopes from your mail for ~ writing your shopping list, ‘to do’ list, a note to the kids, maybe a love note to your partner!
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Grey Water Grey water comes from your washing machine and can be used to water your garden provided you use biodegradable washing products. Did you know ~ A top loader washing machine uses 22 buckets of water, compared to 2 buckets of water used by a front loader machine! If your in the market for a new washing machine a front loader is the way to go. It might cost a bit more upfront, but in the long run will save you. Water prices will go up, dramatically, and let’s face it all of us have had our budget knocked around and it will only get worse. We have had a Thor front loader for 9 years now, and it has never skipped a beat. We couldn’t say the same for our top loader. The wash is a lot better, although it does take a bit longer, but it is very quiet. No more ripped clothes, or missing socks, or a washing machine dancing around the laundry ready to take off! Another thing you need to check is ‘can the pump of your washing machine handle a grey water diverter hose?’ Some machines the pump cannot handle the distance of the hose and you may end up burning out the motor, therefore voiding the warranty on your machine. You may need to catch the water in your laundry trough, and use a 12volt booster pump to move it from there. Check with your local plumbing store for advice. Bunnings have booster pumps for under $20.00. Grey water is only safe for your garden if it is phosphorus and sodium free. It is not recommended for your vege patch. You will need to change the washing powders and softeners that you use. There are a couple of brands available at the supermarket and health food shop, and we have tried them all. As you can imagine we get pretty dirty in the work we do, so after trying a lot of different products we have found the best for us. We use ECOVER which is available through Golden Glow just type in ECOVER in the search option. There is a full range of products available for all your cleaning needs and with a small delivery charge of $3.50 why not stock up. We combine the washing powder and bleach for a fantastic clean. You can go the next step and install a Grey Water Treatment System. Wouldn't it be great to see in the future businesses such as laundries, hairdressers, food processers, etc installing water purification systems and recycling this water.
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Recycled & Natural Products for your home, workplace and school For a long time it was difficult to find somewhere to buy recycled paper products, well not anymore. Officeworks has come to the rescue, and if you order online they will deliver it the next day. Evolve is 100% Recycled Paper and about the same price as normal paper, so there is no more excuses. Tudor now has a ECO Range with everyday office products including envelopes, notepads, manilla folders and suspension files. All 100% Recycled in this ever expanding range. If 500 envelopes seems a lot for your household, split them with family and friends. 3M has also rose to the challenge with recycled Post-it Notes! What’s better, if you order over $50.00 from Officeworks they will deliver it for free, gotta love that! The supermarket shelves are now stocked with heaps of recycled products. Usually you need to look up to find them. Top shelf stuff! Toilet Paper, Paper Towels, Biodegradable kitchen bin bags, it’s just a matter of seeking these products out. Organic products are also the way to go, with soaps, shampoos, deodorants, even toothpaste. Why organic? It means no chemicals going into your body, as your skin is the biggest absorbent. What’s even better, you don’t get the build up of soap scum in your shower. Natural vegetable oil soaps do cost almost double of what normal soap costs, but it lasts three times longer. Our personal favourite is by Emu Tracks ‘Boronia and Aloe Vera’, the smell is divine! Check out your local health food shop for these great products, most have discount days where you can save up to 25% of all products. Want your bathroom to shine? Well you need Shower Power! Effortless cleaning and shine before your eyes, and all natural too. Try it on your kitchen sink and laundry tub to. Available from your supermarket.
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Buy local produce and look at how you value food Cheap imports mean big profits for supermarket chains. Think of our farmers’ plight to get this food to your table. By buying local you are not only supporting local families and businesses, you are also reducing the amount of carbon going into our sky through reduced freight use. Imported products have to travel by sea or air to get to Australia, then freighted by trucks to your local store. Let alone the chemicals added to the fresh produce keep it that way to sell to you. What are you really eating? Your Greengrocer is full of local SA produce, and there is almost always one in every shopping centre. For even better value, Adelaide has a fantastic choice of markets and all within easy travel. Don’t forget to take your green bags or trolley. If there is a great market that you visit that is not listed here, please let us know so we can pass onto others. Send the details to hello@ecogardens.com.au and we will add to the list.
Tuesday 7am – 5:30pm Enter from Gouger or Grote Street
Adelaide Showground Farmers Market Sundays 9am – 1pm Leader Street Pavillion
Every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays 36 South Road, Torrensville
Junction Market Saturday, Sunday and Monday 9am – 5pm Prospect Road, Kilburn
First and Third Sunday 9am – 2pm The Reserve, Beach
Road
Sundays 6am – 1pm Growers Pavillion
Torrens Island Open Air Market Sundays 6:00 am - 1:00 pm Moorhouse Rd via The Grand Trunkway
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Make Green Choices What can we do to help our natural wonders survive and save our way of life? By making our homes, workplaces and schools more energy efficient. Simple and inexpensive changes can make a difference to our world. Next time you need to make a purchase, choose the energy efficient option. From light bulbs, to appliances, and water saving shower heads, eco options are becoming more available, and if not ask. When making purchases on large appliances, check out the stars! On every major appliance there is a star rating. The more stars the better. More blue stars mean water savings, more red stars mean it uses less electricity. Start with the stars, then make your choice from there. Turn off power when it’s not being used, switch off that light, turn down the thermostat, shorter showers, you know the drill. How do you make it known you want renewable energies? You choose ‘Green’ electricity. If you can’t afford to install your own solar system, lets’ face it who can, go with one of the Green Electricity Providers. We switched to 100% Green Electricity a year ago, it costs us an extra $1.50 per week on our bill. Not much to pay to generate clean energy and support the use of renewable energies. If funding was diverted right now into clean green technologies solar would be much cheaper. The power of your choice to go green, builds more solar energy stations and wind farms. You can make a difference right now, by changing to renewable energies, and sending your message by your choices to the politicians, you want renewable energies. Check out The Green Electricity Watch website and do the sums!
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Recycle, Reduce and Reuse Recycling is not just for home, it should be part of you. At work, at school, we all must make an effort to reduce landfill. And it’s the little things that add up to big things. Almost every item that is produced can be recycled or reused in some way. Clothes can be donated and reused, boxes can replace plastic bags, secondhand timber saves trees from being felled, even ink cartridges can be refilled. Two websites that can help narrow down your recycling search are Recycling Near You and Zero Waste.
Paper is the number one item that can be reused. Keep next to the printer a tray labeled ‘Misprints’. Whenever something is not printed correctly, put the paper in this tray not the bin. It makes fantastic scrap paper for notes and drawings. I’m sure your local kindergarten would be rapped if you turned up with a stack of paper for the kids to draw on. I cut ours into fours and staple into pads for quick notes, saves buying notepads.
That’s Not Garbage, recycles all manner of things. Originally set up by two mums looking for craft materials for their childrens school projects, they approached businesses for offcuts and scraps and found other parents doing the same, that’s how the business began. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but inside it’s a treasure trove of items ready to be recycled into something! The kids will go mad with all goodies to be creative with. 24 Charles Street, Beverley SA 5009 Open Wednesday to Friday 9:30am to 5pm
Do you recycle your kitchen items at work as you would at home? All those milk containers, biscuit wrappers, packing materials, envelopes all can be recycled, it’s just getting in the habit. We have two bins set up in our kitchen, one is for recycling, and this is the one we empty the most. Every time you go to throw something in the bin, think, can this be recycled? In most cases it can. Our recycle bin is full before it is ready to be picked up.
Hard Rubbish Days are a great place to find unwanted items that can be used in the garden. Often they just need a new lick of paint or a good clean and repair. And what they add to your garden is character, something unique. Flea markets and Garage Sales are also a good place to look. Auctions can also be a source of bargain items.
If your building a new pergola, deck or structure in your garden, salvage yards have timber to suit the job, and you might even pick up some other items to add to your garden. My personal favourite is Adelaide Rural and Salvage. Take in your plans and they will sort out the rest. Check out the Yellow Pages for more salvage yards.
Old red bricks make for fantastic paving giving instant character. The leaders in recycling old red bricks are The Old Red Brick Company. They now produce crushed brick which is an alternative to gravel drives. They also have a salvage yard, you never know what you might find!
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Save the Rain! Catch as much rainwater as possible on your property, rather than sending it out to sea. The government is currently offering $50,000.00 to each school to do just that. There are also rebates for householders for the purchase of tanks and having them fitted. Maybe there is an enviro grant available for business. Rainwater can be used to flush the toilet, wash the dishes do your laundry, and for drinking. It's not just for the garden. Imagine if every business hooked up a tank for their staff amenities, what a saving that would be for your bank balance and the environment.
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Get to know your Politician Before the next election, make a mindful decision on who is going to best handle climate change and how quickly they will act. Your voice is the biggest way you can affect climate change. Nuclear, Desalination, Renewable Energy such as Wind Farms and Solar Energy. Understand what they mean, not just for the immediate outlook but for the future. What impacts will they have 20 or 30 years down the track. Man made interactions such as nuclear, desalination have after effects. What happens to the nuclear waste after 50 years, what is pumping salt back into the ocean going to do to our oceans ecosystem? A lot of research money, our taxes, is going towards these technologies, and the solution is 20 years away. We don’t have 20 years we need to act now. Solar and wind farms harness natural resources. There is no environmental after effects and if government would put research money, our taxes, into these areas they would be up and running in a matter of years, not decades. We have the best solar scientists in the world. Our biggest shame is these scientists are moving overseas because our government is not supporting these renewable energies, with funding in some cases being removed. The drought cycles are becoming more frequent, more intense, talking about the weather is now a real conversation, as we experience it’s extremes. The research has been done, there is no denying global warming is happening. Now we must meet the challenge as our ancestors have in previous extreme weather events. There are early signs of climate change around Australia. Kakadu, the Great Barrier Reef, the Murray River Darling Basin and Western Australia as a whole. Even South Australia has experienced warmer summers and violent storms, king tides and floods. Greenhouse gases are not only absorbed by the air but also our oceans. There is a lot of dead coral already in the Great Barrier Reef through the 2002 bleaching event, which affects the eco system of the reef. It can grow back, but it takes time. As global warming continues the bleaching events will increase and not give the reef the time needed to regenerate. To get the latest information on policies regarding climate change visit The Climate Institute, an independent group that works with community, business and government to drive innovative and effective climate change solutions. They strive to deliver big reductions in greenhouse gas pollution and a switch to clean energy.
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Volunteer Could you spare one day a year to volunteer and help with the many and varied environmental activities within Adelaide? Just take your pick, there is so much to do. If it wasn’t for people volunteering, where would we be? And when you have finished your day or hours of volunteering, the feel good feeling will stay with you for days, it will be an experience you will never forget. Volunteering is a great team building exercise for the workplace or school. There are so many volunteer programs around this is just a small list to see what might suit you. If you would like to submit any other programs please let us know at hello@ecogardens.com.au and we will add it to the list.
We are both volunteers for Trees for Life, the projects available to volunteer on are endless. A fantastic day is to go Monarto and do some planting, or you can do some seed collecting, grow seedlings for landholders’ revegetating their land, or join a Bush Care program. Visit the Trees for Life website to learn more. The next Clean Up Australia Day is Sunday 2nd March 2008. That’s not the only clean up you can get involved in. There are school and business clean up days, or you can nominate your own clean up site. Maybe you want to venture further and get involved with cleanup days around the country. Check out the Clean Up Australia website for all the information you need. Lots of different volunteering opportunities with the Australian Conservation Foundation are available. ACF have a 40 year history of working with volunteers and are one of the main drivers of awareness for global warming. Visit ACF website for more. While your there take the time to look at all the campaigns they are running. We have long been financial supporters of Greenpeace, they certainly get the message across. They also have volunteer programs available locally and worldwide. Visit the Greenpeace website for all they are involved in.
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Go Carbon Neutral Offset your emissions. Many businesses are already doing just that, and may in the future have to. Carbon Neutral is affiliated with Trees for Life SA. The Carbon Neutral website lets you calculate your emissions and see how many trees need to be planted to offset these emissions and what that would cost. This website is hosted by Ilisys, Australia’s first 100% carbon neutral host. We have used their service for many years now, and find them professional, reliable and the cheapest around for hosting and domain purchases. Support businesses and companies that have made the pledge to tackle global warming and climate change.
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Love Google, then you'll love Greenlinking,
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Romlee Eco Gardens website is hosted by Ilisys |
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