Winter 2010

A Bankstown City Council Publication
Bankstown
Message from
SustainABLE
Bankstown
Does your wood
heater smoke?
There’s a lot happening in this
issue of SustainABLE Bankstown.
Council has again been very busy
reducing its ecological footprint
and we have some great tips to
help you do the same. See how
you can reduce your heating bill
this winter, grow some great
winter crops in your garden or
where to grab some fabulous
clothing bargains.
You could unknowingly
be polluting our
environment and
harming your health.
Bushcare is bustling away. The
East Hills Park Bushcare Group
has been working hard to
improve our natural environment.
And don’t forget to check out the
events for May’s Bushcare Month.
Eco Schools are also helping to
improve our natural environment.
Both Picnic Point HS and Birrong
PS have been doing some
fantastic projects. See how your
school can get help to boost your
environmental projects along.
Do you know where your rain
goes? Find out in Life on the River
and see how Council is trying to
get the most out of our rain.
If you have any comments,
suggestions or would like to
contribute an article yourself you
can email us at sustainABLE@
bankstown.nsw.gov.au Stay
updated on all the latest events
or take a look at more things you
can do to help the environment
by visiting Council’s website at
www.bankstown.nsw.gov.au.
Happy reading!
As wood burns it releases a mixture of
gases and particles called air pollutants
which can cause severe health problems
for some people. If a wood heater is
not working efficiently these pollutants
are made worse.
Pollutants cause problems both inside
and outside the home. When fine
particles from smoke are breathed
in it can cause breathing difficulties
and aggravate pre-existing conditions
like asthma. This type of air pollution
severely affects our air quality and is a
very common problem in winter when
particles float in the air and form an
unattractive smoke haze.
WINTER 2010
Edition 16
Pollution from wood heaters
can be avoided.
1. Burn only dry, aged hardwood in your
wood heater.
2. Never burn rubbish, driftwood, painted
or treated wood.
3. When lighting a cold heater, use plenty
of dry kindling to establish a good fire
quickly.
4. Use several small logs rather than one
large log and stack them loosely in your
heater so air can circulate around them.
5. Keep the flame lively and bright. Your
fire should only smoke when you first
light it and when you add extra fuel.
Open the air controls fully for 5 minutes
before and 15 to 20 minutes after
reloading the heater.
6. Check your chimney regularly. If there
is smoke coming from the chimney,
increase the air supply to your fire.
7. Don’t let your fire smoulder overnight.
8. If you are buying a wood heater, make
sure it meets the Australian Standard
(AS/NZS 4013:1999).
9. Insulate your home. This will help you
minimise the amount of fuel you need
to burn, saving you money.
For more information on what you
can do to use your wood heater better
visit www.environment.nsw.gov.au/
woodsmoke
How do worms fight
climate change?
Did you know that for every tonne of organic waste (that’s all your
food scraps and garden waste) that is diverted from landfill, nearly
a third of a tonne of greenhouse gas emissions are saved?
In 2005 Council established a commercial-sized worm farm at its Civic
Tower. Since then, our worms have consumed over 1¼ tonnes of organic
waste - and that’s just from the kitchen bins in the Environment Section!
We’ve also given away 87 kilos of worms, mostly to help schools establish
their own worm farms, not to mention countless litres of fabulous worm
‘wee’ fertiliser used by staff for home gardens.
Council’s worm farm contributes to a sustainable work environment. You
too could be a champion for sustainability at your workplace or home by
setting up your own worm farm - it’s not nearly as messy and smelly as
you may think!
Worm farms are available to purchase from most local hardware stores
and nurseries.
Celebrate
World
Environment
Day with a
FREE Movie!
Home is a stunning visual portrayal of Earth.
When: Where:
Saturday 5 June 2010, 4pm – 6pm.
Hoyts Bankstown, 63 The Mall, Bankstown.
Only 160 tickets available. Bookings essential. For more information
or to apply online visit Council’s website.
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Council staff take steps towards reducing
greenhouse emissions by installing
efficient lighting.
We want to hear
from YOU!
Have you seen anything amazing
in Bankstown? Tell us about it.
We’d like to hear about that fantastic
neighbour with bathtub frog ponds or
Parks Staff show off new fuel
efficient blowers and mowers.
A STROKE of
genius
Council is trialling fuel efficient 4 stroke
lawn maintenance equipment for use
in Bankstown’s parks. This includes all
lawnmowers, brush-cutters and blowers.
The new equipment is quieter, more
powerful, and cuts fuel use by 40%. In
addition, the 4 stroke equipment meets the
strictest environmental standards, reducing
emissions by 42% over the 2 stroke
equipment that it replaces.
The trial will look at how effectively
the equipment works, how easily it is
maintained and assess sustainability. If the
trial is successful, all equipment used to
maintain Bankstown’s 350 parks will be
converted to 4 stroke. These changes could
save Council 10,000 Litres of fuel per year.
Information Sessions
A great idea
Council’s electrical staff have
been steadily upgrading the
lights at the Panania depot.
The large compact fluorescent
lights that are being used are the
same as what you would find
in your own home, only much
bigger. These highly-efficient
globes are rated at 125 watts and
are replacing older technology
lights rated at 400 watts.
On an unseasonably hot Autumn Saturday, gardening enthusiasts
gathered at Chester Hill Community Garden to chat about all things
horticultural. Worm farming, recycling, no-dig gardening and organic pest
control were the most popular topics of discussion with many tips and
tricks swapped. Community Garden members were also on hand to give
visitors a tour of the variety of plants on display, such as kumera (sweet
potato), yams, bitter melons, strawberries, pumpkins, ruby chard, rainbow
silverbeet, snake beans and peanuts.
Prizes, including two new worm farms, ensured our budding gardeners
left with smiles on their faces. SustainABLE Information Sessions will be
held throughout the year. Check out Council’s ‘What’s On’ page at www.
bankstown.nsw.gov.au for future session dates.
This is one of many energy
efficiency works Council is
undertaking to save money
and reduce our contribution
to climate change.
about those beautiful birds that fly
into your backyard each morning. Or
even about how your daughter taught
you to save water and electricity.
Send in your stories and photos to
[email protected].
au. For more information contact
Robyn Young on 02 9707 9628.
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Bushcare News
Bushcare Volunteers at East Hills Park remove
weeds allowing native plants to regenerate.
Weeds are bagged and then removed by
Council.
Spotlight on
East Hills Park
Bushcare Group
Volunteers of the East Hills
Park Bushcare Group are doing
wonderful things.
Located on Henry Lawson Drive in
East Hills, the bushland is heavily
fragmented. With a patch on the
eastern side of Henry Lawson
Drive and several smaller patches
situated on the western side, many
of these bushland areas are spread
amongst mown picnic areas and
playgrounds. Fragmentation of
bushland is a common problem
around Bankstown and this makes
it hard for native plants and
animals to move around.
Bushcare volunteers are currently
working on the western side under
the railway bridge. The vegetation
is mostly Shale/Sandstone
Transition Forest, an endangered
ecological community that
supports a variety of life including
skinks, lorikeets, cockatoos and
pied butcher birds.
May is Bushcare Month
To celebrate Bushcare Month and Bankstown’s biodiversity Council
has organised two special events.
Interactive Bushcare Bus Trip
When: Saturday 22 May, 10am to 1pm.
Where: Starting at The River Reserve, Revesby Heights, the bus trip will
finish with a barbeque lunch at Morgan’s Creek, Picnic Point.
Who: Prospective and current volunteers are welcome. If helping the
environment is something that you feel passionate about then you
should come.
What: An interactive bus tour. During the tour you will visit various Bushcare
sites and observe works being undertaken by Council with funding
provided by Sydney Metropolitan Catchment Management Authority.
The tour provides an excellent opportunity for volunteers to learn
more about what is involved in Bushcare and to discover more about
our bushland.
Bushcare Meeting
When: Wednesday 26 May, 6.30-8.30pm.
Where: Memorial Oval Cricket Ground Function Room.
Who: All Bushcare volunteers are welcome.
What: This forum will provide a platform for volunteers to discuss the
Bushcare program and any associated issues.
If you would like to attend either of these events, please RSVP to Council’s
Bushcare Officer Jessica Erskine on 02 9707 9999.
Searching for volunteers
The group has been tackling
many weeds including Turkey
Rhubarb, Paddy’s Lucerne, African
Lovegrass and Bridal Creeper. A
fire went through the area last
year and thinned out weed species
giving native plants the chance to
regenerate.
They are doing a great job
and could do with some help!
Volunteer today by calling Council’s
Bushcare Officer on 02 9707 9999.
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Bushcare is always in need of more help. Bankstown has
a wonderful natural environment that is rich, diverse and
unique. It covers approximately 525 hectares with 11
distinct vegetation communities and over 920 known plant
and animal species.
Unfortunately many of our bushland areas are being
threatened by weed invasion, feral animals, rubbish
dumping and land clearing.
We are always looking for committed volunteers to
participate in our Bushcare Program. As a volunteer not only
will you learn valuable skills and meet new people, but you
will see first-hand the results of your environmental efforts.
Life on the River
A garden with a difference
Raingardens (also known as bioretention systems) are more
than just your typical garden. They are designed to mimic a
natural system and act as a sponge, soaking up large amounts of
nutrients, sediments and other contaminants from stormwater
runoff. They also trap litter and other large pollutants.
Raingardens (a type of water sensitive urban design) are carefully
designed using a particular selection of plants, gravels and soils. The
plants in the garden soak up pollutants by using phosphorus and
nitrogen for growth. The coarse soils and gravels allow sediments
and pollutants to be trapped and cleaner water to seep into the
stormwater system below. This cleaner water can then be collected
and reused.
The aquatic weeds choking Yeramba
Lagoon will soon be removed.
Eastern Long-necked Turtles are one of
the many animals living in and around
Yeramba Lagoon.
Typically nutrients are a good thing, but excess nutrients from
garden fertilisers, car-washing detergents and leaf litter wash into our
stormwater systems and can cause algal blooms and growth of aquatic
weeds like Salvinia. When this happens the oxygen for aquatic species
is reduced and water quality declines. Sediments choke aquatic habitat
and can block fish gills, and contaminants such as oils and greases
from our roads can be lethal to aquatic life.
What’s
happening at
Yeramba?
Stormwater has traditionally been filtered downstream using pollutant
traps. Raingardens are different because they treat stormwater runoff at
the source, reducing the extent to which it can impact our waterways.
If you are out and about over
the next few months you might
notice some activity in and
around Yeramba Lagoon.
Council has built our city’s first raingarden at Padstow as part of the
town centre improvements. The raingarden sits at the bottom of
Faraday Road, and will help to improve the quality of water entering
Salt Pan Creek. Stop by and have a look - this garden knows it’s good
to be different!
•Trail markers installed around the
Loop Track to encourage more
people to enjoy the area
•Bush regeneration along the
drainage line from Amberdale
Ave in Picnic Point
•Aquatic weed harvesting to
remove salvinia, alligator weed,
water lily and water hyacinth
•Redirection of stormwater over
a specially designed and built
grassed treatment area (called a
swale) in Amberdale Reserve
These works will help to improve
the health of the Lagoon and
surrounding bushland. For more
information and to find out how
you can help contact Jenna Hore
on 02 9707 9700.
YOU can help the
environment!
Register to receive SustainABLE
Bankstown by email and help
reduce your ecological footprint.
Simply email your contact details to
[email protected]
Above:Raingardens provide a natural way
for stormwater to filter out pollutants before
it ends up in our creeks and rivers.
Right: Traditional style gross pollutant traps
remove rubbish and sediments but do not
remove excess nutrients.
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Eco Schools
New environmental
group flourishing
In August 2009 Ruby-Leigh Tonks and fellow Year 9 students of Picnic
Point High School, with the help of science teacher Ms Kirsty Elwell,
started a group to sustain and regenerate bushland and native flora
at Picnic Point High.
Funds for the
Environment
Environmental grants are available
for 2010 to help schools become
more sustainable.
The Eco Schools Grant Program aims
to involve students and the wider
school community in projects that
help to manage their environment.
The Program selects projects that
promote environmental learning of
students, staff and the community,
encourages sustainability and helps
address local environmental issues.
Ultimately the Eco Schools Grant
Program would like to help develop
ecologically sustainable schools.
Case studies from previous projects
and a list of successful projects and
summaries are available at www.
environment.nsw.gov.au/grants/
schools.htm
To get you started here’s a list of
some interesting past projects
•Creating a sustainable vegetable
garden
•Reed-bed grey water recycling system
•Developing a shaded sensory garden
•Where are the bugs, lizards and
butterflies?
•Reducing energy use
All primary and secondary schools
are encouraged to apply. Guidelines
and application forms are available
online. Closing dates for applications
is 5pm 21 May 2010.
For further information please
contact the Environmental Trust
on (02) 8837 6093 or email info@
environmentaltrust.nsw.gov.au
“In 2008 my science class was doing a project on plant growth. We were
planting natives at the back of the school. I had been down to the creek many
times before and always thought it looked really dirty and knew that we
should do something about that. Eventually with lots of help and planning
we got the group together. At the first meeting there were only a handful of
people. A few weeks later we had a whole class full!” exclaims Ms Tonks.
Every fortnight the group meets at the back of the school near Morgan’s
Creek to clean and maintain the area. During this time students learn how
to preserve plant life and identify threatening weeds that cause harm to the
native plants and animals living in the bush.
Ruby-Leigh explains, “we learnt how to water and nourish the vegetation
of the school and how to distinguish and categorise insects and other small
creatures such as birds.”
Fellow member Hazel Klimczak is also excited about the group. “[It’s] lot of
fun. We keep the creek free of rubbish but we are also doing environmental
studies and monitoring with RiverHealth NSW.”
Peter Fox from Bankstown Council visited the environment group to
congratulate them on their success. “He gave us tips on how to help our
wildlife” Ms Klimczak said.
“Since the establishment of the group we have gained many new members
who are enthusiastically helping with the project. We hope that we can
influence others to be conscious about the environment and initiate many
more environmentally friendly projects in the school and in the surrounding
community” says Ms Tonks.
Written by Ruby-Leigh Tonks and Hazel Klimczak
(Year 10 Picnic Point High School)
Birrong saves water
Birrong Public School is doing great
things to help our environment. In
2007 the school undertook a project
to improve water conservation in
the boys toilet block.
The current project involves the
conversion of the staff and female
students’ toilets to a dual flush
system. By making these changes
the school will see a measurable
reduction in water usage and
costs. It is expected that students
and the community will also gain
further knowledge and a deeper
understanding of water conservation.
Also on the school’s agenda is the
installation of spring-loaded taps and
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connection of a rainwater tank to the
girls’ toilet block to flush toilets. This
will see the schools use of potable
water further reduced.
The toilet conversion project was
made possible with the help of
an Eco Schools grant from the
Environmental Trust.
Sustainable Living
Swap ‘til you drop!
Now that summer is over, most
people will be stocking up on
winter clothes for the new season.
But what do you do with the
clothes in your wardrobe that
you haven’t worn for a while?
And how can you reduce the
environmental footprint of the
clothes you buy?
Recycling clothes saves resources,
such as raw materials, energy and
water, and means that unwanted
clothes don’t end up in landfill.
Most people are familiar with the
dreaded hand-me-downs, but there
are more appealing options for the
eco-friendly fashionista:
1. Op-shops accept clothing in good
condition and there are quite
a few in the Bankstown area.
They’re also fantastic places to
save money as recycled clothing
is much cheaper to buy than new
clothing. Clothing is donated all
the time, so with some patience
you could find some fabulous
and unique vintage pieces.
2. Host a Clothes Swap Party
- they’re a fun way to be ecofriendly, enjoy time with friends
and get some new clothes.
3. Online clothes exchange - there
are plenty of websites where you
can post photos of your unwanted
pieces and either exchange with
someone who has a piece you
want, or get credits that you can
put towards another swap.
Worn or damaged pieces of clothing
are great as industrial rags - there are
companies who recycle un-saleable
clothing, often collected from Opshops. Check with your local charity
to find out if they participate.
For a list of Op-shops in Bankstown,
see http://recyclingnearyou.com.au
Winter
gardening
The weather is getting cooler,
which means many plants and
animals are taking a break for the
season - but winter can still be an
exciting and lively time in your
garden.
A vegetable garden at home can
provide a healthy and sustainable
source of food all year round. Lots
of different vegies, like leeks, spinach and peas, grow well in colder
temperatures - so plant your winter crops now to keep your kitchen
garden growing throughout the season.
It’s easy to create a vegetable garden if you don’t have one already. Pick
a spot that gets plenty of sun and is away from large trees. Turn over
the top layer of soil and add some organic fertiliser. The best and most
environmentally-friendly fertiliser is homemade - try using organic matter
from your worm farm or compost. Short on space? You can still grow
your own vegies in a vertical garden or stackable pots.
A wide range of vegetables can be put in now and be ready to harvest in
as little as six weeks. Now is a good time to:
• Sow seeds of beetroot, broad beans, carrot, lettuce, peas and radish
• Plant seedlings of broccoli, cauliflower and onion
Herbs also make a great addition to the garden - oregano, thyme, basil
and rosemary are perfect for winter cooking. They are fast-growing and
easy to look after - all you have to do is use them.
7
How much will YOU save?
As it creeps closer to winter, the days are getting shorter and the
nights colder, and we find ourselves using more electricity.
The average home uses much more energy in winter for heating. But there
are many things you can do to reduce the amount of energy needed to heat
your home.
• If you’re cold put on a jumper instead of the heater
• Close doors and heat only the rooms you’re using
• Fit thick curtains to trap the heat in
• Put door snakes at the bottom of doors to stop draughts
• Use a hot water bottle or heat bag
• Use extra blankets at night
• Choose an appropriately sized heater for the space you
need to heat
If you do even just a few of these you’ll soon be on your way to
saving energy and money. Visit Council’s website for even more
ideas to save energy.
Events Calendar
MAY - BUSHCARE MONTH
Sat 22 Interactive Mobile Bushcare Bus Trip. Visit other Bushcare sites
increasing support for biodiversity restoration in the George’s River Catchment. BBQ lunch will be provided. Contact Council’s Bushcare
Officer for more information on 02 9707 9999
Wed 26
Bushcare Meeting. A forum for volunteers to discuss ideas and
issues with Council’s Bushcare Officer. Refreshments provided. Contact Council’s Bushcare Officer for information on 02 9707 9999
June
Sat 5
World Environment Day
FREE Movie (see page 2 for details)
4:00pm to 6:00pm
Hoyts Bankstown
Thu 17
Living in a Green House – Adapting to Climate Change
6:30pm to 8:30pm - Chester Hill RSL
Contact Robyn Young on 02 9707 9628 for booking information
Sat 26 SustainABLE Information Sessions
10:00am to 12:00 noon - Chester Hill Community Garden,
Corner Waldron Rd & Hector St, Chester Hill
Bankstown City Council
July
Fri 30
Schools Tree Day
Free plants are available to schools
Contact Peter Fox on 02 9707 9431 for more information
Sat 31
Bankstown Bites Food Festival
10:00am to 4:00pm - Bankstown CBD
Customer Service
Bankstown Civic Tower
Cnr Rickard Road and Jacob Street,
PO Box 8, Bankstown NSW 1885
Phone: 02 9707 9999
Email:
[email protected]
Web: www.bankstown.nsw.gov.au
August
Sun 1
National Tree Day
9:30am to 2:00pm - Carysfield Park, Johnston Rd, Bass Hill
Printed on Australian-made,
recycled carbon neutral paper
ESD SUSBANK 05/10
Mon 23-29 Keep Australia Beautiful Week
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