Start your engines, sometimes.

THERE are now well over 200 share cars dotted around inner Melbourne. And before long, that number will double again.

Car share schemes work like this: you join up, book online when you need a vehicle, then walk over and swipe in. In Melbourne, there are three companies: GoGet, Flexicar and GreenShareCar. The rates and plans differ, but all involve a membership fee as well as a charge for usage.

It’s a model that’s growing rapidly in many countries, and one that steers gently into the space left vacant by shifts in the way we’re buying and using cars.

In recent years, the increase in car ownership has slowed in Australia, and the distance we drive in each vehicle has begun to decline. Meanwhile, public transport patronage is on the rise.

Stephen Ingrouille, from Going Solar, publishes a newsletter on sustainable transport. He says car sharing reduces congestion and lowers greenhouse gas emissions.

“We’re not going to wean this society off its car obsession for a long time – that’s just a reality. But car sharing is a good intermediate solution,” he says.

“Share cars tend to be energy efficient models: the companies want them to run as cheaply as possible, because petrol is included in the cost.”

Research by consultants Frost and Sullivan in the USA found that in 2009, every share car replaced 15 private cars, and that car sharing members drove nearly one-third less than they would if they owned a vehicle. Widespread growth of these schemes would mean fewer motors, used more efficiently.

Mr Ingrouille argues that governments should require apartment developers to swap large car parks for modest share car bays, or even a taxi rank – thereby improving housing affordability, as well as reducing traffic.

“A lot of energy goes into manufacturing cars, but often they’re just sitting idly,” he says. “Typically, a family might have had two cars; with car sharing they could have just one. Or for people like me, who prefer public transport, it’s great to have access to a car occasionally.”

Mike Murray, from GoGet, says householders join up to save money and for convenience – especially in areas where parking is limited. In Surrey Hills, in inner Sydney, two out of every ten licence-holders are GoGet members.

Late last year, the company purchased its first fully electric vehicles – Mitsubishi iMiEVs – and one is now parked at The Nicholson Apartments, in Coburg. Another one will soon be stationed in South Yarra.

Mr Murray says electric vehicles are perfectly suited to car sharing, because the average GoGet trip is only 30 kilometres.

“People suffer from what we call ‘range anxiety’ with electric vehicles, but you could do more than three of our regular trips before you’d have to charge it at all.”

He believes car sharing can spread beyond Zone 1. “We’re trying to develop a low-density car sharing model, because that’s where most Melbournians are – we’re not all in Brunswick or Southbank.”

GoGet will begin by parking shared utility vehicles at Stockland’s Selandra Rise development in Casey. “The developer is telling us that a lot of households have three vehicles. If they owned one car, and had car sharing instead, they’d save a lot of money.”

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Branch out with backyard fruits of yore

CECILIA Thornton was always a vegie gardener. Then one day, in a dentist’s waiting room, she read an article about heritage apples growing in Cornwall.

“It was the names that got to me,” she explains. “These fascinating names – Lord Lambourne, Beauty of Bath and Cox’s Orange Pippin. I was really struck by them.”

On further research, Ms Thornton discovered that people in Australia were conserving these varieties too. Now, she’s the president of the Heritage Fruits Society, which manages Petty’s Orchard in Templestowe.

Every autumn at the orchard, the society holds its Antique Apple Tasting Festival. The 2012 festival will be held on Sunday March 25; visitors can take a tour, and taste and rate the 200 varieties grown onsite.

“Heritage varieties have been selected by gardeners and diners over centuries, even going back to Roman times. They’ve been chosen for reasons of flavour, ripening time, or colour, or for their resistance to certain diseases or their cooking consistency,” she says.

Ms Thornton argues they’re important not only for their historical links. “The commercial varieties in supermarkets are chosen mainly because of their handling and keeping qualities, so they don’t bruise as easily and they keep for ten months. They’re not chosen for their unique flavour or their juiciness.

“Some of the heritage varieties only keep for a week once they’re picked, but they taste like heaven. If you don’t have one in your backyard, you’re missing out.”

So how should you choose your trees?

First, survey the space. You can maximise your harvest in a few ways: by choosing columnar varieties that don’t branch out; by pruning normal trees into a shape tall and skinny; or by “espaliering” them flat and wide against the fence.

“You can also do duo or trio plantings,” Ms Thornton suggests. “In one hole, plant two or three apples, plums or pears, about 150 millimetres apart. Just make sure they’re varieties that will cross-pollinate.”

Next, choose your fruit. What do you like to eat? “We’re really lucky in Melbourne, we have a climate that’s kind to everything from stone fruit and citrus, to sub-tropical fruits,” she says.

Ms Thorton is growing several sub-tropicals, including jaboticaba, longan and wampee. “You can grow them here so long as they’re near something that holds the sun’s heat, such as masonry or water,” she says.

When there was no room to walk around her thriving backyard in Bayside, she bought a block on the Mornington Peninsula.

“I’ve got a lot of rare and unusual fruits. I’ve got gooseberries, josterberries and mountain paw paw,” she says. “I’ve got something called a jujube, which is very popular in China because it has stress relieving properties and tastes delicious like sweet dates.”

If you’re looking for something less exotic, Ms Thornton says you can’t go wrong with citrus. The Heritage Fruits Society website has tips for planning, planting and care, as well as historical catalogues, fruit poems and exhaustive lists of varieties.

As a general rule, it’s best to plant fruit trees in winter, when they’re dormant. “Fruit trees are a lot less work than a vegetable garden, but while they’re young you have to water them through summer and mulch them well,” she says. “Feed them during their growing season with plenty of organic chook poo and blood-and-bone with potash.”

Read this story at the Age online

What would the festive season be like without the bells and whistles?

ONE way of preparing for Christmas involves buying new things – a lot of new things. But there are other ways too.

The New South Wales Uniting Church runs a website called What Would Jesus Buy?, which contains articles and links – both spiritual and secular – on the matter of consumption. As the website’s coordinator, Stephen Webb, explains, its tagline is “Stop the shopocalypse”.

“For Christians, this is the time of advent, so there’s lots of thinking about the way we lead our lives,” he says. “How can we use our time and income to do something useful, rather than just contribute further to the consumer culture around us?”

This year, with scientists’ warnings about climate change continuing and the global financial system seeming ever more volatile, there’s a growing chorus for a different kind of Christmas.

In the United States, the Occupy Wall Street movement has not only spread throughout the country, but also to Santa’s sleigh, with campaign called Occupy Xmas. It draws upon Buy Nothing Christmas, a longer-standing initiative complete with amusing, snarky posters (“Santa Came, Jesus Wept”).

On the environmental front, Mr Webb says the relationship between consumption and climate change is clear, but can be minimised with careful thought. “You can still buy certain things and have a good time without contributing to injustice, pollution and global warming,” he says. “And as we celebrate, we can think about what we’re celebrating and what is of value to us.”

If you’re looking for hints about alternatives, Environment Victoria has put together a festive season guide, which contains gift ideas and tactics for reducing waste and needless expense, from wrapping paper to table decorations.

“Christmas is a time of incredibly high consumption, in so many ways,” says Michele Burton from Environment Victoria. “There are all the presents, wrapping and cards, but there’s also all the food, and typically, a lot gets wasted.”

Meat – especially red meat – leaves a hefty mark on greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity. “We’re not suggesting you go vegetarian for Christmas, but it’s a good idea to reduce your meat consumption,” she says.

For more detailed information about the footprint of your yuletide food, see the Ethical Consumer Group’s guide to Christmas, and its new Guide to Ethical Supermarket Shopping, updated for 2012.

When it comes to gifts, Ms Burton says families could opt for a Kris Kringle, rather than buy for everyone; make or bake their own presents; or give experiences rather than things.

“If you do buy something, choose items that will last – for example, wooden toys will last much longer than plastic ones,” she says.

If the choices appear too complex, keep the details in perspective by focussing on bigger issues around the home, such as buying GreenPower, limiting consumption overall and avoiding flights. The eco-savings of obsessing over re-used wrapping paper will be well and truly shredded if you jet to Bali on Boxing Day.

On that note, Ms Burton says the holiday season is a fine time to establish patterns for the year to come. “You can look back on the year you’ve had and the choices you’ve made, and aim for your Christmas to reflect the way you want to live,” she says.

Read this article at The Age online