Local walking groups are reclaiming the streets

HOW “walkable” is your neighbourhood? If it’s raining outside, you can find out by checking Walk Score, a website that measures “how easy it is to live a car-lite lifestyle” in your area. You might be surprised by what you find nearby.

The site was founded in the USA, but works in Australian cities too. Type in your address and it’ll rank your location from zero to one hundred, in a category from “car-dependent” through to “walker’s paradise”.

Dr Ben Rossiter, from Victoria Walks, says Walk Score is being used more often in real estate, especially in medium density suburbs.

“It gives people a really good idea of what is close by. The most highly walkable communities have a variety of services and facilities relevant to everyday life, all within walking distance – things like schools, shops, parks, cafes and movie theatres,” he says.

“Walking is becoming increasingly important to people when they’re deciding where they want to live. The choice might be more about having high walkability than it is about having a bigger backyard.”

Victoria Walks is a charity, funded by VicHealth, which promotes everyday walking. Among other initiatives, it will shortly launch an online mapping project in which residents upload their favourite routes, from strolls through hidden alleys to hikes in national parks.

“Walking goes beyond the act of getting physically active,” Rossiter says. “It creates safe, vibrant and connected communities. One of the key indicators of a healthy and sustainable neighbourhood is the number of kids walking to school.”

And, of course, more walking means less driving, and fewer carbon dioxide emissions. As the Walk Score website states, “Your feet are zero-pollution transportation machines”.

Rossiter says the first way to make your streets more walkable is to walk. “Step outside and say g’day to people while you do it. You could start an informal walking school bus with neighbours. We always like to see householders in their front yards too – grow vegetables there, so you can say hello when people go past.”

You can also form a Walkability Action Group, or join one in your area. (There are 16 existing groups listed on the Victoria Walks website.) Last year, a group in East Ivanhoe successfully lobbied local and state governments to install a pedestrian crossing next to the notorious Burke Road North roundabout.  

Another Walkability Action Group, Locomote, based on the Northern Bellarine Peninsula, has been working with local authorities to make their foreshore track usable for all-comers.

Locomote’s Patricia Crotty says “equity of access” is crucial, especially with an aging population in the region. “We’d love to see more people walking, but the footpath infrastructure isn’t great in these little towns. It’s a big issue for young parents with pushers too.”

Changes are afoot. In the centre of Portarlington, the council has widened the sidewalks and created a new town square.

“They’ve put in trees and places to sit, and restored the historic rotunda. It’s opened up the whole main street,” Crotty says. “People can wander around there in a way that wasn’t possible before, because traffic has been blocked off in the connecting street.

“Sustainable communities are places with gathering spots. They have to be safe and accessible, with the opportunity for people to come and sit in the main street and watch the world go by.”

Read this article at The Age online

On Neighbour Day this year, find new ways to say hi.

THIS summer, when four neighbours got fed up with their long lawns in Thornbury, in Melbourne’s north, they formed a mower collective.

One of the communal grass-cutters, Amy Brand, says it was just common sense. “There was a distinct lack of shareable lawnmowers in our area so we all threw in money to buy a mower that can become a community resource.”

She and her neighbours have signed onto The Sharehood, a website that encourages householders to meet and share with people nearby.

When you log in, you get to see the one hundred members who live nearest to you, and the things they’re happy to lend and borrow. You can also see a local noticeboard, where people within walking distance can post events and questions for each other.

The Sharehood began in Northcote in 2008, but there are now members throughout Australia and as far away as Cambridge, in the UK. The site is coordinated by a group of volunteers (including your Greener Homes columnist). To coincide with Neighbour Day, 27 March, The Sharehood is challenging householders to meet one new neighbour. The connection might prove to be good for both your tool shed and your well-being.

Ms Brand moved to Melbourne last year from Darwin. Getting to know people in her street has made her feel more at home. After mowing their lawns, she and her neighbours held a backyard movie night to celebrate.

“I’ve been a little sad at the lack of local community since I moved here,” she says. “I was spoilt for sharing and socialising in Darwin – it just seemed to grow and evolve so naturally. The Sharehood has been a reminder that community exists everywhere, but sometimes you just have to work a little harder to find it.”

The Sharehood is just one of many innovations boosting communities and green living. Lauren Anderson, from the consultancy CC Lab, says clothing exchanges, car-sharing and peer-to-peer renting are all examples of an emerging trend in “collaborative consumption”.

In the US, there are several neighbourliness and sharing websites, including NeighborGoods, Hey, Neighbor! and Share Some Sugar.

“These systems have created a revolution for sharing that allows us to minimise what we’re purchasing outright,” Ms Anderson says. “We have so much stuff in our possession that is sitting there idly.”

By making better use of the goods we have, we can buy fewer new products and reduce waste, energy and resource use.

Ms Anderson says that while some websites are based on free exchange, others make money for householders. Drive My Car Rentals and Rentoid are examples of “peer-to-peer” rental systems, where people trade with each other. Either way, she argues, collaborative consumption has a direct environmental benefit. “The technology is more of an enabler than an endpoint. It instantly matches haves and wants. People use it to participate in something in real life,” Ms Anderson says.

Landshare Australia is the perfect example – a local version of the popular UK website was launched in February. The website connects gardens with gardeners: enthusiastic vegie growers can find nearby landowners with space to spare.

“From a holistic perspective, sustainability is about people getting in touch with their neighbours, sharing common interests and realising the resources they can pool together,” she says. “Not everybody in the street needs a drill.”

Read this article at The Age online

If you’re building, plan for long-life, adaptable housing

NOT long after completing his architecture degree in 2007, Mathieu Gallois went on holiday to Lorne, on the Great Ocean Road. He stayed in a “big block box”, owned by a friend.

“I was struck how this home was contrary to everything we’d been taught about how to build a good sustainable house,” Mr Gallois recalls. “I was thinking, ‘What do you do with homes like this?’”

His answer is Reincarnated McMansion, a mix of architecture and art project, designed to challenge the way we think about our energy-sapping dwellings.

“Our proposal is to get a large unsustainable house, take it apart, and reuse the great majority of the materials to build two or three best-practice, zero-emission homes on the same site,” he explains.

The project also deconstructs the notion of a housing shortage in Australian cities. “Our new homes are three times as big as new homes in the UK,” he says. “There’s plenty of room for everybody. It’s just that we’re electing to live in bigger and bigger homes with fewer people in them.”

Now based in Sydney, Mr Gallois and his team hope to secure funding in the coming months. As well as making a point, the scheme should turn a profit: once constructed and displayed, the reincarnations will be sold.

While the designs will depend on the site, one key strategy will be to crush the old dwelling’s brick veneer and convert it into a type of rammed-earth interior wall, for thermal mass.

“All those materials we associate with suburbia – concrete, terracotta tiles and red bricks – will be visible in the Reincarnated McMansions,” he says.

The project will embrace a concept of green design championed by one of its members, architect Tone Wheeler, from Environa Studio. He’s coined the “three L’s” of sustainable building: long-life, loose-fit and low-impact.

In a conventional building, Mr Wheeler says, too little thought goes into the varied lifespans of component parts. Instead, we should consider buildings in two sections: the main frame, and the services and fittings.

“The long-life section is the structure of the building, the thing you can imagine lasting between one and two hundred years,” he says. The embodied energy of the structure doesn’t matter, so long as it is built to last.

The rest – the plumbing, wiring, sanitary-ware, heating and cooling, and interior – should be installed in a way that’s easy to adapt.

“You use a spanner, not a hammer,” Mr Wheeler says. “It’s not nailed and glued in place, but bolted so you can undo and remove it.”

Typically, bathrooms and kitchens are replaced every twenty years, and the renovations produce a lot of waste. “The wiring and plumbing is buried in the wall so you’ve got to rip off the plaster. You have to re-build the building.”

The third “L”, low-impact, relates to the fit-out. “We need to concentrate on using green materials for things like the carpet, paint and furniture. Think about the longevity, maintenance and renewal of those parts, and choose as good quality as you can find,” he says.

Mr Wheeler’s firm now designs houses so they can be split into two or three apartments in the future. “We need to recognise that buildings are continually updated, and design them in a way that can adapt to change,” he says.

Read this article at The Age online

The time is ripe for backyard produce exchanges

IF you happen upon McCleery Reserve, in Coburg, on the third Saturday morning of the month, you’ll see a small group gathered next to a big brolly. They’re the gardeners of the Inner North Urban Harvest, there to swap home-grown fruit and vegies.

On the trestle tables and in baskets, you’ll see the season’s produce sorted. And likely as not, you’ll see the swappers in repose. “It’s a very good excuse to sit down and have a cup of tea and a chat, really,” says Alicia Hooper, one of the swap’s founders. “We catch up on what’s going on in people’s gardens and share tips, tricks and recipes.”

The Coburg group is just one of dozens of food swaps around the city and beyond. There are long-standing monthly exchanges at CERES in East Brunswick, and Smith Reserve in Fitzroy, and others in Bulleen, Forest Hill, Newport and Footscray, to name just a few.

Swaps are easy to set up, blessedly free of bureaucracy and as popular as summer’s first strawberries.

Ms Hooper says all-comers are welcome at their events, bearing any shade of green-thumb or any variety of fresh produce. “In the summer months, people often bring bags of plums, apricots and other stone fruit. It always makes a return next time as some sort of preserve,” she says.

As well as encouraging healthy eating, the urban harvest is about learning. “I’ve never before had such a good understanding of seasonal produce and the sorts of blights that occur,” Ms Hooper says. “It’s given me an appreciation of the land, resources and transport it takes to feed ourselves.”

Skill sharing is also top of the list for Drysdale Harvest Basket, on the Bellarine Peninsula. The swap has been running for just 18 months, says co-founder Jill Pring, but members have been spoilt for workshops, talks and backyard tours.

“Over time people have lost knowledge about how to provide food for themselves and their family, so we’re trying to reintroduce those skills. The older generation in the group love being able to pass them along,” she says.

Swaps are held on the first Saturday of each month at Drysdale’s neighbourhood centre. The group has about 90 members ($10 a year, per household). Like the Coburg urban harvest, it is very informal; members give and take as they please. “People take less than what they bring,” Ms Pring says. “It doesn’t matter how many times you encourage them to take more.”

Any leftover fruit and vegies are given to the public by way of donation to the local food bank.

Ms Hooper and Ms Pring encourage householders to start their own swap if there isn’t already one in their neighbourhood. Permits usually aren’t necessary, because the veggies are swapped among neighbours, not bought and sold.

But if you want to start an exchange and you’re concerned about regulations, contact the Municipal Association of Victoria, or your local council. Friends of the Earth in Adelaide have also put together a helpful step-by-step guide.

When she began in Drysdale, Ms Pring was motivated by the idea of reducing food miles and promoting eating fresh, local, seasonal produce. “But surprisingly, the most valuable thing that has been building up a strong community feeling,” she says. “The more communities that do it, the better.”

Read this article at The Age online

Harvesting stormwater is essential in a sustainable city

CONSTRUCTION has just begun on a stormwater capture system in Darling Street, East Melbourne. The project, funded by the City of Melbourne, signals a big shift in the public pipelines.

The scheme will divert stormwater from existing drains in adjoining streets and recycle enough water each year to fill nearly 20 Olympic swimming pools. The water will be captured in an underground tank, treated, stored and used to keep nearby parks and trees lush.

The technology has been developed by Biofilta Stormwater Solutions and engineering firm Cardno. It uses natural filters comprised of triple-washed sand and carefully selected indigenous plant species.

Biofilta director Brendan Condon says: “The microbes that live on the roots of the plants break down nutrients and utilise them. Heavy metals get bound up in the top layer of sand. The system can recirculate the water for multiple passes so the bugs get more grabs at the pollution.”

The East Melbourne project is the first in a series of in-road stormwater projects that form part of the council’s climate adaptation strategy. It is estimated to cost $750,000 and should be completed by mid-year.

“We’ve got an enormous volume of polluted stormwater sheeting off the urban environment, creating problems in rivers, creeks and waterways,” Mr Condon says. “And it’s a phenomenal untapped resource that will help protect cities against future climate challenges.”

Professor Tony Wong, director of the Centre for Water Sensitive Cities at Monash University, agrees that we must shift our mindset about stormwater.

“Stormwater is often seen as a nuisance we should get rid of very quickly,” he says.

He argues that our standard approach not only misses a chance to improve our water security, but also causes erosion and degradation of our waterways and Port Phillip Bay. The scale of the problem grows as the city expands and housing density rises.

“Creeks are now getting more water than they would normally get in any storm event. The traditional infrastructure is less able to cope, so we see water on the road more frequently now than in the past,” Professor Wong says.

In a natural environment, only about 15 per cent of rainwater flows into waterways, filtered through the soil. The rest evaporates or is transpired by plants.

Hard surfaces flip the ratio. “When we knock the trees down and pave the land, we find that the creeks now get 85 per cent of the rainfall,” he says. “The numbers vary from city to city, but with any urbanisation, natural creeks receive about four to eight times the water that used to flow into them. Our urban creeks are suffering from too much water.”

A number of other local governments – including Port Phillip and Kingston by the bay – have begun to install raingardens to treat and minimise stormwater runoff.

Professor Wong believes that within two decades, up to a third of Melbourne’s water consumption could come from stormwater.

“Having gone through the last drought, a lot of councils are now looking at stormwater to help with the public space maintenance,” he says.

“It’s not just about water as a commodity. It’s about water providing the means for liveability and for the greening of the city. With water we can bring some biodiversity back and influence the microclimate to protect against the effects of heatwaves.”

Read this article at The Age online

High-rise doesn’t have to mean high waste.

WHEN Melbourne City Councillor Cathy Oke moved into her CBD apartment, she found there was no recycling collection at all.

“Residential recycling rates in the city are terrible,” she says. “At the last election almost every councillor identified it as an issue that needed to be addressed.”

In the City of Melbourne, the waste diversion rate – the percentage of recycling and green organics collected, as a proportion of total waste – is second worst among Victoria’s municipalities.

Cr Oke puts it down to high-rise dwellings and awkward infrastructure, together with high tenancy turnover rates and language barriers among some residents.

But it’s not just apartments in the city that don’t get it right. In most multi-dwelling blocks, recycling is less convenient than in stand-alone dwellings.

While new apartment buildings are constructed with separate chutes for landfill and recycling, the set-up is more complex in older buildings. Cleaning is expensive, and without dedicated areas and systems, bins become a jumble of rubbish and recyclables.

Even where space and bins are available, well-meaning residents often gather and deposit recyclables in plastic bags, which cannot be recycled by sorting centres. Items must be put loose into the bin, not bundled in plastic bags.

In Cr Oke’s building, recycling bins have been moved off each floor and she uses a special container, supplied by the council, to sort and transport her recyclables.

“It’s like a funky yellow shopping basket that’s easily tip-able. It fits neatly in my small kitchen,” she says. “If you move the recycle bins to reduce contamination, you have to make it easy to go to those locations.”

Christine Byrne, founder of the Green Strata website, suggests residents engage their owners corporation, property manager or building caretaker on the subject.

“To improve recycling rates you’ve got to think about human nature. Don’t fight it. See if you’ve got space somewhere in your building, reorganise it and make it easier for people,” she says.

The best method will vary from building to building. One apartment block, featured on Green Strata, chose to put recycling bins near the lifts on every level. Cleaners empty them every two days.

“Their recycling rate has gone up by making it convenient. It’s where their garbage chute is, so they don’t have to think about it,” Ms Byrne says.

Another key is effective signage. Colour coding and clear instructions can help focus the most absent-minded residents, so ask your local council for education material.

You can also make room for more exotic kinds of re-use. “If you’ve got facilities for recycling, put another container there for e-waste, corks, batteries, printer cartridges  and fluorescent globes,” she says. “Accumulate it and then get a cleaner, caretaker or a willing owner to take it to the appropriate disposal place.”

Some buildings have even begun swapping pre-loved goods. “They’ve created treasure rooms where people can put useable household stuff they no longer want. It’s available for other residents in the building to take,” she says.

Composting is always tricky in apartments, but Ms Byrne suggests putting a Bokashi Bucket or a worm farm (in a shady spot) on your balcony. Owners corporations could buy the equipment in bulk and arrange a workshop to get people started. Alternatively, enthusiastic residents can establish a communal system on shared garden space.

Read this article at The Age online

Wicking beds make for a water-smart garden.

IN the car space of his Clifton Hill flat, Frank Fisher now grows vegetables. Late last year, together with neighbours and enthusiasts, he fitted two old apple crates as ‘wicking’ beds – a water-efficient system in which the plants quench their thirst from below.

A long-time bike rider and sustainability professor at Swinburne University, Mr Fisher has no need for parking, but he spends much of the week out of town, so he wanted a garden that wouldn’t require constant attention.

Wicking beds can consume as little as half the water of a normal vegie patch. The technique mimics the natural system by which plants access moisture rising up from the water table.

“They’re optimally self-maintaining,” he says. “I’m growing a big selection of vegies, from leafy lettuce to carrots, tomatoes, broccoli and all sorts of herbs.”

Hannah Moloney, from Cultivating Community, says wicking beds can be used in large-scale cropping or backyard pottering. They’re ideal for container gardening in courtyards, balconies or rooftops.

To start, you need to line a container with strong black plastic (or use a water-tight vessel such as an old bathtub with a plug). Place an L-shaped length of piping along the bottom of the container, with holes on the underside and one end protruding for an inlet.

Cover the pipe with gravel, then lay shadecloth or geotextile on top, and add soil or compost (no more than 30 centimetres). Drill a drainage hole level with the shadecloth.

“Invest in the best organic soil you can get,” Ms Moloney advises. “It’s the difference between making or breaking growing in containers.”

Water your new vegie patch by pouring directly into the pipe. If you mulch the soil well, you’ll avoid evaporation altogether.

“The plants draw the water up by capillary action, through the gravel, through the geotextile or shadecloth, and into the roots where it’s most needed,” Ms Moloney says. “Wicking beds are the most water-efficient way you can grow vegetables.

“You can kill plants by not giving them enough water or by drowning them with love – that’s very common amongst urban growers. Wicking beds are really good because you know there’s enough water when it comes out the overflow. You can’t over-water, so it’s a fantastic technique for nervous or forgetful gardeners.”

The technique was pioneered by Queensland engineer Colin Austin during an aid project assisting African farmers to maintain food production under drought conditions.

“He found that the problem often wasn’t permanent drought, but that they had erratic rain – a monsoon or flood and then nothing for six months,” Ms Moloney says.

“He experimented lining small ditches with plastic so the crops’ roots could always access a reservoir. The beds are designed to consistently provide water to vegies, so they have a reliable food source.”

As climate change brings on more extreme weather patterns, the system may prove increasingly important to ensure food security.

For Mr Fisher, the garden has also become an easy way to spend time with neighbours. “We planted the boxes and had a beaut little celebration and BBQ. And there are various residents who are helping with the watering and maintenance,” he says.

“I’ve got the middle flat. Everybody goes past it. All I have to do is get out there and tend to the garden and the passers-by talk to me.”

Read this article on the Age website

Zero-carbon housing is one mission of this year’s Sustainable Living Festival.

FOR the cost of a standard house, renegade architect Michael Reynolds builds Earthships: off-the-grid homes constructed in part from waste materials such as tyres, bottles and aluminium cans.

“The designs are always evolving,” he says. “Our latest building is performing really well: it’s maintenance-free and fuel-free, and it’s carbon zero living. But it’s obsolete because we see that we can do it better and cheaper each year.”

Mr Reynolds, who lives in New Mexico, USA, was the subject of the cult 2007 documentary Garbage Warrior. He is a keynote speaker at this year’s Sustainable Living Festival, which began yesterday and continues until February 27.

The Festival’s theme is “Mission: Safe Climate”, and main event at Federation Square runs from the coming Friday to Sunday. There will be nearly 200 exhibitors, events and talks, covering topics from eco-homes to global campaigns.

In his talk next Sunday, ‘The Art of Carbon Zero Living’, Mr Reynolds will detail the lessons he’s learned over the course of 40 years building Earthships. He’s also running workshops at CERES in East Brunswick, as well as Kinglake, Daylesford and the Yarra Valley.

He argues that while many people devote their time to individual aspects of sustainability, the biggest challenge is to combine all the elements.

“There are a lot of people doing great things working with water, power, sewage, heating and cooling, recycling or food. What we’re saying is that the art of zero carbon living is putting all those ingredients together,” he says.

“There are thousands of different ways to deal with those issues. But we have to deal with them in every home and every commercial building.”

Mr Reynolds says it’s possible to take the Earthship approach to retrofitting existing buildings. “If you live in a home that has eight rooms, that’s an energy-hog home,” he says. “Take one room and make it your safe haven – the room you retreat to when it’s super cold.”

He advises choosing a north-facing room, for the best solar exposure, and then thoroughly researching topics such as thermal mass and solar gain.

“Take it step by step. If you try to do your whole house you’re going to have to get a $200,000 loan. But if you take one room you can do it yourself with information you find online. And the next year you do another one, and another one,” he says.

“We’re trying to empower people with knowledge. We’re working hard to make our website a wealth of information that reflects what we’ve learned.”

A key lesson is that reuse is possible on a much grander scale. “So many materials are thrown away in the modern developed world. Every month we’re expanding the materials we can use, and some of them turn out to be better than materials we can buy,” he says.

Mr Reynolds argues that we have no choice but to reassess our approach to housing, given the challenges posed by climate change. Homes must no longer simply be engines of resource consumption and waste production.

“If you’re going on an adventure hike in the Himalayas, you don’t take a grand piano with you,” he says. “Living in the future on this planet is going to be an adventure and travelling light is a big first step on that adventure. But it’s not about doing without.”

Read this article on The Age website

Homeowners in unsewered areas can choose greener systems than septics.

MANY years ago, John Eldridge decided to retrofit the septic tank on his Red Hill property with a worm farm treatment system. The system, made by A & A Worm Farm Waste Systems in Hastings, works the same way as the forest floor, he says. “In the forest you’ve got all sorts of things dropping out of the trees – twigs, bird poo, the odd dead bird – and the water that falls is filtered through it.

“At the top of the pile the material is coarse, but as it moves down it is broken down more finely.”

His worm farm mimics the natural composting process. “The material disintegrates in the liquid. We never need to pump it out and there is absolutely no smell at all,” he says. “We noticed a huge difference.”

Septic tanks are still the most common wastewater system in unsewered parts of Australia, but they don’t actively treat the wastewater to remove pathogens. The effluent must be disposed in trenches more than a foot deep, and the tanks regularly pumped out.

Like a septic tank, Mr Eldridge’s worm farm is classified as a primary treatment system.

Sarah West, from Environment Protection Authority Victoria, says secondary treatment systems are best for recycling the nutrients found in wastewater, by way of sub-surface irrigation. There are many kinds available, including aeration systems, reed beds, sand filters and trickle filters and some worm farms.

“With any of those higher quality secondary treatment systems, you are permitted to irrigate the effluent through the garden in the topsoil layer, where plants reuse the nutrients in the water,” Ms West says.

“Those nutrients are a resource, but septic tank trenches are too deep in the soil for most plants to access them.”

If you are planning a wastewater system in an unsewered area, Ms West suggests you first consider how you’d like to reuse the treated effluent. “Do you want to irrigate the garden, or use it in the home for toilet flushing?” she asks. “To recycle it back into the house, you need to choose a greywater treatment system approved for toilet flushing.”

But if you just want the treated water to irrigate the garden, you can use an all-waste method such as those listed above. Be aware that you must only use an EPA-approved onsite treatment system, and must obtain a permit from your local council.

The various technologies have very different ongoing costs. “Find out how often the system has to be serviced and how much electricity it consumes,” Ms West recommends. “Ask about the cost of spare parts and consumables – some need chlorine tablets or a new UV lamp every year.”

In Red Hill, Mr Eldridge opted for the worm farm system because it requires minimal ongoing maintenance and no chemical additives, and uses little power. “We have a small pump at the bottom of the tank, but it doesn’t run for very long,” he says. “The other advantage for us is that we can put any other organic matter in there, so it is an easy way to reduce our waste to landfill.”

The worms chomp through black and greywater, together with organic material such as vegie scraps, paper, cardboard and garden clippings. For a typical three-bedroom house, a new system costs about $8000 to $9000, including installation.

Read this article at The Age online

Bottling your own fruit and tomatoes saves money and much more.

It’s nearly harvest time: tomatoes are heavy on the vine and full fruits are ripening on trees. The glut need not go to waste because an old-time Australian invention can help you guzzle it for the rest of the year.

In 1915, Joseph Fowler began selling home-bottling equipment door-to-door in Melbourne, from the back of a cart. During the depression, his kits – known as Fowlers Vacola – became an essential item. At that time, the company’s ads featured an illustration of a dainty housewife by the name of Mrs B. Thrifty.

His bottling system is now finding favour with an altogether different generation. Footscray resident Janet Ray learnt the knack from her grandmother decades ago and has become a Fowlers enthusiast. She’s not alone.

“It’s thriving,” Ms Ray says, “particularly among people who want to know where their food comes from and want to reduce their carbon footprint through the way they eat. Once you get started it’s quite addictive – you look at fruit on trees in a totally different way.

“It’s something that not only creates no waste, but actually uses excess. Our recycling bin is empty, and we’re not using the fridge or freezer to maintain the fruit.”

Ms Ray shares her knowledge by running occasional workshops through the Permaculture Out West community group.

The process is straightforward, she says. Fill clean jars with unblemished fruit and add water (and sugar or fruit syrup, if you have a sweet tooth) to just below the rim. Clip on the lids and bring the jars to the boil over the course of one hour, in a water bath. When the jars cool down out of the water, the seals form a vacuum.

“It’s only for bottling high acid fruit, including tomatoes,” Ms Ray says. “Everything is sterilised in the process. Store the jars in a cool dark place and they’ll easily keep for up to a year.”

She stocks her jars with produce she grows at home, swaps or buys in bulk. “We save so much money. I never pay more than $1 per kilo for fruit to bottle, even at the organic market,” she says.

She recommends buying Fowlers jars second-hand from opshops or tip-shops. A dozen reusable jars can cost under $50, including the lids, seals and clips.

A few years ago, Ms Ray discovered a cache of Fowlers equipment at a fete run by St Margaret’s Uniting Church in Mooroolbark.

Through that network, she has established an informal supply chain extending well into country Victoria. The jars are sold to raise money for pastoral care services in Wycheproof, in the state’s drought ravaged north-west.

We’ve got this symbiotic relationship with the people of Wycheproof,” she says. “Any time someone in the aging population around there comes across a kit, they send it on. There’s been a steady flow over the last few years.”

With hindsight, the link doesn’t seem so unlikely. Ms Ray has found bottling to be a consistently rich means of connection with the community.

“People find out that you bottle and they’ll ring you up with fruit or drop it off at your door,” she says.

“It’s one of those old fashioned things that people long for, where you’re industrious together, to an end that meets everybody’s needs.”