Michael Green

Writer and producer

Urban harvest food swaps

In Greener Homes on

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

Urban stormwater

In Greener Homes on

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

Down in the dumpster

In Blog on

I’VE begun dumpstering. One night, my friend and I rode to a suburban shopping centre in Melbourne’s north.

Rubber-gloved, overalled and booted, I swung into the bin. I began by sifting through several cartons of discarded, in-date eggs, searching for organic, free-range ones (in the case of food wastage, beggars can be choosers).

Suddenly I looked up and to my left. I saw an old Pakistani man with a full white beard, peering at me over the edge of the bin. He wore a head torch and surgical gloves.

“Do you come here often?” he enquired.

“Ah, um, we’ve been here a couple of times,” I stammered.

He introduced himself, explained that he lived nearby and raided the bin regularly, and promptly sprung over the side.

There ensued some minutes of silence as he searched, and I stood back, not knowing the etiquette. He gathered two bags of potatoes and some eggs and took his leave, shaking my hand, smiling broadly, and commenting that it had been a pleasure to meet us.

A moment later he returned. “If you’re going to come again,” he said, “it’s best to come after eleven-fifteen, because there are staff around earlier. Sometimes they see me and break the packaging so I can’t take it.”

Other employees turn a blind eye. The supermarket bins are locked, but the master keys are in wide circulation – the waste removal companies prefer it that way, so skip-dippers don’t break locks to get in.

Once you’re in, it’s a lucky dip: you can find everything from plums to pedestal fans, canned beans to Camembert. Often, the item’s presence in the bin is baffling. “Don’t even question why,” one long-term gleaner advised me. His lounge room is stocked with crates of essentials picked up over time.

For me, the experience has been thrilling. Sure, it’s icky. And thankfully, I can afford to feed myself otherwise. But it’s a small act of civil disobedience, a harmless protest against a mad world.

Australians throw out more than $5 billion worth of food each year. And that’s just from the produce that we bring into our households. More is trashed before we even get the chance. Supermarkets toss good food if the packaging is damaged or the best-before date is approaching.

As a new dumpster diver, I’ll need to learn to trust my own judgement about what is good to eat, rather than relying on the shop’s approval. My bearded friend from the northern suburbs, and his family, must have learnt that lesson long ago. And I’m sure they’ve been eating well.

Secondary glazing

In Architecture and building on

Secondary glazing is second best to double glazing, but it’s a cheaper option providing good results

WINDOWS are wonderful for transmitting natural light. The only trouble is they’re also great at transmitting heat. In a typical insulated home, windows cause more heat gain and loss than any other part of the building fabric.

No matter what climate you live in, double glazing can vastly improve the insulation performance of your house. There are a few ways to get double glazing into an existing dwelling: you can remove and replace the whole window frame, replace just the glazing unit, or install dual glazing (an extra glass window on the inside or outside) or “add-on” double glazing (an extra window or pane on the inside).

Unfortunately, all these measures can tear a hole in your hip pocket in the short term (though you’ll save on active heating and cooling costs over the long term).

In this article, Sanctuary takes a closer look at the cheaper end of the scale: dual glazing and “add-on” double-glazing units.

But before you open your chequebook at all, it’s smart to close some other holes around the home. Maurice Beinat, from household efficiency specialist ecoMaster – which produces ecoGlaze “add-on” double glazing – says windows are normally the third priority. “Every home is different, but usually the first port of call is draught proofing. The second one is sufficient ceiling insulation that’s properly installed,” he says. “Then the third stage is a toss up between secondary glazing, window coverings and window shading.”

External shading is crucial to prevent radiant heat transfer through any glass that gets direct sun in summer. Internal window coverings such as heavy drapes and pelmets will help cut down the warmth conducted through the glass. But Beinat says many householders aren’t keen on curtains at all – let alone heavy ones. “If you don’t want window coverings, secondary glazing is a good alternative,” he says.

So what should you look for?

Gary Smith, from the Australian Window Association, says secondary glazing performs two functions – thermal and acoustic insulation.

Some products, known as dual window systems, comprise of a whole new window – with glass and frame – attached to either the inside or outside of the existing window frame. They’re available from many companies – see the AWA website for a list of members in your state.

 “You get some benefit thermally but they’re usually installed for acoustic reasons,” Smith says.

For soundproofing, the air space between the two windows should be at least 100mm; however, for the best insulation results, the gap between the panes should be much smaller.

“In an insulated glass unit you need dry, still air or an inert gas,” Smith says. “The problem with having a big space is that the air moves around inside and it reduces the thermal performance.”

He says the thermal insulation value provided by double glazing increases with gaps of 6mm to about 16mm, and then begins to decline. “When you get up to spaces like 80mm and 100mm, the performance drops off quickly.”

By way of warning, Smith says would-be buyers shouldn’t accept claims about a product’s performance without independent testing under the Window Energy Rating Scheme (WERS). “If you can’t compare it, you’ve got to be careful,” he says.

The other type of secondary glazing system on the market more readily achieves narrower gaps, by using magnets to attach an “add-on” acrylic panel to the existing frame. These systems include Magnetite, MagicSeal and ecoGlaze (by ecoMaster).

Adrian Lafleur, from Magnetite, says high quality seals and materials make all the difference. “You have to make sure you get an air-tight seal. With the frame, PVC or timber will insulate much better than aluminium,” he says.

Products are available that will suit most kinds of windows, and allow them to be openable. Maurice Beinat, from ecoMaster, says acrylic panes work well in retrofitted systems because they’re light, easy to handle and safer than glass.

Cleaning too, is no trouble. “The best way to clean acrylic is with an antistatic solution or a mild detergent and a microfibre cloth,” he says. “Never use ammonia based cleaners, like Windex, because that will make the acrylic go cloudy.”

Acrylic scratches more readily than glass, so beware of combining low windows with pawing pets and toddlers. Mild scratches can be polished out, or the panels easily replaced.

Although secondary glazing systems are much cheaper than replacing the windows altogether, they’re not cheap. Covering your whole home could cost upwards of $10,000, depending on the product you choose.

Clear Comfort is a low cost solution. It’s a kind of plastic wrap stuck onto the frame and shrunk to fit (see case study). For just a few hundred dollars and a little DIY labour, you can double all your windows – but it won’t last as long as the sturdier systems on the market.

Another alternative is to replace just the glazing unit, but this requires a certain level of know-how, and it’s still not keep. You can get started with www.diydoubleglaze.com.au.

CASE STUDY

Two years ago, Adam Tiller applied Clear Comfort to the southern and western windows of his 1928 Federation bungalow, and he’s hooked on the benefits.

“I think it should be compulsory in every house,” he says. “It eliminates the cold draught you feel coming off the bottom of big windows, even when you have heavy drapes.”

The transparent membrane looks “like glad wrap” in the roll, but once installed, it’s hard to see at all. He had no trouble fitting it to both casement and double-hung sash windows, with the help of his partner.

So far, it’s proved surprisingly resilient – though he wouldn’t recommend it where pets scratch or toddlers reach. “My kids poke it and lean on it and it doesn’t come off,” he says.

COST COMPARISONS

A typical window is around two square metres.

Clear Comfort: $198 for a 10 metre by 1.6 metre roll (about $12 per square metre), together with tape and instructions.

ecoGlaze: $300 to $350 per square metre, but more if the windows are oversized, oddly shaped or require scaffolding.

Magnetite: $380 to $420 per square metre.

Article published in Sanctuary Magazine

Recycling in apartments

In Greener Homes on

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