Archive for the ‘Models’ Category
Models refer to existing sustainable models or frameworks of action that are occurring in Melbourne. A model could possibly be applied elsewhere in a different context. For example, “permablitz” is a model of urban agriculture installation that many people are applying in different parts of Victoria. Sustainable Melbourne strongly encourages environmental organisations and institutions to post their own environmental initiatives (ie. “models”) on the site to share with others. To do so visit the “How to use this site” page and follow the prompts.
Street Directories designed for Public Transport Users
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on June 24th, 2010
Public Transport Guides was started by two unemployed people in the town of Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia:
“While living in Perth, Western Australia, we did not know the local public transport network. After visiting the public transport information centre in the CBD, we were handed 500 A4 paper timetables and were told to buy a street directory, or alternatively, to get on to the government authority’s website. Both of these methods are unsuitable for tourists, people who rely totally on public transport, and those with no internet access. There had to be another way, so Public Transport Guides was born!”
The directory is designed just like a regular street directory, with detailed maps, a street and Facilites index , and all current timetables for each area are in this directory. The directory is designed with both the regular commuter and occasional user in mind. Inside you will find all the urban and country bus and connecting train services throughout, Victoria, Australia. The book is in A5 format for ease of carrying in backpacks, briefcases etc.
Visit the website for more information.
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Orange Drive: Connecting Farming with the Wider Community
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on June 9th, 2010
Source: Melbourne Community Farmers’ Markets
Nangiloc/Colignan Primary School would like to provide you the opportunity to be involved in the first ever Orange Drive. The school has developed strong links with the Murray Valley Citrus Board and understands the need to promote Australian Citrus, helping to ensure local families remain viable and employed. We will use local fruit, packed at a local packing house and all orders will be processed by the children as part of their enterprise learning program.
Couple this with the promotion of Healthy Eating in Schools Program and the ‘Orange Drive’ is the Healthy Alternative …
What we offer
* Provide 100% Australian Navel Oranges
* 3kg bags @ $5/bag ($1 is your school’s profit)
* Bags are clearly labeled with purchasers name (ease of distribution)
* Advertising material (poster and order forms)
* Offer only available during Australian Navel Season (July – Oct) ensuring only fresh oranges are used.
* Orders must be placed before the 15th day of each month and deliveries will be made by the 30th.
* Order forms posters etc will be posted out, Order them via ph fax or email.
What you need to do
* Decide on which month you wish to conduct your ‘Orange Drive.’ (July, Aug, Sept, Oct).
* Send out order forms (see contact details)
* Collect order forms and payments.
* Collate information (sheet provided)
* Calculate your funds – $1/bag.
* Send cheque to Nangiloc/Colignan P.S. ($4/bag). (Grower receives $2, Packer receives $0.50, Bags/advertising/admin/transport costs $1, Nangiloc/Colignan P.S. receives $0.50
* Once we receive your payment we will process your order and deliver your oranges.
* You will be promoting healthy eating, supporting the Australian Citrus Industry and helping the students at Nangiloc/Colignan P.S. develop their Enterprise Learning Program.
Nangiloc is a small rural community near Mildura and the main industry is Citrus. Many of the 70 pupils have family and friends who live and work on a citrus “block”. Supporting the Orange Drive will not only provide your family with the tastiest oranges, but will also support your local school and have a direct impact on the education / economy of Nangiloc.
Project Partners: Murray Valley Citrus Board, Melbourne Citrus Committee
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Stormwater Storage Aquifer: Rossdale Golf Club
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on May 20th, 2010
Source: Smart Water Fund
The Smart Water Fund congratulates Rossdale Golf Club on being announced as a finalist for the inaugural Prime Minister’s Water Wise Award. One of five national finalists, Rossdale Golf Club was nominated for its integrated stormwater harvesting and aquifer storage and recovery project. Working in partnership with the CSIRO, the Club received funding from the Smart Water Fund to implement Victoria’s first aquifer storage and recovery project (ASR). The project has seen the Club reduce its drinking water usage by 56 per cent, saving 35 million litres per year while still providing a high quality course for local golfers. This innovative approach to water management combines the harvesting of stormwater from a nearby drain with traditional dam storage and the innovative ASR process. ASR is the process of using natural underground aquifers as storage medium for treated urban stormwater that can then be used as required.
In Rossdale Golf Club’s case, stormwater collected during the winter months is stored within an aquifer until needed during the dry summer period.
Smart Water Fund CEO Christine Cussen congratulates Rossdale Golf Club on being recognised by this prestigious award. “To be nominated as a finalist for the Prime Minister’s Water Wise Award is a fantastic achievement for the Rossdale Golf Club and for the CSIRO research team, backed by the Smart Water Fund, who has contributed to the success of this project,” she said. “This project is a great example of research being applied to create real life water saving solutions. With such positive results, the lessons learnt by Rossdale Golf Club are already being leveraged by other golf clubs and local councils across Victoria who are investigating the potential of ASR,” Ms Cussen said.
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Food Swapping for Sustainability: Overview
Posted in Models, Research by Kate Archdeacon on April 8th, 2010
Image: woodleywonderworks via flickr CC
From “I’ll Raise You Six Granny Smiths” by Sue Jackson on newMatilda:
You have a glut of lemons and your family and friends are pleading “No more!”. Wild parsley is pushing up your pavers. Your signature banana cake recipe deserves wider public recognition. You have heaps of seed saved from last year’s best chillies. If you have found yourself in any of these situations, perhaps what you need is a neighbourhood food swap.
Of course, food swapping is hardly a new phenomenon. Home gardeners have always exchanged produce or given it away. It is not unusual for community or church events to include swapping of food along with other items like toys or books and community gardeners regularly share produce.
What is new is the emergence of events designed specifically for food exchange, where no money changes hands, which are organised by people with food security, public health and community building in mind. And although such events are certainly not exclusive to Australia, we are certainly in the vanguard of this exciting new movement.
As the phenomenon is in its infancy it is not easy to obtain comprehensive figures about the level of activity. There are no official, dedicated national or international food swappers newsletters — as yet — and no central bodies registering food swaps or collecting statistics but we can glean some information.
Feral Fruit Trees: Melbourne
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on March 23rd, 2010
Feral fruit trees are fruit trees growing in or overhanging public spaces that are accessible to the urban hunter-gatherer. The Feral Fruit Trees Melbourne website seeks to promote localized [sic] food gathering in cities where food is being obtained from increasingly distant sources. The current system of food delivery into urban centers poses unnecessary strain upon both the economy and the environment due to transportation costs. Feral fruit tree harvesting transforms our current food distribution system into a more sustainable alternative and promotes a consciousness of the ecology within our urban environments. Urban hunter-gatherers can also enjoy the benefit of fresh fruit that is often organic and not to mention free.
Fruit lying outside the boundary of private property for instance on a branch hanging over a fence is considered to be public property and therefore anyone can legally take the fruit. Please don’t take any fruit that is over someone’s fence even if it is in close reach as this is technically stealing. It always pays to just ask the owner, usually they won’t mind no one is really going to eat a whole tree of figs or loquats. Some people may be sensitive about having the fruit from their tree taken even if it is hanging into public space; therefore even though you are within your rights to take the fruit, common courtesy should be employed. eg. Please don’t make some old Greek guy angry by taking fruit when he doesn’t want you to.
Furthermore a few easy guidelines should be followed in order to ensure the sustainability and fair distribution of this precious public resource.
1. Do not be greedy. Take only as much fruit as you need as there may be other fruit pickers in the area who wish to eat the fruit as well.
2. Try not to damage the tree or the area around the tree. It would be wise to use a proper cutting tool to ensure clean cuts that do less damage to the tree. Try not to rip any leaves, branches or trample any plants below. I was told one story about a Mulberry tree that everyone used to plunder, the owner got so sick of people trampling his other plants from eating the berries that he unfortunately ended up cutting down the tree.
Yellow Feet: Encouraging Behaviour Change
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on March 22nd, 2010
Source: Victoria Walks
From the Case Studies section on Victoria Walks:
Living Streets Aotearoa Inc, together with the Wellington City Council in New Zealand, designed some bright yellow, self-adhesive feet bearing messages about the need to keep footpaths clear for pedestrians.
Then the group started work – wandering around the local streets sticking the feet on cars parked across footpaths.
The Reclaim the footpaths – please don’t park on the footpath campaign graphically demonstrated the route walkers would take if the car was not parked on the footpath. The clever campaign attracts media attention and gets a much better reception from drivers than harshly-worded notes or punitive measures such as parking fines.
Sustainable Consumption: Design for Disassembly
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on February 5th, 2010
Source: Core 77
Image: Core 77
From “Afterlife: an essential guide to design for disassembly“, by Alex Diener
What is Design for Disassembly?
Design for Disassembly (DfD) is a design strategy that considers the future need to disassemble a product for repair, refurbish or recycle. Will a product need to be repaired? Which parts will need replacement? Who will repair it? How can the experience be simple and intuitive? Can the product be reclaimed, refurbished, and resold? If it must be discarded, how can we facilitate its disassembly into easily recyclable components? By responding to questions like these, the DfD method increases the effectiveness of a product both during and after its life.
Where did Design for Disassembly come from?
Our ancient tools, meticulously crafted from natural materials and intended for repair and reuse, are perhaps the earliest example of DfD. During the 1950′s rise of consumerism, fueled by mass production methods, cheap labor, and design fashion, disposability became the norm. Over time, the waste created by planned obsolescence and a throw-away culture was exposed. Organizations studied the negative impacts of toxins found in our product waste and governments began to regulate. In 2004, the European Union passed the landmark WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive, placing the responsibility of disposing electronic products with their manufacturers. This tectonic shift was recognized as a sign of things to come by global manufacturers, driving interest in the DfD strategy.
How do I Design for Disassembly?
Given environmental and cost constraints, our challenge is as much product de-creation as it is creation. And DfD strategies are applied throughout the entire design cycle; designers will need to educate the team, discover waste, set goals, create solutions, and then monitor results through production, release, use, and end-of-life.
Read the full article for more information including:
Pre-Design: Organizational Education + Buy-In
Pre-Design: Research the Recycling Stream
Design: Set goals + Project Planning
Design: Research Materials + Processes
Design: Create DfD Concepts
Post-Design
Carbon calculator online: Zero Carbon Moreland
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on November 13th, 2009
Source: Zero Carbon Moreland
Zero Carbon Moreland are happy to introduce their new online carbon calculator.
This tool will make it easier to calculate your carbon footprint and to create your own, personal action plan online. Many Zero Carbon Moreland participants have been posting, emailing and phoning in their carbon footprints or calculating them at workshops with their friends and neighbours. If you have done so, thank you! It is vital to the campaign that we have your data before and after you take action.
If you have not submitted your footprint yet, it has just become very easy to do so using the online calculator and action plan. Get online and try it out. The calculator will also provide you with information about the actions you can take, helping you create your own personal action plan – which can be printed out and put on your fridge.
We hope you enjoy it! Feel free to let us know what you think. If you have any problems please contact Jessica or Jenneke on 9385 8517 or info@zcm.org.au.
If this product could talk: Product Roadmaps
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on November 6th, 2009
Source: the Hub
Image: Potato Roadmap, Net Balance Foundation
A series of tools and resources have been developed to expand responsible business practice in Australia across a wide range of companies including small and medium enterprises. Product Roadmaps, available on the Hub, identify the social and environmental impacts of a specific sector/product throughout the supply chain and then identify areas for improvement, cross-participant opportunities, government responses and tools that can assist to increase responsible business practices. The product road mapping concept provides a common ground for participants along a supply chain (from primary producer through to consumers) to engage in meaningful dialogue about broader social and environmental issues that are typically harder to address in their entirety.
Roadmapping allows:
* end consumers and businesses along the product roadmap to be better informed of where their product comes from and the related sustainability issues associated with their supply chain
* supply chain participants including business, government regulators and industry bodies to assess and address the processes, costs and issues involved across the whole roadmap within which they participate.
Product Roadmaps are part of a national project housed at St James Ethics Centre and funded by the Federal Government (through Treasury).
Kingston Raingarden Tour: design, construction & maintenance challenges
Posted in Models by Clearwater on September 21st, 2009
Image: Kingston City Council
Join Clearwater and the City of Kingston on a half day tour of raingardens and biofilters in Kingston. Raingardens play an important role in reducing stormwater flows and pollutant loads which drain into our creeks, rivers and bay.
The City of Kingston is recognised as an industry leader in retrofitting water sensitive urban design (WSUD) into council projects. This half day tour is lead by Alan West, Kingston Council’s Engineering Design Team Leader. You will be taken to WSUD sites developed over the past ten years to discuss successes and lessons learnt from each of the projects.