Coolmob August Newsletter No. 20

No. 20 - August 2011

In this edition:

Free Deckchair screening of HOME - 17th August
Powering Ahead Seminar - 18th August
Super Tuesday Bike Count - 6th September
Sustainable House Day - 11th September
National Ride to Work Day - 12th October
Identify where you're using the most power with Power Mate
What Should I spend my carbon price windfall on?
Environmental News - Clean Energy Future package will see an increase in jobs
Environmental News - Australia's largest solar plant opens in Alice Springs
The Plastic Bag Ban
COOLmob farewells prominent Troppo Architects
Top COOLmob tips of the season

Free screening of HOME at the Deckchair Cinema

If you missed the screening of HOME at the Gardens in July, you can catch it at the Deckchair Cinema Wednesday the 17th of September, 7.30pm.
HOME is directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand and is a unique film that approaches the current debate about climate change from an aerial perspective, a view which many of us have never witnessed the world from. Yann shares his concerns over the impending impacts of climate change and aims to encourage all of us to take action.
Please come along and share with us this exceptional film.

Where: Deckchair Cinema
When: Wednesday 17th of September, 7.30 pm

Powering Ahead? a free public seminar on meeting Darwin's energy needs

A growing population and changing climate are putting enormous pressure on governments and industry to find new, innovative ways to power our lives. The ANU Alumni is holding a free public seminar at the Charles Darwin University on Thursday the 18th of August, drawing on research from around the world to explore the complexities of the ‘climate-energy-water’ nexus. This talk is tailored to meeting Darwin’s energy and water needs in the future.

Where: The Chancellery, Charles Darwin University
When:4.00-5.30pm. You will need to register at www.anu.edu.au/publiclectures for seating purposes

September Super Tuesday Bike Count, September 6th - We need your help!

This year Darwin is joining the national annual September Super Tuesday Bike Count on Tuesday 6 September 2011.

Super Tuesday is Australia’s largest visual bike count, coordinated by the Bike Futures network. The count observes and records rider numbers and movements at key intersections and important commuter routes in the morning peak. The count helps local Councils and Government planners determine and provide for the Town’s cycling needs.

Bike Futures are looking for volunteers to help with counting cyclists at various sites throughout Darwin and suburbs. The Bike Futures Network has called on COOLmob volunteers for assistance. For each person that successfully completes the count can nominate COOLmob to receive $50 as a reward for their work. COOLmob will use this money to create more bike safety and awareness advertisements.

If you are interested in volunteering for this event please contact COOLmob on (08) 8981 3642 or email coolmobofficer@ecnt.org. Be sure to choose the most strategic count location in case there are not enough volunteers to cover all of them.

And remember, be sure to give your counters a wave if you’re passing by on your bike!

Where: Various locations around Darwin and Palmerston
When: 7.00am and 9.00am Tuesday 6^th of September.

Sustainable House Day, September 11 - DON'T MISS IT!!

And COOLmob is looking for more sustainable apartments or houses to open!

2011 marks the 10th anniversary of Sustainable House Day and COOLmob is once again excited about this unique opportunity for residents in the Darwin and Palmerston region. Sustainable House Day is a national event where private homes, featuring a variety of sustainable living ideas, open their doors to the public.

Six families opened their homes last year for Sustainable House Day, and up to 2000 people walked away from a number of these with exciting and creative ideas on saving money on power and water bills. After last year’s huge success, COOLmob is now looking for houses or apartments to open their homes on Sunday September 11th. Features as simple as solar hot water system, a cool house or a food garden are key actions to reducing your ecological footprint and many people are just not aware how easy, yet successful, these actions are. Receiving unbiased information from homeowners is also a great start to anyone’s sustainability journey.

This is an invaluable experience for members of the public to see just how easy it is to live more sustainably and talk first hand with homeowners who have 'been there, done that'. If you would like to demonstrate how to live happily with a small carbon/ecological footprint by opening your home (or volunteer on the day) please contact COOLmob on (08) 8981 3642.

The photo above is of Denise and Michael Goodfellow in their food garden in Palmerston. The Goodfellow home will be one of COOLmob's open houses in this year's event.
Where: Suburbs of Darwin and Palmerston. Go to COOLmob for addresses
When: 10.00am - 4.00pm, Sunday 11th September
Entry is FREE
For more information on this national event go to Sustainable House Day

National Ride To Work Day - October 12th

Don't forget that October 12th is Ride to Work Day so we want to see as many people as possible on their bikes!

Ride to Work Day is a national program that aims to get people riding to work. It promotes cycling as a more efficient way to commute and encourages you to leave your car at home.

You probably know all of the benefits are of leaving the car at home and riding into work , but unsure of where to start. Bicycle Network gives you lots of riding tips on safety, road rules, choosing the best route and remaining comfortable. Check them out at Bicycle Network

It is important to register, even if you are already riding your bike to work!! You can register as part of a work-place group or as an individual, and by participating you can help build the case for better bike facilities in your home town. There is also a chance to win prizes!

Look up COOLmob for breakfast locations in Darwin and Palmerston.
To register go to Ride2Work

Power Mate: Identify and reduce unnecessary costs from your home and office:
You can now borrow a Power Mate from your local library to measure how much your appliances are using. You'll find out

how much extra a large TV uses than a small one?
which is more energy efficient - a lap top or desktop computer?
how much is my air-conditioner costing me to run?
how much power am I using with my appliances on 'stand by'?

Appliances can make up around 40% of your home's energy bill, and this is predicted to grow as we rely more and more on electrical appliances in our daily lives. Power Mate Lite will measures how much energy your appliances are using, both while in operation and in stand by mode. It can also record how much an appliance is costing you and the amount of greenhouse pollution it is causing. Using Power Mate you can identify where you are using power unnecessarily, prevent unnecessary loss and save money.

You can borrow Power Mate from Darwin City Council libraries for one week. There are:

3 at Casuarina
2 at the City Library
2 at Nightcliff
2 at Kamara

Power Mate devices are currently on the display shelves at each library and can be requested or renewed as with other library items. Customers who borrow Power Mate will receive a kit and instructions on how to use it at home.

So go down to your local library to get your hand on one of these and really refine where energy is used in your home!

What Should I spend my carbon price windfall on?

An average household will be $300 better off per year as a result of the introduction of the carbon pricing scheme. So if you put these dollars into items that help you consume less power or water, so your bills will reduce forever.

Replace all halogen down lights with compact fluorescents ($3) or LED lights ($20) which last for many years. Replacing five halogen down lights with LED down lights can save you $100+/year in power costs.
COOLmob Tip: Claim 50% of the cost through the NT Energy Smart Rebate
Turn off the 2nd fridge or the old bar fridges and save $380 a year in power costs.
Buy an Eco switch ($15) from COOLmob and save on stand by power.
Install solar hot water and save $700+ per year. Visit COOLmob for Bulk Buy discounts.
Install a whirly ($300) or solar powered whirly ($1100) and /or paint your roof with insulating paint to reduce the need for air conditioning. It really works!
Divert your household grey water onto the garden. You can do this with a diverter fitted ($20) to your bathroom downpipe and a hose fitted to your washing machine.
Buy a timer ($10) for your pool pump and your garden watering system, thus saving power and water. Reduce filter times in cold months.
Buy a pool or spa cover ($100 +) and turn off the pump, saving power and water from evaporating. Make sure the pool water is clean before covering.
Install an energy efficient pool pump and save $350 a year if running the pump. Visit www.coolmob.org for Bulk Buy discounts.
Fit solar PV panels to produce your own free electricity for 20 + years. ($3000+)
When replacing old appliances, look for the highest star rating appliance and don’t buy something bigger than you really need. Look up www.energyrating.gov.au to compare products.
Install a slow flow shower head ($20+) and flow restricting tap washers ($10) to save on water costs.

So if you put these dollars into items such as those above, that help you consume less power or water, your bills won’t rise and you will reduce your greenhouse gas emissions.

Renewable Energy Sector will see an increase in the number of jobs in Australia:

It is estimated that 1.6 million jobs will be created nationwide under the carbon scheme by 2020. The debate over whether the carbon tax will actually see more people without jobs has been rejected by economists. Economists across Australia have declared that the carbon tax and the subsequent move towards a renewable energy sector in Australia will actually create more jobs.

Expected employment opportunities are in design and research, advertising, manufacturing, construction and implementation, sales and installations.

Australia's Largest Solar Plant Opens in Alice Springs! (from the Green Pages)

July 28th was an exciting day for Alice Springs, and indeed the Northern Territory, as the country’s largest tracking solar power plant officially opened in Alice Springs.
“We are proud to be among the first in Australia to use this technology on this scale, and to make the benefits of solar power available to all residents in Alice Springs” – Andrew Macrides, Managing Director, Power and Water Corporation, Northern Territory Solar Switch Australia website

The 1 megawatt (MW) Uterne Solar Power Plant is a project for the Alice Solar City funded through the Australian Government Solar Cities initiative. The Plant is an important demonstration of how solar power can help power regional towns and cities in Australia through the 21st Century. Uterne features more than 3,000 high-efficiency solar photovoltaic panels.

The Uterne Solar Power Plant is the first utility-backed solar power purchase agreement in Australia. This means that the electricity generated will be sold to Power and Water Corp at a guaranteed price for the next 20 years.
As the nation with the world’s biggest renewable energy resources, all Australian Governments need to become even more ambitious in the support for renewable energy generation – to generate energy from sources that promise to minimise the price of energy in the future.

Read more: Australia's Largest Solar Plant

The Plastic Bag Ban is Finally Here!!

Did you know that Territorians currently use about 40 million plastic bags each year? From September 1, businesses will not be able to sell or give away lightweight, single use, non bio-degradable plastic bags (that is, plastic bags with handles and made entirely of polyethylene less than 35 microns thick, including those bags marked as 'degradable').

The only bags allowed will be reusable, paper, heavier plastic or bio-degradable (compostable) bags. Degradable bags are not the same as bio-degradable bags. Only biodegradable that comply with Australian Standards (AS4736-2006) will be permitted. Degradable bags will be banned because degradable plastics merely break down into smaller flakes which continue to pollute for many years. Bio-degradable bags will break down within 180 days under industrial composting conditions.

COOLmob saddened by the news of Troppo architects

The staff at COOLmob and the Environment Centre are deeply saddened by the recent news of the deaths of Lena Yali and Greg McNamara, who made a defining contribution to eco-design for houses in the tropics. Our thoughts are with their families and also those of Kevin Taylor of South Australia.

We are very proud to have opened houses designed by Troppo Architects for Sustainable House Day in the past and can vouch for the huge impact they made to members of the public looking at creating their own eco-friendly homes.

Top COOLmob Tips of the Season:

These are just a handful of ways you can reduce your power and water bills this season. For more information go to www.coolmob.org

Ride to work and enjoy the beautiful Darwin dry-season

You'll save on fuel
You will feel good
You will work more productively during the day and sleep better at night!
If you are not using your pool or spa, cover it!
It is such a simple way to reduce water evaporation (which you'll have to replace when you use the pool again) and prevent the build up of debris/grime in the pool (which you will have to pump out!)
Using your pool pump more often than you have to means you're spending more on electricity than you need to
Turn off your lights and fan when you leave a room!
Fans cool people, not rooms. So leaving your fan running won't reduce a room's temperature. Also, it'll take much less energy to turn on a light than you think, so always turn off the lights when you leave a room.
It should be as instinctual as putting on your seat belt when you get in a car!
Reduce water consumption by implementing smarter watering regimes!
Don't water the garden in the middle of the day, it'll be a waste!
Water less; a lot of plants don't need constant watering after they have grown or are well established (especially many natives)
Place plants that require similar watering regimes together, so you don't have to water the whole garden every time
Have a bio-diverse garden and limit the amount of exposed lawn (as grass requires the most amount of watering)
If you're not using it, turn it off right!
If you're one to use 'stand-by' mode, especially over night, then you are paying for electricity unnecessarily.
Turning a TV off with a remote is not 'turning it off'
Leaving a computer on stand-by mode overnight is not 'turning it off'
Unplugging your mobile phone from the charger, but leaving the charger in the wall is not 'turning it off'
Stop paying for these wastages and turn it off at the wall

And most importantly - help us spread the word on sustainability
Tell your family, a friend, a neighbour, or brave it and tell a stranger, how they too can reduce their power/water bills, live a healthier life and be part of the solution

Thanks to COOLmob’s sponsors

Power and Water Corporation, NT Government and the Community Benefit Fund. The content of this newsletter does not necessarily represent the position of our sponsors.

We’d really love to hear your feedback on the information we have provided. If you’d prefer not to receive any future COOL e-newsletters and be taken off the COOLmob email list, please let me know. Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to anyone you think may be interested or leave it in a “waiting room” (with permission).

Stay Cool,

Robin Knox, COOLmob Project Manager