April - May Edition
Our Clean and Green E-newsletter is the best way to keep up-to-date on the latest news and events about environmental and sustainability initiatives happening in the City of Canterbury Bankstown. Share this with friends!
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Launch of Your Native Garden guide
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Are you interested in learning about native gardening and attracting native animals back into your garden? Celebrate the release of CBCity’s new native plant guide, Your Native Garden: A guide to bring native plants and animals back to your garden.
Residents now have a guide to help them decide what native plants are best for their local gardens. This booklet provides simple-to-use advice on selecting plants for your backyard based on soil types and the locally-occurring native plants that naturally belong there. The Native Plant Guide was launched by Council and is now available free-of-charge.
Download the guide
The next stage of the project involves the creation of an interactive plant selector map online, where residents will be able to search for the native plants which grow best in their particular suburb. This will be launched later this year.
The Your Native Garden talk will be held on Thursday 4 April (10-11am), at Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre. Native plants will also be available for collection from 6-12 April at Bankstown, Campsie, Greenacre and Panania Library and Knowledge Centres.
In order to assist residents in choosing the correct plants for their garden staff will be available for short pop up information sessions on Saturday the 6 April at Campsie, Panania and Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centres.
Download the guide
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Water Sensitive Gardening
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We are currently experiencing lower than average rainfall, which has resulted in Sydney’s dam storage levels sitting below 60 per cent capacity. As a result, there are plans to implement water restrictions for the Sydney catchment area. With more than 40 per cent of household water used outdoors, our gardens are great places to start saving water.
We need to be smarter about how we use water in our backyards, parks and public spaces. An effective strategy to keep gardens and waterways healthy is through designing smart systems using Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD).
WSUD is most simply defined as the sustainable management of water within urban areas through intelligent and integrated design. It looks at the water cycle as a whole, seeking to capture water and use it efficiently, while ensuring that water leaves the area clean.
Canterbury-Bankstown, like most of Sydney is heavily urbanised, up to 70 per cent of the Cooks River Catchment is made up of hard surfaces. Stormwater from these areas flows into our rivers and waterways collecting rubbish and other pollutants along the way.
Council has delivered a number of raingardens, including Forrester Reserve in Kingsgrove (in picture). The raingarden will capture and treat stormwater runoff from nearby streets and help prevent pollutants from being washed into the Cooks River. The raingarden will also provide educational and additional play opportunities for the existing playground with stepping stones and new rock and log habitats.
In our gardens and backyards we can work smarter with some simple measures:
- Capture water before it leaves your property from rooftops and hard surfaces using rainwater tanks, swales and rain gardens;
- Slow the flow of stormwater through smart landscape design, placing garden beds on contours for passive irrigation;
- Implement landscaping and drainage elements that ensure sediments, leaves, grass clippings and nutrients no longer leave your property. Barrier plantings are one way of achieving this;
- Reduce or eliminate the use of water soluble fertilisers on your property as these cause algal blooms in waterways; and
- For hard surfaces, like paths, look for options that allow water to soak in to the soil or filter through.
If you are interested in a hands on practical demonstration provided by a local expert come to Ashbury Community Gardens on Saturday 13 April for a Water Sensitive Gardening workshop.
For more information, visit cb.city/whatson
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Go solar with Our Energy Future!
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There has been revelations regarding some suppliers in the Australian Solar Industry. As more and more Australians look to install solar systems to save money and reduce carbon emissions there has been rapid growth in the Australian solar market. This has resulted in some issues surrounding a lack of regulation for solar suppliers. According to the Sunny Side Up report from the Consumer Action Law Centre, close to 700 solar companies have gone out of business since 2011, leaving about 650,000 Australians with no recourse if their systems fail. It found there were a number of "concerning trends" in the solar industry, including:
- "Predatory" high-pressure sales tactics;
- Businesses going under, leaving people with worthless warranties and no recourse; and
- Australians being offered unaffordable credit to buy solar systems.
Council has teamed up with the independent energy experts at Our Energy Future to assist you with installing solar on your home. They’ve done the hard work researching solar suppliers to assess which one offers the best quality and price. Our Energy Future can connect you with the chosen supplier and support you through the process.
https://ourenergyfuture.org.au/
Consumers should be or a number of factors in looking to install a solar system on their home or business.
Our top five tips for what to look for when investigating solar are:
- Have handy a copy of all your electricity bills for the last 12 months. If you don’t have the latest bill follow up with your energy retailer.
- To get an understanding of the size of array you might need visit the Alternative Technology Association. Their free assessment tool is available here.
- Ensure you only use Clean Energy Council accredited installers. Even better, look for a Clean Energy Council accredited retailer for a quote. Choice magazine provides a guide on finding a retailer here.
- Choose a reputable brand. Cheaper panels may still work for your home but a quality inverter is critical. If you are unsure if the brand offered to you is reputable you can contact ourenergyfuture or visit hsolarquotes.com.au/inverters
- Make sure the panels have strong warranties. Look for at least 10 year product warranty and 25 years performance warranty.
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We need your help to keep our streets clean and litter free. This May, we’re asking you to join the more than a thousand community members who have already reported people littering from cars. All you need to do is search the web for Report to EPA, register then report the offence.
We’re especially focusing on people dropping takeaway packaging in the streets. We’re working with selected takeaway outlets to encourage drivers to dispose of their packaging the right way – either in a public bin or in the red bin at home. We’ll be using surveillance at key takeaway litter hot spots like car parks, parks, and quiet streets.
By reporting littering from vehicles, whether they are moving or parked, you’ll be helping to keep the streets clean and green.
To make a report search Report To EPA
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Fresh Eyes on Illegal Dumping
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If you dislike seeing items illegally dumped on the street as much as we do then we have some good news. During January and February we trailed a new approach to addressing this issue which resulted in a 40% drop in illegal dumps over the four week blitz.
The campaign titled Eyes On It, focused attention of poor behaviour by identifying illegal dumps with warning tape, signs, stickers and postcards with the aim of changing people’s behaviour when disposing of unwanted items. The resources very clearly state that putting items on the street without a booked Clean Up is illegal and fines of up to $4,000 apply.
But there is more work to do to keep the street clean.
If you’ve booked a Clean Up make sure you only put your items out the night before the collection date and if you see someone illegally dumping items report it on 9707 9000 or online at cb.city/reportit
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Sunday 5 May,
9am - 12.30pm
Ewan Park, Hurlstone Park
Beat the Bottle is coming to the Cooks River on Sunday 5 May and you’re invited!
An initiative of Sydney Water, Beat the Bottle events aim to bring the community together to keep our rivers, beaches and waterways free from plastic waste.
The event will be hosted by FBi radio and includes an interactive percussion performance by Junkyard Beats, Virtual Reality activities and loads of volunteers (like you!) ridding Ewen Park and Cooks River of plastic and other waste.
All clean up participants will receive a free stainless steel reusable water bottle.
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Thursday 4th April
10am - 11am
To celebrate the release of CBCity’s new native plant guidebook, a talk will be held to help local residents incorporate native plants into their gardens.
Details and more information
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Sunday 28 April 2019
9am - 3.30pm
Council’s Car Park at Shakespeare Street, Campsie
Dispose of your unwanted household chemicals.
Check for details
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Sunday 5 May, 9am - 12.30pm
Ewan Park, Hurlstone Park
Beat the Bottle is coming to the Cooks River on Sunday 5 May and you’re invited!
Beat the Bottle events aim to bring the community together to keep our rivers, beaches and waterways free from plastic waste.
Details and more information
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Are you passionate about the local environment? Are you ready to roll up your sleeves to make a difference in the community? Then why not join other volunteers lending a hand.
Become a Volunteer today
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Sunday 19 May 2019
9:00am – 12:00pm
Seeking paddlers and walkers to come and lend a hand at the Cooks River Clean Up.
This is a family friendly event.
Details and more information
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