My Blog About Anything / Everything: Sustainable Living Blacktown E-Newsletter

This month in Sustainable Living Blacktown:

fabulous waste-free festivities
summer safety – home and away
nominate an environmental citizen
save water and money in your business
love our waterways – recorded webinar
quick ways to cool your home
help improve waterway health and habitat.

Are you planning your festive season activities? We have put together some ideas to help your festivities be more sustainable and minimise the additional waste that we tend to generate over the holiday season.

When decorating, consider these ideas to help your holidays be more sustainable:

a plastic free Christmas party
eco decorations, e.g. make your own, recycled decorations and use solar lights on a timer
have your own living Christmas tree.

Try these sustainable gift ideas:

donate to a charity that helps the community or the environment. You can pick the charity that most suits the person receiving the gift
make a gift or give an experience
upcycle old Christmas cards to make new ones
re-gift a present you received that you think someone else will use more
wrap presents in alternative materials like newspaper, old tea towels or fabric
use a tape-less Japanese style of fabric folding.

Reduce your food waste by:

planning and organising what you need to buy
using leftovers in easy and delicious recipes like the ones found here
composting the unwanted leftovers. If you don’t already have a compost system, consider purchasing a compost bin, bokashi or worm farm and claim a $25 Council rebate.

Remember, there’s no need to miss a household bin collection during the festive season - we collect waste and recycling bins on public holidays.

Everything you need to know about Blacktown City’s waste and recycling is in our B informed app. You can find information fast, get bin reminders, send us feedback and more. Download the B informed Blacktown City Council app on iPhone or Android.

Along with fun, family gatherings and holidays, summer can bring extreme situations such as floods, bushfires, storms and heatwaves.

Here are some tips to keep yourself, loved ones and those around you safe this holiday season:

download the Fires Near Me app for bushfire alerts
check the Bureau of Meteorology app for up to date storm and extreme weather information
ensure that you secure your home and vehicles before going out
look out for your neighbours – neighbours can often be the first to help each other in an emergency
when it’s hot, visit a cool place such as a shopping centre or library, and check on elderly neighbours to see if they have cold drinks on hand or need anything from the shops.

Watch our Resilient Blacktown series here to learn how you and your family can prepare for disasters and emergencies. Each video in the series provides tips and information on how to be better prepared.

The videos feature local emergency services and community organisations, including:

State Emergency Service
Australian Red Cross
SydWest Multicultural Services
Fire and Rescue NSW
Rural Fire Service.

Download the ‘Get Prepared’ app or use the Red Cross Rediplan to start your emergency plan today.

Do you know an outstanding local environmental champion?

Australia Day award applications for 2021 are now open. The award categories include the opportunity to recognise the achievements of local individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the environment.

The categories are:

Citizen of the Year Award
Young Citizen of the Year Award
Community Event of the Year Award
Environmental Citizen of the Year Award.

Let’s give our environment-focused, high-achieving community members the recognition they deserve! You can nominate a friend, family member, community leader, colleague or even yourself via our online nomination form.

Finalists will be notified prior to Australia Day and the winners will be announced on 26 January 2021 at the Australia Day Awards Presentation.

Applications close 5.30 pm, Friday 8 January 2021.

For further information, contact our Community Events team on 02 9839 6000 or email.

If you are involved in running a business, you know how important it is to save on costs.

Improving water efficiency can help save you money by reducing waste water and trade waste costs. Indirectly, the reduced water use can, where relevant, reduce the need for chemicals and water treatment and can reduce equipment and maintenance costs.

Greater Sydney consumed 567,824 million litres (ML) of water in financial year 2018/19. Of this, 23% was used by industrial, commercial and government properties.

Improving water efficiency in your business will help the Greater Sydney water supply meet the future needs of our region’s growing population and economy. Taking steps to save water can help demonstrate to your customers and staff that your business is committed to actions that benefit the community and the environment.

Steps you can take in your business to save water and money:

read your water meter at closing time and before opening to check for leaks
check fixtures, plant, equipment, pipes and supply lines for leaks and organise repairs promptly
mop floors and sweep outdoor surfaces instead of hosing them
compare your water bill with previous bills for the same time period. Unaccountable increases may indicate a leak
include water efficiency in staff training, position responsibilities and key performance indicators.

Some more ways your business can save water and money.

Stormwater is one of the biggest threats to our waterway health.

Unlike sewage, stormwater is not treated before it enters the waterways. Stormwater collects pollutants such as litter, garden waste, oil and other chemicals as it washes down into street gutters, then into stormwater pipes leading to creeks that flow into rivers and eventually the ocean.

Recently we partnered with Ocean Protect and hosted a webinar to celebrate stormwater awareness week.

In the webinar, we learnt about:

Blacktown City’s waterways
animals that live in Blacktown City’s waterways
impacts of stormwater
what Council is doing to improve our waterways health
actions you can take to keep our waterways healthy.

If you missed the webinar you can watch it here.

Be quick! The webinar will only be available for viewing until Friday 31 December.

Is your house ready to keep the hot air out this summer?

On hot days, any gaps and cracks in your home can allow hot air to leak in. You can identify the places where draughts are coming into your home by:

daylight showing under doors or around window frames
curtains or blinds moving when it’s windy outside even though the window is closed
windows that rattle in the frames during storms.

Try these simple ways to keep your home cool:

to improve sealing, use door snakes and window seals. These can be found at most hardware stores
block out the sun’s heat by closing the blinds or curtains
turn on the fan to circulate air
avoid using the oven during the heat of the day and turn off unused lights and appliances.

Check this website for more tips on keeping your home cool, including energy efficiency information on buying and using air conditioners.

Improving your home’s insulation can make a big difference. It can also be simple and affordable. Find out whether or not your home needs more insulation by downloading the complete guide to home insulation. Or you can also call Australian Energy Foundation for free, independent advice catered for your needs.

Call 1300 236 855 to speak to an Australian Energy Foundation advisor or visit their website.

Did you know our creeks and rivers are home to endangered species like the southern myotis (fishing bat) and the green and golden bell frog? Council has been working to clean up our waterways to improve habitat and increase biological biodiversity.

In the period from April 2019 to March 2020, we:

collected 3,900 tonnes of accumulated sediment and rubbish from the International Peace Park and Rotary Lake Wetland in Seven Hills
removed aquatic and riparian weeds, vines and woody weeds that were choking waterways from 90,000m2 of reserves
planted 3,000 new plants to stabilise Blacktown Creek’s bed and banks at Eddie Aaw Reserve, Prospect.

We can all continue improving the health of our waterways by:

keeping chemicals, paints and leaves out of gutters and drains
using a broom to sweep gutters and driveways rather than hosing them
composting leaves and keeping them out of the gutter
carrying shopping in reusable bags to reduce plastic bag litter which is a common pollutant found in our waterways
always putting rubbish in the bin and picking up our dog’s droppings when out and about.

Learn more about the health of our waterways here.