LIVE GREEN NEWS HUME CITY COUNCIL - Autumn 2020
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HUME CITY COUNCIL LIVE GREEN NEWS Hume’s Sustainability Newsletter Autumn 2020 hume.vic.gov.au/livegreen
Schools
for Nature
biodiversity
projects
Eight Hume primary schools
have received Caring for Our
Local Environments (COLE)
grants through the Victorian
Government.
The grants support the schools’
involvement in Hume’s Schools
for Nature program, which aims
to develop nature corridors and
biodiversity hotspots.
Current projects include
■■ butterfly gardens
■■ insect hotels
■■ bird thickets
■■ lizard lounges
■■ an indigenous cultural garden
■■ a tranquillity garden.
A total of 1,425 students in Years 3
Join our Compost Community
to 6 are involved at Bethal Primary, Get a cheap compost bin, Compost Bins
Greenvale Primary, Hume Valley worm farm or Bokashi bin Perfect if you have a bigger
Primary, Killara Primary, Roxburgh for your household. garden, especially if growing your
Park Primary, Roxburgh Rise own veggies. Add layers of lawn
Food makes up more than one third
Primary, Westmeadows Primary clippings, leaves or scrap paper to
of the waste filling Hume’s rubbish
and Willmott Park Primary. keep your compost healthy.
bins. Rotting food releases methane
– a powerful greenhouse gas that Worm Farms
speeds up global warming.
Great for smaller households
This organic material could go without heaps of food waste – and
back into the soil as compost. worm juice is a great fertiliser.
Composting helps your plants and Worms need shaded cool areas.
the planet. If you need help getting
started, Hume Council and our Bokashi Bins
partners at Compost Community Even meat and dairy go into a
are making it easy. Bokashi, so they’re useful alongside
a worm farm or compost bin. Small
This Autumn, visit hume.vic.gov.au/
enough for units and apartments.
compostcommunity to access one*
of the following discounted products: *Limit of one per household, free
delivery, available while stock lasts.
2 LIVE GREEN Hume City Council
Help clean up Tiffany Crescent
Reserve
Hume Enviro Champion and On Clean Up Australia Day,
Roxburgh Park Resident Sunday 1 March, over 30
Kevsar Dogan has inspired Roxburgh Park residents joined
her community to come Kevsar for a community clean
together to help clean up up. They left the park sparkling
at favourite local reserve. and shared lunch afterwards.
Kevsar Dogan organises a clean-up Kevsar’s community spirit and
of Tiffany Crescent Reserve with desire to see her local area clean
Roxburgh Rise Primary School has been a great outcome for
students every school term. Tiffany Crescent Reserve and its
wonderful birdlife.
Kevsar’s passion for keeping
our parks and waterways clean For more inspiring Enviro Champion
saw her join the Hume Enviro stories, visit hume.vic.gov.au/
Champions program in 2019. envirochampions
She continues to use her training Autumn
to keep her project thriving.
gardening
Autumn is a great time to
get into the garden.
Things to do include:
■■ Prune apricot trees,
remove and compost
summer annuals.
■■ Collect Autumn leaves
for mulch from your
surrounding streets.
■■ Make sure your water
tanks are connected and
leak-free – hopefully we’ll
get some rain!
Free waste education for schools ■■ Prepare your garden
beds (weed, compost,
Council has partnered school-aged children can learn about manure) for Autumn
with CERES Education to everything from investigating how and Winter plantings.
provide a range of free long household bin items take to
waste and environmental break down in landfill to calculating Things to plant include
education incursions for food miles to making an action plan cabbage, Asian greens,
schools, kindergartens and to create change at school. lettuce, rocket, spinach,
early learning centres. Visit hume.vic.gov.au/ carrots, celery, cauliflower,
wasteeducation to peruse the spring onions, leek, onions,
Kindergarten kids will love handling
different incursions available radish, turnips, swedes,
worms, learning how to make healthy
and submit a booking request in parsley, oregano, thyme,
soil and learning the ‘Four Rs’, while
preparation for when schools return. rosemary and mint.
Hume City Council LIVE GREEN 3
Bushfires and Aboriginal land
management
In the aftermath of a Hume City’s conservation reserves.
devastating bushfire It will also enrich the knowledge
season, there is increasing of Council staff and provide
recognition of the vital role opportunities for
indigenous Australians can, community education.
and should, play in preparing This initiative is guided by the
the land for coming bushfire Victorian Traditional Owners
seasons. Cultural Fire Strategy, which
Council’s Land and Biodiversity aims to ‘reinvigorate cultural
team have collaborated with fire through Traditional Owner
the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung’s led practices across all types of
Narrap Team for years to share Country and land tenure’. The
in their knowledge of our local Strategy is led by Traditional
environment. Owner groups and supported by
the Victorian Government and the
The Narrap Team has led
CFA.
traditional cultural burns of the
Sunbury Rings landscape, which This summer’s devastating
Live Green
is owned by the Wurundjeri Woi bushfires destroyed 3,500 homes Scavenger
Wurrung. and claimed the lives of 34 people
and more than 1 billion animals
Hunt
Now Council is formalising its
across the country. Partnerships 5 leaves that look different
land management partnership
like these are a step towards
with the Narrap team. This formal
better bushfire season practises A stick that is longer than
partnership aims to build upon
and will hopefully prevent such your hand
past collaboration and improve
devastating losses from occurring
the land management practices in 2 different flowers
again in the future.
10 blades of grass
A mushroom
A piece of rubbish that you
can put in the bin
A rock
A tree that grows fruit
For bonus points…
Spot a Hume City Council
sign
Spot an ‘urban bird’ (use our
Birds of Hume field guide at
hume.vic.gov.au/birds)
Wurundjeri Traditional Owner Uncle Dave Wandin with Hume Councillors Drew
Jessop and Geoff Porter at the Sunbury Rings
4 LIVE GREEN Hume City CouncilRecycling Victoria
The state government has
launched the Recycling Victoria
circular economy policy.
This 10-year action plan will help to
address some of the community’s key
waste management concerns. The
government will invest in recycling
infrastructure, target hazardous
waste, protect the community from
dangerous chemical stockpiles and
appropriate long-term response to will be collected and processed in the
introduce a container deposit scheme.
recycling and waste management future,” Cr Moore said.
Mayor of Hume City, Councillor that meets community expectations.” “Council is currently working with
Carly Moore, said the policy
Councillor Moore added that the State Government and other
responded to many of the issues
Council would be working closely relevant agencies to understand
Council had been advocating for.
with the MAV, Metropolitan Waste implementation and will continue to
“Management of recycling and and Resource Recovery Group keep the community informed via
waste has been an ongoing issue (MWRRG), industry and the Victorian our website, Facebook page
and concern for our community,” Government to better understand and publications.”
Cr Moore said. how the Recycling Victoria policy Sign up to Live Green eNews at
“Council and the wider local would be implemented. hume.vic.gov.au/enewsletters to
government sector have long “We understand that the policy keep up to date with sustainability
been calling for support from the indicated changes as to how recycling and environment news in Hume City.
State Government to provide an
Film review: 2040
After the success of That Sugar Film, Damon Gameau
realised there was an audience for documentary features
that are serious and entertaining, hard-hitting and
optimistic. So he turned his attention to the biggest issue
of all: the climate crisis.
2040 is the result. Framed as Scientific consensus indicates that, what everyday people can do to help
Gameau’s letter to his daughter, in order to avoid the catastrophic achieve this vision. Thankfully, in
the film imagines a future in which effects of a global temperature Hume and elsewhere, the creativity
greenhouse gas emissions have increase greater than 1.5°C, and activism of our communities is
been dramatically reduced. we need to reduce our carbon already showing the way.
emissions to net zero by 2030.
Sound utopian? Far from it. Every Want to host a screening of 2040 at
technology described already exists It’s a huge challenge and can seem your school? Or access curriculum
today, in 2020. These include overwhelming. That’s where 2040 materials? Visit whatsyour2040.com
regenerative agriculture, seaweed is so useful — it’s a realistic, positive for more information
farms and self-driving electric vision of the future that leaves you
To take local action, get in touch with
vehicles that can help transform our feeling hopeful.
Hume Climate Action Now (Hume CAN)
cities into cleaner, greener places.
The film’s one missing ingredient is at facebook.com/HumeCAN
Hume City Council LIVE GREEN 5Solar Rebates
Still haven’t taken advantage of the Victorian Governments’ solar rebate? Now is the time!
Did you know that homeowners Step 2 – Seek quotes from two or Step 5 – Solar Vic approves your
and renters (PLUS landlords) can three approved installers listed on application and quote.
access rebates of $1,888 or an the Solar Vic website.
interest-free loan of $1,888 to Step 6 – Arrange installation with
have solar panels installed? Step 3 – Choose your installer and your preferred installer.
agree to a quote. Your chosen
Coupled with the existing Federal installer will then upload the quote Step 7 – Enjoy small power bills,
Government solar rebate, this can to the Solar Vic website. repay the loan and still be ahead –
take the cost of a 3.3kW solar and feel good about contributing
system (10 solar panels plus an Step 4 – Complete your section of to the climate solution!
inverter) to $0 out of pocket! the Solar Vic application. This takes
an average of just 22 minutes. You
It’s never been cheaper and will need your rates notice, ID (two
easier to go solar. Here’s how of either drivers’ license, Medicare
you do it: card, birth certificate or passport)
and proof of income such as an
Step 1 – Visit solarvic.gov.au to ATO income statement from the
familiarise yourself with the process. last financial year or the year prior.
6 LIVE GREEN Hume City CouncilThings to do…
We may have had to cancel our events, but we have plenty of ideas about how you can maintain
your health and wellbeing through these tough times.
Watch 2040
Damon Gameau’s documentary
2040 is a letter to his daughter
from the future. This film showcases
solutions for a sustainable society to
combat the climate crisis, while also
being a story of hope for the world
future generations will inherit.
You can buy or rent the film on Winter proof your home
Itunes or Google Play.
See Council’s website for energy
Cool Australia efficiency tips, as well as short
films in different languages
The Cool Australia student toolbox
explaining how to install low cost
contains loads of great, up-to-date
energy efficiency items to keep
educational resources including
In the garden your home comfortable and your
videos, fact sheets and researched
bills down. Visit hume.vic.gov.
■■ When removing summer articles about a range of issues such
au/energytakeaction for more
veg and preparing your as climate change, biodiversity and
information.
Winter vegie garden, don’t pollution. Students can also learn
forget to save your seeds! about mindfulness, consumerism Visit Hume’s open spaces
Visit hume.vic.gov.au/ and more.
Hume has so many great
gardeningfactsheets for Visit coolaustralia.org/student- conservation reserves and parklands
a great fact sheet on seed toolbox to get learning! you can visit with the kids. Mount
saving. Follow facebook.com/ Ridley Conservation Reserve in
humeseedlibrary to get in Mickleham, Woodlands Historic Park
touch with local seed savers! in Greenvale, The Nook in Sunbury
■■ Collect Autumn leaves for mulch and Broadmeadows Valley Park are
and prepare your compost. just some of the great outdoor areas
■■ Read our Autumn Gardening where kids can enjoy nature play.
article on page 3 for a list of Find a park near you at
some great vegies and herbs you hume.vic.gov.au/parksandreserves
can plant in Autumn.
Hume City Council recognises the rich Aboriginal heritage within the municipality and acknowledges the Gunung Willam Balluk of the
Wurundjeri as the Traditional Custodians of this land.
ouncil embraces Aboriginal living culture as a vital part of Australia’s identity and recognises, celebrates and pays respect to the existing
C
family members of the Gunung-Willam-Balluk and to Elders past and present.
To help save paper, let us know if you would like to receive Live Green
News by email only. Feedback and contributions are welcome and can
be emailed to environment@hume.vic.gov.au or call 9205 2200.
hume.vic.gov.au/livegreen
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