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Welcome to the official website on the International Year of Cooperatives (IYC). Here you will find information on events planned throughout the year, as well as suggestions on how to get involved and participate. International years are declared by the United Nations to draw attention to and encourage action on major issues.
July Information Evening for AuSES, NSW Branch
6.00 for 6.30 pm, Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Venue to be announced (UTS)
Main Speaker: Nigel Morris (Solar Business Services)
The Australian solar industry; an independent analyst’s view on 2012 and beyond
Future Directions Speaker: to be announced
To confirm seating, please RSVP by 12 noon Tuesday, 24 July 2012 to http://ausesnswbranch.
or nswbranch@auses.org.au.
The next meeting of the Sydney Central Branch of the Alternative Technology Association will be about Getting Sustainability on the Agenda in your Apartment Building and our speaker is Christine Byrne, founder of Green Strata Inc. Green Strata provides information and case studies on the options available to strata owners and Chris also works with all levels of government on emerging programs and policies.
MCA Clothing Exchange: A mass-swap event – The Sydney Clothing Exchange (Sydney) – Meetup.
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney has invited us to hold a mass clothes swap event with them on Sunday the 22nd of July. We would like to invite you and the whole family to come along.
HOW IT WILL WORK
YES – Kids and babies’ clothing will be accepted!
With the price of water expected to increase by more than 50 per cent in the next four years and climate change creating uncertain rainfall patterns, rainwater tanks are a necessity for most Australian homes.
The Tankulator is a free interactive online calculator that helps people plan for a new rainwater tank or improve the performance of existing tanks.
It calculates how much rainwater can be harvested from a roof anywhere in Australia over one, three or five years based on rainfall figures from the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station, the roof type and size, and flushing and overflow capabilities.
The Tankulator has been developed by the Alternative Technology Association (ATA), a not-for-profit organisation promoting water saving and household renewable energy, with support from the Victorian Government Sustainability Fund, managed by Sustainability Victoria, and the City of Whitehorse.
Ian Porter, the ATA’s chief executive, said the innovative new tool would help people save money on water bills.
“While government rebates and environmental concern has meant a rapid growth in the number of rainwater tanks in recent years, there are still thousands of homes across Australia without them,” Mr Porter said.
“The Tankulator gives people an in-depth understanding of how much water they will harvest and the choices they need to make to get the most out of their tanks.”
The Tankulator’s interactive page gives a summary of water usage, the amount of days the household tank is empty or overflowing and presents suggestions to the user. There is a tank level graph and another graph displaying available rainwater against selected uses.
The website includes pages on material types, tank positioning, filtering and other information to help people choose and plan for rainwater tanks.
Website: tankulator.ata.org.au
From curtains to LCD monitors, taking showers to making toast, the Alternative Technology Association’s new guide examines all the ways to save money and improve energy efficiency around the home.
The complete Guide to reducing your energy use and saving money is available now as a PDF and is completely free.
Click here to download.
The guide was developed by the ATA and the Victorian Council of Social Service, with support from the Melbourne Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation.
Join us for the yummiest, localist, organicist feast and life changing documentary
The feast is created by locals in the community who come an hour or two early to sharpen and share their cooking skills using only locally grown, ethically sourced fresh organic produce
This week our movie is called
Bag it!
Bag It has won many awards. What started as a documentary about plastic bags evolved into a wholesale investigation into plastics and their effect on our waterways, oceans, and even our bodies. Join the Bag It movement and decide for yourself how plastic your life will be.
The Discussion and film will be presented by Tim Silverwood
“Tim’s passion for environmental protection and ocean conservation and his enthusiasm for the changes society needs to adopt are witnessed in the dozens of talks he has completed around Australia.”
This will be a truly amazing and unmissable night. Come and enjoy this cosy community event and be part of the change you would like to see