Summer 2015
Wildlife Corridors Program puts a Spring in the step
of Banyule Schools
August and September have been busy months for Banyule’s Wildlife Corridors
program. In August, several Banyule schools took part in Banyule and Greening
Australia’s joint revegetation days at local parks and bushland reserves. These
revegetation days are the 2nd step of the partnership between Banyule’s Wildlife
Corridors Program and Greening Australia’s Schools for the Environment Program.
Schools involved in the 2015 program included Heidelberg PS, Rosanna Golf Links PS,
Streeton PS and Sherbourne PS. Earlier in the year, participating schools audited their
school grounds and gave their school a habitat score out of 100. From the audit, they
developed an action plan to improve habitat for native animals in their school grounds.
They were then invited to one of four revegetation days held in Rosanna Parklands and
along the Plenty River at Pope’s Place, Greensborough. The revegetation days were held
on sites prepared by Banyule’s Bushland Management crews. Students were bussed to,
or walked to the sites and the days were started by a welcome to Wurundjeri Country
by Uncle Bill Nicholson, a Wurundjeri Elder.
Uncle Bill Nicholson conducts an ancient Welcome to Country ceremony
Brunswick SC students help Rosanna Golf Links
PS students build nesting boxes at Rosanna
Parklands
The students then split into four groups and rotated through 4 activities, 3 run by
Brunswick Secondary College Duke of Edinburgh Awards students, who are a partner
school with Greening Australia. The year 9 Outdoor Education Students did an
outstanding job of running their 3 activities, which were revegetation with indigenous
plants (plus a trangia cooking demonstration), identifying and sketching waterbugs and
nesting box construction. Uncle Bill Nicholson ran a Wurundjeri Cultural Awareness
session throughout the day.
After the community revegetation days, the schools involved turned their attention on
their own school yards to take action and employ skills they had honed at the
revegetation days. (cont. next page)
Contents:
Page
Grapevine
2
Home Harvest
3
Bushland
Management
5
Waste
6
Transport
7
Sustainable
Schools
8
Energy
9
Nature Play
10
Your Book
Review
11
Events
Calendar
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GRAPEVINE
Waste Wrangling
Bushland management in Banyule involves many aspects
but one of the highest priorities is the control and
suppression of invasive plants. When used correctly,
herbicides are an effective way to kill weeds without
disturbing the soil which could damage nearby natives
or even encourage further germination of weed seeds.
As herbicides are frequently used by the Banyule bush
crews, the parks depot ends up with many empty
herbicide containers requiring safe disposal. EnviroRep
and Senior Ranger, Emma Mann, has taken it upon
herself to redirect the herbicide storage containers out
of the general waste stream.
And into the
drumMUSTER programme which recycles used
chemical containers so they can be made into new
products such as: wheelie bins, fence posts, bollards and
more.
Environment Officer
Fleur Anderson
Mon-Fri
Phone: (03) 9457 9828
Continued from page 1.
Streeton PS created an indigenous garden walk
by planting 500 plants in their school grounds.
Sherbourne PS planted out 200 plants in their
grounds. Heidelberg PS planted 550 plants in a
wildlife corridor around their grounds and hung
10 nesting boxes made at the revegetation days
in their trees. Rosanna Golf Links PS had an early
start with their project, having planted a beautiful
butterfly garden in their school grounds in late
2014. Streeton PS, Rosanna Golf Links and
Sherbourne PS will all have their nesting boxes
positioned in their trees soon, ready for birds
and animals to nest and breed in
The containers used for herbicide storage are not
suitable for main steam recycling services. However
recycling these containers is important as it not only
means that less containers are going into landfill, but
also that less virgin
materials are required
to produce plastic
products.
For more information
or to find a collection
point near you go to
drummuster.com.au.
Want to dispose of your
own chemical waste and containers safely? Visit
recyclingnearyou.com.au to find a drop off point near
you!
Heidelberg PS students holding a ‘snake’ made of nursery
pots.
The program will continue next year. Interested
Banyule schools can contact Jim Mead on 9457
9885 or [email protected]
2
This page is intended to be space where growers can share their knowledge and experience. Whether it be an observa on of the season, a gardening p or a good recipe please forward to [email protected] Waterwatch
HOME HARVEST
Connect, Grow, Eat, Enjoy!
The Home Harvest Feast is a celebration of home
grown produce and local food. Now in its fifth year,
we are again looking for volunteers to grow and
supply the produce for the summer harvest feast. for
the Home Harvest Feast to be held on 28 February
2016.
In return for your efforts, you will get to enjoy the
fruits of your labour at the Home Harvest Feast,
where trained chefs will turn the harvest into a feast
of culinary delight!
No matter your level of experience or how green
your fingers are, everyone is invited to take part and
get growing and plenty of advice and support will be
provided to all.
To find out more about Harvest Month or to sign up
as a grower visit www.banyule.vic.gov.au
Protect your garden during a
heatwave
There are a few other things you can do to help keep
heat stress at bay during the hottest part of summer.
Water
You may think it will help to water your plants at
midday in hot weather, however this is generally a
waste and the majority of water evaporates before it is
absorbed into the soil. Ideally you should aim for a
deeper watering 2 or 3 times a week either in the
morning or evening instead.
Be aware that plants wilt because they are losing more
water than they are gaining, this does not necessarily
mean they need more watering. Determine their need
for water by feeling the soil for moisture rather than
the appearance of leaves.
Shade
Plants can get sunburn! Relocating plants to a shaded
area or covering them with shade cloth are effective
ways to protect
your plants from
burning in the
midday sun.
Mulch
A thick layer of
mulch insulates
against both heat
and cold and will
help to keep the
soil moist.
Your garden can help you
Now is a great time to consider how your garden can
help you in summer. Take note of the suns position to
determine whether planting a tree could help cool
spaces within your home by shading windows and walls.
A plants shade can even help to improve the
efficiency of your air
conditioner!
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4
BUSHLAND MANAGEMENT
The Bushland Management team have been hard at work over Winter protecting and enhancing
Banyule’s biodiversity. Each crew’s reports can be seen below. Be sure to stop and say hi to your
local crew if you see them at work.
Yarra 2 Crew - Adrianna Koutsofrigas & Kate Grinter
As the hot summer approaches we are now finishing some of our
spring based activities. These have mainly included mapping significant species and controlling annual weeds before their set their
seed in our high quality northern Box-Stringybark Woodland
sites. Some of the annual weeds we have been controlling include:
Briza maxima (Quaking Grass), Erharta longiflora (Annual
Veldtgrass) and Stellaria media (Chickweed). Depending on the
location and species of weed, we have used the following methods to control annual weeds: hand weeding, spot burning, spot
spraying, brush cutting and using a mower to catch seed heads
and take them away from the site. We are very proud of how
lovely our northern bushland reserves are looking at the moment.
The stunning indigenous floral displays have been a wonderful reward for all our hard efforts.
Briza maxima
Darebin Creek Crew – Samantha Forbes and Veronica Bryant
The Darebin Creek bush crew have been busy this season controlling annual weeds. We have
been controlling them using several techniques including spraying, hand weeding, brush cutting and
mowing. We have not been conducting any controlled burns in the last month as it has been too
dry.
On the 25th of October the Darebin Creek
crew led a wildflower walk on the Banyule
Northern Grasslands (Darebin Creek) with the
Friends of Darebin Creek. It was an interesting
walk with lots of the wildflowers in bloom, we
were also lucky enough to see a Willie Wag Tail
nest and a Brown Snake.
Just a reminder for everyone to be vigilant for
snakes and keep their dogs on a leash in bushland reserves as they are very active at this time
of year.
No dog can resist such an interactive stick!
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BUSHLAND MANAGEMENT
Bring on the Butterflies
Over the past months within Andrew Yandell Reserve, tiny Notoncus
ants have been tending to some special little caterpillars as they
munch away on Sweet bursaria (Bursaria spinosa) shrubs. The ants
chaperone the caterpillar in and out of their nests each night and collect its sweet secretions in return for their protection. Without
Sweet bursaria shrubs or their little ant companions these caterpillars
would cease to exist.
Thanks to the determined effort of these ants and the Banyule Bush
crews, Andrew Yandell reserve is once again set to host the emergence of Eltham Copper Butterflies this year. Within weeks we can
expect to see the adult butterflies emerge to dance with each other
on the wing whilst they try to choose a mate.
The Eltham Copper Butterfly is an endangered species known only to
occur in Victoria. It is restricted to a few tiny, geologically separate
populations leaving it vulnerable to the effects of local threats such as
fire, human activity, pets and urban development.. The species was
though extinct in the 1950’s, only to be rediscovered in 1987 whereafter a recovery programme was put into place.
Our bush crews have been working hard to prepare for their emergence using a combination of weed control and ecological thinning to
provide an ideal habitat for their courtship and reproduction.
If you decide to go and view these metallic beauties for yourself, as
well as see the reserve which is currently teeming with native flowers,
please be mindful of their sensitivity and keep to the walking track.
If you would like to get involved in the conservation of the Eltham
Copper Butterfly, contact the Andrew Yandell Reserve Friends Group
or the Friends of the Eltham Copper Butterfly through their facebook
pages.
Pictures: Top to Bottom, Eltham Copper Butterfly, Habitat locations
in Victoria, The lifecycle of the Eltham Copper Butterfly.
5
WASTE
Waste Not, Food Waste Assessment – Schools embracing the problems of food waste
Most people are not aware that food waste is a significance concern to the environment as approximately 30% of an individual’s global warming footprint is food related. Food waste has significant
amounts of energy, water and carbon embodied within the production part of the supply chain.
They are also not aware that food waste also comprises 40-50% of municipal waste bins and this
means that Councils are paying for higher costs of disposing of household waste at the tip. Research has shown that, with regard to a household’s budget, it is clear that food is a significant part
of this cost.
Between 2014 and 2015, two primary schools in Banyule took on the challenge of encouraging their
communities to become more aware of food wastage and the effects of this waste has on their
household budgets, and the environment. The schools were Ivanhoe Primary School in Ivanhoe and
St Johns Primary School in Heidelberg.
The schools encouraged their parents to undertake a challenge of assessing their planning of meals,
shopping habits, how their store food at home and also what they do with their food leftovers. This
was assisted by a Food Waste Diary that was used by parents at home to assist them understand
their behaviours. This assessment was conducted over one week and the students were asked to
assist their parents.
Overall, 190 households completed their assessments and returned them to the school. There was
numerous comments were made on their experiences and suggestions for better practices in the
home.
Another initiative, by both schools, is that they have incorporated Green Cones into their school
plans in order to further reduce food wastage. These cones can take meat, cheese and other food
items from the kitchen. A perfect solution to leftover food at schools and in the home. These
cones are low maintenance and do not attract rodents or other pests as the food is
processed underground. They are also excellent for home use. For more information
contact Margaret Morgan on 94904588.
Picture Left : Stacey Morland, Sustainability
Representative (parent) and two students,
India and Sienna from Ivanhoe Primary
School demonstrate how the green cone
works in their school ground.
Picture Right: Connie Costa (Teacher) and
students Polly, Cara and Ebony from St John
Primary School show the Food Waste
Household Assessment kits
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TRANSPORT
VicHealth/Banyule Walk to
School Campaign.
It’s the 5th of October 2015 and Banyule’s school
children are eager to join thousands of their
compatriots across Victoria for the 2015 VicHealth/
Walk to School Program for 2015. Twelve local
primary schools registered formally to take part in
the initiative with an additional three schools/
education facilities taking part informally.
Walk to School items were placed on Council and
School’s websites, Facebook and Twitter for the
month of October, with uploading of photographs
and short stories of school and community events
where possible.
On the last day of the Walk to School month, a mass
walk was organised by Viewbank Primary School.
Over 400 students, parents, siblings, teachers and pet
animals walked from Price Park to the school
grounds, and what a sight it was!
How many students walked? The numbers are still
being compiled but we know that some individual
classes recorded nearly 500 walks for the month.
Right now, we estimate that nearly 50,000 additional
“walks” were recorded for the month of October in
Banyule. That’s 25,000 less car trips for the month!
An incentive of $200 was offered to each school
which registered to undertake a sustainable event
linked to the Walk to School program. Some
schools undertook a community breakfast; others
planted gardens, bought plants, fruit morning teas,
another school put the funding towards a bike rack.
Council incorporated the Walk to School Big
Community Breakfast with the Ride to Work
morning on Wed 14 October. Over 140 students,
parents and teachers from St Pius X Primary
School attended on the morning with a mass road
safety Walk to School from
Malahang Reserve to the
school at 8:30am. Thirty
students and teachers
attended from Olympic Village
P-4 Primary School. Parents
and Teachers were very
enthusiastic and are now
working towards holding a
similar healthy breakfast, play
and walk to school once a
month now and into 2016.
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NATURE PLAY
Of Bugs and Birds and Magical Things
Children in Banyule shared their thoughts about living in Banyule in the publication of a new picture storybook called ‘Of Bugs and Birds and Magical Things’ as part of Children’s Week celebrations. Whilst many
children commented on their appreciation for the natural environment, Skye from Panorama Heights Preschool summed it up nicely by telling us ‘Life is great for children in Banyule because we have lots of trees’
and created this picture of trees in her local area.
You can read more about the project on our website by following the link below.
http://www.banyule.vic.gov.au/Council/News-and-Public-Notices/Childrens-Week-2015
Become a Sustainability Leader and Make a Positive Difference!
Do you live or work in the City of Banyule? Would you like to lead sustainability action in your community? Then we would like to hear from you and potentially offer you free training in how to run a local environmental project.
The ‘Community Leaders in Sustainability’ course provides training in:

project management

leadership

funding your project

communication and marketing

environmental sustainability
Training runs from February to April 2016 at Ivanhoe Town Hall on Tuesday evenings. The we will help
you deliver a project which creates positive environmental outcomes in local communities.
To find out more and to apply visit www.sustainablecommunities.vic.gov.au
Applications close Monday December 7
8
SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLS
Wildlife Corridor’s Program
Banyule Council through the Wildlife Corridors
program.
Banyule’s Wildlife Corridors program encourages
residents, schools and local community groups to plant
indigenous plants that provide habitat for native birds,
animals and insects. This allows our wildlife to move
through the suburbs with adequate shelter and food
sources. It also links our major wildlife corridors along
Banyule’s waterways and in our bushland reserves.
The students planted butterfly habitat plants for all
stages of a butterfly’s life cycle. Butterflies lay eggs on
some species of native grasses. When caterpillars hatch
from these eggs they then feed on other plant species
and the adult butterflies feed on the nectar of the
flowering plants.
Three Year 3 and 4 classes and two year 6 classes
Council’s Wildlife Corridors program has created worked on planting, weed matting and mulching the
habitat links in 14 schools in Banyule during 2015.
butterfly garden with Banyule Council’s Environmental
Sustainability Education officer Jim Mead and teacher
Montmorency South Primary School Reconciliation and Anne Marie Webb.
Revegetation Day
Montmorency South Primary School held a The garden will help increase biodiversity in the school,
Reconciliation and Revegetation day earlier this year to which is aiming to become a 5-star resource smart
mark Reconciliation Week. Wurundjeri elders ran
school.
cultural awareness activities across the school for the children. Students worked hard on the school’s
bushland reserve to plant 500 indigenous plants supplied
by Banyule Council through the Wildlife Corridors
program. The important link between Wurundjeri
culture and the use of indigenous plants for food,
medicine, fibre and implements was conveyed to the
students throughout the day.
Year 2 and 3 classes worked with our Environmental
Sustainability Education officer Jim Mead, garden teacher
Jenna Harrington, and 12 volunteers from the
Montmorency Community Group to plant 500
indigenous plants on the bushland reserve and near the
entrance to the school. They learnt that the plants
provide habitat for native animals. Right on cue, some
noisy rainbow lorikeets inspected a nesting site in a
nearby tree hollow while the children worked below.
The students also spotted a tawny frogmouth sleeping
in a tree in the school grounds, which reinforced their
good work.
Glen Katherine Primary School Butterfly Garden
Butterflies are set to be a feature at Glen Katherine
Primary School this spring after students planted 500 indigenous butterfly attracting plants supplied by
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ENERGY
Power up with Positive Charge solar
Not only is solar a clean and renewable source of energy, it will save you money in the long run. To
help you choose what’s best for your needs, why not get Positive Charge to help you on your path
to the sunny side of the street?
Positive Charge provides independent advice and support. They only recommend tried and tested
solar suppliers that offer quality systems at affordable prices. Prices start from $3,160 for a 2 kilowatt system with a 10 year warranty on the installation and inverter and a 25 year warranty on the
solar panels.
Positive Charge is an initiative of the Moreland Energy Foundation, supported by Banyule and 13
other councils across Victoria.
Phone Positive Charge on 9385 8555 or visit positivecharge.com.au.
Did you know?
More than 60 Banyule households have installed solar power this year with the help of Positive
Charge.
These solar installations total up to about 150 kilowatts of capacity and are worth about $280,000.
Electricity bill savings that will result total up to about $50,000 per year
Over 1 million Australian households have solar power on their roofs.
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YOUR REVIEW
Tell us what you’re reading...
Read an interesting ‘environmental’ article lately? If you’ve been blown away by an authors take on any
sustainability issue including food growing, bird watching or natural resource conservation we’d love to
hear about it. Send your short review to Fleur and get ready to inspire others.
The Story of Stuff
The Story of Stuff was originally a 20-minute online
movie about the way we make, use and throw away all
the Stuff in our lives. It highlights the unnecessary
wastage and vicious loop of consumerism encouraged
by our society.
Five years and 40 million views later, the Story of Stuff
now has a fully fledged website, http://storyofstuff.org/,
and has grown into a community of more than a million
changemakers worldwide, working to build a more
healthy and just planet.
They have now created multiple movies which educate
people on the facts, figures and environmental
implications of a range of issues from face wash to
electronics. Their videos are commonly incorporated
into school curriculums as they are easy to understand
and logically discuss how our choices affect the world
around us.
Don’t think it’s all about the doom and gloom of
unsustainable living either, they also suggest ways to
improve our current situation and how avoid negatively
impacting our planet. In the future.
Although Story of Stuff is based in America its lessons and
issues are relevant globally. They encourage people to
become changemakers in their local areas and the videos
were created for community education screenings.
If videos and websites are not your cup of tea, the Story
of Stuff has also released a book of the same name.
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ENVIRONMENT EVENTS CALENDAR
December
5th
February
Fair @ Square
In 2015 Moral Fairground will be celebrating the values of ethical consumption and
environmental sustainability at Federation Square; with music, activities, sustainable
cooking demonstrations, ethical fashion shows and exhibitions, kid’s activities, exhibitors
and entertainment.
6-28th
Sustainable Living Festival
Showcasing the very best examples of ecological and social sustainability the event
embraces interactive workshops, talks, demonstrations, artworks, exhibits, films and live
performances. Come join in the celebrations and help accelerate the uptake of
sustainable living
28th
Home Harvest
The Home Harvest Feast is a celebration of home grown produce and local food.
Growers come together to share a meal prepared by trained chefs using their produce.
March
5th
Love your Soil Workshop
Your garden is fed by your soil. Learn how to love your soil and your garden will flourish.
Free workshop presented by local experts. Venue TBA. Registration essential visit
http://www.sustainablecommunities.vic.gov.au or phone 8470 8405 to register.
One more thing………
Hot weather is approaching. Remember that excessive heat can be dangerous for everyone and
everything around you. For advice and tips on how to stay safe and comfortable during a heat wave, visit
banyule.vic.gov.au or environmentvictoria.org.au/
No longer want to receive the Greenwrap?
If you don’t want to receive the Greenwrap any longer, your contact details have changed, or you would rather
receive the Greenwrap electronically, please contact Fleur on 9457 9828, or email:
[email protected]
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