Contents

• Recycling Organic Wast...Worms never sleep!!!
• St Kilda Indigenous Nursery Co-op
• ‘SORRY DAY’ Calls Community Together
• Sustainable Living at Home (SLAH)
• Seasonal Greetings
• Balcolny Garden Workshop
• JECO Youth Eco Project
• Tell someone who's interested

Click here for the PDF version (0.8 meg).

Welcome

Welcome to the July 2006 edition of "The Eco", the newsletter for Friends of the Port Phillip EcoCentre.
Our aim is to provide an informative and entertaining snapshot of the activities, achievements and interests of all the wonderful people who contribute towards the goals of the EcoCentre, inspiring us to take
'local action for a global future'.

Do you have some news for The Eco? Contributions are always welcome.

Email info@ecocentre.com with your contribution and contact details.

Recycling Organic Waste...Worms never sleep!!!

By Wendy Van Dort

Did you know that 60% of landfill in the Port Phillip area comes from organic matter? This is just one of the many interesting facts that was imparted to the enthusiastic participants of the Organic Waste Demonstration event that took place at the Veg Out Farmer’s Market on 3rd June 2006 as part of the World Environment Day activities.

Sue Phillips and Michael Dodd from the Port Phillip Council Sustainable Living At Home (SLAH) program teamed up with Geoff Barry and Wendy Van Dort from the EcoCentre and Greg O’Donohue from Eco Organics to talk about three different methods of recycling organic waste. The methods demonstrated were composting, worm farms and Bokashi buckets.

Geoffrey and Wendy with their wonderful worms

The aim of the demonstrations was to show how simple and fun it is for people to recycle their own organic waste at home and to raise awareness about the benefits of recycling. Mainly, that people can contribute to their own health and the health of the environment by converting their organic matter (that is anything that was once living) into a rich source of nutrients for their garden.

A total of 60 people participated in the three demonstrations held during the day. The event was a great learning forum and opportunity to share ideas and get practical…Yes we even handled the worms!

The message is:

RE-THNK what you do with
your kitchen scraps,

REVITALISE your garden and

RECYCLE, RECYCLE, RECYCLE!

If you have any further queries about how to recycle your waste or how to live in a more sustainable manner, come down and ask the staff at the EcoCentre who are available weekdays to give you expert advice and on-going support.

The EcoCentre welcomes volunteers

to maintain the Eco veggie garden

and gain valuable hands-on experience

in organic gardening.

Drop in and have a cup of tea and wander around the garden and see for yourselves the worm farm and compost bin in action and discover other concepts of sustainable living.

Newsletter Contents

Sustainable Living at Home (SLAH)

This annual environmental program helps City of Port Phillip residents improve the comfort and health of their home and reduce impact on the environment and the cost of their bills. At the composting and worm farming presentations SLAH participants received either a free compost bin, worm farm or Bokashi bucket as part of the program. Non-SLAH participants were invited to order a compost bin or a worm farm which cost $30 and $53.90 respectively.

The SLAH program will be offered again in 2007 to City of Port Phillip residents. Contact Michael or Sue on 9209 6382 or register your interest online at:
http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/slah.html.

Newsletter Contents

St Kilda Indigenous Nursery Co-op

is pleased to announce the birth of

www.skinc.com.au

on 1st June 2006 at 6.30pm.

Parents and baby are doing fine!

The obstetrician was Martin Wischer of Wigpip Design.

Newsletter Contents

‘SORRY DAY’ CallsCommunity Together

With thanks to Pauline Whyman and Rosemary Rule (Chair, Port Phillip Citizens for Reconciliation Inc.)

‘Sorry Day 2006’ was commemorated in Port Phillip on Saturday, 27 May, the start of National Reconciliation Week. Port Phillip Citizens for Reconciliation Inc (PPCfR). with assistance from the City of Port Phillip (CoPP), organised the event in O’Donnell Gardens, St Kilda that attracted a large crowd of indigenous and non-indigenous people.

The day started at 11.30am with a welcome to country by Boonerwrung Elder Carolyn Briggs and a smoking ceremony by Ron Murray. Many of the crowd walked through the smoke and accepted a gum leaf from Carolyn. Mikael Smith, local resident and former Indigenous Policy & Programs officer with the CoPP, was Master of Ceremonies, introducing Mayor Janet Bolitho, the State Member for Prahran Tony Lupton MP and local church representatives, Pastor Digby Hannah from the Baptist Church, Fr. Terry Keane from Sacred Heart Catholic Church and Fr. Ray McInnes of St. Silas' Anglican Church, Albert Park.

Judy ‘Jacko’ Jackson
Pic Carmel Shute

Dennis Fisher, aka Den the Fish, read poems and got the audience participating. Then Aunty Maria Starcevic, Judith ‘Jacko’ Jackson and Mabel Enoka took to the stage, yarning and telling jokes in “Funny Bones-A Sit Down Comedy”. Mabel sang ‘Won’t you come home Bill Bailey,’ accompanied on guitar by Neil Blake.

Congratulations to Theatreworks who proudly produced "Funny Bones" with skills development funding from Arts Victoria and in consultation with elders of *Our Rainbow Place. Also, a special acknowledgement to long-term resident of St. Kilda and award winning actor/writer/producer and theatre maker Pauline Whyman who directed and crafted "Funny Bones" with assistance by local comedian Russell Fletcher. Also, local community artist Julie Shiels assisted immensely in the application writing for funding in the initial stages. The EcoCentre, in St. Kilda Botanical Gardens was made available for rehearsals .

Mabel ROCKS!!!

A fitting finale to the Sorry Day event was listening to singer-composer Joe Geia and his band. The 200 or so people present also enjoyed the free sausage sizzle, apples and bottled water and many stopped by PPCfR’s information and merchandise stall.

* Our Rainbow Place is a group of indigenous community members who live in the City of Port Phillip. The group operates under the umbrella of Inner South Community Service and provides recreation and social activities as well as health promotion and access to mental and general health services. Meeting since 2000, the group and has a steering committee of indigenous Elders who organise the program in consultation with the broader community.

Maria Starcevic
Pic Carmel Shute

There's a murmur of "Funny Bones"

performing again later this year

in a theatre near you.

So stay tuned!!!!

Newsletter Contents

Seasonal Greetings

By Neil Blake

Now is a great time to spot those little blue packets of testosterone first in line for an interesting springtime. Male Superb Blue Wrens moult after breeding each year and regain their brilliant blue plumage during winter. It seems that males moulting late in the winter or into early spring are not in the race to entice the breeding females.

Blue male all dressed up and waiting for spring!
Pic by Andrew McCutcheon

Blue Wrens feed on a broad range of small animal life, mainly insects and other invertebrates. They have been recorded eating seeds to a much lesser extent. They build a spherical nest with a side entry consisting of grass stems, moss, rootlets, twigs, spiders’ web, and lined with feathers well hidden in tussocks, low shrubs, or occasionally in dense foliage up to 6 metres.

Apart from attracting the females, the brilliant blue plumage has worked its magic on the human population too. Why else would we call the species ‘Superb Blue’ when more often than not they’re brown? They’re usually seen skipping about on lawns or open ground under and around dense shrubs; and easily distinguished from the other little brown critters by their upright tail feathers.

For further details on the EcoCentre’s Blue Wren project check the EcoCentre website www.ecocentre.com

Blue Wren Female
Pic by Andrew McCutcheon

Something fishy in the Yarra

The public perception of the Yarra estuary as a biological ‘no-go zone’ seems to have escaped the Little Pied Cormorants that regularly fish the waters under the Westgate Bridge. Human fisherfolk are also common on this stretch of the river but they generally cast a line from the relative safety of the riverbank rather than dive into the briny brown.

Two Darters (new kids on the rock) have been recently spotted roosting on the bridge foundations in the river near the western bank. Darters feed on water bugs and fish. Often seen in company with cormorants (close relatives); they are easily distinguished by their S shaped neck, smaller head, and dagger-like bill.

This species is generally known to inland waterways, most often reported on the Murray River and rarely in estuaries. Conventional wisdom has it that Darters head towards the coast in winter in northern Australia, and in summer in southern Australia. By all accounts their choice of destination hasn’t disappointed. They were still there more than a week after first being sighted.

Royal Spoonbills are relatively big birds that feed by wading in shallows, systematically sweeping their bills from left to right through the water. Occasionally they catch fish and shrimps. But as their prey is mostly small water bugs they need lots of them! A 1970's study found Spoonbills caught around 90 bugs an hour. When food is scarce in winter they’re often still at work after dark.

Royal Spoonbill
Pic by Greg Sujecki

Spoonbills have been recorded feeding at night at St Kilda's West Beach, but not only during winter. Perhaps there absence during daylight hours is more likely due to the waggish behaviour of domestic dogs, who have no need to work, being handsomely rewarded with a daily ration of heaven in a can.

Newsletter Contents

Permaculture, Balcony Garden Workshop

	Do you have a balcony or balcony garden that desperately needs re-invention? Have you always wanted to know how you can grow food in a small space or create a living, edible sanctuary? Read on!
	Few plants ever wish to be reincarnated as a balcony plant. Blasted by wind and sun, or maybe subjected to shaded, sun-starved places where they can't get a wash or even a drink...With nowhere to go but their own pot for nutrition and water. Their preoccupied human caretakers forget to feed and water them till they see something wilting. A hungry thirsty plant cant defend itself from pests, and things start looking quite sorry. Human love turns to guilty disappointment at this point, and being at loss for a solution, the victims are sent to landfill!

With Permaculture, there's a different story. Permaculture uses the power of design, or ‘right thing in the right place ’ .

It uses the power of systems, or ‘elements that nourish each other ’ And it uses the power of Dreaming......an underutilised, free, totally renewable resource!

Through inspiring presentations and practical workshop activities, permaculture facilitators Cecilia Macaulay and Amadis Lacheta will take you on a fabulous journey. You will come away with a suite of skills and ideas that may just spill over your balcony and into the rest of your life!

Where: Garden of Eden

When: Two Workshops will be held:
Saturday 12th August and Tuesday 15th August

Time: 10-3pm

Course fees: Full fee $80, Concession card holders $70

This includes materials, light lunch, refreshments and herb teas from the garden.

Albert Park Railway Station, Ferrars Place, South Melb, Vic 3205

P: 03 9696 8013
F: 03 9645 8365

E: amadis@gardenofedenproject.net.au
W: www.gardenofedenproject.net.au

PLEASE BRING A PHOTO OF YOUR BALCONY WITH YOU, AND ANY OTHER INSPIRATIONAL MATERIAL SUCH AS GARDEN BOOKS AND MAGAZINES

Newsletter Contents

JECO Youth Eco Project .

Port Phillip EcoCentre Membership.

We are a not-for-profit umbrella organisation that supports groups, individuals, schools and businesses in the City of Port Phillip and the wider region to protect / enhance biodiversity and promote sustainability.

By becoming an Individual, Household or an Affiliated member allows us to grow the aims of all involved in sustainable living. Call in for a cuppa: 9am-5pm Monday to Friday, or phone 9534 0670 to learn more about the benefits membership can offer you.

Proudly sponsored by
City of Port Phillip.

Newsletter Contents

Tell someone who’s interested!

Vicki Jaeger - News co-ordinator

The newsletter is distributed to EcoCentre members and is on the web. This makes it a great voice for your group.

To submit articles on issues and action, events or projects send items to: info@ecocentre.com

Ph: (03) 9534 0670
Fax: (03) 9525 3312

www.ecocentre.com

Deadline for contributions is the 15th of each month

Newsletter Contents

Top