It is Christmas Day (already for some, finally for others!) and we hope you have a day with friends and family, enjoying each other’s company, sharing some laughs and take time out from the ordinary.
We also wish you a prosperous and fun 2009!
Stay safe and please don’t drink and drive.
Precious Water is closed over the holiday period, but we will be back to help save our precious resources in mid January.
Posted: December 25th, 2008 under general.
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The average inflow of water in to Melbourne’s catchments from 1913 to 1996 was 625 GL/year.
The average from 1907 to 2007 is only 385 GL/year.
That’s a drop of over 800 litres per year.
Over the winter period, Melbourne’s water capacity was raised by 3.5% raising it to 33.6% by the end of August 2008.
In comparison to the storage level last year of 38.6%, we are down by 90 billion litres. Melbourne’s water storage is currently 34.5%.
Heading into what promises to be a very hot summer, it’s now crucial to conserve as much water as possible. Our catchments are already very low, and with a hot summer on the horizon now is the time to put your water conserving hat on. Check out some articles and tips on how to save and harvest water.
Posted: October 1st, 2008 under saving water.
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As part of our aim to save water and protect our planet, we provide informative articles on our site for you to read – and even use on your website or in your newsletter and so forth (please note the conditions listed on our articles page though.)
We are pleased to announce that we have just added another three articles as resources for you – two are particularly relevant if you run a business and the other is about Christmas (can you believe Christmas is approaching already?)
You can view all of our articles on our articles page, along with our colouring pages and a growing resource of information to help children learn about water and its conservation.
Posted: September 25th, 2008 under general.
Comments: 2
Having introduced some environmentally friendly behaviours to your life and business, it can be easy to leave it at that – and hard to find further changes to make.
Like other things, such as running a business or being a parent, conservation behaviour can be expanded. Here are some ideas on how to learn more about conservation and gather ideas you can put into action:
Some websites you may find useful include:
Posted: September 4th, 2008 under general.
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A couple of days ago, ASIC announced the possibility of super funds being able to send their annual report electronically – previously, they have been obligated to send a paper copy of the report to each and every member.
Obviously, this will mean fewer copies are printed (saving paper, energy and ink) and also reduced mailing impacts (envelopes or plastic covers.) It will also presumably save the super funds a lot of money – which theoretically means more money is avilabale to go to members instead of the funds/administrators, etc
If you prefer to get and read an annual report, you could of course print off the email/website yourself, or you can request one is mailed to you and the fund must comply with your request. But as we suspect most people don’t take much notice of these reports, this change of rules could be a very positive, grren reform for our super funds.
As you receive annual reports later this year, watch out for an electronic version or notification on how you can opt for a soft copy from now on.
Posted: June 24th, 2008 under general.
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The federal budget was announced on 13 May and includes some green initiatives.
Water for the Future
A national water policy framework is being introduced and called Water for the Future. There is funding of $12.9 billion over the next 10 years.Objectives/projects include:
The Government is also going to accelerate the $400million for water efficiency and entitlements in the Murray-Darling basin.
Green Loans
$300 million over 5 years is being directed to the Green Loans program. This program will help households add solar, water and energy efficient products.
Another $150 million will help insulate rental properties over the next 5 years.
Another $14 million is going to the Energy Efficiency of Electrical Appliances policy over four years to help us all choose the greenest appliances for our needs.
Environmental care
Over the next five years, they will also invest $2.2 billion to “better protect, manage and improve” our natural resources and environmental systems.
The following 6 focus areas will be reviewed each year:
We look forward to a positive change on our environment!
Posted: May 20th, 2008 under general.
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Books are a valuable resource we should be treasuring, but the reality is that creating books is not very environmentally friendly. And ebooks will never have the same feel and appeal as holding a new book in your hand and reading it curled up in bed or stretched out on the beach.
One company in the UKis giving us a middle option – probably not half way between an ebook and a traditionally published book, but still an improvement. They use paper prepared from sustainable forests and they recycle 91% of the water they use. Add in a few other sound business practices (e.g. recycling in the office, printing double sided in house, avoiding cars) and they are a better option for book publishing.
So, if you had a choice between a traditional book, an ebook or a hard copy book printed using less resources, which would you take?
Does this give you inspiration and ideas to make changes in your industry for a greener alternative?
Posted: May 6th, 2008 under green products.
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The Australian website, Save Time Online, has had a listing for Precious Water for some time. But now we have also joined in one of their seasonal promotions which we thought might interest many people.
The promotion is called May Madness and (not surprisingly) runs between 1st and 31st of May. A number of Australian businesses are making special offers available during May so you can get some great deals – and there’s no charge to access the deals, either.
So go Mad and see what bargains you can find!
Posted: April 29th, 2008 under general.
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All of those prunings can be used directly on the garden as mulch – saves trying to break it down or add it to the compost!
The big prunings may not be what we are used to seeing in our gardens, but they are very good for muclhing trees:
However, if the prunings are too dry, they could provide a fire risk in dry periods so this is better done in Autumn than spring…
Posted: April 4th, 2008 under gardening.
Comments: 1
We were recently visiting and saw someone using cold water to help defrost some meat from the freezer – it is so long since we have seen someone do this that we had forgotten it as an option!
Of course, using water in this way is not a constructive use of water – and it really doesn’t speed the process that much. Warm water is faster, but also wastes water.
A microwave is a quicker and more effective means of defrosting food – it doesn’t use water, but it does use energy.
The best option is to plan ahead and defrost things slowly in the fridge overnight. You could also leave it on the bench overnight to defrost but that has the potential for bacteria and toxins to flourish in the food.
Posted: April 2nd, 2008 under general.
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