Kia Ora fellow eco warriors, sustainability at the Academy is an overriding philosophy, one that has been in place since we moved in prior to the February earthquake. Our flat is called the Academy because it is a centre of learning and knowledge. The online blog has been rather neglected but this was due to a lack of internet, not interest!
There has been many ongoing projects here, including brewing our own beer, planting a native garden, bringing in Chickens, a big compost bin and building a bike shed, just naming a few projects!
Every Sunday evening we gather as a flat and have a candle lit vegan/vegetarian dinner and share stories and experiences from our week. This is followed by an environmental or sustainable themed movie or documentary. Knowledge and understanding is key to sustainability and we have been spreading the message, with many of our friends regularly attending these Sunday night events.
Other regular flat events, include making homemade jam, baking bread, toasting muesli and making Yoghurt. These are fun times, one of which all the flat mates enjoy doing as we get to directly benefit from the fruits (pun intended!) of our labour.
shopping for edibles, we shop as a flat, sharing all food. We eat well by shopping at Raewood Fresh ( a 5 minute walk away) for vegetable and fruit, and the Bin Inn for all our bulk food requirements.
Other sustainable schemes include reducing our environmental impact and simultaneously saving our flat money. Ways we have done this include putting a 2L container in the toilet tank. (Helping use less water). The whole house has eco bulbs and we also have a supply of nice warm blankets in the lounge, helping keep us toasty warm without the aid of a heater.
Hands down one of the greatest features of our place is the forest out the back. When we first arrived it was overgrown and had a lot of junk in it (a lot of broken glass, wire, old sacks, car parts and plastics). We have spent a lot of time and effort, restoring the forest to its former splendour while also planting at least a dozen natives to complement the existing trees. A positive spinoff of this ‘healthy’ forest is the return of birds, with a number fantails, sparrows, Wax eyes and black birds taking up residence. We have also sighted a couple wood pigeons fly into our canopy, suspected to be from the Deans bush area.
Also with the forest, when we first moved in it was also covered in Yellow flag and Oldmans beard (two very noxious and prolific weeds). This resulted in a fully fledged war breaking out against these weeds, with Sun Tsu’s ‘the art of war’ providing invaluable advice for finally conquering this adversary. With these weeds gone we were able to plant Hebes and other native plants.
Our forest area is complete with a hammock, seating and soon a firebath, making this an excellent greenspace to come and relax in.
please check out the video of our progress!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTp-n4I2gA0
Signing out, - Nathan reporting on behalf of the Academy
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