Blog
Our blog features a variety of gardening and sustainablity articles on topics such as soil biology, composting, grafting, pruning, water-saving and irrigation clean energy, waste and biodiversity. Plus we regularly post recipes to help you make the most of the ‘seasonal glut’ and tips on how to live in a more sustainable way.
The life in the soil and why you should soil your undies!
Diversity is important. Above ground, there is an amazing array of plants, birds, animals, flowers and insects. In the ocean, there are amazing fishes, crustaceans and other animals. Diversity below the ground is important too. The micro-organisms below the soil are...
8 Ways to Reduce Light Pollution Impacts on Wildlife
Leaving unnecessary lights on at night is a waste of electricity, carbon emissions and money. Importantly, it’s also creating harmful impacts on some of our wildlife. Artificial light at night directly impacts the health and safety of individual creatures and...
FOGO Waste Collection in Banyule
The kerbside green waste revolution coming soon A new waste management system is coming our way soon, with the start of the Food Organic and Garden Organic (FOGO) waste collection in the City of Banyule. From 4 July, food and garden waste will be collected every week....
Simple steps to make your home more energy efficient
Last month I wrote about some of the basics in building a more energy efficient home. This article describes some of the ways you can make an existing home more energy efficient with some simple steps. While a full 'ground up' retrofit can make a house far more energy...
The Swift Parrots are back!
The Swift Parrots (Lathamus discolor) have returned to mainland Australia. Research published in December 2020 suggests there may only be several hundred Swift Parrots left, meaning they are on the very brink of extinction. Logging and habitat destruction are the most...
Sustainable Housing
Looking around at new houses being built in Macleod, there are multiple examples of houses that could be far more sustainable if they followed some simple principles of environmental design. Older houses in the area also suffer from not following some basic principles...
Recycling Footwear
It's the start of the sports season and you realise that your budding footballer or netball star has outgrown their shoes. How will you dispose of them? A few enterprises are now focusing on upcycling or recycling sports footwear and equipment or making recyclable...
Figuring out the fig!
The fig family is a complicated one when it comes to fertilisation, choice of variety, cropping and pruning, but very easy to grow in most soil conditions and in our climate. Different types of fig There are 4 types of fig: Adriatic or common figs which are a variety...
Jagajaga Volunteer Award recipients
The annual Jagajaga Volunteer Awards which were presented on 2 April to 51 recipients including six members of Sustainable Macleod. Most recipients received awards for service to Jagajaga across a number of organisations. The awards were presented by our federal...
The under-rated turnip!
Turnip top tips Net seedlings Water well Succession plant for a constant supply Eat when young Turnips are a much under-rated but easily grown vegetable. The root can be eaten raw either grated into a coleslaw or sliced for a salad or cut into fingers for dips;...
Banyule Bicycle Strategy
Rising petrol prices, increased road congestion with the pandemic and the indisputable health benefits have all made cycling more popular than ever. Banyule City Council have released the Banyule Bicycle Strategy for 2022-2027, building on the 2010-2020 Bicycle...
Banyule’s No Local Species Extinction plan – part 2
Jen Willis interviewed Banyule’s biodiversity adviser, Paul Davis about the No Local Species Extinction Plan that Council are developing. If you haven’t already, you can read the first part of the interview with more information about the six key indicator species...
Get to know your committee
We recently held our annual AGM and voted in our committee for the coming year. Find out all about the newly elected committee and why they decided to get involved.Paul Gale-Baker - President I am grateful to be elected President of Sustainable Macleod for another...
Great news – Banyule is developing a No Local Species Extinction plan!
You may have seen a request from Banyule City Council’s (Council) biodiversity team for community group input into the No Local Extinction Plan they are developing. This is the first action plan of its kind locally and is a fantastic initiative to attempt to retain as...
Join Sustainable Macleod
Become a member and get access to the community garden, the tool library and our seed library. We welcome all members of the community and have regular events and workshops to enjoy.