Starfish | Sustainable Living Armidale

Bush benefits back pockets too

by editor | 18 Nov 2014 | Starfish | 1 comment

Replanting native forests and woodlands vegetation on Indigenous lands, especially across southern and eastern Australia, could help restore the nation’s native vegetation in places where it is needed, as well as store significant amounts of carbon, according to a new...

The Green Swing

by editor | 31 Oct 2014 | Starfish

Towards the end of 2009 two couples started an ambitious project promoting sustainability in urban living, which they named “The Green Swing”. Until 2013 their main focus has been to complete a small scale, sustainable, inner city development called “Genesis” as well...

Work begins on Australia’s first community energy retailer

by editor | 17 Oct 2014 | Starfish

A new consortium is working to establish Australia’s first community owned retailer, with big plans to build, generate and sell renewable energy in the northern rivers region of NSW around Byron Bay and Lismore. Northern Rivers Energy is being formed by a consortium...

C4CE Update

by editor | 17 Oct 2014 | Starfish

Membership Now Open Applications for membership of C4CE are now open. Membership is open to all projects and organisations working on community energy ~ be they community groups, business, government agencies, research organisations and philanthropists. Membership is...

Take the Pledge this summer!

by editor | 9 Oct 2014 | Starfish

Keep NSW Beautiful has been campaigning against littering for nearly forty years. Its programs focus on reducing litter. In its annual report for 2013, Keep Australia Beautiful reported that national littering trends are decreasing in comparison to figures dating...

Global wildlife populations down by half since 1970

by editor | 9 Oct 2014 | Starfish

The world populations of fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles fell overall by 52 per cent between 1970 and 2010. According to World Wildlife Fund’s tenth Living Planet Report humankind’s demands are now 50 per cent more than nature can bear. To gauge the...

The Winds of Change

by editor | 1 Oct 2014 | Energy, Starfish

While community energy is thriving overseas, Australia remains behind the curve. Denmark Community Windfarm (DCW) has built a two turbine windfarm, with permission for two more, in response to locals wanting to build a small, community-scale windfarm that would: feed...

Town Expression of Interest – ZNET Case Study

by editor | 22 Sep 2014 | Energy, Event, Starfish

The overall purpose of Zero Net Energy Town (ZNET) is to create Australia’s first town which satisfies all of its own energy needs at all times from renewable energy sources in a way which is competitive with its current system of energy (in terms of price, quality,...

99.999% certainty humans are driving global warming

by editor | 22 Sep 2014 | Climate, Starfish | 2 comments

New research by CSIRO has shown that there is less than 1 chance in 100,000 that global average temperature over the past 60 years would have been as high without human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Published in the journal Climate Risk Management today, our...

Early Bird Tickets now OPEN for NCEF ’14

by editor | 12 Sep 2014 | Event, Starfish

The North Coast’s annual event for creating a sustainable energy system is just around the corner and it’s time to book your tickets to ensure your place. Early Bird Tickets are Available Now!! Now in its fourth year, the North Coast Energy Forum brings together...