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Bells Line of Road, , Blue Mountains 2758, Blue Mountains, Australia

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'Talk doesn't cook rice'.....sowing the seeds for revolution

Caroline Payne posted on 13th June 2018

A revolution begins with collective change – of mindset, behaviour, lifestyle and aspiration – in favour of a sustained, balanced future, which benefits us all. Reduction Revolution is a Sydney-based online distribution company that offers the tools and expertise to revolutionise energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption and cost.

The concept is simple. Educate the public about sustainability and provide quality, affordable products that manage energy usage and result in cost-effective changes. Local resident, Ryan McCarthy, is the founder, owner and director of Reduction Revolution and a new member to the Low Carbon Living program. He comments that “solar power attracts a great deal of media exposure but there’s not enough emphasis on alternative, reasonably-priced energy efficient products, which provide a quick return on investment, and are reliable and easy to maintain”.

Ryan, a qualified photovoltaic engineer and energy efficiency expert, began collaborating with colleagues from sustainability-promoting organisations Steplight and Negergy 10 years ago, by globally sourcing products that endorsed energy efficiency. At the time, an abundance of ‘gadgets’ saturated the market that proved unworthy investments. The seeds were sown for a distribution company that provides high quality products from reputable brands, that are easy to self-install and maintain. The need for support services such as energy audits, sustainability workshops and training courses were also identified. Reduction Revolution was launched in 2010 and has since catered to 30, 000 customers across Australia and New Zealand.

With winter upon us, heating is a top priority for businesses and property owners throughout the Blue Mountains. As temperatures drop energy bills soar. Homes and businesses generally consume 50% of their energy use in heating, cooling and hot water systems. If solar-powered heating systems are not an option, alternatives need to be considered. Electric and oil column heaters are inefficient in directing heat and drive high electricity bills, consuming thousands of watts unnecessarily. Electric fans or convection heaters direct heat horizontally but need more energy to maintain high temperatures as air movement promotes cooling. Bar and panel radiator-type heaters produce radiant heat but are high ‘performance per watt’ power consumers, they also pose fire risks and have ephemeral life spans.

If direct heating takes precedence, Reduction Revolution offers a Heat Master Foot Mat Heater, which delivers heat directly under a desktop or it lies adjacent to a sofa. With an annual cost of $10 to run, the heat mat uses 90% less energy than electric heaters. The mat delivers radiant/conductive heat directly to where it is needed, and distributes an even temperature. If used in conjunction with an EcoSwitch, it allows easier access to the power button and cuts standby power to zero. As an effective energy management device, the HeaterMate Plug-in Thermostat accurately senses and controls the actual room temperature by turning the appliance (heater fan or air-conditioner) on and off at the powerpoint. This is significant as every 1˚C of unnecessary heating adds around 10% to heating bills.

Monitoring energy consumption can be self-audited with the Efergy Elite Wireless Energy Monitor the keeping track of hourly, daily and weekly energy usage. It is the world’s best selling in-home energy display unit (with over half a million unit sold) and is suitable for single and three-phase households. Simple and easy to use, it displays current and historical energy usage and cost, time, temperature and humidity, and an optional alarm function warns when a pre-set power usage level is exceeded. For specific use, Plug-in Power Meters measure and track power consumption of individual appliances or circuits, noting current power consumption, electricity usage over time and a range of other metrics including amps and voltage.

Reduction Revolution also includes a Solar Powered Solar Air Heater in its varied range of products. The Solar Air Heater is 100% solar powered with zero running costs. It can be mounted on the wall or the roof.

Energy efficient lighting options available online include renowned brands such as Osram, Philips and Verbatim offering LED light bulbs, LED Fluro tube lights, LED filament globes (dimmable), LED motion sensor lights and fittings (minimising energy usage) and accessories such as power plugs, dimmer switches, LED transformers, motion sensors and light meters. Energy savings of up to 80% are guaranteed.

As a service provider, Reduction Revolution conducts energy audits, organises courses and workshops and delivers complete sustainability programs in partnership with local government, energy utilities and others. “We are more than happy to advise our fellow Low Carbon Living members, local businesses and residents about saving energy, money and the environment. An appointment is only a phone call away” says Ryan.

Online resources include The Energy Freedom Home Book and The Business Energy Auditing Handbook. "Reduction Revolution also pledges $10 to every $100 online purchase to a number of sustainability organisations."

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In other news, invention company Lead Tech have developed new space heating that runs heat pumped water through radiators to warm hotel rooms as well as other living and working spaces. Lead Tech heat pumps are silent, highly efficient and use heat from the air to heat water, with no additional heating elements like other brands. This is not unlike an Air Conditioner working in reverse.

The system’s efficiency can be boosted by incorporating solar collectors that assist in producing higher water temperatures which are generally well above 70 degrees celsius for much less cost than using gas fired boilers. Lead Tech heat pumps come in various sizes.

If you’re interested to know more please call 1800 388 688 or

email Jeff at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

And finally, now that we are nearing the end of the financial year, there’s never been a better time to refurbish your workplace, school or business with energy efficient carbon saving products. The Australian Taxation Office is currently offering a $20,000 instant asset write off scheme for businesses with goods needing to be purchased, installed & paid for before 30th June. For more information click here: https://www.ato.gov.au/Newsroom/smallbusiness/Lodging-and-paying/$20,000-instant-asset-write-off.

Reduce. Embrace. Evolve: providing residents, schools and businesses with knowledge and technology may save the planet and ensure a better future for all.

Carbon neutrality: “simply a way of life now": Tracy Ponich & Feathermark Photography -

Caroline Gillian-Payne posted on 7th May 2018

Katoomba-based photographer Tracy Ponich is the first individual artist to become a member of the Low Carbon Living program, winning a gold LCL rating for sustainable art practices and modelling a carbon neutral lifestyle that is not only possible but is “simply a way of life now”. Tracy manages every aspect of her photographic print’s creation - capturing, processing, printing, publishing and exhibiting – ensuring that her carbon footprint is consistently negligible and proving environmental compromise has its rewards.

Pangolin Associates, a sustainability, energy and carbon management company, measures Tracy’s carbon footprint (and that produced by her suppliers) and calculates the emissions in tonnes, which may then be offset with certified carbon credits. Carbon credit projects eliminate or prevent greenhouse gases and allow individuals and businesses to claim carbon neutrality due to their ‘net zero emissions’.

Tracy’s Feathermark Photography studio creates limited edition photographic prints primarily of the Blue Mountains environment, but her subject matter extends to gardens, landscapes, street scenes and portraitures. Transitions, ‘a sustainable exhibition’, is her latest endeavour currently viewed at Leura’s Everglades Historic House & Gardens. This is the fruition of a year-long collaboration, interpreting seasonal and climatic change at the gardens and in part, a photographic eulogy to Paul Sorensen, the property’s original landscape/garden designer.

In a concerted effort to be sustainable in each and every pursuit, the Transitions exhibition is a carbon neutral event, taking into account transportation, set-up, print development, book and document production, food and drink suppliers for the exhibit opening, energy usage during the exhibition period and advertising. Prints were framed by Hope Tree Framing in Wentworth Falls using Australian timber and packaged in recycled paper and Springwood Printing Company printed the accompanying book. Ross Hill Wines (certified carbon neutral winery), 4 Pies Beers (BCorp accredited), Logan Brae Orchards(locally organic) and silver LCL-BM members Lyttleton Stores (locally organic) were among the food and drinks suppliers.

Canadian-born Tracy has been acutely aware of climate change for many years. Having travelled extensively with her husband, and once settling in the Blue Mountains, the couple, in partnership, “decided to reduce our carbon footprint through our choices in life, including every product we purchase, (and) all of our actions”. The goal is simply to be carbon neutral. Solar panels installed at their home in 2015 generate a daily average of 14KWH (24KWH on exceptionally sunny days), supplying up to 80% of daily energy usage including Tracy’s Feathermark garden studio and a plug-in hybrid electric SUV vehicle (PHEV). Future investment in a second array will compensate for the difference.

The PHEV is suitable for transporting photographic equipment and off-road location shoots. The solar panels recharge the car via an external power point convenient for local trips. Designated charge stations, Charge Point, throughout the state, supply electricity for longer excursions. The NRMA have announced plans to introduce charge stations in the Blue Mountains with its first roll-out.

Feathermark studio is fitted with energy efficient lighting, heating and essential photographic equipment. All waste is recycled, packaging avoided, and necessary cellophane sleeves for cards are plant-based and compostable. Tracy develops her prints with an environmentally friendly Epson wide format printer and offsets unavoidable emissions with certified forest conservation carbon credits.

“No one can eliminate all emissions, the only way to ‘neutralise’ one’s carbon footprint is to offset with globally certified carbon credits and it doesn’t matter where these come from” explains Tracy. Tracy’s current preferences are a biodiversity corridor conservation in WA, avoiding deforestation in Tasmania, overseas projects such as WithOneSeed in Timor-Leste, solar energy in Southern India. Tracy suggests selecting a portfolio of initiatives that suitably align with the investing business and researching globally, keeping in mind how better to sustain communities and create jobs. “The planet doesn’t care where we reduce emissions through offsetting, just that it is effectively done”.

Tracy also funds managed reforestation projects in Australia. For each photographic print sold, an Australian native is planted through Trees for Life. For this Transition’s exhibition, 30 trees were planted in conjunction with the exhibit and the production of the Australian Heritage Festival and Sydney’s Head on Festival later in the year.

Welcoming the Southern Highlands to Low Carbon Living Australia

Dominic O'Grady, Photo Moss Vale Golf Club, posted on 13th March 2018

There’s a clear sense among supporters of Low Carbon Living, Southern Highlands that now is the time to establish a network of businesses committed to sustainability. With the rollout on 22 March of the Low Carbon Living national program, there’s hope that other regions such as the Margaret River- Busselton region, Byron Bay, Central Australia and Kangaroo Island will come on board.

Ecotourism Australia is supporting the national program, together with UNSW Sydney’s Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living, and the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute (BMWHI). “Some of us have been banging on about climate change for years,” admits Miles Lochhead, who runs the Southern Highlands-based environmental and resource management consultancy, zerrro. “I think every community needs to consider a low carbon lifestyle, both at a personal level and from a business perspective – but I am biased!”

Mr Lochhead says the opportunity to be part of Low Carbon Living, Southern Highlands is too good to miss. “We saw this as an excellent opportunity for local business to get on board, make a difference, and save money.” The founding chair of Low Carbon Living Southern Highlands, Randall Walker, agrees. He says consumers want to make positive purchasing decisions and want to spend their money with business operators who are committed to sustainability.

“If a business isn’t able to overtly demonstrate its commitment to sustainability, consumers are less likely to be interested in them,” Mr Walker says. Mr Walker believes local operators are realistic about the benefits of sustainability. “Businesses in the NSW Southern Highlands are keen to adopt a sustainable approach for the right reasons.

“They have an altruistic commitment to sustainability. But they also know there are economic benefits associated with low carbon living because it leads to more efficient use of resources and lower operating costs.”

One of the benefits of the Low Carbon Living, Southern Highlands program is that it provides surety for business and for consumers because members are audited and rated on their energy and water use, as well as their waste reduction. The program also sustains and promotes a network that connects suppliers to operators, and operators to consumers. As Mr Walker discovered, the conversations generated by low carbon living have a domino effect.

“For example, all 18 golf courses in the region are coming together to provide electric golf carts. Once we got talking about having electric carts, we realised the next step is to use solar energy to power them.”

The founding members of Low Carbon Living Southern Highlands include BDCU Alliance Bank, RePower Southern Highlands, the Moss Vale Golf Club, and Climate Action Now Wingecarribee (CANWin). The economic development team at Wingecarribee Shire Council also support the initiative.

Representatives from Low Carbon Living, Southern Highlands will join their Blue Mountains counterparts on 22 March 2018 to launch the Low Carbon Living national program. “The Low Carbon Living national program empowers everyone to address climate change by making positive decisions about their use of resources, where they shop and what services they support,” says BMWHI executive director Dr John Merson.

BMWHI piloted the Low Carbon Living program in the Blue Mountains some years ago. “We now have over 80 businesses involved in Low Carbon Living, Blue Mountains, and we expect the initiative will be equally successful in the Southern Highlands and other regions,” Dr Merson says.

Research undertaken as part of the LCL program shows 82% of visitors and 91% of residents would choose a local business that has made an effort to reduce its carbon footprint. The research also found 50% of visitors would choose a low carbon destination over one not known for reducing its carbon impact.

BMWHI invites you to join us for the Low Carbon Living national program launch, at 5pm on 22 March at Scenic World in Katoomba. Please register here to attend: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/low-carbon-living-national-program-launch-tickets-43425284194

IT'S OFFICIAL: LOW CARBON LIVING GOES NATIONWIDE

Dominic O'Grady, Photo Tim Harris posted on 6th April 2018

More than 80 businesses gathered at Scenic World in Katoomba on 22 March to launch the Low Carbon Living national program, to welcome the NSW Southern Highlands as the program’s newest recruit, and to celebrate high achievers among Low Carbon Living, Blue Mountains members.

KEY POINTS

26% reduction in carbon use in waste sector by the Blue Mountains' Escarpment Group.
Ecotourism Australia agrees to partner in the national rollout of Low Carbon Living.
NSW Southern Highlands signed-up for the Low Carbon Living national program.
Zero carbon emissions ‘platinum rating’ becomes the new LCL high standard.

The Low Carbon Living national program launch also celebrated Ecotourism Australia’s partnership with the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute to roll-out the Low Carbon Living program nationwide.

Federal member for Macquarie, Susan Templeman, presented the Escarpment Group’s Huong Nguyen with a Low Carbon Living award for achieving a 26% reduction in carbon usage in their waste management sector, saving around 200 tons per annum of carbon going into the environment.

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