Additional Resources

If you want to undertake further reading on sustainable living, we recommend the following:

Living Green – is a section located at the back of each Monday’s (Newcastle) Herald. Steve Williams writes thoughtfully about practical measures that anyone can implement in their house and garden. He also profiles local people working in sustainability areas.

Your Home Manual – is a well written guide and technical manual containing great information to help create a more comfortable home. Particular emphasis is placed on making your house less expensive to run while reducing it's environmental impact. It is a collaboration between the Australian Government and the design and building industries.

Alternative Technology Association -is Australia’s leading not-for-profit organisation, promoting sustainable technology and practice. The ATA provides services to members who are actively walking the talk in their own homes by using good building design, conserving water and using renewable energy.The ATA publishes "ReNew" magazine which has informative articles on sustainable living on a quarterly basis.
There is an informative "Forums" section if you want to get some unbiased advice here - ATA Forums

Renters Guide To Sustainability - is a downloadable booklet which provides advice for renters to make changes to their home to make it more comfortable, save money and reduce their environmental impact.

Climate Action Newcastle – is a community based group actively involved in many aspects of mitigating Climate Change. Each year they run the Smart Energy Expo which has around 100 stall holders all exhibiting sustainable products. They recently coordinated a bulk purchase of solar photovoltaic electricity generating systems for residential installations. They are also quite proactive in ensuring politicians and various levels of Government understand the importance our community places on sustainability issues.

Choice Magazine – has a webpage with links to all the articles and tests they have done on environmental products recently.

Guidance on the Use of Rainwater Tanks - is a comprehensive (80 page) Government publication which will answer many of your questions about installing water tanks, from any health concerns to calculating the size you need.

Transition Towns Newcastle – is a new organization in Newcastle which is part of a global movement. Transition Newcastle is a grass-roots, non-profit organisation which is creating a positive vision for the future. Their goal is to form close community ties, network with environmental organisations, Councils and businesses to accelerate the pace of change we must make to tackle the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change.

Submit Your Finds
If you have come across any additional resources or sites in your web travels that should be included here, please feel free to drop us a note from the Contact Us page, so we can check it out and share it with the everyone else.