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"THE HOUSE"

We had a meeting that was bursting with energy and ideas for ways to turn the house into a model, inspirational and educational house.

We clarified and expanded our ideas:

We want the house to;

1.. Be a beautiful, nourishing, environment for people to be in.

2.. Supply all its own energy and possibly be a source of power for the grid.

3.. Be a low energy/ energy efficient house.

4.. Collect all its own water and deal with its own waste.

5.. Be made of non-toxic, local and wherever possible, recycled materials.

6.. Provide the opportunities for sound living practices.

We hoped that the planning and execution of the changes to the House could themselves provide education and inspiration to the wider community. E.g. we could have a workshop on each of these topics that was open to the public, as part of the planning process.

We concentrated our energies on how to adapt the house so that it could become a beautiful, nourishing place to visit. We want a place that blends with the natural environment and appeals to all the senses. One idea is to take some of the principles of Japanese architecture-simplicity and beauty of design, use of natural products and the versatile use of space.

We have much more to plan and need people with ideas and energy.We have three upcoming events:

1.. We are going to Ceres a low energy house to get some ideas-Sunday June 20th, 1pm meet at 5/1 Cowderoy St. St. Kilda (end of Longmore St).

2.. Alan Pearce who is an excellent speaker on sustainable housing is speaking at our next Earthcare meeting-730pm Thursday 24th June at the House.

3.. Our next meeting is on 730pm Thursday 15th July at the House. We plan to choose a name, and then explore what we are looking for in a house that supplies all its own energy and deals with all its own waste. Please come along.

Imagine getting on the train at Flinders St and taking a trip back 200 years. When you look out the train windows you see huge old Red Gum and Yellow Box trees towering over yellow, crimson, purple and pink wildflowers. Swathes of grasses with glistening seed-heads bow down. The air is filled with birds. Kangaroos graze.

This sight is the grassy woodland that originally stretched from the Yarra River through South Yarra, Windsor, East St Kilda, and Brighton. You'll probably never take that time trip but you could have a similar visual experience in a few years time due to the City of Port Phillip's project to revegetate the Sandringham Railway line.

Why try and recreate a long-gone landscape? Well for one thing neglected areas like railway lines are often the only places where original plant species of the area still exist. Along the railway between Dandenong Rd and Glenhuntly Rd, for instance, there are about 30 indigenous plant species. We don't want these plants to die out.

Secondly, although we'll never bring back the kangaroos and other large animals, we can bring back many of the native birds including such rare and endangered ones as the Helmeted Honey-eater and the Swift Parrot. Native birds will live wherever there is the fight food plants, protection from predators and somewhere to nest. This might be in local parks, people's gardens, even in the street trees. The Sandringham railway line can serve as a corridor linking these fragmented habitats, meaning that not only will there be more of everything birds need but also that they'll be able to move more easily from one bird-friendly patch to another. It's City Link for birds!

In the first year the project will concentrate on eradicating weeds, protecting remnant indigenous plants, and establishing suitable trees in which birds can feed and nest. In the long-term a greater diversity of plants will be established and bird populations will be monitored.

Earthcare St Kilda, St Michael's Grammar and Soka Gakkai International Australia Melbourne (Buddhist society) are some of the groups who will be propagating and planting plants. Anyone can get involved - just ask how! One thing local residents can do to help is keep pet cats inside at night. After all the aim is to give birds a place to live, not to get eaten!

Our vision is that ...

... in 5 years time many birds will have moved back into the area, using the young trees to nest in and feed from

... in 10 years time a beautiful under-storey of wildflowers and native grasses will be enjoyed from bike and walking tracks running alongside the line

... in 100 years time this beautiful and self-sustaining habitat will seem so natural that no-one will understand our past urgent need to rehabilitate and revegetate!

IMAGINING A BEAUTIFUL, HEALTHY ESTUARY- BE THERE OR BE POLLUTED

Sarah 9530 6196

One hour only Saturday July 10 at 2.00pm around the Balaclava Station revegetation sites. Ring 05 008 32784 for further details.

The following is a translated copy of Seirei no Kai newsletter.

Seirei no Kai. Bulletin no. 19990420

Annual General Meeting, Heisei 11 (1999) Attendance: 23 people

Shigeru Kojima has been appointed as the new president of Seirei no Kai. He was asked to take on the position for this year, the 8th year of Seirei no Kai's activities. We thank the former president Mr Masayasu Ogawa for his dedication and commitment during the past years.

1. I hope that we can respect the viewpoints of members while openly discussing proposals and outcomes related to our work.
2. Try not to label member's proposals as possibilities or impossibilities, but to keep the proposals in our minds and periodically review whether opportunities exist to implement them.
3. It is the individual's responsibility to participate in our activities. It would be wonderful if we all actively tried to improve the environment. Try to take the opportunity to reflect on your own lifestyle and see where you can make changes. Be active. Don't just attend our meetings, but rather introduce the knowledge you have gained into your own lifestyle.
4. In addition to everyday life, it is of course impossible for everyone to participate in all the activities. However, if everyone can participate in a few activities, and we work positively with each other, then I think that our activities will be enjoyable and effective.

President: Shigeru Kojima

Secretaries: Enryu Murakami, Masayasu Ogawa Accounts: Ryoichi Suto, Audits: Seiji Toyama

Publications: Hiroshi Kojima, Fumio Kito (homepage),

Masayasu Ogawa and Kimio Goto (publishers of "Seirei")

Repairs of the dragonfly frame and planting of Hotei Aoi (water hyacinth). Due to the downpour the other day the water hyacinth planted in winter were washed away. In May we will visit various habitat areas to collect the water hyacinth.

A pending problem for us over the years was that we had no permanent place to make the bamboo charcoal. We decided that it was time to do something about this and so we set about building such a kiln. Amongst the falling snow and rain, and the strong winds blowing the steep roof about we were able to build the hut, thanks to the valuable guidance of the carpenter Mr Suzuki and the efforts of all the members. It is absolutely fantastic! Mr Matsugu Fukaya put the finishing touches on the work - a sash across the door of the main entrance.

Two kilns, which are actually made out of drum cans, have been constructed, and are ready for use now that the soil surrounding the drum cans has been dried. Mr Suzuoki has kindly installed an instrument which can measure the temperatures in the kilns, and Mr Ogawa offered the use of a battery and recharger, which means that we are able to measure the temperatures and determine whether the temperature control of the kiln is working 100% effectively. I suppose you could say that it is a somewhat high-tech kiln. We hope that each member has the opportunity to use the kiln. In the future we are also hoping to hold demonstrations for primary and middle school students, so they can see how the kilns work.

At the working bee on the 11^th of April, we also completed work on the wooden fence, which was the final piece of work to be done on the pond.

Meeting - 7.30 pm, Sat. 1st May at Enmeiji.

To be discussed: this year’s activities and objectives

Family Day - Sun. 9th May. Please meet in the carpark of Enmeiji by 8.30am.

We will be travelling to Ayado, Asuge to collect edible wild plants such as bracken, tara buds and bamboo shoots. .

Working bee - Sun. 16th May from 9am.

Activities: planting of water hyacinth in the dragonfly reserve and cleaning of the area around Shinike pond.

In addition to trying to improve the local environment through increasing environmental awareness, we also need to inform the citizens of the positive results that using bamboo charcoal can have and encourage them to utilise it. If we are able to get them to contribute some money, then Seirei no Kai will also benefit.