An Even Better Way to Build Wicking Garden Beds – A Cracker of an Idea!!

From challenges, great ideas can come!!

One of the Green Square, community’s raised garden beds, has deteriorated – to the point it needs to be replaced.  You wouldn’t believe just how much research, discussion and community / council consultation the drivers of the Green Square Growers has put into coming up with a solution.

The raised garden bed was made from recycled wood.  The bed uses ‘wicking reservoir’ technology that we built inside the garden bed.  The bed also has an inbuilt worm farm.

Wicking Garden Bed – ‘how it works’ diagram. 

The above diagram shows the wicking garden bed design.  The challenge we have had with this design, came from the tremendous outward pressure from the water reservoir, causing the wood to bow and bend (over time).

Making smaller wicking garden beds (1 m x 1m) can help to limit the bowing of the wood but we weren’t happy with this solution.

Then Sabena and her husband Peter came up with a cracker of an idea!  Instead of using builders plastic in the wicking bed design, use a large food grade plastic container (which can be recycled and rescued from landfill).

These food grade plastic contains, are selling on Ebay (2nd hand).

These containers will make the whole garden bed structure stronger, less prone to leaking and hence last longer.  If repairs to the wood is needed in the future, we can easily replace the wood – as it is not part of the structure but really only has an aesthetic purpose (making the raised garden bed look pretty and traditional).

The Green Square Growers, plan to build either two or three beds together (with the timber frame built around all of the containers together – giving the illusion of one big bed).

Each garden bed will be approximately 1.3 metres x 1.1 metres.  If two are position together, then the total bed size will be 2.6 metres x 1.1 meters.  If three beds are position together, then the total bed size will be 3.9 meters x 1.1 meters.

The new raised garden bed design will require a small wooden ‘lip’ at the top to hide the plastic container – however this is only for aesthetic purposes too.

What do you think of Sabena and Peter’s cracker of an idea?

Reduce, Reuse, Restore, Recycled and RESCUED

Reduce – to limit the amount of our consumer purchases or to buy 2nd hand.

Reuse – finding other uses for items we no longer need, limiting the need to throw out those items.

Restored – old stuff becomes new again with a coat of paint, glue etc and some love.

Recycled – turning unwanted items into new items that we do need.

Rescued – my new ‘R’ word. Rescuing items, other people throw out and giving them a ‘second life’.

These children’s toys where left on the curb, destined for the tip – for landfill.  I still intend to give them a new coat of paint and love (to restore them).  In the meantime they are outside but under cover, near our clothes line.  Our Little One now plays with these rescued toys, as her Mummy hangs out the washing.

Brand new is rarely better. Our belief that new is ‘king’ is robbing our Earth of natural resources, our back pockets of funds and our minds of fun and creative solutions.

Do you get what I mean?

6 Star Green Rated Building in Sydney

This media release was emailed to me for consideration for my Wedding Planning Tips blog.  It  is about Doltone House’s newest function centre.  For those not living in Sydney and may not be familiar with the brand Doltone House, they have a number of wedding reception / function venues in Sydney.

Why am I posting this on Greener Me?  I am interested in my readers response to the claims in the media release about the building being 6 star green rated.  I have to admit that I am unfamiliar with the rating and what it means but I found this release to be really interesting.  Have a read and let me know what you think.

Here is the media release:

Situated on the stunning Sydney waterfront, Doltone House’s newest venue Darling Island Wharf has been crafted by green-minded industry experts to become part of the first six-star green-star rated building, workplace6, in New South Wales. Workplace6 is only the second building in Australia to obtain this coveted certification, and this six-star green-star rating represents the world’s best practices in sustainability.

Darling Island Wharf incorporates a fresh food and wine emporium complete with open kitchen, a buzzing café, intimate meeting rooms and an 800 seated capacity event space – an inspirational and unique project from the team at Doltone House. Paul Signorelli, Managing Director of Doltone House, was inspired by the environmental initiatives of Workplace6. “Our plans for the internal fit out were specifically created to complement those of the building. By adopting and expanding on the green philosophies of the building itself, Doltone House aims to lead the way into the future by providing the greenest venue in Sydney.”

Workplace 6 reduces greenhouse emissions by 70% compared to a normal office building. In harmony with this, the interior of Darling Island Wharf is clad in a variety of ‘environmentally honest’ and durable materials: recycled, green-minded, low-toxin emitting and built to last. Eco-ply flooring and stone are the obvious green materials used throughout the site –yet even the carpet in the event centre has green credentials. The event centre bar is made from a durable marble with a high quality finish, while a counter crafted from recycled Ironwood from Queensland is the focal point of the bluestone-clad cafe downstairs.

On a structural level, Workplace 6 is Australia’s first building to use concrete manufactured from recycled products. The high performance insulation used throughout the building is green-certified as manufactured without the use of ozone-depleting gases. Details such as custom-fitted carbon dioxide sensors and variable speed fans are employed in Darling Island Wharf to reduce the toxin emission and air pollution normally associated with buildings of this scale. As a result, fresh air supply is increased by up to 50% making it a healthier, safer space for the public.

Energy reduction is a significant factor in being green, and Doltone House have tackled this issue head on. In the kitchen, gas combi ovens that run on natural gas, have been installed while fridges and freezers will be insulated with thick panels to reduce energy consumption. Perhaps the most iconic innovation is the ‘watercool’ system, which captures heat rejected from Sydney harbour and transforms it into usable energy for the building’s water-cooling system. Environmental initiatives also extend to the site’s every day operation, including re-using blackwater for parkland irrigation and a tri-generation energy system – where heat, power and chilled water for air conditioning are produced by one single unit. While ‘greening’ a site of this scale adds an extra 15% to construction and fit-out cost, embracing the green approach at this level signifies Doltone House’s serious commitment to environmental and social responsibility.

Have a look at the artists impressions.