Monday morning, -1 degree outside!  You must remember it.  I am sure I wasn't the only one dashing outside to get wood for the fire, trying not to slip on the ice on the deck on the way.  But did you know that at the same time, there were people waking up in Ballarat in homes that were a balmy 16 degrees inside, without a heater on!  And by 10:00 their house had further warmed to 22 degrees, and still no heater!  How can this be possible?  How can I do it?  Smart living, that's what it is!  It is a possible, it is happening now in our community, and we can all do it!  It just makes sense!  So, isn't it great that we are getting closer to opening the Smart Living Centre that can help us all achieve this same level of comfort....., without the electricity bills!  And I am pleased to say we are steadily making progress - and some of it you can even see now! 

Why is it that whilst approximately 70% of school children rode their bikes to school in 1976 only 2.5% of school children in Ballarat do today!  And why, when most of the urban population in Ballarat live within a 5 minute walk of a bus stop, about 87% of trips made in Ballarat are in a car and only around 8 to 10% on public transport.  And why, when approximately 95% of the population in Ballarat live within 5km of their workplace do only ~400 people leave the car at home and take the bike!  Why is this so?  Is it safety concerns, distance, time constraints, convenience that keeps us in our cars or is it something else?

 
Returning home after 2 weeks on Kangaroo Island to a vegetable garden overflowing with great, fresh, organic, home grown produce got me thinking about what Smart Living means to me. Looking at this basketful of potatoes, zucchini, beans, peas, onions, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries it struck me that this was it - or part of it anyway.  Whilst it was fantastic sitting down that evening to a delicious meal of baked potatoes, fresh bean & roasted red onion salad and marinated zucchini, there is more to it. Smart Living to me is more than trying to live in a way that has a smaller impact on the environment, in this case trying to grow some of our own veggies, it is a whole lifestyle shift, the benefits of which aren’t just enjoyed by the environment. The simple act of growing some of our own veggies means that I can spend evenings in the veggie patch rather than in the supermarket queue, it means waiting for strawberries to ripen, but then gorging ourselves when they are at their peak, it means meeting other people with shared passions and learning from shared experiences, but best of all it means watching my 2-year old run out into the veggie patch when he wants strawberries, rather than going to the fridge!

Welcome to the first Smart Living Ballarat blog!

Hmmm… what is that you say? Well, the idea for Smart Living Ballarat emerged about 3 years ago as a result of many people thinking about how to best support our community to enjoy a high quality of life without having a high impact on our environment. Coordinated by the Regional Sustainability Alliance Ballarat, and auspiced by BREAZE the Smart Living Centre came to life when it received funding from the Victorian Government Sustainability Fund, managed by Sustainability Victoria.