Enviro Inspiro! Winners story…

The following guest blog post is from Menai High School, winners of last year’s Enviro Inspiro competition…

Enviro Inspiro! is a student led environmental competition. Open to NSW public high school students, the competition offers you a chance to win $3000 for school environmental projects.  To enter you need to create a 5 minute DVD showcasing your environmental project and explain how you’ve improved the environment in 750 words or less.  Entries this year close Friday 22 June 2012.

Here’s what last year’s winners of the competition, Menai High School have to say about the experience of making a video about their project to deal with some litterbug cockatoos. Menai is also a member of Sustainable Schools NSW where you can find lots of great resources to help protect your school’s environment.

Enviro Inpiro! wasn’t something that we had planned extensively on doing, nor was it seen as a fierce competition – fighting to win that $3000 we really wanted.

We did see it as a great opportunity to make our school aware of our environment issues in a funny and informative way, while we brainstormed, organised and created our video.

For Menai High School, the win didn’t only mean that we had achieved beyond other entries and won $3000, it also showed our school peers that when you set your mind to something and are willing to put in the time and effort, you really can achieve it.

The money that we won didn’t go to waste (except for a small SRC pizza day!) as we used it to purchase more bins to keep our school rubbish free and cockatoo-friendly.

When making the video, our filming was done over a couple of days throughout one week using a basic video camera and filming on the spot. Some parts of the film were scripted, such as the voiceover, but the rest were made up on the day as we spoke about many of the issue we had with the cockatoos.

All of the music, voiceovers and editing of the video was done on “Windows Live Moviemaker,” which was really easy and convenient to use as we are definitely no computer gurus.  So, anyone can do it! Editing probably took up most of the time (approx. 2-3 weeks) because we had to try to fit in as much as we could in the 5 minutes allowed.

Every school should get on board with Enviro Inpiro! to help improve their school’s environment and even win a nice prize at the end. It’s easy and fun, and you will love knowing that you have contributed in helping your school’s environment. No problem is too big or small!!!

Zoe Xirocostas and Brooke Giffe

Year 11

Menai High School

Enviro Inspiro 2011 Winners – Check out there video!

Saving POWER in the kitchen…by Julie Goodwin ‘Australias first Master Chef’

The following guest blog post is by Julie Goodwin, Australia’s first ‘Master Chef’…

We all know that saving power equals financial and environmental savings as well.  This month One Million Women are focusing on saving POWER. I have a few tips to help you SAVE in the kitchen!

Of course, there are the obvious things like switching to low-energy lights,  turning off the exhaust fan/lights when they are not necessary which most of us have probably already thought of. Below are a few more ideas about how to get your power working as efficiently as possible for you!

Cooking methods:

The appliance you use, actually does not have too much impact on the amount of energy you use.  For example, I had assumed that cooking rice or steamed vegetables in the microwave would be more efficient than doing it on the stove top.  After looking into it though, the difference is quite negligible.  More important is what you cook and the method you use, rather than the appliance.

Certain foods take less energy to produce.  Meat takes a great deal of energy, so eating more vegetables and grains and less meat will save on energy consumption in the world.  Eating raw vegetables (salads in summer, as an example) save energy in your own kitchen.

Salads use little to no power. Try this easy Fresh Tomato Bruschetta recipe.

When buying food, use the guidelines to reducing kitchen waste in general – packaging takes energy, processing takes energy – not in your own kitchen but in the world. So thinking about the bigger picture makes a difference.

Methods such as stir-frying take less energy than oven roasting, purely because the food cooks very quickly.

Stir Fry’s are quick to cook which means using less energy.

My mum never turns the oven on to only cook one thing, purely from a power-saving perspective.  She always makes bulk batches of whatever it is she’s cooking – biscuits, cakes, roasts, stews.  Use all the shelf space in your oven every time you turn it on.  If you cook a double batch of dinner, for example, tomorrow night you’ll only need to do a quick reheat rather than have the oven on for a long period of time.

The same goes for the stove top or slow cooker– bulk batches of spaghetti Bolognese, curries, stews and soups will mean less energy used on cooking from scratch every day.

In summary:

• Replace light bulbs with energy savers.
• Turn off appliances at the wall to reduce stand-by power usage.
• More vegetables, less meat, less packaging = less energy consumption in production.
• Eat more raw food – salads etc.
• Quick cooking methods like stir frying use less energy than oven-roasting (an exception is slow cookers which are efficient to run).
• Cook in bulk batches where possible.
• Keep the oven door clean, so you can see what’s happening inside without opening the door.

Cook more than one batch to save energy, use all the oven shelves.

Fridge and Freezer:

The fridge is one of the most energy-hungry appliances in the home, and it’s not as if you can just switch it off, unless you live in some snow-bound environment.  But there are ways to make it as efficient as possible.

To begin with, when buying appliances, always look for the most energy-efficient.  There’s a convenient star rating system in Australia which makes this particularly easy.  Here are some more tips on how to make you fridge and freezer more efficient.

• Don’t overcrowd them.
• Keep them clean and organised, so when you go to get something out, you’re not standing there with them open searching for stuff.
• Keep the seal around the doors clean so that they shut properly.
• Make sure food has cooled down before you freeze it.
• Open them as little as possible.  (This is difficult with teenage sons who have a tendency to open the fridge and stare into its depths waiting for some delicious snack to leap out onto a plate.)

For many more energy-, money- and environment-saving tips, go to www.1millionwomen.com.au. Sign up to this great cause, and add your voice to the tens of thousands of Australian women who have decided to live with awareness and take everyday actions to reduce their carbon output.

Julie Goodwin with Natalie Isaacs (1MW Founder)

About the Author: Mum, wife, cook, singer and public speaker, Julie Goodwin is the epitome of a busy Australian Mum. In December 2008 Julie applied for the first series of MasterChef Australia and in July 2009 4 million Australians watched as Julie took out the title as the first ever ‘MasterChef’. Julie has also become a regular columnist for the Australian’s Women’s Weekly, and resident cook on Channel Nine’s Today Show.