By Derek Schlennstedt
People and groups in the Dandenong Ranges are holding nothing back when it comes to the war on waste.
From re-usable bags to recycled guitars, and energy-efficient houses, the Dandenongs is truly on the front foot when it comes to the environment.
In January, an outer-east guitar manufacturer utilised sycamore trees from along Monbulk Road in Kallista to buThild unique acoustic guitars.
The Yarra Ranges Council removed a number of trees as part of bushfire mitigation works to ensure access to roads during an emergency and to protect biodiversity by reducing weed invasion threats caused by the sycamore’s winged seeds.
Mr Krauss, who creates guitars at Bayswater, reclaimed the sycamore trees that would otherwise have been chipped on site.
“Different combinations of wood make different sounds,” he said.
“We offer to remove trees from private properties from gullies and all sorts of places.”
A passive eco home in Kallista was awarded the Best Energy Efficient Design at the 23rd Building Designers Association of Victoria (BDAV) Building Design Awards on 4 August.
The building featured a distinctive curved structure that enhanced fire safety, and R6 insulation ensured minimal energy was needed to heat the home.
Plastic Bag Free Dandenong Ranges held its third annual Sewathon in August and are making inroads into ridding the Dandenong Ranges of plastic bags once and for all.
Since the first sewathon in October 2016, the group has created more than 1000 boomerang bags which have been dispersed into local supermarkets.
Natures Organics, a Ferntree Gully-based producer of cleaning and personal care products, installed a 1.29 megawatt rooftop solar system on its manufacturing plant.
The plant is the first step towards generating 24-7 renewable power, and the $3 million system spans 17000 square metres and uses more than 5000 solar panels.
Positioned on top of the Cornhill Street manufacturing building in Ferntree Gully, managing director Justin Dowell said that since its use, the company had saved one million kilograms in carbon dioxide – equivalent to saving 28,000 trees.
“We are the largest user of recycled plastic in the country and we are now the largest privately owned organisation in Australia using solar energy,“ he said.
“We are passionate about reducing our impact on the planet and as a team are driven to find innovative ways to do this.”
