story RATING |
 5.00 (Highly recommend) from 1 votes (145 Visits) |
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Border Eco Living Program |
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Category: Community |
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by eastalbury  (August 2009) (rank 305th) |
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The Border Eco Living Program (BELP) is a volunteer group situated in Albury/Wodonga. BELP began in 2007 and aims to provide hands on information to local residents about actions they can take to lower the environmental impacts of their everyday lives.
BELP began as a series of 5 monthly sessions, each focussing on a theme, such as water, energy, household waste, transport, gardening and consumer choices. As well as covering the basics as to how the issues relate to sustainability, we particularly focus on helping participants identify both the barriers (challenges) to achieving sustainability and the benefits (motivators) – which can be quite different for different people. In addition to running these sessions (in 2007 in Wodonga and in 2008 in Albury), we have also had information stands at sustainability-themed community and business events and open days. We have also run a one-off session about home energy reduction by request at the Thurgoona Community Centre. We have had very positive feedback from attendees at these events who value being able to speak to “regular” people about sustainability in their home, to access local experts and to learn from other participants who have similar goals and challenges.
Co-ordinating Sustainable House Day in the Albury area this year provides BELP with another way to help local people access the ideas and experiences of residents who have designed, built, renovated and retrofitted their homes, in a variety of ways, to improve their sustainability. For more information please contact Karen Retra ph: 0428629099
