Sustainable Community

Green house on persons hand

You can make many simple changes in everyday life to reduce your carbon footprint and have an immediate positive impact on the environment, your lifestyle, the community, and your finances.

Climate change

The QPRC Community Climate Change Action Plan 2020 to 2030(PDF, 11MB)  recognises the important role the community has in addressing climate change and highlights measures the community can take  to mitigate and adapt to climate change  with the assistance or advocacy of Council. The 79  actions  are  organised  into  seven  categories: Energy, Transport, Waste,  Water, Adaptation, Education, and Natural & Urban Environment.

The  plan  commits  Council  in  supporting  the  NSW  Government’s  goal  of  reaching net-zero ‘community emissions’ by 2050 or earlier.

Energy efficiency

Spend less on your energy bills and reduce your impact on the environment without compromising on comfort, by making your home more energy efficient and conserving energy.

Please visit the following link for tips for saving power around your home https://www.energy.gov.au/households/household-guides/5-ideas-saving-energy-and-money

Solar

Solar

A solar system generates electricity for your home on sunny days and helps you avoid paying for electricity from the grid and reduces your emissions.  The Clean Energy Council offers free guides to buying and installing solar for households to explain everything you need to know about the process of purchasing, installing, and maintaining your solar system. 

Visit the Clean Energy Council for more information

Additional DA and heritage information

The installation of solar panels generally does not require development approval and is considered exempt development unless the proposal does not meet the pre-set criteria under clause 39 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Infrastructure). Please note some restrictions still apply. 

Solar-battery system

A home solar-battery sits alongside your standard household electrical system and includes solar panels one or two inverters, a battery, and an energy management system.

A solar-battery system will help you store your excess solar energy for use at night or early morning when you need it.  The system will help you save money,  reduce emissions and potentially provide backup power during blackouts.

 

Sustainable building designs

Buying or building a home is one of the most important financial investments people make. Many of the homes we build today will still be in use in 50 or even 100 years.

Decisions made early on can affect the liveability of your home and the cost of living for decades to come. These choices can support your home to be liveable and adaptable to changing needs so that it remains comfortable, efficient and cost-effective in the long term.

Design principles and climate-appropriate features incorporated in your home can make a home more affordable and comfortable over its lifespan.

Your Home is Australia’s independent guide to designing, building or renovating homes to ensure they are energy efficient, comfortable, affordable and adaptable for the future. Please visit https://www.yourhome.gov.au/

Sustainable transport

Making sustainable choices about your transport and travel is good for you and the environment. Choosing sustainable travel can help you to save time and money, meet people, easily incorporate exercise into your day and embrace new experiences.

  • Cycling is a sustainable form of transport that uses renewable energy, your legs
  • Public transport is safer and less stressful than travelling by car and produces far less pollution. QPRC has several public transport options including rideshares services, buses, trains, and taxis
  • Carpooling is an extremely cost-effective option that is often useful in workplaces or for school runs
  • Electric vehicles are a sustainable transport option when powered by renewable energy

In June 2020, Council adopted the Integrated Transport Strategy (ITS) and the Pedestrian and Bike Plans (also known as Pedestrian and Mobility Plans or PAMPs) for Braidwood, Bungendore, and Queanbeyan. These will guide the development of road and public transport options into the future with a focus on key transport issues such as interactions between transport and land use, transport safety, traffic congestion and parking. View and download the Strategies here.

 

Saving water

Reducing your water usage lowers your water and power bills, while also being good for the environment! It keeps rivers flowing and healthy – good for our native flora and fauna, and good for the estuaries and oceans fed by our rivers. It reduces the electricity demands of capturing, treating, and pumping the water to our homes, and the energy you use to heat and use the water – lowering emissions and your electricity bill.

Do you know how much water you use? Try The Water Conservancy’s water use calculator and find out where you can save water.

The House

There’s a lot of ways you can save water around your home – helping the environment and saving you money!

In your bathroom

The bathroom is full of easy opportunities to save a lot of water. Check out these videos (https://smartwateradvice.org/videos/) to learn how to:

  • Stop any leaks and make your plumbing more efficient.
  • Fix a leaking tap: a leaking tap can waste 12,000 litres of water a year, but it’s cheap and simple to fix!
  • Check your toilet for leaks: a leaking toilet can waste 100,000 litres of water every year and you might not even know it’s leaking! Luckily, it’s easy to test if you’ve got a leak.
  • Install a flow controller on your bathroom taps. A bathroom tap can use about 16 litres of water a minute. That’s a lot of water being wasted while you’re washing your hands. A flow controller can reduce water flow by more than 50% without reducing your water pressure.
  • Install a water efficient showerhead – this can save a family of four up to 35,000 litres per year. It also cuts your hot water bill!

If you’re doing renovations, consider installing a dual-flush toilet to save even more water. You should also make sure your pipes are well-insulated to reduce your water-heating bill.

In the laundry

The laundry can use up to 20% of your household water, but you can cut back to save water, electricity, and money!

  • Make sure your hot water system isn’t set too high – about 60°C is optimal. Using cold water to cool down water that is too hot wastes both water and electricity.
  • Check your taps and fix any leaks.
  • Consider purchasing a 5- or 6-star washing machine to save a lot of water. A front-loading machine is the most efficient and will save you the most money.

In the kitchen

10% of household water is used for cooking, cleaning, dishwashing, and drinking. Check out what you can do to save water in the kitchen. (link) https://smartwateradvice.org/how-to-save-water/home/kitchen/

The Garden

Your garden can use a lot of your household water – sometimes more than half of the water you use! Here’s a few simple steps you can take to use less water in the garden.

Step one: mulch your garden beds! Mulch keeps your soil cool and protects your plants from extreme heat during the summer. It can also suppress weeds, adds nutrients into your soil, and reduce soil evaporation by up to 70%. This means you don’t need to water your plants as often. You don’t need to use expensive mulch – any mulch is better than no mulch.

Step two: water smart! During the warmer months, you should only water your garden between 6pm and 9am to avoid the hottest part of the day. This gives the water enough time to soak into the ground and get to the roots of the plant. Use a trigger nozzle hose so you don’t waste water as you walk to different plants.

Be careful not to water too frequently by checking if your plants need more water – push the mulch aside and put your finger into the soil. If it is moist below the surface, you don’t need to water. Many plants prefer less frequent watering - this helps roots to grow further down to find water, making plants less reliant on watering and more able to cope with hot, dry days.

Step 3: choose the right plants!  Using Water Conservancy’s Plant Finder link: (https://www.smartwatermark.org/smartwateradvice/plant-finder/) you can find the best plants for your water efficient garden. With hundreds of plants to choose from, you’re sure to find the right one for your space.

Find more water saving tips for your garden here(PDF, 400KB)

Council incentives

We offer the following incentives for local residents who are connected to the Queanbeyan-Palerang water supply.

  • Free home audit carried out by a licensed plumber
  • Subsidised dual flush toilets for eligible residences (following the home audit)
  • Subsidies for retrofitted rainwater tanks to existing residences
  • Subsidies for rainwater tanks to eligible new residences

For more information please visit: https://www.qprc.nsw.gov.au/Services/Water/Water-and-Sewer#section-11

Composting, worm farming and FOGO

Worm farming and composting are fantastic ways to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill while feeding your garden with organic fertiliser. Compost Revolution provides free online tutorials, guides and workshops to help you set up your dream system!

If you receive a green-lidded bin kerbside service, you can place your food scraps into your council-supplied FOGO caddy and then into your green-lidded bin. Find more information on FOGO here.