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SALA Homes Newsletter

June 2007

May was such an exciting month for SALA, our heads are still reeling from winning the EPA Sustainable Industries Award; a builder joined our staff and we attended several trade shows and expos.

News

9th Daintree Property Purchased and Protected!

Thanks to your wonderful support a ninth property has been saved through the Daintree Buy Back and Protect Forever Project. Lot 22 Camelot Close, Cape Tribulation is covered in lowland tropical rainforest. The protection of the property protects several threatened ecosystems. Initial surveys have identified 37 species of trees, 14 ferns, 7 palms, 23 shrubs and climbers and 2 cycads. Many of the trees have large buttresses and the biggest found so far is an ancient strangler fig measuring over 11 metres in circumference.

SALA at Beaudesert, Sydney, Sunshine Coast and Burpengary

It must be the season for expos. The SALA Sales staff has been run off their feet this month going to one expo after the other. Expos are not only a great place to showcase your own product but terrific for meeting like minded people.

New staff

Nigel Chilton will be starting as construction manager with SALA Homes starting with the first house in Tarragindi this week. Having a builder on board not only gives us the opportunity to offer a better service to our customers but more importantly allows SALA to further experiment and test products to further improve sustainability and affordability of a SALA house.

Employment opportunities with SALA Homes.

With continued growth, we are also looking for carpenters and a bookkeeper. For more details please go to: http://www.salahomes.com.au/employment.html

G Whiz – launched last week.

It’s a wonderful way to not own a car! SALA Homes was quick to join the new car share company in Brisbane to enable all SALA staff to benefit from a company fleet without the hassle and expense of owning a single car. G Whiz has car pods (a fancy word for car ‘park’) in Southbank and West End, which is ideal for SALA staff who need to meet with a client for a couple of hours without having to battle traffic to bring the car to work in the morning. SALA staff all chose not to drive a car to work, G Whiz gives us all access to one whenever we need it. http://www.gwhiz.com.au/

Thinking Outside

In the spirit of putting our money where our mouths are, SALA has recently been considering our travel needs. When we visit a customer, or to do a site visit interstate or in North Queensland, we tend to fly for the reasons that air travel these days is quite cheap, and it’s quick and it’s easy. What it’s not however, is kind to the earth. A flight from Brisbane to Cairns, for example, spews out about 500kg of CO2 into the atmosphere. A ticket costs around $200. The pain in the hip pocket is far less than the pain in the planet.

Socially, it’s great that airfares have reduced so much in the last 15 years or so – air travel is now financially accessible to most people – however the dollar cost does not adequately reflect the damage that air travel causes. Some airlines now offer carbon offset schemes, but wouldn’t it be better to just avoid being part of the problem in the first place?

Our solution is to try doing some trips by train instead of air. Just because we CAN fly – does that mean we HAVE TO? Rail travel creates about a quarter of the CO2 emissions and has a few other benefits also. Scott travelled Sydney to Brisbane by train recently to test out the theory and reported back to the other SALA staff on his experience.

“While it did take a lot longer on the train, it gave me the opportunity to get lots of work done in peace and quiet for an extended period of time. My mobile phone worked for most of the trip which meant that I could connect to my email and the internet, which meant that I was able to access the server in the office. It also allowed me to have meetings with people right in the centre of Sydney right up until the train was ready to leave and saved me about $75 in taxi fares to the airport from where I was staying.

I left Sydney at 4.30pm and got back into Brisbane at 6.30 the next morning. The train to Sydney gets along at up to 160 km/h. There is a private toilet and shower for every two berths. At about 6 am the conductor comes along and wakes everyone up and gives you your breakfast. It was pretty cool to get woken up, have breakfast, have a shower, get dressed and only be about 20 minutes away from Roma Street.

The biggest downside was that there were no tables in the berth, which made getting work done a little difficult, but I managed with my laptop on my lap!

The cost of a sleeper on the train was about the same as a flight, but getting the train I didn’t need to pay for overnight accommodation, breakfast or taxis to and from the airports. (On the trip to Sydney, there are significant discounts if you book more than three weeks in advance which makes it much cheaper than airfares). But better still, my carbon foot print did not take the hit that it normally takes when I fly and it gave me lots of 'think time'.”

In future, we will be considering our travel requirements and will be using the train for trips of less than 1000 kilometres. We encourage you to give it a go on your next business or leisure trip! Sustainable food for thought....

Coming Events

Aussies Sustaining Australia - November 2007

We are now collecting stories for our case study file for 2007. If you or someone you know has made a commitment to the environment through eco friendly attributes in their home or private lives, we would like to hear about it. The case study file will contain hundreds of stories that demonstrate what everyday Australians have done in the pursuit of a more sustainable life. The areas of suitability are: Construction, Building materials and products, Energy and water use in a house, Gardens/landscaping, House loans and insurance. To receive a questionnaire, please email Ghis.

Friends Of SALA

SALA has started contributing to Planet Radio this month. This environmental radio service is based in West End, Brisbane. With licences in the city and South Brisbane and others opening in Alexandra Hills and Kenmore very soon, Peter and the team are on the brink of greatness. Check out their program guidelines, and keep an ear out for an interview with Scott Elsom next month. You can listen to Planet Radio on 88fm or check them out online www.planetradio.com.au.