Habitat restoration is vital to the survival of many at-risk species, including the critically-endangered Swift Parrot. Here at Narara Ecovillage we’ve been doing habitat restoration and bush regeneration work for years, and we’ve just started a grant-funded program to rehabilitate part of our flood plain to provide better support for Swift Parrots in their winter habitat. Teresa Farrell is a …
Ecoliving Podcast #7: 3D Printing Sustainable Homes
What if you could print a house from local materials instead of building one? That’s the goal of Alexander Tohidi, a University of New South Wales researcher who blends his skills as an electrical engineer, a computer scientist, and an architect to print buildings out of clay. Listen Here:
Ecoliving Podcast #6: Renovating a Heritage Home, with Bellbird House
This episode is about giving an older home a sustainable makeover — and it’s not just any home. We’ll be talking about: it’s Bellbird House, a Heritage-listed home and B&B here at Narara Ecovillage that’s over 100 years old. Owner Mark O’Brien talked about what it takes to bring a classic Australian home into the 21st century without risking its …
Ecoliving Podcast #5: Straw Bale and Straw Panel Homes, with Viva Homes
With Sustainable House Day happening here at the ecovillage and across Australia in March, we wanted to focus this episode on one type of sustainable house that we have several of here at the ecovillage: a strawbale-insulated home. Straw has been used for insulation for all of human history, but that doesn’t mean that a straw-insulated house has to look …
Ecoliving Podcast #4: Mushrooms and Mushroom-Growing
Want to move beyond fruit and vegetables in your garden? How about mushrooms? This episode features Lincoln DeKalb, a Narara Ecovillage resident who runs Shed 30 Mushrooms, a small mushroom-growing business based at the ecovillage. Lincoln started cultivating mushrooms at home (and in the forest that surrounds the village), then relatively recently started growing and selling gourmet mushrooms at a …
Ecoliving Podcast #3: Community Batteries, Smartgrids, and Microgrids
We just celebrated the official launch of our Narara Ecovillage community battery and microgrid, and Toby Roxburgh came up from Canberra to launch the system, which he helped design. Toby is the founder and executive director of Carbon Neutral Delivery Partners, and he joined Adam to talk about the differences between smartgrids and microgrids, and the benefits of batteries for …
Community Battery & Smart Grid Launch
An incredible milestone! This week we launched our Community Battery and celebrated the achievement of building the smart grid and battery to-date. Very appreciative of the support from our local members Dr Gordon Reid and Liesel Tesch, Central Coast Council and ARENA who provided the grant that made it all possible.
Ecoliving Podcast #2: Passive House (Passivhaus) and Envirotecture
After a bit of a hiatus, our second podcast episode is ready – we’ll be more consistent in the future. This episode features Andy Marlow from Envirotecture, a Sydney sustainable design firm. Andy is also involved in Passivhaus Design & Construct, and joins Adam for a conversation about the Passive House (also known as Passivhaus) concept, how it works, and …
House-sitting at the Ecovillage
A big and sincere thank you to all the wonderful villagers who through their kindness made our summer holiday the most amazing stay ever. Through your thoughtfulness and generosity, we were able to enjoy the beautiful bird singing every day, having the scenic views over the surroundings, spend time amongst the nature every day learning catchy tunes of the butcher …
Plotting our progress – Evaluating Narara Ecovillage’s social, environmental, and economic projects
Rosemary Leonard Narara Ecovillage (NEV) is a living experiment in how people can work together at the local level to create a thriving community. NEV members know we need to explore new ways not only of regenerating the environment and our communities but also our economic systems – because they all work together. One of the most exciting aspects of …
Ecoliving Podcast #1: Tiny House Living
We’ve launched a podcast! Ecoliving will look at ways to reduce your impact on the earth, from cutting your greenhouse gas emissions to minimizing land and water use. Our first episode features Narara Ecovillage resident Chris Wenban, who lives full time in her tiny house on wheels. Listen Here:
The Bulk Food Store (aka ‘the Food Co-op’)
by Annie McCluskey Early this year, I started volunteering at the Narara Ecovillage bulk food store for two hours each week. I really enjoy this role, as it allows me to meet more village members and learn about food, while contributing to our community. Six village volunteers run the store, which opens at least twice a week. The store was …
The curious tale of reciprocity, camaraderie and circularity in the building of a tennis wall
by Lyndall Parris A couple of us saw the usefulness of a fun, exercise-friendly, focal hub in the Ecovillage, particularly as a wave of our kids are maturing. We developed a proposal to build a tennis wall on an existing flat bitumen surface, sought lots of input and discussion, then received consent from the relevant community team to go ahead. …
Sustainability meets comfort in a hemp house
“This house has been described as hugging its occupants, which is exactly what I wanted in my new home.” Donna The house sits on a sloping block with sweeping views across the valley. It is a single storey house split over two levels following the natural slope of the site. The upper level has a burnished concrete slab floor, which …
A family of Finno-Swedes make Narara their home
Recently joined Ecovillage members, Hanna and Peter Lofgren and their four children, are excited to be embarking on a new adventure in sustainable, community living. The Lofgrens come from a minority called Finno-Swedes who have Swedish as their first language, so they are tri-lingual and are dual citizens of Australia and Finland. Peter studied history and film in Copenhagen and …
Jaw-Dropping Houses at Narara Ecovillage
We are excited to bring you the creative minds behind some of the Ecovillage’s most distinctive houses. Join us as we discuss their vision and journey so far. Circular, hexagonal, natural and organic – this session will be a delight for your eyes.
Deb and Dan – seeking more connection and meaning
Deb and Dan were looking for a place where their kids could roam free, and they could have meaningful connections with their neighbours. They had visited other ecovillages before choosing Narara, and were wanting to know they would have like-minded neighbours. Deb says: “We had heard stories of inter-connectedness, but hadn’t really felt it. What we didn’t really expect was …
School Options (around the Central Coast)
A conversation between families in the Ecovillage who have chosen different schooling options for their children. Which schools are great in the Narara area? What are considered to be the best schools on the Central Coast? How do the local Steiner, Montessori, Home School and Public Schools differ in aspects of classroom sizes, homework and use of technology? Which dovetails …
Small foot-print tiny house on wheels – The Mayflower (26m2)
“My house has the capacity for living both on- or -off-grid. The level of air circulation is exceptional via a ceiling fan and multiple windows and skylights.” Chris Wenban The Mayflower is a fully equipped tiny house built on a tri-axle registered 7.2 x 2.5 m steel trailer with brakes. When entering, it opens into a living area with a …
Natural Building at Narara Ecovillage
Ben’s House Ben’s workshop We’ve had a great Winter on the build of this round recycled home, with plenty being done to get us from a bare slab to a roofed and walled light-straw-earth and cob home, thanks greatly to the help of some pretty awesome workaway volunteers (big shoutouts to Euge and Fran, Lois & Koen) and our designers/natural …