Mayor4Unley

Last night at #Unley Council I moved a motion that will reduce the use of plastic bottled drinks dispensed at Council venues. A report on a range of options will come to Council in a few months. This is a great outcome and reflects the growing sentiments of the community. An original motion just targeted plastic water bottles. My amendment targets all drinks that are sold in plastic bottles eg. Coke, Fanta, Pepsi and water. A great outcome for Unley! After the meeting, it was described as a common sense approach. For more common sense outcomes like this Vote 1 BOB SCHNELL #Mayor4Unley Written and authorised by Bob Schnell, 10 Halmon Avenue Everard Park 5035

Here’s an interesting story on how to fix the recycle waste crisis. However we do it we must stop selling recycle material overseas. It must be re-used here in Australia. We can’t afford another crisis in the future. I’m just so appalled by total lack of action by governments across Australia. The problem was identified as a huge risk a year ago. Read the story

What is the true cost of being a Vegan? It's a tough life changing choice to make. Really tough! People aren't born vegan. Rather, they become vegan; as a deliberate choice. It's like a sea-change, where people move from the city to a nice country spot. Actually, it's nothing like a sea-change. It's a far more radical change. But what is the real cost of becoming a vegan? What is the hidden cost to the rest of us? What is the environmental impact to the globe? I respect people for making the choice to become vegan, but I do question how much ethical consideration was really given. Was the real hidden environmental impact on society and the globe actually known and considered. I suspect not. Anyway, each to their own. The following story highlights the impacts of veganism on the globe. Click this link

At the Unley Council meeting held on 10 April 2017, it was resolved to give $10,000 to the Hyde Park Tavern (on King William Road) to assist the pub with its $370,000 renovations. The hotel had requested $35,000 from Council. Totally outrageous! Doesn't pass the pub test! The motion to grant $10,000 was moved by local Councillor Michael Rabbitt. The Mayor, Lachlan Clyne moved an amendment to grant $20,000. There was considerable debate and concern about providing any funding to the hotel which was described as 'struggling'. If it is really struggling then how the heck can it afford a $370k re-development? I did not support any funding. Councillor Rabbitt's motion to grant $10,000 was successful. This will mean that our draft budget for 2017/2018 will need to be revised to slash $10,000 of other services that could be spent in our streets. The rates of 10 residents will be used to fund this unwise expenditure. Here are the minutes of the meeting. You can see w...

It's that time of the year, or actually just past it. The time of the year when you have too much fruit ripening in the backyard. What to do? Next year plan on making fruit leather roll ups; yummy snacks to have in the months ahead. The fruit mash can be dried in the oven or in a dehydrator; maybe it's time to invest in a dehydrator. Get the missus one for her birthday; she'll love it. Here's a link to the full story on making fruit leather rollups ... making fruit leather rollups

This is one kind of big belly that definitely looks good. And it’s solar powered. Big Belly is a public litter (waste) bin that provides on-site (in the belly) sorting of solid waste from recyclables and then compacts it. The compaction is such that the unit can hold 5 times as much. This unit is appearing on the Australian landscape and has recently been installed in the Flinders Ranges in SA.  Benefits include:  solar-powered, automatic compaction, reduces collections by 4 times or more, eliminates overflowing bins, keeps litter in, pests out, demonstrates commitment to community & environment, educate the public, can provide marketing platform – Advertising mounts.  Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn1Ac1DE4BY Unley Council is considering the merit and cost of Big Belly. It certainly has merit and if the cost is right, it should have a big bellied future across Australia. www.solarbins.com.au

The SALA exhibition 'forWARDback' is a unique collection of contemporary visual art; displayed with objects from the Unley Museum's historical collection. It promises to be one of the best exhibits in 2015. Five local artists have contributed to the collection. It's on display  from 02 August to 22 September 2015 . ... and it's free. The advertising blurb reads ... Contemporary artists create new stories from old. Through contemporary artworks the artists reinterpret objects from the Museum's collection to create a dynamic social dialogue between Unley's past, present and future. See tomorrow through the secrets of yesterday.

I'm not that old, but I remember the outdoor dunny; a cold sprint down to the backyard dunny; usually a wooden building with a galvo iron roof. Make as much noise as you like and no-one would hear you, except for someone passing in the laneway; a lane that was built to service the adjoining houses. Water, power and later sewerage pipes ran down these service lanes. There were long drops and later water flushing was added as modern amenities became available. Back in those days, before we had pine plantations to make gloriously soft toilet tissue, we had to make do with left over paper - usually newspaper that was cut into squares and placed on a spike fixed to the toilet wall. It was an art form, whilst sitting on the wooden seat, to gently massage the paper and make it soft for wiping the bottom. The trouble with newspaper is that it left an ink print greyness on the bottom. Sometimes, it was absolute joy when there was some soft brown paper or fine tissue paper like that whic...

Recently, Unley Council negotiated a new waste management contract. As a result, the SOLO Resource Recovery company will handle all waste disposal in Unley. From a resident’s perspective, has anything changed? No . Trucks with arms will still pickup and empty your bins . Do the Blue, Yellow and Green bins get collected on the same day as before? Yes . The only change might be the time when the bins are collected. As always, put your bins out the night before. It saves that mad dash in the morning in your pyjamas. The change will take effect on Monday 22 September. For all bin repairs, missed collections, theft and other collection enquiries you are advised to contact the Waste Hotline on  8159 5059 .

I was fascinated by news of a study by University of Adelaide of monitoring drugs in the sewerage system. It’s quite an innovative approach to mining sewerage data. The drugs detected (and passed by people at the toilet) show alarming increases, especially with methamphetamine (ice). There are differences between types of drugs used in the country vs. in metro Adelaide. Samples were taken from 15 sewage treatment plants across South Australia and tested for traces of ecstasy, methamphetamines and cocaine. There is increased use of methamphetamine over the weekend. Methamphetamine was the drug of choice in the city, while country people preferred ecstasy. Cocaine was last on the list everywhere. I’m curious about the stated intention to develop a biomarker to determine how many humans contribute to the flow (of data). At the moment, there are only estimates of the population size served by each sewage plant. I’ll try to flush out more information about how the biomarkers wo...

I was annoyed, very annoyed to learn that contaminated ground water had been found in Ashford, Keswick and Forestville. The EPA is continuing to sample the water and soil vapours. According to a press report, authorities have known about the contamination for years. If that is the case, then why the delay in alerting residents? The State Government will hold community meetings with residents. It is a sad legacy from heavy industrial pollution from past years.

Plastic waste is part of our society. There is a needless amount (especially from households) still going to landfill and not being recycled. Education programs (especially with our kids at school) are slowly working. But, there will always be plastic waste. We just need to maximise the diversion of that waste to recycling. REPLAS is an Australian firm that has excelled in converting plastic waste to plastic products that are innovative and durable, often used in marine environments. REPLAS has partnered with companies like Coles and Dulux to manage (ie. re-use) their plastic waste. Also, Coles has drop off bins outside their stores where shoppers can deposit plastic bags from home. I will be challenging Council to embrace plastic products instead of steel, wood and concrete eg. bollards, walkways, benches, posts, garden furniture, ... the list is extensive. Check out the REPLAS website  here and don't forget to drop off plastic bags at Coles weekly. I...