Flowerdale: building it back green

Builditback.org

As Australians gear up for another hot, dry summer, some communities are still trying to rebuild what they lost in the bushfires earlier this year. It must be awful to have lost all you own, and have to start again. But it also gives the chance for renewal.

One place that’s been leading the way in rebuilding is Flowerdale, a small town in Victoria hard-hit by the firestorm, and then left alone for days with no emergency services crew sent to help them out. But they’re taking the opportunity to make sustainable choices as they rebuild, hoping to prevent climate change from making their already dry bushland more of a tinderbox.

With the help of Green Cross Australia, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Alternative Technology Association, they’ve set up a building resource centre. Information is available to everyone about how to build energy-efficient, water-efficient and safe homes as they rebuild their lives. Habitat for Humanity is providing small, sustainable homes for people on low incomes, using volunteer labour. There are talks and experts able to help them make practical decisions as they go along.

But it’s not just for people building homes in Flowerdale. The information is free to anyone at builditback.org, a rather good collection of links about financing, site preparation and construction, as well as sustainable choices and safety and prevention.

A lot of the information has been pulled together by people working to rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, the Build It Back Green group. I think it’s great to see technology helping people in similar situations get in touch to share ideas, and to see people making the best of a bad situation.

If you’re interested in helping out, check out the Green Cross Australia Build It Back Green pages, and see if there’s anything you can do to provide info or some volunteer hours to Flowerdale.