community&environment

Green Energy suppliers out of touch?

In line with the third International Solar Cities Congress held in Adelaide recently (17-21 February), the inaugural Savings & Loans Green City Festival on Sunday, February 17^th proved a great success. This community event was free to the public and the first time a festival of this nature was held in SA. Even with the weather reaching an incredible (now not so uncommon) 40 degrees for the day, Adelaide citizens showed that they are indeed part of an environmentally aware city.

The concept of the Green City Festival was developed in order to include all sectors of the community in sustainable living principles. With an impressive total of 71 vendors representing a variety of business and community groups endeavouring to support sustainable living – majority of people attending the festival walked away with, at a bare minimum, the information they hoped to attain in helping them to make their lives more sustainable.

Unfortunately, for a number of attendees hoping to speak with a green energy supplier – this was not the case. By no means the fault of the event organisers, on the contrary, numerous (not to name names) energy suppliers were asked (on several occasions) to be a part of the festival and to provide an important face to face information base for attendees to come and have questions answered. As a result, an incredibly important product was left vacant from the festival because the energy suppliers did not understand, or failed to attempt to understand, the actual market driving their green energy sales.

What I would like to know is why wouldn’t these companies think it important to be present at such an event? Are they so out of touch with the actual market which they are supplying to that they overlook an event of this nature or do they simply have little time/care for moving forward from being simply suppliers of renewable energy to encouragers and educators of renewable energy?

I am not overlooking the good that these companies are doing in making available this much needed form of sustainable energy production, I am simply concerned with the reasons that are driving their business.

* Check out the Green Electricity Watch website for a rundown of green electricity products available near you.

Would you borrow money for a night out at 1000% Interest?

Have you been tempted by ads on TV and radio to borrow a couple of hundred dollars for something you want now, and can repay in a couple of weeks??  Well if you have, ask yourself this question, would you borrow that money if you knew it was going to cost you in excess of 1000% interest?
The answer is probably a big NO, however, this new form of credit is having a tragic effect on our community and it is called pay day lending.
Pay day lenders provide short-term small loans, quickly and easily, they are generally due to be repaid on the borrowers next pay day - hence the name "pay day loans", and while they might be easy to get they have one significant downside, the charges on these loans can equate to interest rates of up to 1000%, sometimes even as high as 2500%.
A borrower may take out a typical loan for only $200 with the intention of repaying it next pay day for a fee of approx $50.  Often though the whole $250 cannot be repaid from one pay and the loan is then renegotiated and another $50 fee is charged! Research indicates that most pay day loans go through this process between 8 - 12 times.
Generally pay day lenders charge fees, not interest. However, these fees are really just interest in disguise. When all fees and charges are taken into account, the annualised interest rates on pay day loans can vary from 250% to 2,500%. 
Some payday lenders don’t assess the credit worthiness of clients and appear to lend to people who are on Centrelink benefits and simply do not have the capacity to repay the loan quickly.
At Savings & Loans we are seeing an increasing number of our members, nearly always those who can least afford it, caught up in the pay day lending debt cycle, where a small loan becomes a financial nightmare having awful effects on household finances and families.
Have you or someone you know gotten into trouble through one of these loans?  I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

Lisa

Wise water use – are regulations the way to go?

Lovers of the Australian landscape often cite the poet Dorothea Mackellar who in 1904 penned the classic lines: "I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains." But the land that was Mackellar's muse is now cracked and parched, and its mighty rivers have shrivelled to sluggish brown streams.

Fresh water is a precious resource, and we all need to use water more wisely - starting at home. As a nation, Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth - but per capita, we are one of the world's largest consumers of water.

Following over a decade of research into the quality of rainwater collected from roofs, Dr Coombes, of the

University of  Newcastle in  Australia, has identified the potential for rainwater to be utilised far more extensively than many government regulators are recommending. In fact Dr Coombes' research reinforces the view of many Australians, that rainwater is an ideal supply for our water requirements.

Significant economic, social and environmental benefits can be achieved by using rainwater.

●        There is no better quality water available naturally than rainwater.

●        The cost to the community to supply mains or reticulated water services is becoming more expensive every year. The construction of dams, pipes and treatment plants is huge and ultimately as tax and rate-payers, we foot this cost.

●       Rainwater harvesting reduces the significant damage to our creeks, water habitats and organisms caused by stormwater runoff.

On 1 July 2006 it became mandatory in selected areas of South Australia to install a rainwater tank and have it plumbed into the house for new developments (and home extensions greater than 50 m 2). It was envisaged that this would provide an additional 4,000 ML of water per year by 2025 and furthermore, to encourage the uptake of rainwater tanks in existing developments.

Very likely a direct result of these regulations, South Australia now has more rainwater tanks than any other State, providing additional water by harnessing the rain collected off roofs.

In a time of crippling water shortages in the world's driest inhabited continent, is this a solution to declining water levels and quality that, we, as a nation, should be enforcing? While admittedly only one small solution, are regulations for mandatory rainwater tanks across the nation a good idea? If so, why is more action not being taken on such an important issue?

Our future prosperity depends on the wise management of our most precious natural resource — water.

If you are interested in installing a rainwater tank, Savings & Loans has teamed up with Team Poly to offer a 10% discount on Team Poly rainwater tanks to all members and staff*. With this discount on top of the current government rebates, it has never been more affordable to install a rainwater tank.

* Valid till 31^st March 2008.

Green Shopping Sites

The Green Directory, EcoDirectory and Planet Ark Direct are three of my favorite Australian on line eco-directories, listing a huge range of products and services that are eco-friendly and promote sustainability.

These sites are not only great for making it easier for us to live 'greener' but are fabulous for gift buying ideas.

Fran

Welcome to community&environment

Hi and welcome to the new community&environment, Savings & Loans' new blog!

Do you think there is more to be done with linking business and community? Are you worried about the health of our environment? Do you feel strongly about certain ethical issues? Would you like to see more done in the way of sustainable development? Is there an issue in your community we should know about?

Great! We want to hear from you!

community&environment is open to all members and the wider community and will be moderated and comments responded to by the Corporate Social Responsibility Team members, Lisa and Fran.

How we go about our social and environmental responsibility is indeed a contentious subject. It is through debate, that progress is made and society moves forward. Discussion is a wonderful and important medium.

Something we’re passionate about at Savings & Loans is financial literacy and arming people with the tools they need to make the right financial decisions.

Around this time of year a lot of people will notice Christmas expenses being due and with a new school year upon us many of us are facing the additional costs of school fees, uniforms and books etc.

Saving for Christmas throughout the year is a far more effective way of filling the cupboards with festive fair than purchasing overpriced Christmas hampers which are so often filled with items that we would not normally purchase and don’t always get used.

Although it seems like the last thing you can afford to do, a few dollars a week deposited to a Christmas savings account direct from wages or benefits can ensure a fun Christmas without the debt hangover in the new year – exactly what many people will be experiencing now.  These accounts were so popular in the past but are rarely used these days.

One of our community partners, The Salvation Army, experience an increased demand for their services each year at this time, so why do so many of us fall into the same trap each year? Why have we as a society moved away from a savings culture which was so strong in previous generations? And why don’t we seem to plan anymore, and rely heavily on credit cards to get us through?

Is it because as a community we don’t have the same financial skills as our parents had? Is it because banking has become too complicated? Or is there simply not enough money to go around?

Is there any way that Savings & Loans can help its members to plan and understand money better?  It would be interesting to get your feedback on this issue, or any other community-minded issue.

Lisa