Introduction

The concept of climate change has been widely accepted by the community.  It’s predicted that conditions in the Canberra region will become hotter and drier. Some experts believe that rainfall in southern Australia will drop by around 30% in 20 years. Based on average rainfall data for Canberra that could mean we would experience around 445mm per year placing us in a semi-arid zone.

Canberrans have a large ecological footprint with resources such as food, clothing, building and landscape materials, fossil fuels and water sourced from a wide range of places outside our region.  This calculation also includes the waste we generate. Our ecological footprint is 5.7* hectares per person (equivalent to 5.7 soccer fields) – the highest in Australia. Across the world there is only 1.8 hectares of biologically productive land available per person. By creating gardens which encompass sustainability principles we can reduce our overconsumption of finite resources. We can minimise our ecological footprint and live more sustainably by following the principle of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

*Based on University of Sydney data

We can develop a range of responses in our gardens to help us adapt to a hotter and drier climate.  These may include:

It’s important to regard the house and garden as an integrated system.  Improvements in the garden such as carefully sited trees, shrubs and vines of appropriate species can substantially cool the home and reduce the reliance on fossil fuelled air cooling systems.

We can also respond by reducing the amount of carbon that’s released into the atmosphere by

>> Retrofitting gardens for climate change - talk presented at Xeriscape Garden, 17.3.07 - pdf

>> Ecological Footprint Calculator - answer 15 easy questions

References

Department of the Environment and Heritage (Australian Greenhouse Office) Climate change Science: Questions answered.

Lenzen, Manfred (2004) Measuring our progress: Canberra's journey to sustainability. Volume 3. Our ecological footprint. ACT Office of Sustainability: Canberra.

Richardson, Edwina (2006) Climate change strategies for SE Australia – Draft.

Sullivan, Chip (2002) Garden and Climate. McGraw-Hill: New York.

Wrigley, Derek (2004) Making your home sustainable. Self published.