Take Time and Cottesloe Coastcare

Tuesday the 22^nd of Feb saw Trinity’s first Community and environment events get underway during O-week! The two were Cottesloe rehabilitation with Coastcare and a visit to Take Time in Willeton.

Cottesloe proved to be a great morning as residents lended a helping hand out at Vlamingh memorial by watering tiny seedlings to assist revegetation of the site. Residents also became aware of the endangered Weedy sea dragon which is being protected in the WA coast. After some rewarding rehabilitation work a trip to the beach was soon to follow. All those who joined in bought back to college a positive vibe and a hope for more rehabilitation work in the near future.

At the same time other residents where smiling, laughing, talking, creating and playing with adults with ongoing functional disabilities. All those who attended this trip to Take Time had a rewarding experience, it was hard to tell whether the smiles on faces were bigger in the Take Time group or us playing with them. From Uno, cards, guess who, puzzles, dominoes and giant connect four to a group game of bingo, every game was thoroughly enjoyed. Everyone is looking forward to Take Time’s visit to Trinity in the not too distant future with the promise of another morning of enjoyment for all involved.

Getting ready for action

When it comes to computers and programs I am not the greatest, but I gave it a go :) For all the residents of Trinity College, here is a place where you can keep up to date with what community and environment events are happening around college especially under the 'Trinity events' page up the top. In the home page I will be blogging what I am learning about the environment and the community, updating you on our community and environment (C&E) meetings and how the events are going, ways we can get more involved in C&E inside the college and out, and if you have any requests, thoughts, ideas or general comments feel free to comment on what I write or else come visit me in bottom floor Cook 114, extension 514.

As a heads up Trinity will be starting up the C&E committee/group for anyone interested in getting more involved or bringing ideas to the table which you are more than welcome to join or simply come and have a listen. I love to bake so there will always be something sweet to keep our minds ticking over.

While the main events for trinity are so far listed until May these can change and more are likely to be added so keep an eye on them. Also we are working on making a community garden near the tennis court with flowers and vegetables when after all residents return in the next week. Keep this in mind as i would love to hear your thoughts on what you would like to put in the garden!

Throughout the year there are also various talks known as F-troop for anyone to attend. People talking include either residents or non-residents/people out in the local communities and have some great and inspiring stories to tell. The first one is on the 24th of March with guest speaker Ian Robertson from UWA. Another event we would like to get going throughout the semester is an inter-college energy and water challenge! This is food for thought at the moment but is something I am very keen to get underway with your help.

There are so many exciting events coming up for the semester and the year! Keep an eye on this site, the projector slide in the dining hall and announcements around college as these events you do not want to miss :)

Looking forward to meeting you all very soon!

Planning to save!

Well I have worked out my average shower times... 4 minutes and 7 minutes while washing my hair. This equates to using an average 48 liters and 84 liters of water at a time!! Say i wash my hair twice a week, this is equivalent to 408 liters a week and 21 216 liters a year... so I am aiming to get down to 2 minute and 4 minute showers. Just think by me reducing my shower times by around half, i can save 204 liters a week and 10 608 liters a year!! To put into perspective, an average family spa holds around 1000 liters of water so in a year, so i would reduce my water use from using 21 spas full of water to 10.5 full spas. Even by half that is a lot of water just to keep me clean, the amount would be unbelievable for the population of Australia at least!!

By changing traditional shower heads to a water saving one can save each person 7000 to 11000 liters of water a year based on an average shower time of 5-10 minutes. Some people shower up to 20 minutes, and my sister is no exception (at the moment!!) so

my shower times don't seem too bad. However they are still too long. Water saver shower heads can cost as little as $20 a head in Bunnings, what is even better i

s Perth residents as from February 2011 can swap their shower heads free from charge for a water saving shower head! Below are the new versus old shower heads...

A big water wasting culprit i have found is (being a girl) shaving my legs in the shower. While not everyone has a bath we can still save water by turning the water down to a dribble while we shave and back up when we need to wash soap off. Simple things like this can make a huge difference.

One flap of wings happening right here :)