How green is their valley

Doing their bit ... Chris Warren, of Crystal Creek Meadows, proposed the carbon neutral plan; Wendy Caird, of Kangaroo Valley Collections is switching to green energy; Peter Stanton's house is solar- and hydro-powered.

Photos: Danielle Smith

Planting trees ... beats the hell out of doing nothing.
January 13, 2008

A township aims to be the first in the world to be carbon neutral, writes Terry Smyth.

"Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it." Mark Twain said that. And if he were alive today, amid the endless debate on what to do about climate change, he'd likely say it again, only louder.

Unless, of course, he found himself in Kangaroo Valley - a quiet corner of NSW where people are taking steps to make it one of the world's first carbon neutral tourist destinations.

The big picture is that high carbon dioxide emission levels are causing global warming, and one way to contribute to the solution is to go carbon neutral. That means switching to renewable energy such as electricity generated by wind or solar power, reducing energy use with simple measures such as insulation and low-wattage lighting, and - controversially - offsetting emissions by planting trees, which absorb and trap carbon dioxide.

Kangaroo Valley, two hours south of Sydney, behind the coastal escarpment, promotes itself as "Australia's most beautiful valley". That's a big call, but hard to dispute. This is a seriously pretty place.

From the top of the valley, where Fitzroy Falls plunges over the plateau into a lush, lost world of rainforest, you wouldn't be too surprised to hear the roar of dinosaurs below. These mountains and gorges are 300 million years old, after all, a remnant of ancient Gondwanaland.

The village, nestled between the Cambewarra and Barrengarry mountains, is home to just 350 souls. Time was when Kangaroo Valley was a farming community of 2000, with 60 working dairy farms. Today, there are only six farms, and the valley is a prime example of the changing face of rural Australia.

The village, with its historic buildings and landmark suspension bridge, and the National Trust-listed scenery of the greater valley, have long been magnets for cashed-up retirees and tree-changers. And as the city slickers moved in, willing to pay Sydney prices for properties (the record is $3.9 million for a weekender), many traditional residents took the money and ran.

The result is that those once seen as blow-ins are now the established locals. Almost everyone you meet is originally from the Big Smoke.

Then there are the tourists. There are 74 tourism businesses in the valley, from the village pub and shops to B&Bs, self-catering cottages, cabins, camping grounds, canoe hire, horse riding and a golf club. Tourism accounts for 20 per cent of the area's economy, compared with 6.4 per cent statewide, and the tourist operators all seem to be doing very nicely, thank you.

The tourist association insists the carbon neutral campaign is not a marketing gimmick, a way of cashing in on the growing trend of eco-tourism. Rather, they see themselves as guardians of the valley, protecting their investment in its natural assets.

At a public meeting in June, a majority of tourist operators, along with householders, farmers, schools, visitors and environment groups, signed a pledge to do their bit to make Kangaroo Valley carbon neutral.

It was a heartening response for the man who proposed the plan, tourism association president Chris Warren. For the past four years, English-born Chris and his wife Sophie, a south coast dairy farmer's daughter, have owned and operated Crystal Creek Meadows, a retreat with four self-contained cottages.

"In England, I was a journalist on a magazine called Milling, Feed And Fertiliser, which didn't go down well with girls at parties when I was in my early 20s," Warren recalls. "I then went into advertising and marketing and set up my own agency in London, in Saudi Arabia and in Cairo."

He sold his business in the Middle East and came to Australia, where he discovered Kangaroo Valley.

"After 16 years surrounded by sand I'd never seen anything so beautiful," he says.

Warren has made his property carbon neutral and says making the change is not expensive. "We bought in May 100 per cent green accredited energy from Integral. At that time it was 4.4 cents a kilowatt more expensive than regular power, which would have meant a 29 per cent increase in my electricity bill. However, the extra cost of electricity has been offset by savings in the use of electricity.

"There are a variety of ways to save energy. Obviously, changing light bulbs and shower heads, turning off appliances when not in use rather than leaving them on standby, and we changed to a more economical vehicle. We have special curtains with lining that stops heat. We have insulated walls and ceilings, whirlybirds on the roofs and sun screens on the verandas to stop heat getting into the cottages."

And the chooks wandering about his gardens are not there for the rustic ambience. "All waste food is given to our chickens," Warren explains. "One tonne of food waste is one tonne of CO2. About 8 per cent of the food used in Australia is thrown out, but we have zero waste. And we feed a lot of people here - 450 guest groups a year."

To offset his CO2 emissions he plants casuarinas along creek banks, maiden wattle and other appropriate species. "It's also good for wildlife," he says. "Tree planting is improving the biodiversity and returning the valley to its original state."

Warren is keen to dash the myth that a carbon neutral lifestyle means roughing it. "You can have all the luxury indulgences that we have," he says. "It doesn't mean you have to live like a monk. It's just a question of being a bit more considered in some of your decisions.

"We have air-conditioning but we offset the electricity, and because of the insulation you hardly need the air-conditioning."

And in winter, you can still enjoy sitting by a roaring log fire. "We only buy wood from accredited suppliers from state forests, so the wood we burn is carbon neutral because they are trees planted specifically for cutting, and all we're doing is burning the carbon that would naturally decay.

"I also offer guests the option of planting trees to offset their journey here, and a lot of young families plant trees for their kids.

"But this isn't about me or about my property," he's quick to add. "It's about what can be done. It's not hard to do, and if we all did this we would give Australia a world edge."

So far, more than half of the valley's tourism operators and 14 households have signed the pledge to go carbon neutral. Some have barely made a start, while others are already well advanced.

The hard part, Warren says, is getting green energy. "More than 600,000 households in Australia have signed up for accredited green energy, but there's only so much of it and the price has gone up. While communities are trying to run towards this, governments need to make the energy availability. There's little point giving someone a statue in Oslo if we can't get the product here."

To audit the process and provide practical advice, the tourist association has contracted Hatch, Canadian engineering consultants experienced in introducing sustainable industry. Based on audits of each business's emissions, Hatch will calculate Kangaroo Valley's overall carbon footprint and determine how many trees to plant to offset those emissions. The valley's two schools have agreed to help with the audits and count trees to check on the progress of the project.

Wendy Caird signed the pledge. About 18 months ago, after living and working for many years in France, she came to live in the valley and, nine months ago, opened an antiques and homewares shop - Kangaroo Valley Collections - in the village.

"It's a wonderful place with an informed, very thoughtful community," Caird says. "The public meeting about becoming carbon neutral was fantastic. We expected about 50 people but we got about 120 or so. And from my exposure to customers in the shop, heaps of people are very enthusiastic.

"I'm just beginning really, but I'm very supportive of the campaign. I'm in the process of switching to green energy, and I'm very conscious of not using any more electricity than I should. We're all just beginners in lots of ways, but everybody's got to start somewhere. If this was happening in more places we'd be in a hell of lot better a position than we are."

Nearby, at Kangaroo Valley Wood Crafts, Keith Learn begs to differ. The Canadian-born artisan is the longest established tourism operator in the valley, having opened his craft shop 23 years ago, and he did not sign the pledge.

While Learn is sure the campaigners' hearts are in the right place - many are close friends of his - he believes tree planting is not the solution. "Everybody from David Suzuki to the World Wildlife Fund says planting trees is a feelgood thing but isn't really going to do very much," he says. "We've got to stop producing the carbon. Trees take in very little because they breathe and at night give off carbon dioxide. So you'd have to plant trees forever and ever to win.

"There are more positive steps such as lobbying governments, investing in a windmill or solar panels. Our tourist association is a fabulous association and I'm thrilled to be a member of it and fully support it, but I think they're going to get egg on their faces.

"Anyway, they're all fired up about it and I'm happy for them trying, and I'm all for them planting trees. But to claim to be carbon neutral? It just isn't going to happen."

Learn's mate Glyn Stones reckons it will happen, and he signed the pledge. "There are a few sceptics here, and Keith's probably one of our biggest sceptics, but we're all friends," Stones says. "And when you listen to Keith's arguments you can see it from his point of view as well, but you have to start somewhere. If a little place like us can hopefully get it done, however long it takes, a bigger town might do it as well."

Stones owns and operates Kangaroo Valley Safaris, based on the Kangaroo River and reputedly the biggest canoe hire outfit in Australia. Originally from Heathcote in southern Sydney, he has lived in the valley for 17 years.

"Seventeen years ago I was a city blow-in, and now I'm one of the oldest residents,' he says. "The city-country divide has gone."

Stones is also known as the "plastic bag man". In 2003, he was the instigator of a successful push to make Kangaroo Valley mainland Australia's first plastic bag free town. "The plastic bag thing was pretty easy compared with the task we've got ahead of us now," he says.

His commitment will cost him money. "We've got six vehicles, which are not very carbon friendly, so we're getting rid of all the petrol ones and changing to diesel. It will cost us more upfront, but because diesel vehicles are more economical, over a period it will save not only on emissions but on fuel. And we're fortunate in that we've got a lot of acres here so we do a lot of tree planting to try to offset emissions."

Peter Stanton, who heads the Kangaroo Valley Environment Group, lives on a mountainside overlooking the valley. He and his wife, nutritionist Rosemary Stanton, built their solar- and hydro-powered house in 1991 and have lived there full-time since 1995.

The environment group supports the campaign. "Planting trees for carbon offsets is controversial," Peter Stanton says.

"Everybody says it's going to take 80 years for a tree to soak up its carbon, so it's not going to be quick enough. And that's true, but if you plant trees and look after them for whatever length of time it takes, then you're going to be better off than not having planted the trees."

In his view, it beats the hell out of doing nothing. "And it shows a commitment. Kangaroo Valley is not going to save the world, but if we can show people how easy it is to do it, then great."

Chris Warren gets the last word.

"We are taking responsibility over where we earn our living, and isn't that what the tourism industry across Australia should be doing?

"And politicians need to recognise that it's not what you say, it's what you do. Unfortunately, I hear a lot of talk but I don't see a lot of action." Mark Twain would surely agree.

Source: The Sun-Herald

