Sustainability ›
A working hub, kept honestly small.
Five pillars, four wrong-things, five partners — what we are doing, what we aren’t, and who is doing it with us.
The five pillars
Energy, water, waste, carbon, land.
Each pillar carries a current measure and a 2027 target. Audited annually by the working group; the full ledger is in the annual report.
Energy
Solar on the workshop roof since 2023; the gallery and shop draw 62% renewable on annual average. Where we still draw from grid, we audit the contract every two years.
- 2025
- 62% renewable on annual average
- 2027
- Target: 80% renewable; battery storage trial
Water
The leat is a working diversion, not a draw on potable supply. Dishwashing, café, WCs and roof-fed garden are on tank water; mains is a fallback only.
- 2025
- 240 kL saved this year vs. mains baseline
- 2027
- Target: full mains-independence outside dry years
Waste
Café cups are crockery; takeaway is paper-cup-by-default. The shop ships in newsprint and recycled cardboard. Anything that won’t break down goes to the Yarra Junction transfer station.
- 2025
- 88% landfill-diverted by weight
- 2027
- Target: 95% diverted; plastic-film phase-out
Carbon
We measure scope-1 (gas heating, vehicle), scope-2 (purchased electricity), and scope-3 (visitor travel — estimated). The scope-3 line is much the largest; it shapes how we plan event programming.
- 2025
- 14.2 tCO₂e total measured emissions
- 2027
- Target: half scope-1+2; surface scope-3 in trip-planning copy
Land & biodiversity
The riverbank planting (sassafras, blackwood, tree-fern) is on year three with the Wurundjeri Cultural Heritage Council. The leat margin is now weed-free in three of four seasons.
- 2025
- 86 of 100 sassafras saplings surviving
- 2027
- Target: bank corridor continuous from wheel to redwood bend
A short list of mistakes, with what we changed.
A sustainability page without a wrong-things section is just marketing. Here are four; the working-group review every June adds anything new.
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01
Plastic-film bag fiasco · 2024
We tried to phase out plastic produce bags in the maker market and underestimated the volume of small bagged goods (preserves, candles, soap). The result was makers buying their own plastic bags from elsewhere — a net negative.
What we changed: we now subsidise compostable bag boxes for any maker who asks; the 2025 audit shows 71% of maker packaging is compostable.
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02
Donna Buang carpark idea · 2023
A short-lived working-group proposal floated a Hub-run minibus to the Donna Buang summit on weekends. Modelling showed it would have added more emissions than visitor cars it replaced, because the bus would run nearly empty most weekends.
What we changed: idea shelved; we point visitors at the existing 683 service and the rail trail instead.
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03
Cement Creek leat dredge · 2022
We over-cleared the leat during the 2022 rebuild — too much sediment removed, which shifted the riffle just downstream and disturbed two confirmed platypus burrows.
What we changed: leat-clearance is now a scheduled, light-touch maintenance with the Cement Creek Catchment Group on hand. No more annual heavy dredge.
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04
Annual report colour print · 2022
The first annual report was 28 pages, full-colour, on heavy gloss stock. Lovely; expensive; almost nobody actually wanted a paper copy.
What we changed: the 2024 report is 8 pages, two-colour risograph, on bagasse stock. Members can request a paper copy; about a third do.
Four ways in ›
Stand a little closer to the wheel.
Build your own plan, visit on a weekend, become a member, or stand a shift.