Sustainable garden pops up at Bondi
Bondi Beach has received a touch of green with the installation of a temporary pop-up sustainable garden at Roscoe St Mall.
Known as an ecoPOP, the small freestanding garden bed was designed by sustainability coach Michael Mobbs.
Featuring edible plants, ecoPOPs have a solar-powered pump and worm farm, all wrapped in corrugated iron. The design has been successfully implemented at a number of locations around Australia since hitting the market earlier this year.
Waverley Mayor Sally Betts hopes the temporary installation will educate the local community about environmental sustainability.
“If we can show the community that you can have a little garden, which you don’t have to spend an awful lot of time on, then maybe more people will start planting vegetables and native plants,” she said.
Ms Betts believes ecoPOPS, which only take an hour to construct, could be dismantled and moved between local schools as a hands-on educational resource.
“We immediately saw that this would fit into the sustainable schools program where we teach kids how to use worm farms, how to plant native plants, and how to grow vegetables,” she said.
The ecoPOPS reduce the high temperatures which occur in metropolitan areas due to reduced levels of vegetation and high levels of heat absorbing materials, such as concrete and asphalt.
“If the Council gets enough of these out, they will be able to cool the streets and reduce the use of air conditioning, and in return reduce the use of coal fired power,” said Mr Mobbs.
Greens Councillor Dominic Wy Kanak praised the decision to test the initiative on a limited basis before installing permanent infrastructure.
“I am hoping with the proper consultation that the community will support the further display and trialling of appropriate installations throughout Waverley,” he said.
But Mr Wy Kanak said some members of the local Aboriginal community are concerned the corrugated iron design may attract too much heat and cause the plants to burn.
The temporary Bondi ecoPOP costs $5,500, and will remain at Roscoe St Mall until the end of September.
By Robert North
