Building a sustainable community

National Lifestyle Villages builds sustainable communities

National Lifestyle Villages Green Steps Program

We are the long-term custodians of the land our Villages are located on, and as such, we want to have a positive environmental influence. As such, we are proud to provide an enjoyable and comfortable living environment that retains and attracts local flora and fauna.

What’s more, it’s a smart way to build and saves you money in heating, cooling and water usage.

With this philosophy in mind, since National Lifestyle Villages began, we have implemented a Green Steps Program that includes the following:

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"It’s a smart way to build and saves you money in heating, cooling and water usage"

1Protecting the landscape

We aim to maintain mature trees, which provide natural shade, enrich the soil and protect the habitat of the local wildlife.

2Better water management

We are waterwise, using water economically, with AAA rated outlets. Our Villages are designed to reduce wasteful surface water run-off, making every drop count through ‘groundwater recharge’ methods that return water to the water-table.

Wherever possible, we use non-drinking water and waste-water to water gardens. We use sub-surface reticulation which cuts down on waste through evaporation and sends the water to where it’s really needed – the roots.

Our ground-staff monitor our water use carefully, check water quality and work hard to maximise the efficiency of our water usage.

3Energy management

The homes in our communities are carefully designed to make them more energy efficient, providing extra warmth from the winter sun and natural ventilation in the summer.

High levels of insulation to all roofs and walls mean less need for heaters and air-conditioners, reducing energy use in the homes while concrete flooring to all new homes helps keep hot air out in summer and warm air in during the winter.

Energy-efficient lighting saves energy, and we embrace the use of alternate energy sources such as solar, wind and other renewable natural resources.

4Waste management

In most of our communities we have invested in Asset Recovery Centres (ARC’s). These are provided as a communal place to deposit and reuse everything that is recyclable, including organic waste.

Community-scale composting using worm farms and chickens provides a valuable use for our organic waste. Where possible, non-organic waste is also recycled.

5Carbon emissions management

Greenhouse Gases (GHG) have an impact on climate change and drive global warming. NLV works hard each year to reduce our environmental footprint and minimise the production of GHGs.

Anne K

In the first six months following my arrival in Australia from the UK (at a tender age of 19), I had learnt a few of the Australian colloquialisms such as arvo, postie, pressie and bring a plate.

It takes a while to familiarise oneself with local customs and I had my fair share of making errors.

One day when out with my husband Syd, I saw a poster with comments about a Polly Farmer.

I naively asked him what type of farmer was a “Polly” one. Syd responded by laughing his head off before telling me he was a footballer. There was more to come.

Returning from our honeymoon, Syd wanted to visit his Uncle Harold who was a wheat and sheep farmer in Arrino, just out of Three Springs.

He was a cheerful, down-to-earth man and I immediately liked him.

Upon entering the house it was obvious that house cleaning was not a priority with Harold. The kitchen was full of tins of fat that he had accumulated over the years from cooking roasts!

John M

No, I am not stuttering – just reflecting on how many times a person can really retire from ones full-time working career. For me, the latter was a series of interesting experiences working on, or helping to establish, remote African diamond mines. In 1981 I was recruited out of Namibia to a more civilised experience helping to develop the Argyle Diamond Mine in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia.

At age fifty-five I pulled the pin on the diamond mining and processing game and took early retirement from the Argyle Project when they decided to shift the entire staff onto a FIFO (Fly in/Fly out) operation based out of Perth. Who wants to live in Perth when you are enjoying the wonderful Kimberley life style?

We already had a plan for Retirement (Revision.1) in place and had bought a small 150 acre property on the Ord Irrigation Scheme up in Kununurra. My wife Jean had had the Job of developing this run-down property over the five years prior to my leaving the mines. The idea was that we would grow a few acres of bananas to provide a little extra income but also give us sufficient time to enjoy the wilds of the north-east Kimberley. Alas, this early banana planting grew to over fifteen acres. By this time we were far from our envisioned ‘life of leisure’ in retirement as we were employing up to six people and working flat out!