Join the Race to Zero, and Race into

Buninyong's Smart Building and Living Expo - A FREE event, Sunday the 20th of March 2022 from 10am to 3:30pm  

This will be our eighth year! 

Covid safe grant

The Smart Building and Living Expo will be showcasing a range of local, sustainable building and lifestyle services and products. It also boasts the largest electric vehicle display in regional Victoria. Our aim is to promote sustainable living in the Buninyong/Ballarat region and Western Victoria. (We are normally aligned with The National Sustainable Living Festival but due to COVID our event is outside those dates this time).

As always we will use a ‘festival’ approach to showcase local sustainable building and lifestyle services and products for those planning to build or retrofit sustainable home solutions, and those interested in sustainable transport, lifestyle and food choices. This event will provide an opportunity for the community to come and talk to some of our best local professionals and producers including electric cars and bikes, builders, designers, solar hot water and photovoltaic installers, building, garden, food and lifestyle products. This is a free event and open to everyone in accordance with COVIDSafe regulations and as supported by the Victorian Government.

Do you have a business, trade or product that is helping change the way we live and build, features e-technology or is helping us to make the change? It's time to register for your site at the Expo!

Get your registration in now to exhibit !

We are looking for all these and more:

#     All things 'e' : e-waste, e-bikes, e-cars etc. - Refuse Reduce Reuse Recycle - say no to single use plastic items

#     Electric Vehicles - cars, bikes, motorbikes and associated infrastructure

#     Sustainable Building - building, design, windows, structural products, insulation, retrofitting, solar and batteries

#     Lifestyle - bikes, plants, clothing, household, personal products, health, education, waste, and food.

And the "Can do Communities" will be back

showcasing community efforts focussed on the waste and recycling activities that are important to them

Remember - Community groups - register for free!

Contact: Andrea Mason, Expo Director, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 0427 338 482

 

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2019SBAL SP hallBuninyong's Smart Building and Living Expo - A FREE event, Sunday the 23rd of February 2020 from 10am to 3:30pm

Now in its seventh year, the Smart Building and Living Expo is an established feature of Australia’s biggest Sustainable Living Festival.

The Sustainable Living Festival aims to inspire and empower you to live a more sustainable life, by showing you how to incorporate small changes to what you do everyday, and povide tools and incentives to change.

The Expo in Buninyong will showcase leading solutions to the ecological and social challenges we face.

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Why did over 2000 people come to the Smart Building and Living Expo this year?

Perhaps it was the beautiful weather but many locals came to catch up with friends while newcomers enjoyed talking with the 65 businesses and community groups involved in stalls and displays.

We were heartened by the response of the community who dared to come along on the day and who are showing great leadership in making change.

Well done to everyone and thank you to all those who contributed to the success of this great event. Please take the time to read the reports below and there are some ripper photos on our Facebook page!
Andrea Mason, Expo Director

pdfA daring success -Wrap post event 2020185.65 KB18/03/2020, 12:55           pdfMarketing Report 2020339.16 KB18/03/2020, 12:55

crowd

A big Thank You from the Expo Team to our Sponsors!

BS E xpo E news Footer

A Really Big Thank You to the Expo Team

Andrea, Jill, Clare, Paul, Andrew, Sue, Steven, Jason, Janine, Liz, Belinda and Keith.

Also a big thank you to the volunteers who helped us set up, clean up and pack up
- your input is invaluable.

Thanks also to Stephanie for the photography and Buninyong Community Events Inc for the loan of equipment
.

The team from Buninyong Sustainability has run this expo for seven years and we take pride in hosting a great community event that is making a difference. Our message is simple – take the time to learn something new and make at least one change that can improve your living standards while helping the fight against climate change.

And we know that our message reached far more than those who came along on the day with our social media reaching over 23,000 people!

We loved this google review on the day –

“Strike rate of about 20% of things I am interested in which is very high for an expo.”

As it is across the globe, our young ones are leading the way and the Buninyong PS loved showing off the solar bikes and solar boats built by the students. The children's free activities - building and creating with Totally Treehouse, planting herbs, and face painting were a great drawcard, and children played happily while parents spent some time finding out about sustainable design, or building, or how to make compost!

There is a growing interest in reducing waste and making do with what we have. The Grampians Central West Waste & Resource Recovery Group Can Do Communities Hall ran with the theme of ‘Keeping it Local – in your home and in your community’, with demonstrations by Granny Skills guru, Rebecca Sullivan on a variety of easy to do, waste free activities for your home – from cleaners to preserves to re-use of textiles. Captain Compost was there to show people how to compost, look after their worm farm and start some seed saving in their garden.

A key feature - the electric vehicle displays once again drew lots of interest. Local Buninyong enthusiasts brought their own cars down for everyone to see. With the experts on charging stations on hand and the Nissan Leaf available locally, electric cars are becoming a viable option for more people – and they go faster than with greater torque than other cars!  

Once again, our many experts on designing, building and fitting out sustainable homes were overwhelmed by the level of interest. We know that going solar is one of the most effective ways of offsetting our energy use and the questions came thick and fast.

Some feedback from one of our exhibitors - “The crowds were good and lots of healthy discussion had around sustainability.  Well done to you all”.

The Expo has also proven that it is a great place for big ideas - four years ago we hatched a plan to bring an EV plug to Buninyong and this year the fledgling idea of a Carbon Neutral Buninyong was brought to the community for comment.

There were even more community groups demonstrating how they are doing their bit and showed how easy it can be. The interest and take up for these groups was stronger than ever. Doing something in your community might be as easy as helping or volunteering with boomerang bag groups, repair cafes, local food co-operatives, environmental groups or local litter clean ups.

Expo Director Andrea Mason said she was heartened by the response of the community who dared to come along on the day and who are showing great leadership in making change.

Photos can be seen on our Facebook page

The Ballarat CourierBallarat Courier Article, JANUARY 27 2020 - 9:30AM, by Ben Hopkins

2020 expo Ballarat Courier photo Justin Whitelock

CLEAN LIVING: Andrea Mason believes this year's Buninyong Smart Building & Living Expo will be the biggest in its seven year history. Picture: Justin Whitelock

Buninyong Smart Building & Living Expo organiser Andrea Mason is expecting the 2020 edition of the festival to be the biggest in its seven year history.

Ms Mason believes because of the recent bushfires and other extreme weather events, climate change and how to help combat climate change has never been a bigger talking point.

"The bushfires have really brought climate change into the spotlight," she said.

"I think a lot more people are aware of what is happening and a lot more people are open to what they can do around the house to help reduce their carbon footprint... it's up to the community to make the change."

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