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From the Worry Bush can fall the seeds of happiness.
Dr Mahatma Mackenzie, Ecologist, 2053.
[Please note: photographs still to be added to this story.]
It was the 6 May 2100 when Wally the 3rd finally completed the manuscript of his book “Corangamite Water 2100 – the last 100 years”. Leaning back on the home office chair, he picked up a copy of an earlier draft and began eating it. He enjoyed the rice paper and soy-based inks that had become common place – nobody went hungry for long at the office any more. He couldn’t believe that once upon a time inks were made of persistent, unnatural chemicals and paper was printed on virgin timber fibres – what were they thinking? Were they thinking at all?
Wally knew his father would be proud of him. Now 100, Wally the 2nd had recently retired from Corangamite Water [see map]. Wally’s grandfather Wally the 1st began the family dynasty in 2005 and was the Strategic Planner way back then. His favourite saying, “seven glasses of water a day keeps the doctor away”. A man who walks the talk - now 140 years of age, it seems to have worked for him.
What an amazing journey Wally’s grandfather had witnessed. Beginning in the early 2000s, a slow but steady recognition emerged that most of the activities being undertaken by our organisation were not sustainable. It wasn’t that people did not need sewerage or water services any more – these were essential; it was simply that the ways those services were being delivered could not continue.
The evocative image on the front cover of his manuscript tells some of the story. A beautiful young woman standing in her backyard, grinning from ear to ear, her hands brown with the dirt from her own vegetable garden. Gripping a big bright healthy carrot grown lovingly with her own recycled water. Behind her, her two healthy and happy children - this was what it was all about. Wally saw his wife and kids every day, but he loved staring at this photo. To him it represented everything that he, his father and grandfather had worked for.
The way people had come together, across cultures and countries, to help build a sustainable future had surprised even the most optimistic. Wally breathed a long sigh of relief – his grandfather had told him that in 2005 the future was grim. Climate change, pollution, species extinctions, desertification, salinity, hunger, poverty, greed, disease, corruption, fear, hopelessness - it was a long depressing list. Too many people were extracting too much from the natural environment, and at the same time, they were degrading the very systems that provided all they needed and all they could ever have. Now this had all been turned around.
Wally picked up his manuscript and turned to the chapter on Sustainability Reporting and saw the list of principles upon which his organisation was now based. He did not need to read them - he knew them by heart - they were the foundations for all aspects of his working life.
The page he opened look like this ...
Corangamite Water’s Charter: To increase human health, happiness and wellbeing, both now and into the future, is the ultimate aim of the organisation.
We make our most important contributions by:
A. Providing essential volumes of fit-for-purpose water to the community and ensuring abundant water in the environment for other species.
B. Protecting human health and the environment by providing safe and effective sewerage services.
We recognise the intrinsic value of both local and global natural ecosystems and human communities and work actively to protect and restore them.
Our operating principles include:
1. We do not contribute to systematic increases in the ecosphere of substances extracted from the earth’s crust. For material flows to the ecosphere - if it’s found in the ground, it belongs in the ground. We avoid the use of fossil fuels at rates greater than the sequestration rate of carbon. We avoid discharging heavy metals or other minerals at rate greater than natural background levels.
2. We do not contribute to systematic increases in the ecosphere of substances produced by society. For material flows to the ecosphere - if can’t be eaten, don’t make it. We avoid discharging substances that are persistent and unnatural as they have the potential for unknown and potentially serious impacts on all life including humans.[Incidentally, Wally reflected, that it was this principle that resulted in eliminating the use of all petrochemical plastics, PVC, and CCA timber. Substances considered safe in the early 2000s!]
3. We do not damage or impoverish the ecosphere by systematic over-harvesting or other forms of ecosystem manipulation. We maintain or improve natural capital. We ensure that the impacts of all water extraction on natural systems is minimised. We resist the promulgation of genetically modified organisms. We manage all our land to maximise its biodiversity. We control weeds.
4. Resources are used fairly and efficiently in order to meet basic human needs worldwide. We seek fairness and efficiency in all our activities. We enable individuals and communities to minimise their ecological footprint. We promote sustainable production and consumption through our purchasing power. We empower people and foster participation. We look to nature as the inspiration for design. We support and invest in communities less fortunate than our own. We strive for continual improvement based on accountability, transparency and good governance. We build things to be recycled at the end of their long life.
Wally felt good about the organisation’s Charter. He knew that it had achieved stunning results for the community and the environment. His father and grandfather had shared so many stories. He thought through some of the more impressive outcomes that the Charter had strategically directed over the past 95 years.
The full conversion of all energy to renewable sources was complete. Hydro power plants now existed at every water storage and the wind, biogas, wave and tidal energy complex at the Black Rock Water Reclamation Plant has provided cheap, clean energy for 70 years. The solar ponds at Portarlington and solar panel rooftops of all buildings had made a huge difference, as had the reclamation of energy at all pressure reduction valves. By far the best economic decision the organisation ever made was to drive the conservation of energy throughout the business.
Sustainable houses have now become the norm. No house, office or business can be built or sold unless it meets a ten star sustainability rating. This includes water efficiency of course. The average house in 2100 uses just 10 percent of the reticulated potable water that a house in 2005 used. Water storages are now located throughout housing developments to supply water for everything except drinking and cooking. On-site grey water systems are so popular. No one would ever think of flushing a toilet, watering the garden or washing clothes in potable quality water, not these days anyway.
The “Don’t eat pork, not even with a fork” and the “Beef up your vege intake” campaigns have reduced water production requirements on farms across the country and beyond, allowing significant proportions of farms to be returned to native vegetation. In 2005, most people didn’t realise that it required 50 000 litres of water to make just one kilo of beef. Farmers now receive management dividends for their stewardship of the land and this, along with changes in farming operations, have increased the viability of farms and resurrected entire farming communities.
The Werribee and Bellarine Agricultural precincts have turned dry,low carbon and infertile soils into deep, rich irrigation country. Once considered the toilet bowls of Melbourne and Geelong, these are now referred to as food bowls. Hundreds of horticulturists and aquaculturists tender for human humus (biosolids) and recycled water to grow their wares – which have gained wide acclaim. Tourists come from around the world and as a destination these precincts now rival the Great Ocean Road.
Toxic industrial waste has become a distant memory. By 2025, all industries were only able to discharge wastes suitable for food production. The Geelong regional industries thrived, supported by Deakin University’s new Centre for Sustainable Innovations, they become more efficient, more profitable and more competitive. The highest skilled workers from around the world flocked to Geelong, the sustainability jewel in Australia’s crown.
Yes, Geelong has truly gone global. Water Aid Australia has awarded Corangamite Water the prestigious Golden Water Drop Award an unrivalled 27 times since the Awards began in 2009. The organisation’s contributions to recently developed nation’s wellbeing, through assisting water and sewerage projects, has earned the Chief Executive of 35 years, Ms Theresa Mother, an OBE. “We all know that the single biggest action that creates the greatest sense of human well-being is compassion for others," Ms Mother, who is known and loved around the world, said in a recent speech. "And we are all members of the global family.”
In our organisation, we treat our mother with respect.
Happiness - who could have imagined that it would be such a driver for change? All water businesses are now required to monitor the sustainability of their organisation in accordance with the Commissioner for Human Happiness’s requirements and report them openly to the community. “Measure what we treasure” was the by-line of the Commissioner’s officer. And heaven help any organisation that tried to “pull the wool” over the Commissioner’s all-seeing eyes.
Wally’s memory was full of wonderful stories like these; he could wallow in the past all night, but the cold had begun to seep through (even his well-insulated) office walls, bringing him back to the present. He felt happy on his beautiful, safe and secure world. Things were pretty good, Collingwood had won the Premiership three years in a row, his family was happy and the dams were filling.
He stepped out of his office and into the cold autumn night. Across the village, his neighbour’s solar lights were beginning to dim. He looked up. The stars were shinning bright; the air was clean and fresh. Nearby an owl hooted, and in the distance a dog barked. Were they, too, approving of our efforts, Wally wondered? He hoped so.
Rowan Mackenzie
Senior Strategic Planner
Barwon Water
6 May 2005
Acknowledgements:
The Natural Step
The Melbourne Principles
Richard Eckersley, 2004, Well & Good:How We Feel & Why It Matters, Text Publishing, Melbourne
The Simpsons “Don’t eat pork - not even with a fork” episode
Posted 1 July 2005
Copyright Rowan MacKenzie.
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