One of Australia’s longest standing environmental nonprofits, Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria, has a vision of a sustainable, resilient and beautiful Victoria. Their recent awards highlighted many active and proud communities and Yack was honoured to join them, recently winning the Environmental Sustainability – Energy category on the 23 October. The award celebrated a community that encouraged community involvement in renewable energy, focusing on innovative energy efficiency. TRY was extremely grateful for our town to be recognised!
Our many initiatives prioritise cost savings, energy resilience, comfort, health benefits, and reduced carbon emissions, bringing benefits on many levels to individuals and the community. Key project achievements included the Virtual Power Plant saving costs for hall committees, the Emergency Resilience project providing backup power options in times of need, participation in the ARENA-funded project EDGE, and construction of the Yack01 community battery. TRY has helped to supercharge the take up of renewable energy in Yackandandah, with the town now at 60% renewable energy.
But our efforts stand alongside the inspired efforts of Yack locals:
- our postmaster “Postie” pioneering local e-bike mail delivery,
- the Cemetery Trust establishing electric-powered grounds maintenance,
- sculptor Ben Gilbert’s generous and formative hosting of the Yack01 community battery,
- local business Kilowatt Cars importing and selling second-hand EVs,
- many households adopting heat pump hot water, solar and battery systems,
- and the willingness and vision of hall committees to try something new.
All this contributed to Yack’s profile as an innovative, active town pursuing sustainable initiatives and was a crucial part of winning the award. We are super proud of Yackandandah’s efforts, and grateful to KABV for recognising that and the efforts of many other towns around Victoria!
Thanks to the following amazing organisations for their ongoing support and commitment to doing energy differently in Yackandandah:
Indigo Power | Indigo Shire Council | Agency of Sculpture | Yackandandah Folk Festival | YCDCo | Yackity Yak | Yackandandah Community Centre | Yackandandah CFA | FRRR | Australian Ethical Foundation | Australian Communities Foundation | Reichstein Foundation
