water saving and Aussie currency
Hi designgeek
Australia is the driest continent on earth, most of the joint is desert or arid lands. Our population is concentrated around the coast where there is a greener environment but being very careful with water is really part of the national psyche, though we forgot for a few decades starting in the sixties and rediscovered it in the nineties. We have had recurring widespread droughts and Governments are finding that there are simply no more rivers to be dammed/tapped tosupply growing cities, they just have to cut per capita water consumption. There is also serious discussion of sewer -to -drinking -water purification though that is a difficult mental bridge to cross. Several new subdivisions in Melbourne have reticulated recycled water so the house is supplied with "fresh" water, the garden and toilet get treated recycled water. Also in Victoria (my State) all new houses MUST be equipped with either solar hot water OR a rainwater storage tank and associated pump/plumbing.
Water is plentiful in the capital cities but most summers water gets in short supply, we have mandatory water restrictions where you can't wash your car, can't water your garden, need a written permit to fill an empty swimming pool. Population growth is exceeding our ability to supply water, in my state the capital city and two major rural cites have made these restrictions year round and permanent. in country towns the water supply is often even more restricted. In rural areas where people rely on bores and tank water, the culture of saving water has never gone away like it did in the cities.
Twin tubs are still very common in country areas and are still available new, you hardly see them new in the major cities. Water conservation is a regular topic in talkback radio, you hear of people on dry area farms who saved bath water in a plastic tub to water a few struggling vegetable plants by the back door, and so on.
Hi Toggleswitch
see other thread about currency - we went Decimal in 1966. The Prime Minister at the time was a mad keen Royalist, in honour of Her Maj he tried to have the new currency called the Royal. Fortunately he lost out. Actually "Dollar" has a long history in this country - when the Brits were first colonising the country there was a severe shortage of hard currency. Labourers (and convicts ??) were sometimes paid in rum. (No prohibition here...) A quantity of old Spanish coins were found somehow and the centres were punched out of the coins, both the coins and the centres were used, they were called the "Holey Dollar" and the "Dump", not sure what values were assigned to each. (My Dad used to collect coins and stamps.) They are quite sought after now.
Chris
