LIBBY Taheny is more water-wise than most. Along with some of her neighbours in Union Street, Northcote, she is already conserving water by installing a drip irrigation system in her garden, recycling the rinse water from her washing machine and installing flow reduction devices.

But even she had her eyes opened when she attended a series of information sessions organised by commmunity education group Watermark Australia.

“The information we learnt was amazing,” she says. “Just realising how much water is used in the production of food; how much we waste; how crucial the water problem is in Australia.”

Ms Taheny, a horticulturist, along with a small group of neighbours, felt that as individuals there was not much they could do to influence water policy. But they could make practical changes and perhaps persuade others to do the same.

UPDATE: Below is the photo accompanying The Age article. Auntie Libby (on the far left) thinks the photo is ‘horrendous’ so that is good enough reason for me to include it 🙂