In partnership with the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), the Bayer Eco-Minds program aims to foster awareness, thirst and passion for the environment amongst students from across the Asia Pacific region. In return, the winning students receive an all expenses paid trip to Auckland for the opportunity to present their ideas and participate in solution-orientated group work, cross-cultural activities and knowledge sharing in a bid to tackle real-life sustainable development issues.

In Australia, the initiative is being supported by leading environmentalist Jon Dee who believes the Eco-Minds Forum is an ideal opportunity for students to put their passion to good use.

"What better way for young Aussie students to get their suggestions for sustainable energy solutions out there," says Dee. "Eco-Minds provides the perfect forum for tomorrow's leaders to exchange ideas with each other in a proactive, pan-Asia effort to make a very real difference to the future of our environment, today."

2009 will see the third bi-annual Eco-Minds Forum take place. At the 2007 Forum in Thailand, university students Rachel Cain from the University of Adelaide, Laura Joseph from the University of Western Sydney and Eric Knight from Sydney University represented Australia when the best minds from across Asia Pacific came together to explore real-life issues and sustainable development ideas for fresh water supply.

Rachel Cain, who has been involved with the Youth Environment Council of South Australia, as both a member and mentor, and has completed voluntary work in Central America, says:

"Eco-Minds has helped to fast track my career by providing me with an unforgettable experience to work alongside students from across the region to try and solve issues of sustainability that affect all of us.

"Each student brought their own knowledge and skill-set which helped fuel the discussion and ideas and allowed each of us to learn so much from each other. It's opened up doors for me and I've created some wonderful friendships." said Ms Cain.

The 2009 Eco-Minds Youth Forum will focus on a topic that is of growing importance to the world - Sustainable Energy Systems: Challenges and Opportunities. As part of the week-long event, participants will look at some of the challenges around energy supply, including climate change, and the practical solutions that can overcome such challenges with a visit to New Zealand's hydro and geothermal supply systems.

For those "eco-minded" students who have ever seen something and thought "I could do it better", this is their chance. The Bayer-UNEP Eco-Minds is open to all university students aged 18-24 years with delegates from Singapore, Thailand, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, India, Indonesia and China attending.

For entry details and application forms, students can log on to

www.eco-minds.bayer.com, or contact the Australian Eco-Minds Co-ordinator on

(02) 4736 0892. Entries close on 28 March 2009.

In one report Peter Coombs argues that previous simplistic estimates for water volumes generated by tanks in Melbourne are wrong, and badly misjudge the capability of tanks to supplement water supply.

Although he refused to comment on the reports, Professor Coombes confirmed his work showed a tank in each Melbourne household could deliver a city-wide 120 gigalitres a year, more than twice previous estimates by water supplier Melbourne Water.

More details at The Age

Billed as the largest conference of its kind in the world, this inaugural conference and expo will showcasing new water efficiency technology to industry and business from around the world.

From the look of the website, it's shaping up to be as big as the PR speculates with so decent major sponsors including Rain Bird, MWH, Corma and Toto.

Check out the Water Smart Innovations Conference website for details.

I'm sure the council isn't impressed with this, but I sure am. Goes to show how proactive people are being when it comes to saving water in their homes.

• penalties for water use above 200 litres per person in a household
• For such premises reticulated (town) water is not permitted to be used for the filling, partial filling, or topping up of a rainwater tank or rainwater storage facility

you can read more about stage 6 water restrictions on the Qld water commission website.

This may be drawing a long bow, but given careful consideration, might the recent ban on smoking in Victorian pubs, with other states soon to follow, help save water?� I know if my jeans are relatively stain free and not smelling like a pack of Malbro's the morning after, I'm more than happy to give them another ware.

Think of the thousands of ash trays that no longer have to be washed out at the end of the night by the bar staff down at your local.� Who know how much water banning smoking in pubs will save.

The Environment minister Malcolm Turnbull also told ABC radio there would be a $1000 assistance package for families earning less than $100,000 to replace existing electric hot water systems to a solar.

Check out the full story in The Australian.

I think we need more novel thinking like this to solve our water woes and to solve the global warming crisis we're facing.

LABOR leader Kevin Rudd wants to put a rainwater tank in every home and has pledged $250 million to get things started.

Mr Rudd yesterday said a federal Labor government would tackle the water crisis by offering up to $500 each to 500,000 homes to help install tanks or grey water piping.

�We want every Australian home and its roof to be a personal water catchment area, maximising reuse and collection of rain water,� he said.

Combined this with State government rebates, this may tip a few people over the edge and get them installing rainwater tanks and greywater systems.

Wouldn't it be great if our electricity and water usage could be tracked automatically and electronically.� Households could join a nationwide competition to reduce water usage and electricity consumption. � Schools could compete against schools and businesses against businesses.� Surely this kind of competition would drive households and organisations to invest in green technology and products such as solar hot water, rainwater tanks, and Compact Fluorescent Globes.

"We are asking people to turn off their outside taps and let nature keep our gardens alive during July," she said.

Source: Adelaide Now

"Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said the change was needed because the rebate program would not conserve the city's water supplies unless people started using rainwater inside their homes."

Brisbane has been struggling to keep water consumption down to 140 L per person and although this change to the rebate rules may hurt the hip pocket, it will go a long way to helping Brisbane reach the consumption target.

"It's hard to find accurate and reliable information on how to be green, and this is something G Magazine will do best," says Sara Phillips, Editor of G and winner of a 2006 Reuters/World Conservation Union Award for Excellence in Environmental Reporting. "We want to make it a magazine readers trust, with sustainable solutions and examples based on the best evidence. No hype, just the facts."

Get your subscription to G Mag at iSubscribe.

The Queensland government has granted BB approval to conduct testing of a grey water treatment plant on site at the House, which will see grey water run into toilets for flushing and filtered water used to irrigate gardens.

Read more about one of the greenest houses on the Big Brother website news section.

The report found the widespread installation of rainwater tanks in Australian capital cities would mean big savings in water, energy and money.

The study found:

Rainwater tanks are a more cost effective option than dams and desalination plants.

Rainwater tanks are five times more energy efficient than desalination plants and twice as energy efficient as the proposed Traveston dam, per megalitre of water produced.

If governments deployed rainwater tanks to 5 per cent of households each year in Sydney and South-East Queensland, dams and desalination plants planned for 2010 could be delayed past 2026 (Sydney) and 2019 (SEQ).

The majority of Australian houses are suitable for a rainwater tank instillation. In Sydney, 65 per cent (or 1.1 million houses), in South East Queensland 73 per cent (or 900 000 houses) and in Melbourne 72 per cent of houses have potential for the instillation of a rainwater tank.

�While 38 per cent of households in Adelaide have rainwater tanks, fewer than 6 per cent of the houses in Melbourne, Sydney, South-East Queensland and Perth do,� said ACF�s urban water campaigner Kate Noble.

�Rainwater tanks collect and store water far more efficiently than dams, especially in times of drought. As the climate changes we should be installing tanks to take advantage of the rain that does fall on our rooftops.

�If governments systematically installed rainwater tanks in Australia�s major cities, we would secure as much water as the planned Kurnell desalination plant in Sydney, the Tugan desalination plant on the Gold Coast and the stage one of the unpopular Traveston Dam proposed for Queensland�s Mary River,� Ms Noble said.