Zero Emission Noosa(ZEN) has been tracking how different postcodes are moving towards the goal of zero community emissions for Noosa by 2026.
ZEN drove (in an electric vehicle of course) to Kin Kin, postcode 4573, to talk with Jodie Williams, owner of the renowned Black Ant Gourmet café and general store. Kin Kin is the Gubbi Gubbi word for the black ants in the area.
Jodie Williams - owner Black Ant Gourmet
“We had a catering company, and the general store shut down due to not being able to be open because it wasn't up to standard.
So with a lot of work, we reopened the general store, and part of the process was finding ways to run it a little bit better than the previous operators.
“The solar on the roof provides over 50% of their power consumption and was paid off in four years. They’ve built a big barn area which gives them the ability to install extra solar. And LED lights are everywhere.
Jodie says, “Once we put more panels up then batteries will make sense and we can harvest and store energy, so that’s exciting”.”
Solar
We put solar on the roof. It provides over 50% of our power consumption at the moment, which is great. We've just finished paying it off. It's taken us four years and now we have another structure out the back. The massive, big barn area has given us extra roof that gives us the ability to install the extra solar that we need. So once we put more panels up then batteries will make sense and we can harvest and store energy. So that's exciting. That's our next big step. It's a nice feeling.
“Jodie exudes her passion about sustainability and talks about dealing directly with local suppliers because, “it’s fresher, tastes better, and keeps the money locally.””
Sustainability
Some of the other things that we do that are very supportive of sustainability and lowering emissions is to purchase from local suppliers. When you buy local you don't have all of those other expenses associated when things generally go to market, such as the storage, refrigeration, and transport. It's fresher which has a massive knock on effect that people don't realize. Supporting local is so much better for the planet, as well as keeping money in the local economy. It does taste better and it’s better for you, they’re all facts.
We do a lot of sustainable things here, because that's what we’re passionate about. We have our own rainwater catchment systems. We don't rely on Unity Water and all of those processes, we have our own ultraviolet light water purifiers. We have no town water and no sewer.
Our water system is harvested from the rain. It goes through special filters and then ultraviolet light treatment, to make sure that everyone's health is looked after. Our wastewater system is all underground and we manage that on site and have done so from the beginning, and it seems to be good.
We also have our back area where a lot of our regular needs in growing are met, such as spinach and garnishes, flowers and herbs which is really good compared to the amount of work that goes into growing those hydroponically and then storing them in refrigeration. We just harvest what we need each day, and people come in and want to buy it. They know that we've got them growing out in the garden.
“From their garden they harvest spinach, garnishes, herbs and flowers, while they recycle coffee grinds and food scraps from the café to compost for the garden, and the ducks and chickens eat some too.”
We also do all the recycling of cardboard, bottles and plastics. The coffee grinds and food scraps go into the compost system that feeds our garden, and we have ducks and chickens that eat our waste. We've reduced our waste by 60%, using only 5 wheelie bins compared to other places similar in size that might use 12.
Our lighting is all LED, and we are very water conscious here, because if we run out of water, which has happened in winter. But It only takes six hours of heavy rain and we can fill both tanks completely full. But to give you an idea, we go through a tank every two weeks. If we don't have rain in a month, we have to be very conservative. At this time of year, we're very water conscious, but we're lucky enough, as it rains a fair bit out here in Kin Kin.
“Customers get keep cup discounts, and story cards in the bathrooms make people aware of water use, not just while they’re there, but she’s confident they take the message with them when they leave.
Jodie says they’re always looking at ways to save power, whether it’s finding a recipe that needs less cook time or using a raw product.”
With our packaging, we're very conscious of where it comes from, and how it's made. We offer keep cup discounts for coffee. They come in and get a cheaper coffee if they provide their own cup. We’ve got more and more people doing that every day, and it not only saves money, it teaches people as well. We have little storyboards in our bathrooms that says we provide a hundred percent of our own water and process our effluent. So please be conscious of the amount of water you use to wash your hands. A simple thing like that, it just makes people aware, not just while they're here, but they take that on when they leave. We turned down the water pressure, so less water comes out because normally people just turn it on full. They just don't need that much water to wash their hands.
Power saving is really important. We're always looking at ways to save power, whether it's finding a recipe that needs less cook time or using a raw product.
ZEN: I suggested that they could put something like spiciness symbols next to the menu items, to show the energy content.
Jodie immediately says “Yeah you could do that. You could say that it's energy efficient. A lot of our desserts are bake free and are just set. That's a good idea. I'll have a talk to my team.”
Dealing directly is another way we choose. A lot of big places get the product, Cryovac it, store it, then truck it. I think buying direct eliminates that as much as possible. It's just kind of cool and keeps the money local as well, which is important.
“She’s seen the business grow and in spite of COVID, they’re back on track as if nothing had happened, and is thankful for the great support from their customers who obviously like what they’re doing.”
We've watched this business grow. Goodness about 600% in six years.
COVID RECOVERY
And we’ve got through COVID okay. It was incredible from the day we re-opened, it had been on a steady incline, then when COVID happened it dropped, but it came back very steep and went back on track as if nothing had happened, which has been amazing.
I know that not everyone's been that lucky, but for some reason we've always had really great support from our customers. They like what we're doing. We’ve evolved. Everybody did what they could during COVID. Some people pivoted, some people completely stepped away from that business and started a new business.
We just thank our customers for their support and let them know what we're doing to make sure they come back. And we're really lucky out here, we've never had to turn our tables over because we have the space. We don't sit there and go, okay, dessert, now here's your bill. We just wait. If you want to sit there with a cup of coffee for an hour after your meal and have a chat with someone that's okay. There are rare times like Mother's Day when we let people know, we can fit you in at this time, but you have to be gone by 1:30. But that's rare. It's just very rare. We're lucky that when the rule came back that you had to have one person per two square meter, because we've got the space. It's easy for us. So even then we could have 50 people and that's enough for the team that we had to manage, and we're back up to almost full team again.
“Because of COVID they turned their home into short term letting. Mayan Luxe Villas is a holiday place for people who would normally be going overseas but want something that is a little bit unique.
Jodie says, “It’s a sustainable home, made from rammed earth and recycled timber. My partner, Brett Gowley, designed and built it. No heating is needed, no air conditioning, no paint, no insulation, no plasterboard anywhere in the place. It shows that you can be sustainable, and you can still have luxury.””
Because of COVID we turned our home into short term letting to provide accommodation and a holiday place for people who would normally be going overseas, but wanted something that was a little bit unique.
Accomodation too
We have a very sustainable home. It's made from dirt and recycled timber. It doesn't have solar yet, but that's coming at the same time we get solar for Black Ant Gourmet. The house is only six months old. It's called Mayan Farm and the accommodation is Mayan Luxe Villas. It's made from dirt from a dam we built, rammed earth and recycled timber, or the timber was harvested from the area as we were doing all the work.
For example, when we were doing fencing work, we would clear a fence line, have a couple of big trees removed and we said, Hey, what are you doing with that timber? We'd like to buy it. The rammed earth home is made from old railway sleepers or bridging timbers, and timber we've been collecting for 10 years.
My partner, Brett Gowley designed and built it, and decorated it including a lot of metal work. No heating needed, no air conditioning needed, no paint, no insulation, no Gyprock anywhere in the place. All recycled timber bench tops made from railway sleepers, furniture made from railway sleepers, repurposed timbers, and the big front doors are made from a 200-year-old slab hut that was on the original property when we purchased.
It's good and it shows that you can be sustainable, and it can still be luxury. In Noosa Magazine just did a photo shoot up there, promoting some new winter fashion, and it helps get the message across that sustainability can also be for those that want the latest and greatest and the quality. It's about that happy fit and that’s really important.
I'm super proud that the people that come up, they’re designers, they’re builders, they're people who are passionate about ways of doing better. Even the garden is all cactuses and there's hardly any watering needing to be done. It's all rocks and gravel and lots of cactuses. It’s fantastic you can’t water anything up there. And again, it's also on its own effluent disposal system and has its own water catchment and all of those things.
We've been really lucky that Tourism Noosa and Noosa Council and Visit Sunshine Coast are very supportive, and they've been sending a lot of Instagram influencers that are passionate about sustainability, such as Tread Lightly, Slow Stays, just to name a couple of them and they take photos and they have been sharing the photos with us.
“The 30kW system was installed in 2017, and their new one will be three times the size, and she’s getting some for the farm too, as well as batteries. Before solar her power bill was about $9,500 a quarter. Now it’s around $4,000. Repayments were $800 a month and now that she’s getting busier and it’s paid off, it’s time to upgrade.”
Solar Expansion & Batteries
The size of the original system I had installed in 2017 is 30kW, and new one will be three times that, and we’re getting some for Mayan Farm too. We’ll be adding some batteries too. We were looking at batteries a couple of years ago, but our supplier said just hold off as the batteries are getting better and better by the month and more affordable as well.
Just over 50% of my power comes from the solar.
Before solar my power bill would be about $9,500 a quarter. It's now sitting around $4,000. Sometimes it goes up to $4,500 at different times of the years.
With the extra panels, I’ll be earning money and I'll be providing power for a few of houses in Kin Kin when I start feeding back into the grid.
There’s a lot of people with solar on their roof of homes, but you don't realize it. You don't really see mine until you're at this angle at the front, as the facade hides all the solar. We've got as many panels as we could humanly fit. We did this extension recently out the back here, and they'll be solar panels all the way along there too.
I was paying back $800 a month on the loan for the solar, so we're saving, it was a no brainer. Now I'm getting busier, it's time to upgrade. Now I own it, there's no more repayments. It's a good feeling.”
Message for other businesses
We asked Jodie about any message she’d have for others, and she told us, “Look into it, research it, do the figures, crunch the numbers. You'll be surprised. It's amazing. You save money as well as doing better for the planet. It's been a great decision for this business. Huge. It was a commitment. I had to borrow for it, but there were a lot of people putting their hand up to finance it, so that's not really a hurdle in my opinion.
The extra solar will be financed too, but the money that I'm saving is going to pay for the new system. It’s a no brainer. I'll actually be making money off the power. I've been waiting for this to happen to get it all done and to chuck some more panels up. It’s been good.
Kin Kin at a glance
In Kin Kin over 40% of residential dwellings have solar, and it’s estimated that 43.6% of electricity used comes from renewable sources. Kin Kin folk are frugal energy users. There’s been a 26% reduction in household consumption over 10 years, and they now have the lowest in the Noosa area by a considerable margin.
Further details can be found at zeroemissionsnoosa.com.au/4571
Check out
· Black Ant Gourmet at blackantgourmet.com.au/
· Mayan Luxe Villas at mayanfarm.com.au/
For other articles in this Zero Emissions Noosa series, please go to zeroemissionsnoosa.com.au/noosa-solar