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| Teaching young Pups Old Tricks
| Green Reserves demonstrate that older workers skills are in demand

Who said that older workers are out of touch and out of date?

At the ETC it is the old Green Reserve guys who are showing our younger workers tips, tricks, and sharing skills, not often part of the modern workplace. The Green Reserves at the ETC work on a variety of site-based projects, solving complex problems with practical solutions, a wry sense of humour and a work ethic that the rest of us can only hope to emulate.

During 2003 the Green Reserves have worked on:

The Shade Sail Erection on the Waalitj Building
Site-wide Irrigation Upgrade
Resource Pile Upgrade
Outdoor Furniture Building
Desalination Plant Servicing
Wind Turbine Maintenance
ETC Library Maintenance
General Site Maintenance and much more ...

Maurice, Derek, Alan & Robert with the storage racks designed by the Green Reserves for the ETC Resource Pile.

The Green Reserves Programme is part of the Federal Government's Work for the Dole Scheme. Older unemployed people are required to meet the 'mutual obligation' requirements to qualify for support from the Government. These people who are getting closer to retirement age find it very hard to get a job, those people are encouraged to participate in community and volunteer based activities, such as Green Reserves.

The Green Reserves Programme at the ETC is administered by Conservation Volunteers Australia from funds made available by the Commonwealth Government's Mutual Obligation Scheme. The ETC would like to thank Jacqui Luff the local CVA representative, for her ongoing support and the Green Reserve participants, without who, our ETC would be a poorer place.

Above: The tyre-cupboard under construction and the finished product

The Green Reserves Programme at the ETC has proved so popular that having reached retirement age, with no obligation to remain on the programme, past participants continue to volunteer at the ETC on a regular basis.

The Green Reserves taking a lunch break at the ETC Site-hut.