Today is  Blog Action Day and the theme is climate change. So what better day to write about a climate-saving feature packed house that I visited in Sydney on Sustainable House Day.

Visiting John’s sustainable house in Gordon was more than just checking out rainwater tanks, solar panels and a vege patch. It was more of a journey through John’s concepts and philosophies in life, which all in some way focused on sustainability. (more…)

How’s this for a low impact bath. My kids recently had a bath in my brother’s backyard.

The bath was found lying around my brother’s property – he previously used it as a worm farm.

The water was collected in a tank and the heating came from burning reclaimed wood (see the ashes under the bath).  The air conditioning and heating – well that was provided by Mother Nature.

Sustainable House Day is happening again on September 13. It happens all around Australia so if you are keen to check out some great, green homes this is the day to start.

In the past I’ve visited houses in Sydney and Canberra, which have been really inspirational. This year I am sticking to Sydney – probably closer to my own house.

Interested? Find a house near you on the Sustainable House Day website

Ok, so it’s not quite spring but since spring cleaning is such a mammoth effort I’m starting early.

But I’m not going to throw any of my unwanted stuff out. Instead I’m going to keep it all out of landfill by rehoming, reusing and recycling.

Like a good spring clean – that is never quite finished - I plan to keep updating this page as I go. I’d love to hear your ideas about ways you’ve rehomed, reused and recycled your stuff. Please add them to the comments below and I will try to incorporate them into this story.

I’m starting with all the unwanted clothes in the house. This is what I did or am about to do. (more…)

For Earth Day (today) I’ve created a feral fruit tree map. Unfortunately, my area is a little light on feral fruit but I will add to it when I find more during my walks around the neighbourhood. So far I’ve spotted a mulberry tree, errant passionfruit vines, quite a lot of lilly pilly trees and some warrigal greens (native spinach) – although not a fruit, these greens are very edible.

In case you’re not sure, feral fruit is basically any fruit you can glean from a public space like a park, by the road side or overhanging a fence. It’s not only free, but grown locally and chances are its organic. (more…)

It’s amazing how much household waste can be reduced through composting organic scraps. I’ve been doing this for years so I don’t really notice any reduction in my rubbish anymore.

However, over the New Year break my family and I shared a holiday house on Smiths Lake with two other families. Since the house was a holiday rental there was no composting or worm farming facilities so all our organic scraps went straight in the bin. I was amazed at how quickly our bins filled up and how much was thrown out that could have been composted. It was enough to make me cry – well almost. (more…)

My free Greentech Australia tickets have arrived. If you are in Sydney, Greentech is from November 7-8 , and from the time of writing free tickets were available at the Greentech website.

Greentech is all about green building, design and technology. There are some great speakers, talks and exhibitions. Find out more.

I love this book! Smart Permaculture Design is no ordinary gardening book. The author, Jenny Allen, has such a great way of writing. She tells an enticing story about her permaculture garden in Melaney, Queensland, while also teaching readers about permaculture principles and design.

Her words are poetic, dramatic and informative and she adds just enough spice to keep you drooling through her beautifully illustrated book. (more…)

As the hot summer months approach it’s important to ensure gardens are in excellent shape waterwise.

Here’s a little article I wrote for G magazine a while back. Just saw it online.

The Alternative Technology Association (ATA) also recently released an excellent book about conserving water around the home.

The book, Water not down the drain, tells you about:

• Choosing rainwater tanks and harvesting rainwater
• Supplying rainwater to the house and garden
• Setting up a grey water diversion system
• Grey water treatment systems
• Grey water health and environmental concerns
• Creating a rain garden to capture storm water
• Cutting greenhouse emissions while saving water

Interested? You can order it online through the ATA.

Last weekend my family and I visited some interesting places during Sustainable House Day. This year there were so many houses on offer, it was difficult to choose which ones to visit — our time was a bit limited because we had a four year old and a small baby with us.

We chose the Hawkesbury EarthCare Centre, an owner-builder house constructed from interlocking concrete blocks and a new house using many clever environmental elements.

(more…)