This was the list I wrote for myself back in 2003 - a kind of ethics checklist to do with my house reno and lifestyle, I suppose. You can go to places like here and here, for Top Ten lists of tips and things you can do to be more "sustainable" (or you can book me for a free Home Sustainability Assessment and we can go over them in person) - this list isn't one of those. It's more a set of questions I use to make choices when something isn't immediately clear to me. As 'eco-living' tips go, these few questions cover pretty much everything for me. (The notes in italics are afterthoughts and I've added a few actions as examples)
1. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are (While part of me has daydreams of living on 5 acres of land, with flowing rivers, flowers in my hair and wilderbeasts at my feet, a far bigger part feels a strong responsibility to help clean up some of the mess we've created in our urban and semi-urban environments - the Great Australian "Dream" - the suburb. That's why I'm living in Downtown Cooran, in my funny little house with a face, and not in a utopian rural eco-community. Even if you don't live in your 'ideal' location, there are many ways to make a start right here, right now...and benefits to be gained, like beating the dreaded lurgie..affluenza!
Renter's Guide to Sustainable Living
How to Dianose And Treat Affluenza!
2. Pay for people, not things Instead of buying a cupboard, pay a local tradesman to make me a cupboard - chances are I'd already have most of the materials - and it helps keep money in my local community. And of course, paying someone to do something for me, comes a distinct second to having a go at doing it myself first. (I just broke this one with the purchase of some kitchen cupboards ... see my blog for more on that.)
ie: where you can, make soil rather than buying it in plastic bags; hire a food gardener v's buying fruit and veg; give a Service Gift (ie you do something for someone) rather than a cow-shaped peppergrinder that they probably don't want anyway!
3. Don't buy new when old will do/ Creativity over Style! Probably my favourite as so much of our environmental footprint comes about through our consumption of 'new' stuff...even if it's "green" new stuff. (Soooo wish the Salvos and Vinnies had frequent flyer points!) Check out the Story of Stuff by clicking image below.
1. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are (While part of me has daydreams of living on 5 acres of land, with flowing rivers, flowers in my hair and wilderbeasts at my feet, a far bigger part feels a strong responsibility to help clean up some of the mess we've created in our urban and semi-urban environments - the Great Australian "Dream" - the suburb. That's why I'm living in Downtown Cooran, in my funny little house with a face, and not in a utopian rural eco-community. Even if you don't live in your 'ideal' location, there are many ways to make a start right here, right now...and benefits to be gained, like beating the dreaded lurgie..affluenza!
Renter's Guide to Sustainable Living
How to Dianose And Treat Affluenza!
2. Pay for people, not things Instead of buying a cupboard, pay a local tradesman to make me a cupboard - chances are I'd already have most of the materials - and it helps keep money in my local community. And of course, paying someone to do something for me, comes a distinct second to having a go at doing it myself first. (I just broke this one with the purchase of some kitchen cupboards ... see my blog for more on that.)
ie: where you can, make soil rather than buying it in plastic bags; hire a food gardener v's buying fruit and veg; give a Service Gift (ie you do something for someone) rather than a cow-shaped peppergrinder that they probably don't want anyway!
3. Don't buy new when old will do/ Creativity over Style! Probably my favourite as so much of our environmental footprint comes about through our consumption of 'new' stuff...even if it's "green" new stuff. (Soooo wish the Salvos and Vinnies had frequent flyer points!) Check out the Story of Stuff by clicking image below.
4. Make 'waste' a verb, not a noun... (courtesy of my friend Lee Rostron, and later, Janet Millington on a similar tangent about sending waste away from our blocks, who said "so where is 'away' anyway??") Waste is something we do, not something that just is. End of story. So I've tried to think of a use for everything that would ordinarily leave my house as 'waste' and reuse, recycle, or turn into valuable resources like compost to soil.
Compost everything into new soil/new life; don't waste rain - install tanks; try not to buy things that take materials out of the recycle loop (ie; plastic-handled tools rather than wooden ones; non-recyclable food packaging; synthetic clothes etc) Even recycling things, still takes energy. See pt 3!
5. Don't pay for free gifts The majority of Australia houses are thrown together with no consideration of what the sun, breezes and storms do around the block at various times of the year - resulting in the ridiculous scenario whereby people are paying for air conditioning and electricity to heat, cool, light and ventilate their houses, when Mother Nature does it graciously, for free!
See the Passive Design section of the Your Home Technical Manual
or visit my blog or come to one of my workshops.
6. Make one element have several functions & make design the decoration
Any permaculture person worth their herb spirals will tell you this one, yet in building design we seem to think a floor is a floor, is a floor..... and that's it. But what about this? Rather than laying a basic concrete slab with floor coverings that need maintenance over time and also having tanks outside somewhere taking up valuable growing space, and an energy guzzling reverse-cycle air condidioner, why not position an inground concrete tank (1) so that the top can be polished and used as a beautiful living area floor surface that requires little maintenance (2), and (3) acts as a heat sink to passively heat and cool the interior of the house, rather than using machines to do it? One thing, three uses.
ie: make a window frame a beautiful plant outside, rather than hanging a painting of flowers inside; in the garden planting a frangipanni that acts as a sculptural trellis for choco vines (have alternating growing seasons); plant guilds
7. Be a good neighbour To me, this means try to always respect the other beings around me. Plan food gardens that can be shared, share my space with other species (yes, this means not spraying ants on the kitchen bench too!) and basically, just co-existing peacefully, without the burning desire to make those around me conform to my way of thinking. Beauty in biodiversity I say - as hard as that might be to actually put into practise sometimes! The street signs in this vid are a good example. (why do they always play banjos in gardening vids??)
8. If you can't eat it, don't water it Basically due to an innate laziness in the gardening arena, this one has been pretty easy to uphold, but I actually believe that planting a mix of locally endemic species that know how to survive in our area (all-on-their-own-thanks-very-much!) as super food for the critters, plus super foods for me (which I water) is the way to go. To me, that's a good use of water.
Find Sunshine Coast local native species here
Isabelle Shipard's list of Survival Foods here
9. Work with Mother Nature, not against her Simply put, if it's cold, put a jumper on, don't install a heater! My house has a lot going for it as it's facing the right way (ie True North) but it's still outside comfort zones at the height of summer and winter due to all those bad makeovers over the years. I'm working on that, (and my renos of the last few weeks will do a lot to fix some of the summer 'challenges') but in the meantime, I just accept and work with the slight discomfort ... its a good reminder of the reality of our existence.
See my blog for more
10. Concentrate efforts as close to home, as naturally as possible, and as simply as you can
Basically, this translates to, bringing my work-base closer to home and making necessary travel efficient, supporting local businesses, buying food produced locally (if not by myself), avoiding plastics and man-made items where possible ... and lastly, just enjoying the sheer bliss of living more simply, peacefully, artfully and intentionally.
Well, that's the plan......
