Little eco footprints

Saying goodbye to Flannel Fings

 
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had decided to drop one of my commitments. I didn’t like how busy my life was and decided that something had to go.

Flannel Fings drew the short straw.

I’m proud of what I created and had so many ideas for the business, but I wasn’t prepared to sacrifice time with my family to follow through with those dreams. When I started Flannel Fings I was in that warm and fuzzy ‘I want to stay home with my baby forever’ mood and thought I would eventually give-up my job. But I don’t know what I was thinking! I love my job and find it rewarding (most of the time - sometimes it’s just painfully frustrating).

I like that Flannel Fings nourished my creative side for a little while. I’ll tell you a secret – I couldn’t even sew two years ago. I’ve loved learning to sew and I’ve loved realising that I can be creative.

 
But to be honest, I’m more at home writing reports or funding applications, playing with data, wandering through the bush, and advising landholders or public authorities regarding how they can protect threatened species – and I don’t even mind the odd battle with a developer or two. I’m going to keep on sewing and creating - but i'll stick to sewing gifts for friends, family and me!

So I’ve closed up shop. I’ve passed the business into the capable hands of Kristen who will run Flannel Fings in the new year. Good luck Kristen. Enjoy :-)

These photos of me in my sewing room were taken by the very talented Lucy from Mummalu’s Artistic Obsession and encircled. I was going to be featured in the Madeit Designer Spotlight (but withdrew once I had made the decision to drop Flannel Fings) so the lovely Lucy helped me out by taking some photos. Thank you Lucy! It’s nice to have photos of this moment in time.

One week and 200 bananas

We are heading over to Perth for our Christmas holidays next week. The garden is going to have to fend for itself, other than a little watering from our chook baby sitters. We realised today that our two huge bunches of bananas will likely be too far gone when we return. Last year we cut off a hand or two each week. Unfortunately, this year we will have no such luxury and will have to ripen them all at once. So, by the end of the week I’ll have around 200 ripe bananas!

Luckily we love frozen bananas. I peel them, freeze in containers, and use them in baking or simply slice them and serve as a dessert. Little eco loves sliced frozen bananas.

A quick reminder for local parents: the next Playdate for the Planet is this Monday. Hopefully see you there.

Somewhere between hope and despair…

…is where I am at the moment. I am usually brimming with hope for a more equitable and sustainable future. I usually consider the good and the opportunities rather than dwell on the despair and the loss.

I started the week at hope.

Walking through beautiful bushland, visiting with nature, and swimming in a clean refreshing lagoon with like-minded families gave me hope.

 
 A Land Mullet.

Glenrock Lagoon

Having around 150 people enjoy the community picnic we organised gave me hope…

Regularly sharing a quick smile and wave with other cyclists on my ride to work gave me hope…

But mostly this week filled me with despair and hopelessness.

In my job (I coordinate projects to try and protect and recover threatened species), I often see horrible environmental destruction that pushes a threatened species even closer to extinction. It happened again this week. I cannot detach myself from the destruction and become overwhelmed with hopelessness and sadness.

The destruction is sometimes reckless, sometimes not. It’s often done out of selfishness and greed and is often done simply to feed our obscene culture of consumption. It is almost always avoidable; and it is always caused by a lack of respect for nature.

Why don’t we give nature the respect she deserves? We cannot live without her, yet we abuse and destroy her.

If only she had a voice.  But even if she did, I’m not certain we would listen until it was too late.

What threatened species might we see on our Playdate for the Planet?

 Left: Threatened climbing white-flowered wax plant (Cynanchum elegans).  Right: Threatened Magenta Lilly Pilly (Cynanchum elegans). Image source.

I’m a bit of a geek. If I’m going somewhere new, I often look into what threatened species occur within the area so that I can keep an eye out. Today I looked into what threatened species live along Saturdays walk route. I thought I’d share my findings just in case any of the other parents joining us on Saturdays walk are as geeky as me and interested.

A map of the walk route can be found here. We will be following the Yuelarbah Track to Glenrock Lagoon.

Along the way we will be walking through a sheltered dry forest, then a grassy forest, then a coastal gully rainforest, and at the end the peace de resistance – a patch of Littoral Rainforest – which is recognised as threatened at a state and national level.

You can find some great picture heavy and user friendly guides to Littoral Rainforest here and here.

When walking through the coastal gully rainforest or the littoral rainforest we may be lucky enough to see the climbing threatened White-flowered Wax Plant (Cynanchum elegans) or the Magenta Lilly Pilly (Syzygium paniculatum), which are both known to occur at the site.

Or perhaps you are more interested in the critters and creatures that live in the park? You can find a list of animals that live in the reserve (including the Death Adder!) in this draft plan of management. 

So there you go…some information on what we won’t see on Saturday's walk because we are too busy watching our children run wild through the bush. Sounds like fun!

Playdate for the Planet walk through Glenrock State Conservation Area

This Saturday (28th November) is a busy day in Newcastle. Not only is there the Connect with Braye Park Community Picnic in the afternoon, we also have the next Playdate For The Planet.

The Little Eco family are doing both, so i think it is going to be one busy day!

This Saturdays Playdate is a walk down into the beautiful Glenrock Valley to Burwood Beach.

The walk leaves at 10am from the carpark off Burwood road, just  near the traffic lights for the Fernleigh trail in Kahibah.  The first 3rd of the walk is pram friendly and leads down to a gurgling creek where you can optionally end the walk. If you've got the energy and want to head on down to the beach you'll need baby carriers for any youngsters who are likely to tire as there are quite a few stairs.

Weekend catch ups are a good opportunity to bring along partners, friends and kids who are usually at school. Everyone welcome! Don't forget sun protection, water and some snacks to keep you energised. The walk takes about 2 hours return plus beach play time, so come prepared.

Interested in future PlaydateS for the planet? Subscribe to the email list by emailing playdatefortheplanet@gmail.com and check out our events program here.

Place making: Community Connect with Braye Park Picnic

I went along to one of the Place Making meetings organised by my local council last month. A project I suggested was accepted as one of the pilot projects.

It’s happening this weekend.

 
Bring a picnic and join us for a free family friendly celebration. There will be a roving minstrel, a cake stall, and activities for the children, including face painting and prizes for the best kite, and best-dressed dog, bike, scooter and pram.

 

Picnickers will even have an opportunity to leave their mark on the park. We are turning one of the concrete paths into a permanent artwork, with picnickers adding their own colorful hand print. I'm pretty excited about being able to add Little Eco's handprint to the path. We are having the following stenciled onto the footpath:

Handprints for a sustainable future 
Hands connect. Hands heal. Hands build.

I love the concept of sustainable handprints (mentioned here and here). An ecological footprint signifies the damage one does to the environment, whereas a sustainable handprint represents the good one does for the world. This quote by John Biemer sums up the difference "The best one can get with a footprint is no impact at all. The potential of a hand print is unlimited.” So my aim is to have little eco footprints, but a HUGE eco handprint.

I love Braye Park. It's my local park. It has spectacular 360 degree views over Newcastle, kilometers of bike paths, special remnant bushland, a large off-leash dog walking area, and a great playground. However, its isolated, feels unsafe and is not used my many in the community because of its bad reputation. This is going to change. The community is reclaiming Braye Park!!

The picnic will start our fund raising for proposed ‘Movies in Braye Park ’. We would love to hold a Green Film Fest there in 2010.

More information, including information on parking and getting there via public transport can be found here.

If you are a local and want to get involved, we have our next Greater Waratah Wellbeing and Sustainability community meeting this Wednesday night 6pm at Waratah Park (opposite the train station). Email me for details or for wet weather venue.  Everyone welcome :-)

Lazy morning and ‘My collection’

I’m having my first lazy Saturday morning in a looong time. It’s lovely! Daddy Eco and I read the paper together (I cannot remember the last time we did that) and I thought I’d join in ‘My Place or Yours’.

I’ll reveal more about the reasons behind this spare time shortly. But in short, I’ve been way too busy and decided it was not the way I wanted to live my life. My life was so far from simple living! So what did I let go off? My job? Flannel Fings? This blog? My community work? The decision has been made and I’m happy.

Back to ‘my Place or Yours’. This weeks theme is ‘My collection’. I immediately thought – oh bummer!–I don’t collect anything. But then I realised I do. I collect vases.

 

I didn’t think my collection had any rules, but on reflection it does.

~Nothing new ~Must be earthy in texture or colour ~ Must cost no more than a few dollars ~Must come with a story.

 
I can remember the story behind each of these vases. For some the story is special, like the tall one above, which was my Grans.  I can still remember her having it filled with flowers from her garden. Or the short brown one at the back, which I made when I was 12 (and has my very messy signature on the bottom).

 
For others, the story is not as exciting, such as for the few I bought on ebay. But I’m sure they come with a story, I just don’t know it.

Playdate for the Planet in Newcastle today

Sorry for the late reminder. The first gathering of Newcastle’s new  "PlaydateS for the Planet" playgroup is today 10am at the Fig Tree Community Garden in Wickham.

I sadly won’t be there as it’s a work day for me (although frustratingly I’m at home having trouble shaking this rotten cold).

Interested in future PlaydateS for the planet? Subscribe to the email list by emailing playdatefortheplanet@gmail.com and check out our events program here.

I’m looking forward to the next playdate: a bushwalk to Glenrock Lagoon Saturday 28th November. 

I love passive design

Ahh, the benefits of passive design... The temperature reached 33 degrees Celsius today (and its only Spring!).  I was dreading being stuck at home, rather than being at work in an air conditioned office.  But it wasn’t that bad. We closed the windows, drew our heavy curtains, turned the ceiling fans on, and were thankful for the insulated walls and ceiling,  and north facing veranda that shades the windows from the sun.

As soon as it cooled slightly outside, we opened the house up again and the breeze which is maximised by good cross-ventilation, cooled the house quickly. I love passive design.

Vintage suitcase toy storage

 

While looking for a second-hand storage solution for Little eco's toys, I temporarily used a few vintage suitcases we had picked up from a garage sale. This temporary solution has now turned into a permanent solution.  I love it. Little eco knows what is in each suitcase (from top to bottom: dolls clothes, dress-ups, soft toys) and drags the case she wants, to wherever she wants to play.

I'm now on the look-out for more vintage suitcases for my sewing room.

Artisans twilight markets

I’ll be taking Flannel Fings to a few twilight markets in the Newcastle region in the lead-up to Christmas. Next Saturday I’ll be at the Farmers and Artisans Markets.

I’m really hoping Daddy eco will mind the stall for me at 4pm, so that I can check out the worm farm workshop. I’m loving my worm farm and am about to set up a second after salvaging another laundry tub from a recent kerb-side rubbish collection.

Could park benches connect our communities?

 

Walking to a meeting today, I passed this bench placed out on the road verge in front of a house. How lovely would it be if we all had park benches outside our homes, inviting people to stop, rest, meet and chat?

Wasting time for my Little eco

I'm at home sick with a virus that has triggered asthma. So i'm just taking it easy and staying away from the computer - mostly. This morning I took advantage of being stuck in bed to set up a blog just for Little eco: The world through Little eco's lens.

 
Although she is only two, she just LOVES taking photographs. I struggle to take photos without her grabbing my camera off me. But now, thanks to my Dad passing one of his old cameras on to her, we won't have to fight over my camera anymore.

I thought it would be nice for her to look back at photographs she has taken. I've just uploaded some of her past photos, but from now on i'll let her choose which photos she wants to load and see if she has a few words to describe each photo.  It's unlikely to be of interest to anyone but family - but I thought i'd share anyway.

I'm back to vegging out now.

Homemade moisturising body bar recipe

I was planning to write a post about the Greater Waratah Wellbeing and Sustainability Forum that I ran on Saturday. In brief - I was really happy with how it went. But i'll reveal more later. For now I am going to resort to yet another quick, light post. Between coordinating the forum on Saturday, and volunteering for a few hours on Sunday on the Transition Town Newcastle table at the Smart Energy Expo, and doing the usual weekend swimming lessons and chores - I'm still a little overwhelmed with everything at the moment.

So instead i'll share with you my favorite homemade moisturising body bar recipe. Its super easy. Little eco and I whipped up a batch this morning after breakfast. We also made a batch of Julie's honey facial cleanser which has become a favorite around here.

 
Moisturising body bar recipe

1 part bees wax
1 part coconut oil
1 part shea butter
a couple of drops of your favorite essential oil (I used lavender this morning)

Throw all the ingredients in a pot, melt, and then pour into molds. I use silicone cup cake cases, but you could use anything as long as you cooled the mix down before pouring if your mold is not heat resistant. Cool, and remove from the molds. To use you simply rub the bar on your skin. They last for ages and are great for dry skin.

This is why I love having a pesticide free home...

 
...this cute little critter lived under our dining table for a few days - until Little Eco moved him into her fairy garden.

Fly spray and other pesticides and insecticides don't only kill the bad guys - they sometimes kill the harmless and good guys too. For example, a bird may be poisoned if it eats a spider killed by insecticide. In our case, we have a family of Blue Tongue lizards that could be harmed if we used pesticides.

What do we use instead of pesticides? Nothing. We try and make our house unattractive to pests by not leaving out any food scraps, making sure the lid is always on our compost and rubbish bins, and not leaving any containers of water around the house that mosquitoes could breed in. Sure - we have flies in our house often - but its a small price to pay for all the good critters we share our home with. And I've discovered that flies soon move out once the ceiling fans are turned on.

Do you still use fly spray and other pesticides? Have you considered doing without? Do you have any good natural alternatives?

[edited to add: Thanks to Greenfumb I now know this bug is a Bronze Orange Bug nymph - a bad guy that I should have squished! The bugger is probably sucking the sap from my new citrus trees as I type. Little eco is lucky she didn't get squirted with a foul smelling liquid when she moved him. Oh well - he's still cute]

No prizes for guessing who I visited last week....

 
I came home with a dragon fruit cutting, ginger, tumeric, and jars of marmalade and lemon butter. How lucky am I!

We are loving the marmalade. My fav is definately the lemon and ginger with the lemon coming a close second. Yum! Thanks Julie :-) 

Smart Energy Expo in Newcastle this weekend

 

We’ll be going to the Smart Energy Expo this Sunday. Hosted by Climate Action Newcastle, the event is an opportunity to hear about and see the latest in green technology for the home.

The Speakers Forum looks impressive. I’m hoping to catch a few of the talks, although I’m not overly optimistic I’ll catch many given that the Waratah Wellbeing and Sustainability Forum is on Saturday. I’m disappointed I’ll be missing Howard Morrison's talk on the Zero carbon house, distributed energy and energy transitioning. Some of the talks I’d love to see on Sunday include Scott Barret’s talk on Solar Electricity Systems, Glenn Platt’s talk on Energy-smart systems and devices for the home and broader society, John Glassford’s talk on Sustainable home building including straw bale homes, Nikki Brown’s talk on Sustainable holidays and guilt-free travel, and Ben Ewald’s talk on The Newcastle Bike Plan and cycling in Newcastle.

There are lots more interesting talks. Check out the speakers program here.

My favorite reads in October

Some of you may have noticed the blogroll list of my favorite blogs disappeared from my sidebar a few weeks ago. I am forever stumbling across inspiring ‘new to me’ blogs, so maintaining the list was becoming just another chore that I wasn’t getting done. Discovering that blogrolls no longer contributetowards technorati ratings made me feel a little less obliged to maintain the lists. So they are gone (at least for now).

Instead, I thought I would share some of the blogs that inspired me the most each month.

So for October –

Homemade Rainbows. Leanne's writing and photographs are just beautiful. Given my current enthusiasm for community building, I particularly enjoyed her reflections on neighbors and the importance of community.

Frugal Family fun Blog. I love that many of Valerie’s activities involve nature, like this cute leaf garland, and her Autumn treasure hunt which inspired me to create our own version.

Resurrection Fern. Gorgeous nature photography with a twist. Margaret photographs her crochet covered sea stones and other creations against nature. Just magical.

Becoming a good human. Mia writes well researched and easy to follow informative posts, with my recent favs being on easy ways to save money while living sustainably and Peak Oil.

Mummalou’s artistic obsessions. I’ve been enjoying fellow local Novocastrian Mummalou’s relatively new blog and particularly love her super cute Upcycled shirt dress.

What not to do on your Birthday.

Happy Birthday Daddy Eco. We really really really truly appreciate you! Hopefully your next birthday will be a little easier :-)

This is what our entry and study currently looks like. The white closed door is my sewing room, which is currently out of bounds, as is Little Eco's room. Poor Little Eco has been sleeping under the dining table with a sheet draped over it. Luckily she just thinks she's having a fun holiday.

Fingers crossed our home will be a little less chaotic by the end of the week.

My creative space ~ Treasure hunting ~

There has been very little creating around here this week – unless you call starting a community building initiative creating.

However, after being inspired by Valerie over at the Frugal Family Fun Blog, I did take out time today to create this treasure hunt list for Little Eco and I to use tomorrow.

 
I made ours nice and simple as she’s only two, although you could make one as complicated as you like. I simply used google images to find the relevant line drawings.

You can download a pdf of our hunt list here if you would like to use it.

Check out other creative spaces here.

Ethical Clothing Pledge

I’ve decided to take Isis’s Ethical Clothing Pledge.

I pledge to only wear clothing that is one or more of the following:
1. Pre-loved
2. Handmade (preferably by me)
3. Reconstructed
4. Made with ethical / environmentally friendly materials
5. Made by a company with strong ethical policy & workers' rights.

Along with sticking to these rules, I’ll also buy only what I truly need. Because no matter how ethical or green something is – the greenest option to not buy at all.

I’ve more-or-less stuck to this pledge for the past six months or so, however I’ve been boring and restricted myself to point 1 (aside from a top from Heidi and Seek and two sweatshop non ethical pieces of clothing bought on impulse).

I’ve long been aware of the environmental impact of the disposable fashion culture. That’s what motivated me to start Flannel Fings once Little Eco came along. But I’ve still not given my clothing much thought. It’s like I gave up the junk food but forgot to replace it with wholesome healthy food.

I’ve become more conscious of what I eat, how I travel, how I consume. Now its time I became more conscious of what I wear. I’m going to give my clothing some thought, respect, and time. Slow fashion. I just googled ‘slow fashion’ – and there is such a thing.

“Slow fashion means clothing and accessories that start with thoughtfully-chosen beginnings, are constructed by well-paid individuals, and are meant to remain wearable for years to come.”

I like that.

 
Speaking of wearable for years to come. I picked up this gorgeous handmade 1950s skirt second hand. I have worn it so much! In winter with tights and now in summer without. That’s slow fashion. It even has a handmade matching belt. I wonder who made it?

Joining me in the pledge so far is Gina from Clutterpunk, Nikki from My Black Cardigan, Stephanie from MooBear, Holly from Sono-ma, and of course Isis of Isismade.

Greater Waratah Wellbeing and Sustainability Community Forum

Poster by Dan of Safety Pin Design. Thanks Dan!

Do you live in Waratah, Mayfield, or Georgetown, NSW?

What would make your community a better place to live?

Community gardens ~ A safe place for my children to play ~ BBQ area ~ Bike tracks ~ Better public transport ~ A cafe on the hill ~ Community centre ~ Vegetable growing workshops ~ Sustainable living workshops ~ Frugal family club ~ Kids nature club at Braye Park ~ Free exercise classes ~ Exercise circuits ~ Access to free organic vegetables ~ Community kitchen & pizza oven.

These are just some of the ideas we are considering. Do you have others?

Come along and have your say and help us build a stronger community.

Introducing the Greater Waratah Wellbeing and Sustainability Project

You may have noticed I recently changed my blog header image. The new picture is of ‘my community’ and reflects more than a change of scenery. It reflects a shift in my approach to sustainable living.

I realise that I have to make changes at home, but in the long-term I believe these changes will achieve very little, unless I’m part of a strong and resilient community. Hence my current enthusiasm for Transition Town Newcastle and being more engaged with my community. And besides, working with others is so much more fun!

Newcastle is actually a city, so the plan is for Transition Town Newcastle to be a hub – supporting a number of local smaller initiatives.

I’m currently coordinating the initiation of the first of these local initiatives: the Greater Waratah Wellbeing and Sustainability Project.

The overall objective of the project is to build the capacity of the Greater Waratah community to maintain wellbeing and adapt to change associated with increased food and fuel costs associated with Peak Oil.

The project will be focussing on the residents Waratah, Mayfield and Georgetown (all suburbs serviced by Waratah Train Station).

I’ll reveal more tomorrow…

Who said saving the Planet can’t be fun?!

Image by Glyn of Mote

Playdate for the Planet 24th October 2009 Newcastle Foreshore Playground.
Celebration for 350.org International Day of Climate Action.

 Image by Glyn of Mote

 

Thank you so much Kate for organising the day. It was fun. Well done!

Thanks also to Heather for collecting names for an eco play group. Yay! Looking forward to our first get-together.

How did you Celebrate 350.org International Day of Climate Action? I'd love to see what you got up to. Enter a link to your your action below. I've added those that I have noticed already.

My bedside

 
The flowers are from our garden. The Flame Pea (Chorizema cordatum) are Daddy Eco’s favourite and remind him of growing up in Western Australia (and yes - he's male and loves flowers, although only if they are native). The vase is pre-loved. I don't remember where this one came from. Maybe it was my Grans or maybe it was an ebay purchase?  I love small vases and have them scattered around the house. Unfortunately they are more often than not empty (hint hint)

I keep the notebook and pencils by my bedside because thoughts I have been struggling to organise often become clearer at night. I just wish I could read my handwriting in the morning.

Books by my bedside at the moment include: Girls Will be Girls: Raising Confident and Courageous Daughters (I have started reading this book 4 or 5 times and haven’t yet finished it?); Cool Hunting Green (I flick though this one on the nights I’m too tired to read and find something new and inspiring each time. It's like a bottomless book of recycling inspiration); Transition Handbook (has become a bit like a bible to me since becoming involved in Transition Town Newcastle); and No Dig Gardening (because that is how all my gardening has to be since discovering the lead contamination).

…and if I was smart I would have added Sustainable Baby to the pile given that I now sell it :-)

Want to check out what is by others bedsides? Head over to Meet Me At Mikes.

Are you turned off by…

…Climate change?

I had my first ever reduction in rss feed subscriptions immediately after my blog action day post on climate change. i.e. a few people chose to no longer receive updates for my blog. It wasn’t a particularly great post, but I write heaps of not particularly great posts.

I’m not concerned, more intrigued and curious.

Do you switch off at the mention of climate change or peak oil? Are you tired of hearing about how doomed the planet is?

I thought I would share my current favorite picture of Little Eco. We were standing around a sports field and she wandered off and just plonked herself in the bush. I love that she is so comfortable with nature and seeks it out.

P.S. If you are interested in Peak Oil. Becoming a Good Human  posted a nice simple intro to the phenomenon this week.

I'll be counting lady beetle spots before I squish

 
There has been more playing with lady beetles in the fairy garden recently.

I was worried this lady beetle was the dreaded 28 spotted or leaf eating lady beetle. I wasn’t certain, and it flew away before I had a chance to count spots or make any ‘to squash’ or ‘not to squash’ decisions.

Not wanting to unintentionally squash a good guy in the future, I decided to identify our lady beetles.

I have found some helpful resources here, here and here.

Monday’s lady beetle was a friendly Transverse Lady Beetle (Coccinella transversalis) and the above cutie is a Common Spotted Lady Beetle (Harmonia conformis). Both are beneficial insects, helping to rid my garden of aphids, scale insects and mites. Perfect timing because the aphids are loving my Lilly Pillies at the moment. One adult lady beetle can apparently consume 2,500 aphids during their lifetime. I’m glad I didn’t squish him!

The Common Spotted Ladybug has 23 black dots on its wing covers, whereas the leaf destroying 28 spotted has 26 spots on its wing covers and two spots on thorax, i.e. 28-spotted in total. 26 vs 23 – that’s pretty close! I’ll be counting before I squish!

Cool ‘new to me’ fact: lady beetles have "reflex bleeding." This means that when they are attacked they automatically leak some of their blood out from joints in their legs and other parts of their body. Their blood has toxic chemicals in it, and tastes bad to predators.

P.S. Quick question. Lady bird, lady beetle or lady bug? Which do you prefer?

Little eco's fairy garden

 
When I was little I used to love making little fairy gardens with my Gran. Little Eco and I made one together on the weekend. We collected the plants from around the garden and moved in a few of her opp shop ornaments.

 
This little bird was mine when I was little.

Little Eco collected a lady beetle from her sunflowers and moved it in also. The garden sits at our back door and she plays with it like a doll house. She is so proud of her 'fawry garden'.

I'm jumping off the Blogtoberfest bandwagon from today. I've decided two weeks was enough 'lovin' to give my blog. I'll be settling back into a more balanced 2-3 times a week.

Have a lovely week.

Vintage floral sheet kerchief

 
Listed some in my madeit store today :-)

Free access to Energy Reduction Kits

I recently learnt that I can borrow an Energy Reduction Kit from the Newcastle Library (also available from the Wallsend and Beresfield Libraries). The kit includes a Power Usage Meter and the CSIRO Home Energy Saving Handbook. What a brilliant idea!

Using the Energy Reduction Kit I’ll be able to calculate how much energy each appliance in our house consumes and costs to run. If we had used one of these kits sooner rather than later we may have saved ourselves 100’s of dollars on our last energy bill. We would have realised that our fish tank was guzzling way too much energy (its now disconnected and the fish given away) and it would have been easier to convince Daddy Eco that he shouldn’t be leaving a electric column heater on for the dog! Since the huge bill I have learnt that throughout winter he was sneaking it on whilst I wasn’t looking. Once I start talking in $$$’s saved, Daddy Eco is so much more cooperative ;-)

Not from the Newcastle LGA? Why not check out whether your local government loans out similar kits, and if not suggest they do!