Experiments in sustainability

Ongoing Experiments In Personal Sustainability

Even though this website has been up since 1998, I've hestitated to write directly about the way I live for a number of reasons. One is that I don't want to appear judgemental, boastful, or to be taking the moral high ground. Another is that, since 1988, I have been, and am, conducting a huge long-term experiment, so what I do keeps changing, and I can't guarantee that I'll keep up with the documentation of these changes on the website.
I'm on a journey of discovery, finding out what I can do in my personal life to reduce my environmental impact, without sacrificing a reasonable degree of comfort and quality of life. Especially as I am limited by being a tenant, not a home-owner, having only my Age Pension as income, and constantly having to adapt my strategies as my body ages - I was 70 in March 2008. Not having to work directly for my income does, of course, leave me free to choose how I spend my time, and living alone means that I can be as eccentric about my domestic arrangements as I like.
Many of these experiments are "micro-systems" and I particularly enjoy finding ways to re-use so-called rubbish.

But people do keep asking - so, briefly, here are some of the things I do, or have achieved so far:

I have saved for, purchased, and installed 3 rainwater tanks over the years, and for the last few years have used no mains water at all from Easter to Christmas. 2008 was exceptionally dry, and I was using some mains water on the garden up until Anzac Day. I finally had to use the mains for the garden again about a week before Christmas.
When my tanks are full, I store excess water in my three mandatory Sulo bins, dustbins, & buckets - all carefully covered to exclude mosquitos. The water is frugally distributed round the garden mostly using deep-watering devices incorporating soft-drink bottles, and a bucket and cup for pots and shallow soil.
Most days I wash instead of showering, & I shampoo my waist-length hair only 5 or 6 times a year. "Showering" is done Asian-style, using a dipper and a bucket of warm water - under a tree if weather permits, if not, in the shower recess, standing in a dog bath.(This is the largest size plastic bowl you can get - a paddling pool won't fit!) I have recently acquired another bath, (See Outdoor bathrooms ) so now, if I feel like it, I can have a weekly bath in the garden, instead of the shower. It's easier to put the used water where it's most needed. The bath can also be used for water storage, and laundering large items (See Washing a Woollen Underquilt).
I can do the daily dish-washing in less than a litre of cold water. Find out how by reading the laundry leaflets.
My new toilet has a cistern which uses only 6 litres for a full flush, and has not been connected to the main supply, so that I can fill it with grey water without contravening health regulations.
I can't remember when I last poured any water down a drain.
My tiny garden contains more than 20 trees, lots of large shrubs & vines. Most of these produce food for me as well as the resident and visiting wildlife, but some of the natives are strictly for the birds! And many of my neighbours appreciate gifts of excess fruit in season.
I chose to plant lots of trees to shade & modify the climate around my poorly designed 45 sq.metre cottage, which has 5 sq.metres of glass facing SW. They also prevent rain driving in during the winter.
I pay a levy for Green Power, and my average daily use of electricity since I moved into this house in 1989 has been around 2.5 units. I don't have air conditioning, and I have installed a wood-fired stove which I use for heating & cooking during the winter.
I also installed a skylight, &I've used compact fluorescent light bulbs since they became available in the early 90s. I have never used standby switches. I enjoy my TV, bought in 1996, and my computer, last upgraded in 2000, but use both very selectively. When free-to-air TV goes digital, I won't get a set-top box, but just watch videos or DVDs.
I use many passive strategies to reduce the need for heating, cooking, and cooling, & I haven't used the very inefficient hot water system or the large gas stove, both of which came with the house, for many years. According to my power retailer, my Greenhouse emissions from electricity use are largely offset. But I have a feeling this may be 'spin', so I further reduce my power consumption by using the sun whenever possible.
I have made a solar cooker from 'rubbish', which is efficient enough to cook double portions of root vegetables, soups, stews, cereals and legumes on most sunny days, even in winter. It also stews fruit, and reconstitutes dried fruits slowly, so they don't go tough. I heat 2 litres of drinking water in dark glass bottles, using home-made reflectors and plastic bags, on most sunny days. Even in winter the temperature can reach as much as 65°C by tea-time. The water is stored in vacuum flasks until needed. And hot water for washing, or my Asian-style showers, is heated in black plastic containers placed inside clear plastic 'greenhouses' - actually the zipper bags which package bedlinen etc.These are invariably discardedby consumers, and not hard to acquire. See illustration
I don't buy new stuff if I can get it secondhand, buy Australian made if at all possible, locally made for preference. But I don't buy much stuff at all.
I maintain & repair tools, household items, clothes, shoes & amp; linen. Things I no longer need are passed on, or taken to charity shops. Clothes or bedding not suitable for sale goes to animal welfare. I re-use most of what comes into the house, put very little into kerbside recycling. "Found" items supply many of my needs - it's ages since I've had to buy rubber bands, pens, pencils, screws, nails, buttons, zips or other small items - I find them as I walk along the street! And I've never had to buy firewood - yet I never take wood from natural habitat, only from the streets, or parkland which is regularly mown, & building or demolition sites, with permission. And those of my neighbours who don't need firewood usually remember me when doing heavy pruning.
I am happy to "dumpster dive", and also - discreetly - investigate domestic rubbish bins. I have no system for doing this, mostly it's what I find when putting rubbish collected from the street (See Street Gardening) into someone's bin, or when I see something obviously useful sticking out of a bin - sometimes it's just straight intuition. And sometimes stuff is just left outside the gate!!
I have over the years re-distributed, and therefore kept out of landfill, an enormous variety of resources, mostly through charity shops, sometimes directly, through my networks, to those who can use them, or on free stalls at community markets.
(See Free Stuff)
Useful websites:
FREEGANS
OZ RECYCLE
FREECYCLE
Most food I buy is unpackaged, or minimally packaged, non-GE, and as far as possible locally grown, organic, better still, bio-dynamic, if available. But I don't need much, as I am self-sufficient in fruit, nuts, herbs and salad stuff, and can often barter with friends for things I don't grow. My food cupboard is full of home-grown dried and preserved fruits, and the freezer preserves excess avocados & persimmons, also meat, fish and bread, of which I eat only small quantities at a time, and legumes, soups & stews cooked in winter on the wood heater.
I eat a small amount of kangaroo meat, some locally caught fish in season, and a few eggs either produced by friends, or local BD producers. I don't use any dairy products, or foods containing them, and I won't eat or use anything containing palm oil or unspecified vegetable oils.
I let go my Kombi in 1990. I then used to ride a bike, but have become increasingly nervous of the traffic, so now I walk everywhere I can, and use Public Transport when necessary.
I have a selection of trolleys, and an old pram for carting heavy stuff.
I haven't flown since 1983, when my Mother was dying in the UK, and don't intend to do so again.
Since I choose not to run my own vehicle, I very seldom ask for or accept lifts. If someone genuinely going my way offers, or if there is a vehicle genuinely going to a joint destination using a route which passes my place, I do occasionally take advantage of this.
I always keep sufficient cash on me for an emergency taxi fare, and keep my Ambulance Insurance up to date.
I do lots of little things, like using loose tea, instead of tea-bags (see ECO-nomics - http://www.users.on.net/~arachne/ECO-nom.html), not using disposable items, such as tissues, toilet paper, paper towels etc. & using minimal amounts of a very few eco-friendly cleaners and toilet items.

There are things I either can't avoid, or have chosen to do in spite of their environmental impact, such as buying an Australian brand of organic soy milk, which comes in recyclable containers, & using Fair Trade tea & coffee. I regard these as allowable treats, and make up for them by going OTT on other things.

When I updated this page in March 2008 we in Adelaide were experiencing a record-breaking heatwave, as well as being in the third year of serious drought. I noted:-
As so far I have resisted using air-conditioning, I am using a variety of strategies to keep myself and my house as cool as possible, and the garden thriving in spite of very necessary water restrictions. I'll let you know if I succeed in getting through this horrendous time without refrigerated air-conditioning. But I am already horrified by my dependence on electricity during the heat. I simply could no longer manage without my fridge/freezeror the fan. It's a sobering realisation!
I made it! without an air conditioner! At the worst times I lay on my tiled floor & let the tiles drag the heat from my body. But the garden, especially the trees, & the fans were usually sufficient. Hot nights, when opening the house up didn't reduce the temperture inside by much, were the worst.

Further Updates
Here's a link to the 'thingy' I wrote to hand out at my positively last ever open afternoon, on August 17th. 2008. This was updated in August 2010.

Back to previous page

The various strategies I use and have experimented with are documented pretty well on this website.
I'm happy to receive comments and feedback, and to answer serious questions - but please note it takes me a little longer to reply these days than it used to. Just use the email link below.

Some people have said they want to see a photo of me!! You can see a couple on: Radical Recycling and a couple more on Permaculture Journal 1999. I am older, but haven't changed much. Should still be recognisable from these!

- This is an Australian website - Contact Margaret RainbowWeb

URL - http://www.users.on.net/~arachne/experiments.html