Spring numbers update

The Bill Busters participants weren’t the only ones using meter reads to track their progress.

Here are some of our ‘numbers’ for spring (I’m a bit slow getting around to posting them). See here for how and why we’re tracking this stuff.

Average town water use: 58 litres per person per day
Average electricity used per day (total): 2.7 kWh
Average electricity generated per day: 7.8 kWh (for those interested in comparison, it's a 1.7 kW system)
Cost of electricity for the quarter: -$352.61 
(represents service fee and electricity used totalling $73.39, and income of $426.00 from the gross feed-in tariff ... note that even without a feed-in tariff, our generation would cover both our electricity used and the service fee)
Average gas use per day: 3 MJ
Av. petrol used in car per week: 14.4 litres
Percentage of car travel that was for work (excluding commute): 47%
Percentage of car travel – commuting to work: 20%
Other personal use car travel: 33%

We were interested to note that our electricity use was 15% less than the same time last year. Presumably our fridge upgrade helped, but we also used the solar space heater more and spent more time at home than last spring, so we were pretty happy with that outcome. The lower our use gets the harder it is to find more opportunities to reduce ... but we’re still improving, which is our goal!

Our town water use was a bit higher than last spring. Not much had changed in terms of our appliances or behaviours for water, so it seemed a bit strange at first. Then we realised that although we both worked from home last spring, it wasn’t as much as this year. That extra water use is pretty much extra toilet flushing. In the longer term, we plan to install a composting toilet that won't require water to deal with our toilet waste at all, but it's still a way off. Needless to add, I have implemented a plan to address it. I’m just working out where the line is before you tell me “that’s too much information!” so I’ll save the details for another time. Stay tuned!

Wanted: metal bottle caps

It all started innocently enough. I thought I'd turn my hand to making some mosaics this summer. While I am rarely associated with anything remotely creative or arty, my friends are and they assured me mosaics are within my abilities. The bit where it went a bit pear shaped was when I started considering the opportunities to use recycled or reused materials for the mosaics. Quite simply, the possibilities are endless. So I am still intending to learn (and hopefully complete) some mosaics this summer, but I've scored an idea for another project as well.

You see I came across the work of some very clever folk who have turned metal bottle caps (beer stubby lids and the like) into art, and I'm also keen to give that a go. For those who need some visuals, see here (delightful series of fish), here (insane number of lids in each piece), here (portrait in lids), here (on the side of a house), here (chameleon from a zillion lids) and here (painted caps on print).

The collection begins ... with some help from some friends

Rest assured my efforts are likely to be far simpler than any of these!

Bottle caps aren't accepted as part of household recycling collections (in our area). The reasons being that they 1) get caught on the back of the sorting machinery, causing expensive problems if not cleared out regularly; 2) can't be baled with the other metals (tin cans and the like), so they don't make it to the recyclers and 3) the little plastic bit inside adds an extra degree of difficulty if you're recovering them for the metal.

Beer lids have long annoyed me as something that felt like they should be re-useable, so I am pleased to have a project that might find a 'use' for some of them. Please feel free to collect your lids and I'll be happy to take them off your hands. Or go one better and show me what I should be aspiring to by creating your own beer-lid masterpiece.

Build-It Bloke thinks it's great - he says he's supporting the cause by drinking more beer.

What am I going to make? I don't know yet. I'll see what colors (and how many!) lids I can muster and take it from there ... stay tuned.

Green festive season ideas

The silly season is upon us and you could be forgiven for thinking sustainability is destined to be thrown by the wayside in the rush. It needn't be. In case you're after some inspiration, here are my picks for ways to incorporate sustainability into the festive season.

The Ethical Consumer Group, who publish the wonderful Guide to Ethical Supermarket Shopping each year, have an Ethical Christmas Resource Kit covering food, gifts, decorations, lights, trees and a whole lot more. Access it online at http://www.ethical.org.au/christmas/.

Environment Victoria have a great Festive Season Guide that's well worth a look at http://www.environmentvictoria.org.au/content/festive-season-guide.

In their words ... "this handy guide will help you hold onto the good bits of the silly season, while being a little gentler on the planet. It’s still about having a great time with plenty of food and presents, but without all the waste. Because when you remember what your priorities are, it’s actually surprisingly easy".

And if you're still up for more suggestions, try Planet Ark's festive guide, which includes giving green gifts; re-using cards and wrapping paper; reducing your water and energy use; food; travel and holidays and even new year's resolutions to consider. Download the PDF at http://festiverecycling.planetark.org/.

And keep an eye on this Saturday's Living Lightly column in the Border Mail (and here). One of Santa's helpers tells me it will feature a reflection on the festive season and practical tips on sustainable gift giving.