An email went around noting that today is World Environment Day, and it provided a list of tips for reducing your impact on the planet. It made for some interesting reading. Turn down the heat – reducing the thermostat by 1 degree can save 5 – 10% of energy When I use the heat, I ... [More]
Is the fact that your car is not in your driveway an advertisement to potential burglars that you’re not home? A lot of people drive every day. So if the car isn’t there, it may be a good sign that nobody’s there. One exception might be in a one-car family where there are often people ... [More]
It really is as easy as Tony H said to switch to 100% Green Power. A quick phone call to Origin, which took under five minutes (I was already a customer). As of now my house is no longer responsible for emissions from brown coal. Which is good, ‘cos I’m afraid I’m a little cynical ... [More]
The 2006 Census tells us that in Australia, there are 6,863,624 men above the age of 15. Of these some 616,033 are in defacto relationships, including same-sex relationships. 3,547,331 are married. 2,700,260 are neither. The Census doesn’t tell us how many men wash the dishes. But let’s assume for a moment that 30% of those ... [More]
I had a day off. It was a good day, except… Worried about my dad, in hospital Chicken curry dinner took ages to cook Slight tummy ache. Hope it’s not Bowen Belly ™. I think I ate too much chocolate Eldest not yet done nearly as much school holiday homework as expected A tad stressed ... [More]
After a little cynicism, I did in fact join in Earth Hour. Over at Marita’s, we shut off all the lights for an hour and survived by the light of the TV, candles and a torch. In fact there seemed to be few lights on in the street, and it was hard to tell how ... [More]
Now the solar hot water is installed and happy, I was pondering further solar installations. The question is: is it more effective to get my own solar panels, and get green power for whatever I can’t generate myself, or just switch entirely to green power? First thing to do is reduce my consumption. My previous ... [More]
I’m not convinced that I’ll participate in Earth Hour. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a terrific idea for raising awareness of climate change and energy issues. But I’m already well aware of those issues, thanks, and I’m working on reducing my emissions every day, not just one hour per year. And besides, I’m ... [More]
Nowadays I have a camera in my mobile phone, so virtually anywhere I am, I can take a picture. There was a morning, back in 1993 or so, when I wish I’d had a camera with me. I was waiting for a tram to work outside my old flat in Power Street, Hawthorn. That place ... [More]
They came with a compass. Which way’s north? Ah, thought so. Do you want it on the front, or the side? I don’t mind… front’s better — I’ll be setting a good example. Behold: a green geek. The ladder went up. The collector went up and got connected. The old tank got ripped out and ... [More]
Why don’t I listen to the collective wisdom of those who comment here? Last August, Highriser Andrew commented: “Plan now for hot water service replacement as they never break down when it is convenient. If you don’t, the temptation to just replace it with the same is great.” Last night, it broke down. When describing ... [More]
Josh sent me a nifty device for measuring the power consumption of various devices. This is something I’ve been meaning to do for some time: to see what drains power, and how much, and to see in particular what even drains power when it’s idle. So I spent a couple of hours plugging it into ... [More]