With a flourish, John Caley whips out his water bill. The Newtown father of three points to the graph illustrating usage: it shows nil consumption for the previous quarter.
That’s no mean feat, considering he lives with two teenagers and one on the verge of being a teenager. He must be proud of that result. ”Absolutely,” he said.
The environmental designer, who advises home owners and businesses on how to be more ecologically sustainable, practises what he preaches.
With sufficient rainfall, his household solely uses rainwater collected not only from the family’s roofs (house, cubby and shed) but that of the next-door neighbour. Harvested water is stored in a 3500-litre backyard tank as well as a 3000-litre bladder stashed underneath the timber cottage.
”Because we’ve got such a big catchment, we don’t need much rain to get us back on the rainwater [after a dry spell],” he said.
The family draw 80 per cent of their power from photo-voltaic cells on the shed roof.
That’s not the end of the family’s collaborative green efforts. Mr Caley and his wife, printmaker Maggie Stein, joined forces with neighbouring families to transform an adjoining laneway into a grassy space fringed with lush vegetable and herb gardens.
This rejuvenated area is used for neighbourhood parties to celebrate Christmas and the winter solstice and host the occasional farewell if someone is moving.
”That community aspect is one of the best parts,” Mr Caley said. ”On World Environment Day, perhaps people can get inspiration from a neighbour who’s doing something more sustainably, like worm farming, and learn that one thing they’re doing.”
Mr Caley and his family are big on cycling, walking and using a car-sharing service but, somewhat surprisingly, they also own a big four-wheel-drive. Yet it’s not as bad as it looks: a friend creates bio-diesel for the vehicle from cooking oil.
The program manager for Newtown’s Green Living Centre, Dianne Moy, said she has noticed a rise in communal green initiatives, which are often aided by social networking. ”There are small groups of mums who come together to make bulk purchases at food co-ops so that they get cheaper produce and reduce packaging,” she said.
Websites such as freecycle.org and friendswiththings.com.au also help connect people who want to give items away with people who really want them.
