Genghis Khan in Sydney
Up early this cool Autumn morning. Showered in water hot from yesterday’s sun, savoured the simple animal pleasure of the steam of it on the windows. Walked about 40 minutes to the centre of the city. Along the edge of Darling Harbour, beside the water all lovely, asparkle, ashowing off in the clear, gods-given sunny, cloudless day. Then finally to the top floor of the new renovation of the Museum of Modern Art at Circular Quay, functions only. Isolated from... Read More
Great new vid about how to make Chippo Plan real for us all
Mikey Leung tells stories on video. He’s just made a beaut vid about our plan to make Chippo sustainable and the people who love it so much they’ve spent hours and hours putting it on a new web page for anyone to use to make the place where they live and work sustainable, too: youtu.be/SHkMh8wwlXY… Thank you, Mikey – you’re terrific and so’s your vid. Join with us to make the Plan happen and watch the vid and go to the link there .... Read More
Drinking rainwater and staying alive
Spring on the way, and spring in us if we choose it Fellow water imbibers: I’ve been asked this lengthy, well-informed and valuable question: ‘Michael, I’m planning a new house with two 20,000L rainwater tanks, possibly of stainless steel, and I’m trying to decide what roof and gutter and downpipe materials to use. I’ve read the reports of Mirela Magyar’s studies on metal contaminants in rain water tanks in Melbourne, and I’m reading... Read More
Sustainability education courses in Australia
At last. The Fifth Estate has published in ebook giving a comprehensive list of sustainability courses in Australia. It’s here: www.thefifthestate.com… Sweet. M Read More
Third Chinese delegation visit to discuss sustainable house and Chippo Plan
#gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } Bing the interpreter explains as I sign a copy of Sustainable House book for the delegation The delegation leader hands me a lovely medallion in thanks A... Read More
Funny, honest vids that work (and don’t involve my generation)
There’s some terrific videos, vimeos and apps about how to get on with things and to repair our lovely torn Earth. They often involve kids or folks in their 20s, 30s, not my generation. My generation is the failed generation. We had our chance but blew it. Movies and vids with serious faced professors, ‘guru’s, ‘experts’ from universities – they simply don’t engage most people. And serious documentaries with a point... Read More
Free Estimator for Solutions for Construction Pollution
Free Carbon Calculator Here is a free estimator. It’s an excel spreadsheet. Any developer, builder, designer, consultant, council or person may use it to estimate the pollution and impact caused by their project. Once you’ve estimated the impact the estimator suggests how you may offset the impact by investing in carbon farming and by turning food waste into soil. When we build projects we use water, energy, food and other resources. We sometimes use more... Read More
Sydney Water’s bright idea
Sydney Water's bright idea - tap water Sydney Water, the government owned business monopoly, has had a bright idea. They’ve begun to provide empty, stylish glass bottles to cafes to serve tap water in. The label on the bottle says, “Tap – a Sydney Water product”. This is clever and will, I guess, re-position tap water in the minds of those eating out. The bottle is solid and stylish. The label is clear. It will, I hope, make... Read More
Frasers’ face of greed
Face of greed - pedestrians jammed in narrow footpath to make way for Frasers' car park Trucks, utes and speeding vehicles do left turn here against thousands of pedestrians Took these photos today of the busy Broadway footpath now jam packed with pedestrians. At one point the passage is about 1 metre. The photo of the mum with kid in stroller didn’t come out too well so it’s not here. Frasers greed is now expressed in the footpaths along its site.... Read More
Which solar panel, who to install and . . . so many questions . . .
I keep getting good questions on tours of my house and readers of my book about how to buy solar panels, what panels to choose and what are the best deals. I’ve got another enquiry today and here it is: ‘Hi Michael I came on a tour of your home last month – loved the bees! A friend of mine has been researching solar panels and is considering installing them. However, she is finding it hard to get objective information. Her concern is that installing... Read More
