Front Garden
The house faces north, so there's the challenge of dealing with the strong north sun pouring through the front windows and heating up the concrete path at the front of her home. To meet this challenge, Charmaine has planted trees that both provide shading and cover parts of the concrete, further minimizing heat gain.
DIY Water tanks
Charmaine has been lucky to have a landlord that appreciates fruit trees and has established bountiful nectarine, apple, lemon and fig trees. However the veggie patch is slightly more water sensitive, so Charmaine and her housemates have come up with a low-cost solution for water tanks – multiple tub storage!
In this clever setup, 1400L of storage is created through connecting 7x 200L storage tanks, acquired for $20 apiece. Like connecting batteries in a series, the setup allows for a larger total volume tank. Instructions on the DIY process were found on the internet.
Charmaine: "It was easy setting it up. They're only connected to a small shed roof but they all fill up in a few hours of rain! A tip for anyone else doing this is to make sure you have lids to avoid the mozzies!"
Gardening and sharing
The household, landlord and neighbours all know each other well and have a strong ethic of sharing. The tenants swap some of their fruit tree produce with the neighbours for preserves, and with the landlord for jam. Out of the garden Charmaine shares her crops of rosemary, thyme, sage and oregano.
Charmaine: "I used to give away so much of the stuff. Then I realized that organic places were selling them for $70/kg. So at least now I swap them for something else!" Their garden produces a large proportion of the house's food needs, and together with some veggies from the CERES fair food program they hardly ever need go to the supermarket.
A friend a few doors down has chickens, trading chicken eggs for snails from Charmaine's garden. They've also never had to use fertilizer, instead relying on compost and fertile 'worm juice' from their worm farm.
Keeping heat and cool in
The house is old and has plenty of gaps and cracks. Charmaine's free solution was to use scrunched up plastic bags to fill the gaps. Charmaine: "At least there's a good use for them!" Besides heavy drapes on the windows, she uses bubble wrap to reduce heat loss – another free option. And the common sense actions of only turning on lights when needed and wearing jumpers instead of turning on the heaters have minimized their energy use greatly – using less than a quarter of the energy of an ordinary home.
Transport
Charmaine and her partner Steven use bikes to get around, while the other housemate Tess uses public transport; no-one has a car. Charmaine has got away with never having to own one – she borrows a car from a friend nearby if she must use a car, which is quite rare.
Charmaine: "People often offer me lifts home at night thinking that cycling then is dangerous – but I have always known that if you're well lit and careful, it can actually be safer than driving". She has found her car-free lifestyle a point of fascination with the local teenagers. Charmaine: "A 14-year-old boy came up to me the other day and just couldn't understand why I didn't have a car. But he and his friends all had BMX's and so we found we had the biking thing in common – I've met a whole new bunch of people that I never used to know!"
She also likes the interactions she can have with her environment whilst cycling: "I can check out all the people's gardens and fruit trees, and say hi to people sitting on their porches. I stuck a little dinosaur toy on my bike and found that so many people would notice it and smile. You also notice far more of the world around you - which is difficult whilst driving."
Community involvement
Charmaine has been active in Climate Action Moreland, a local community climate group, for a couple of years. It's made her feel much more connected to her community: "I feel like I'm being useful, have made lots of friends that way, and have gotten to know people who live nearby. It makes such a difference to be able to smile at people in your street and community. It's all the little things that add up."
