Everyone should be trying to reduce their enviromental impact by using less electricity, less water, less fuel, recycling waste products, and just being much more sensible in the way that we utilise precious resources.

We are not trying to promote anything more than an intelligent and sustainable use of the worlds resources. If we all act wisely it will avoid or at least diminish the problems that future generations will need to address.

WATER USEAGE.

CLEVER USE - With a little effort we could all reduce our consumption just by using more efficient shower heads, limiting garden water use, planting more drought resiliant varieties of lawns and ornamental plants, avoid leaving taps running unnecessarily, and shorter shower times. It doesn't mean that we need to live a more Spartan existence, we just need to use our intelligence and respect water as a rare and precious commodity

TANKS - There are a large number of suppliers of rain water tanks in the market today, so we haven't sought to locate and recommend a good supplier. You can do that through simple local research yourself. Take care when installing a tank though. We see many who just "stick in" a tank without thinking through the process. If your tank is located at the front of the house and it devalues the property because of its location, it will probably be taken out by the next owner. Tanks must be located conveniently out of view and out of the way to be long term solutions. Perhaps regulators should insist on new homes being constructed with underground tanks that are "invisible" and of a usable size. Homes could have a separate tank to capture "grey water" from showers that would be used to flush toilets, whilst rainwater could be treated easily for drinking water as well as other daily uses.

SOLAR POWER

This is something we are passionate about. I realise that it is not the most financially efficient way of saving money, but it will be in the near future. The Federal Government has rebates that make this option a worthwhile consideration. The more people who gravitate towards use of Solar Power to partially supply their homes electricity needs, the more research and development will be done and so lead to very efficient use in the future. We see Solar Power being capable of generating about 25% to 50% of household use at the moment.

LED LIGHTING - Along with Solar Power we recommend the use of LED lighting. This type of lighting was just a novelty until recently, but LED lights have developed swiftly over the past few years to be a real affordible option. The bulbs do cost a little more, but they LAST longer. On top of that they will save you about 80% of the cost for lighting your home at night. I suggest that you analyse the lights that you use everynight in your home, anf just replace those bulbs with LED equivalents. After all lights that are rarely used probably do not need to be replaced at this point. We have successfully replaced many of the 12V downlight bulbs in two of our homes and can see the difference in savings. Night lighting uses about 25% of electricity useage and this can be largely eliminated using LED bulbs. We use a "Plug and Play" bulb imported from China that does not require replacement of the transformer units regardless of whether it is ac or dc current. Because we can use low power bulbs that use only 0.5W of power we also suggest that a few lights be installed to be used at night for security lighting. Don't walk through a dark house at night, you can have adequated lighting for almost no cost.

You could start by looking at bulbs available HERE t

PETROL - GAS - FUEL - PETROLEUM - GAZOLINE

Call it whatever you like, we all drive cars and we need fuel to power those vehicles. We drive a Toyota Prius and just love the car. It uses just 4.6 litres per 100 Kilometres, but there are other Hybrid cars such as the Honda Civic Hybrid that are better priced and will give the same results. The new Toyota Prius released in July 2009 uses only 3.9 Litres of fuel to drive 100 Klm. We are also aware that more manufacturers are releasing their own Hybrid or fully Electric vehicles. The future holds great promise with fuel minimal vehicles being developed just in time to help negate the possible effect of the "Peak Oil" theory. Click here to research that if the term is unfamiliar to you.

BUT WHAT ABOUT RIGHT HERE AND NOW FOR THE AVERAGE PERSON - It is just not possible for everyone to suddenly convert to a hybrid or an electric vehicle. But it is possible to convert a vehicle to LPG which will save money from the first tank, and it has lower emissions. Check that option out with local conversion operators. Not an option on older vehicles, but if your car is not too old it will be worthwhile for you. If you are able to afford a new vehicle please look at some of the diesel options that offer fantastic mileage and low maintenance costs. Also look closely at the type of vehicle that you drive. Does the average Mum really need a big thumping 4WD Truck just to get the kids to school and do the shopping? Gas guzzlers are now a thing of the past that should not be revisited. I don't mean that 4WD vehicles don't have a place, certainly they do for the appropriate use, but just consider the options.

UNDER DEVELOPMENT - MORE TO

COME - Ideas wanted please..

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