November 12, 2015

Community

History all around me

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Going off-grid for us meant moving some 500 miles west of the place where I grew up, but I am fortunate to still have a piece of my childhood nearby. I sleep a few inches from it every night, and it’s right above my head across the room, it’s also out on my deck. This little piece of history started out life as a wooden fence, dog eared (the style of cut on the top). My dad wanted more privacy in our back yard so he went to the local lumberyard, purchased a stack of fencing and all the necessary hardware & parts to put up a 6 foot wooden fence.

I still remember him working on the fence after he had come home from work and on the weekends, digging holes for the fence posts, using a long piece of twine to keep the fence line straight… Within a few weeks, our backyard was enclosed and private. Years passed and that wood weathered to a silvery tan color, Dad didn’t stain it but preferred the natural color.

Eventually my dad replaced the fence with new wood, being a child of the depression, he couldn’t bring himself to throw out the old fencing boards that were still good so he stacked them behind the shed. PB was able to use some of them in his business over the years, he did restaurant repair and one of his customer’s decor used lots of weathered wood, that is something you can’t buy from the hardware store.

When we were about to move to our off-grid home, I remembered that old wood stacked behind the shed, there weren’t many pieces left, my dad was happy enough for us to take them. These old pieces of history have been used in various places in the SkyCastle, the headboard of the bed, as trim over the windows in the bedroom, as trim around windows on the deck. The wood is worn smooth, the nail holes remind me of my father’s hands pounding the nails through the boards.

My father is long gone, he passed away in 2012 and was instrumental in making a smooth transition to our life off-grid. I am happy to have a piece of my history so close by. How about you? Do you have a piece of your history in your life? If so, tell me about it below, I’d love to hear your story.

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Kylie is a local hero for sticking two fingers to the water company
Urban

“I paid Sydney Water $800 a year — now I get it for free”

Living in a city it can seem hard to kick free from the grid, but in Sydney Australia, Newtown resident Kylie Ahern will soon become the latest environmentalist to live completely off the grid.
“I am currently getting all my water from a series of tanks – one is buried in the backyard and the others are above ground,” Ms Ahern said.“I used to pay $800 a year to Sydney Water, now I get it all for free from my roof.
“I also have a stormwater absorption pit so all the water coming off the roof goes straight into the tanks and then into the pit.

“I am putting solar panels up and installing batteries and my aim is to disconnect from the electricity grid.

“I am in the process of looking for the most energy efficient appliances and I am cutting off my gas as I will be using an electric induction cooktop.

“The coal seam gas situation in this country has been really upsetting, therefore I want to make sure I am not contributing to the problem.

“We are lulled into thinking we need to pay for these services like water and electricity that we can get for free. Sewerage and plumbing is my next task as I can’t get the tanks onto my property just yet but they are something I am definitely aiming for.

“I am expecting all the work to be completed by early next year.” The Newtown resident shared her disdain at the inaction of politicians charged with reducing global emissions and encouraged other like-minded conservationists to follow in her footsteps.

“I have watched politicians over the years do very little to protect our environment and fail to do anything meaningful around reducing our emissions, so I decided that I had to do more,” Ms Ahern said.

“I think most of us want to do more to protect the environment but it’s knowing where to start that’s the challenge.“You don’t have to do a full renovation of your home; you can do little things like buy energy-efficient appliances or use a diverter so excess rainwater goes into your garden.”

The process of creating a self-sustaining property may seem like a daunting or impossible task to some, Ms Ahern insists it is a relatively streamlined process, if you have the right help.

Ms Ahern, recruited the assistance of Chippendale’s Michael Mobbs, who famously took his home off the grid in March, hopes to achieve the same results with her two-bedroom worker’s cottage by early next year.

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