7 Burns St, Yarraville, 3013
The primary foundation of our sustainability efforts has been behavioural change towards a more frugal and less consumptive way of living. This has meant a great reduction in power and water consumption, and less buying of ‘stuff’ generally.
Our house is a retro-fitted californian bungalow. Here is a list of some of the things you will find:
Very low usage of electricity: 2kWh/day
Low usage of water: 98 litres/day
Low usage of gas: 10-50MJ/day (Summer to Winter)
Fruit & veggie garden (currently adding raised beds and increasing production)
Chooks - Yellowfoot, Honeyhighcomb and Blackie!
6200L water tanks
1kW solar panels – net export to the grid
Recycled materials – plasterboard, hardwood, furniture
Eco-friendly paint & varnish
“Super fridge” – converted chest freezer
Energy & water efficient dish washer & washing machine & hot water system
Minimally packaged food - locally and organically sourced
Vegetarian Behavioural change
Renovated & retrofitted 1930 Californian bungalow
Insulated sub-floor & some walls.
Heavily insulated ceiling.
Draft-proofed windows & external doors.
Toilet cistern gravity-fed by water tank CFLs throughout
Bikes as primary transport 4 people living in 12 squares/108 square metres - sharing resources
2011/12 goals
Composting toilet
Integrate chooks into garden systems
Increase veggie production
Connect water tank to washing machine
(August 2011) (
