OK, so the Australian government doesn’t seem to care much about generations 20-50 years from now who will be faced with the economic and climatic catastrophes relating to global warming and the end of affordable petrol and is more concerned spending tax payer dollars doing public self back patting and image management than advertising simple ways we could all be doing our part given its too gutless to enforce directions for us. So what could we be doing?

HEATING AND COOLING AND PRODUCTION RELATED ENERGY and RESOURCES
If our walls and ceilings aren’t insulated, then now is the time to stop wasting fuels on heating and cooling and get cavity wall and roof insulation. Close doors to keep temperatures constant in rooms. Wear that scarf, hat, jacket and warm socks and turn the heater down and wear breathable natural fibers in summer so you don’t need so much air con.

Use natural light where you have it and fit skylights with pull blinds on them if necessary.

Move to fluorescent bulbs for artificial lighting. The warm white has less detrimental impact on visual perceptual disorders than the usual form and standing lamps and wall lights behind frosted fittings can be easier to manage with than overhead lights for those disturbed by fluorescent lights so don’t be afraid to go fluoro, they ain’t what they used to be.

Look into soy and beeswax candles rather than paraffin (from petrol).

Look into green power alternatives such as wind, solar and hydro. Some countries have supplied up to 70% of their fuel needs this way (without transporting nuclear waste all over their country or the world or burying it in the ground as a legacy for future generations).

Recycle and repair and don’t be ashamed to look through the hard rubbish street collections for what’s useable or shop at the charity shop. Every time you re-use something you have saved on the energy it would have taken to reproduce it anew. Every time you donate your unwanted goods to someone else, you save unnecessary production of new goods and unnecessary stripping of the earth’s resources and the fuel costs involved in that too.

Employ eco friendly services and buy eco-friendly goods which have produced less carbon emissions in the production of their goods.

FOOD

If we have a lawn, now is the time to stop wasting time and fuel mowing this usually useless decoration and plant food as well as flowering plants to attract birds and insects for pollination because an edible garden takes around 2 years to establish. Build that enclosure to ensure successful food growing in areas where cockatoos and possums make it futile to grow food for your own consumption.

Put your compost to good use and create a worm farm to digest it and give you A-grade organic fertiliser for when the cost of food is sky high due to drought and fuel transport prices.

Start that community garden and meet the neighbors with whom you’ll want to barter your grapefruit for their silver beet.

Buy locally and buy produce grown in your own country. Otherwise you are encouraging the unnecessary use of transport-related fuel.

Move from packeted, manufactured food products to fresh unprocessed foods, even those you’ve grown yourself. This way you’ll save money, be healthier and contribute less to all the fuel spent producing the manufactured products, their packaging and transportation.

Avoid plastic cutlery or at least keep it, wash it and use it at the family BBQ. You can always carry a picnic set in your car and get out your own set whilst out. Ask for recycled paper packaging, or paper plates from recycled paper products instead of polystyrene. Fish and chips used to be wrapped in waxed paper then into recycled newspaper.
If you’re a carnivore, eat more poultry and meats which don’t require spray irrigation in drought stricken regions. In other words if you haven’t had rabbit or kangaroo (often considered ‘pests’ and culled in many regions and the meat wasted) maybe skip the beef steak and explore rabbit or kangaroo (which is a very rich meat akin to venison and not pumped full of antibiotics like most beef, pork and lamb). If you’re considering vegetarianism, remember that nuts are just as high in protein and can be grown in enclosures to keep them from parrots and possums eating them all.

If you use a wood stove replace it with one with a warming shelf and hotplate so you can also use it for heating/cooking food or boiling water whilst using it for heating.

Learn to cook using natural ingredients to minimise your use of manufactured products, their packaging and transport. You can even use cooking as a social activity and get away from the over use, lack of exercise and limited social contact of our current indulgence of electronica.

WATER

Get water tanks now whilst the plastics they’re made from aren’t a rare commodity and start catching the run off water and saving it for the food you’ll grow in your backyard when you can’t afford to shop.

Grow drought resistant crops and move water hungry plants to naturally damper regions or let them go (rather than babysitting them) and replace them with drought resistant varieties. Produce new products from less water hungry fruits and vegies and find ways to competitively and creatively market them to counter our reliance on water hungry or imported alternatives.
Make shaded ponds. Birds need water and drought is increasing. Without birds (and bees and butterflies) there’s poor pollination so growing food will be harder.

Use mulch to preserve the moisture in the soil in between rains which are getting scarcer and scarcer.

Mulch the leaves and bark you usually burn off because mulch also gives nutrients back to the soil.

Fit self closing push taps and/or taps with spray nozzles to avoid gushing water and wasting it needlessly. Collect the bath water between baths and keep a bucket to use it for toilet flushing. Even better get a self composting waterless toilet. Some are now very classy and attractive and wouldn’t be out of place in a modern bathroom. Encourage public conveniences to go the same way, particularly in drought stricken regions.
PETROL

Ditch the gas guzzling ‘Toorak tractor’ (the suburban Humvee, the 4WD etc). They are no longer a status symbol and can make you look selfish, ignorant and bullying. Their bullbars have killed more child pedestrians and other drivers than ever tackled a bull or saved a life.
Get a bike and catch public transport instead of running your own car all the time. Work from home, find local entertainments, support local live performers and holiday locally. Share the car and give a lift to colleagues on your route.
Rediscover your legs. its good for your heart, good for your physical and emotional health, good for moving out of social isolation and good for the environment. Get a shopping cart from your hardware store (or its catalogue) and use it instead of the car to bring home those bags of shopping. The extra time spent walking is great for emotional and psychological health and can give you time to unravel and let creativity have some time and space to hatch.

Let the kids walk home and to the shops. Chances are they’ll get better independence skills, social skills, a healthier attitude about society and personal space and you’ll get more time to use in a more creative way than obsessive and often paranoid worry.
TREES

Gather small unwanted saplings and don’t throw them into the compost, pot them instead. Then give them to friends who have no trees in their barren gardens, to childcare centers, community centers, schools, parks and businesses for planting. Every tree that is re-homed ends up reducing carbon in the atmosphere.

Get your bills, newsletters and advertising in electronic form to save on the fuel hungry, paper wasting production of paper versions. You can always print them out on recycled paper at home if you prefer a held version!

Buy recycled paper products with minimal processing, shred and recycle your old paper for packaging or animal bedding and put printed paper back into the printer to use the fresh side so you get double use out of your paper. Read blogs and online newspapers and skip the paper version. Heck, if you’re really brave you can recreate the once popular bush toilet and employ a bucket of leaves instead of a toilet roll!
Good luck.

🙂 Donna Williams

http://www.donnawilliams.net