Sustainable House Day
On the weekend I went with a couple of friends to see one of the homes open for Sustainable House Day. The event is in its 6th year, held every year on the second weekend in September across Australia and NZ. It gives you a chance to see how people are making their homes more sustainable. Then we went on to see Josh Byrne’s sustainable garden, which wasn’t far away.
The Painted Fish
This home is actually a group of sustainable dwellings used as a bed-n-breakfast - you can hire them for a weekend getaway. The owners have worked hard to make the entire business sustainable - there are solar panels and water tanks, with vegie gardens and bikes provided for guests to use. I took a few photos, but the website at www.thepaintedfish.com.au shows it better.
The Painted Fish is a work in progress - they’ve achieved so much, but they are still experimenting with ways to make it even better. The cottage uses it’s water feature to cool the rooms down; there are mirrors to get some sunlight onto the vegie garden which was over-shadowed by the neighbours’ 2nd storey extension; and there are two outdoor showers which can have their first run of cold water switched to a hose so you can water the plants around them. I was very impressed with the effort that has gone into making this sustainable holiday accommodation. I also want to steal their idea of labeling their 3 kitchen bins as “compost”, “recycling” and “landfill”, to make it easier for people to know where their waste is going.
Josh Byrne’s Permaculture Garden
I was particularly interested in this garden, because I recently bought Byrne’s book The Green Gardener. It was great to see a garden he’d made that demonstrates the principles he promotes. The event was part of the open-gardens scheme, and outside there were gardening vendors, a coffee van and talks on sustainable gardening.
The garden itself was beautiful - full of fruits, herbs, vegetables and ornamental plants. There was also a fish/frog pond, and chickens in a portable coop. As well as all of this in a small-ish backyard, there were outdoor living areas: a mini-kitchen and mini-laundry, and an office/guestroom with an outdoor bathroom. To me it seemed pleasantly and sensibly arranged, rather than crowded or over-done. I reckon it’d be very relaxing to come home from work, step out into your backyard to pick a few salad leaves or collect eggs before making a quick meal that you can eat on your deck as the sun goes down. You can see the plan for the garden (pdf), or if you’re a fan of Byrne’s work for Gardening Australia or Organic Gardener magazine, there seem to be some new forums there (very quiet right now, but hopefully they’ll pick up soon).
I really recommend going to see a few demonstrations of sustainable homes and gardens - it’s very inspiring and gives you a good idea of the possibilities for making your own home more eco-friendly.
Some interesting vendors discovered during the day (all WA):
Nexus Car Share - car sharing in Fremantle
Your Patch - installation and maintenance of organic edible gardens in Perth and Bunbury
Gardener’s Direct - eco-friendly garden supply specialists