Grandiflora

A change of government….the conservatives who formed the federal government for 11.5 years are gone….gone…and the former PM may yet lose his seat in Parliament.  The Labor Party romped it home with a lot of help from the Greens.

Also Australia’s first woman as Deputy PM….yay… Julia Gillard. It’s taken a while.

I’m more hopeful albeit nursing a hangover.

Warm days and late afternoon storms; some with small hail and heavy rain, thunder and lightning, disruptions to our electricity supply and then as it cools down, fog.  Things are growing and we are increasing our harvest slowly ; peas, broad beans, salad greens, but oh….. we are vexed by snails/slugs, some kind of rodent that keeps burrowing into old compost, a fox visit or two ( our chicken plans were moving along nicely after Charles and I decided (it took 2 years) on what the moveable ark thing should look like, how it should work and where it would go), possums and some animal (identity unknown) with a penchant for eating rhubarb leaves.  Go figure!
Cauliflower planted in autumn….slowly it may form a head if it doesn’t  succumb to hail, snails and the dreaded bolt.

The essential garlic.   Nice harvest this year.
    Blue pioneer iris. First time it has flowered.

Sages.

Roses….they smell and look lovely.  I’m going to try making some rose petal jam.  Expand the preserve repertoire.

There is a line of thought, that says, the things you do in your life have little effect on the world at large. In essence, it underestimates the power of small, consistent and applied actions which started some of the great social and political changes of history.

Recently, I went to a talk about the Australian government’s position on climate change or should I say how the climate policy of our country is being determined by energy,mining, aluminum and steel industries….don’t recall that these guys ever stood for public office….but there you have it. Guy Pearse, the speaker, made some great points and revelations about this self - called “Greenhouse Mafia” but in his summation he felt that personal actions could only go so far and technology (read ‘new’ business) would offer answers and not compromise our lifestyles.

Alternative energy sources to fossil fuels are going to get us somewhere but not without changing the way we use energy and consume all manner of things. Isn’t this the elephant in the room? The unmentionable? I didn’t ask him about it; others did and he looked at them blankly. At the time, I was thinking he’d never heard of Schmacher. It was business as usual; you know, sure stuff is happening to the environment and this government is complicit/inactive but we don’t want the economy to suffer or our lifestyles to suffer. I wondered, when living turned into a lifestyle and when did making informed choices and not supporting ways/means/policies/methods that are eviscerating the planet became not that effective? Sure, industry is a bigger polluter than households but where did the stuff in the houses come from? How did it get there? Isn’t there a link?

Certainly, the changes to the planet are happening and happening rapidly; it is overwhelming. Maybe anything we do is too little or too late but faced with the decision of relying on government/ business or oneself to implement change, I know which one I’d choose.

Here’s the thing, a life of consuming less is a life of connection and purpose….that’s what it returns to you. For countless unknown others and future generations, it shows consideration, thought and the very real difference that their lives will not be burdened by someone else’s wantonness. Now, these things don’t register on GDP but they do make you happier, less stressed and give you time to think and live and act. The power of these things should never be underestimated. What we do as individuals matters - why else would polling and market research exist? I think of India’s Salt Marches or Vincent Lingiari or my mother continuing to breastfeed on demand in the 1970’s, after being ridiculed as a backward peasant for doing so (hadn’t she heard of Nestle and 4 hour feeding schedules?) and I know, a life lived with conviction, consideration, thought and usefulness is the only way forward for me.

To realize this is a gift on my birthday!

After some despondency and avoidance of tallying the totals, here are our numbers:

September

Electricity 75% below - 5.4kWh per day. However, if the green power offset is applied, then we have acheived 95% reduction.

Gas 120% - yes 20% above average. Hydronic central heating - do I regret installing it? Yes and not just because of the energy use.

Water 69% below 110litres per person, per day.

Petrol 80% below. 1 tank of petrol (35 litres) for the month. I thought that this was going to be the hardest category to reduce but it’s been easier than anticipated.

Garbage 90% below

Food 50% Local, 35% bulk , 15% traveling miles to get here

Consumer Goods 70% below

October

Electricity 86% below - 2.8kWh per day. Figures dropped due to the decommissioning of the old (faulty + inefficient) hot water service. With the green power credit, the usage is offset and we are in some weird accounting territory of negative use….or non-use.

Gas 45% below - Much better figures due to not needing to heat very much . This figure now includes our hot water use. This is the one category that will be difficult to meet the reduction targets. Did I mention I regret having central heating installed?

Water 69% below 110litres per person, per day.

Petrol 70% below.

Garbage 80% below . Spring cleaning and some things that could not be re-used, recycled or re-housed were dispatched.

Food 50% Local, 35% bulk , 15% traveling miles to get here

Consumer Goods 75% below

Overall, I’m fairly happy with how we are proceeding. Natural gas use will be our toughest category to meet and maintain the targets. Our use will be low over the warmer months so should offset the winter use somewhat…..but not enough. Oh!