R4A – 90% reduction: The reckoning (numbers)

It goes like this – we gave it a go and didn’t make the targets in all areas but we made significant reductions in most areas. And to reprise what my dear father said to me when I came home with a 99% test score and topped my class, “Great result but there is still room for improvement.” And so in honour of my dad, we will keep trying.

One of my fellow rioters put together this post as a guide. I really think and agree with him that whilst you may not succeed in or be able to do all things, do what you can. Not much of an ask really! I will (separately) post what we did to achieve the reductions in each category and perhaps a final R4A post on what I really learned by doing this.

And so to the numbers:

Electricity- Our average use is 2.2kWh per day (it will rise in winter to about 2.8kWh – I think) Without the Green power, this represents a 90% (88% on the winter figure) reduction on average use. We do buy green power so if that is factored in we are carbon neutral….what ever that really means?

Gas – Average Summer use is 25mjs per day, average winter use is 140mjs per day. This is for cooking, heating and hot water. The summer daily average is 76% below average, winter use is 30% above average.

Let me just say, I regret swapping to gas powered hydronic heating….I love the radiators but we could have had this system with a wood stove (that you could cook on too!) Our decision was made when we were still commuting to Sydney for work and a gas-powered, press a button system seemed more convenient. How do you account for a shift in thinking?

Water – 90 litres per person per day. This is a 49% reduction from starting point of 175 litres per person and 75% reduction on the state average.

Garbage – 95% reduction. We started at about 86% of the national average – I had hoped that we’d be have no waste but alas escaping small amounts of plastic seems to be my continuing nemesis.

Food – This is the area I loved the most. It was difficult, at first, to try to source local food (in the Southern Hemisphere June 1 2007 was autumn/winter) but it got easier. During the summer and autumn, we did make or better the targets of 70% local food, 25% bulk and 5% wet/transported.

Trying to improve my own food growing efforts is what I will be focusing on and if I can grow food ( however modest ) in my steep, semi-shaded back garden then so can others. Some neighours have made noises about removing the radiata pines that partly shade us and others….fingers crossed.

Petrol – We used about 60 litres (total) of petrol per month. This includes public transport. This is a 70% reduction on our state average and a 50% reduction on our starting point. If I include the air -travel to see my husband’s family (Did I try to get out of it? Oh yeah! Air travel/flying is not my forte!) our total reduction in fuel is 57% of the state average.

Consumer – We achieved an 87% reduction on the national average of $15,000 in this category.

If I include some infrastructure expenditure (water pump, floor insulation, re-wiring) and not to be repeated expenses (sewing machine shared with my sister) and tuition ( however my studies went on hold whilst I grapple with what to do with my life!!!!!) then our total reduction is at the 75% below average which was our starting point.

About stuff

For a while now, I’ve been struck by how people refer to their possessions as stuff – a collective noun (?) to describe the amorphous, unarticulated collection of objects they own. Not important enough to be able to name, too large in quantity to be able to catalogue and account for or is it that there no connection to warrant the naming? The stuff may be loosely defined by some use, purpose or other object – car stuff, house stuff, work stuff but it is still not really articulated.  Odd, considering the hours of work, striving and debt that is represented by stuff.

The word stuffed is used to denote when we’ve had enough or are sated (think festive, celebratory lunch) and colloquially in Australia we use it to say we have reached the limit; we are really tired – with some regularity I say after gardening and limping back to the house, “God, I’m stuffed” – or that something has reached a point of no return – “That motor is stuffed” – but a “stuff up’ also says, that a mistake has been made.

So what I’m wondering is, if we’ve reached the limit, does that mean we’ve had enough?

Olives

Well, for a real treat, this home-made bread tastes even better with olive oil. Bread and butter is lovely but if I had to choose one fat, above all others, it would have to olive oil. Olive oil has the advantage, excellent for Australia’s climate, of not needing refrigeration. It’s amazing that it’s taken so long for olives to become popular-ish here.

Last Sunday, I drove down to a local olive grove to help them pick their olives. Leccino and a small quantity of Frantoio – Tuscan varieties of oil olives. It was a great learning experience and just a fantastic thing to do in the autumn sunshine. Silvery green leaves, just beautiful – yes I’m obsessed with olives. Lots to learn but isn’t that always the way.

As a child I really disliked olives and olive oil. The imported oils were often heavy tasting and I suspect, not altogether fresh but that wasn’t it. Olives marked you out as non -Anglo….of course, being called Nada did that too; so although I couldn’t avoid my name, I could avoid olives. To add to the olive issue, on Palm Sunday, my observant Catholic mother would take olive branches (that someone had given her) to church, not palm branches, to be blessed. This is how they did it in the home country and in the home country, the only palm trees were on the Split foreshore and who was going to climb those!!! Now the olive branches were only a real problem, if we were going to our local parish church; at the Croatian church most people had them so it wasn’t an issue but all the kids cringed – “It’s PALM Sunday not OLIVE Sunday”. Over the years, people planted palm trees in their yards and so began to take those leaves in for the occasion instead. Olive branches are symbols of peace, as are palms in Judaism. Palms also symbolise triumph, victory and the tropical paradise thing too.

How this has come full circle – my mother is removing her palm trees to plant olives…..with some prodding from my sister and me. I’m on a planting mission. (I think I’m too angry to be on a peace mission!!! but maybe that’s what this is.) To fulfill my altogether selfish dream, however, I may need to find a nice piece of north facing slope somewhere and plant a small grove. Would that be a sufficient mea culpa for my prejudice?

Beekeeping

On the weekend, I started my beekeeping course. It was the two-day practical component; there is also written work to submit. The bees were absolutely mesmerising. The pine needle smoke from the smoker, the buzz of a hive and the Sydney autumn weather combined to be hypnotising….I had to snap myself out of the dream-like state, to listen to the lecturer…Mr Bees NSW. Whilst we were all fully suited, he worked the hives without protective clothing….”To give us (students) confidence!”.

Now for the work of organising some hives (2…so that if anything goes wrong with one, the healthy one can help you save the one with problems), where to put them etc. etc. To keep bees in NSW (and I’m assuming in other states) you need to register with the Department of Primary Industry and join a bee association to get public liability insurance but you know, red tape – I’m used to.

Pollination of the garden and honey for home use is what initially interested me….. and the eucalyptus that tower over my vegetable garden produce some of the best honey flora…….negatives into positives and all that.

Now for some bee miscellany:

1. They don’t like rhododendrons.

2. If stung by a bee, do not pull out the sting – that only pushes more venom into your skin. Instead, scratch out the sting with a fingernail.

3. Bees don’t like dark colours, wool or anything fluffy.

The power of the garden.

At the Royal Easter Show * with my Mama. (Thanks to my sister Ms B for the photograph).

*When the country comes to the city. It’s the major agricultural show/fair in our state.

I grew up with a backyard veggie garden. To be honest, I was not always so fond of it nor as proud of it nor as grateful for it, as I am now. I wanted an in-ground swimming pool like the neigbours had. As children, we did not pay enough attention to what our parents were doing out there and we used to beg our mother to buy iceberg lettuces instead, but our parents continued to grow food at home, give away surplus, swap seeds – this left its mark. That garden helped feed us and to keep us healthy. The garden and our mama still does.

The imprint of that garden is evident in all the things I hold dear to me – family, good health, good food, generosity. Michael Symons in One Continuous Picnic calls the backyard garden the haven of suburban rustics- this in no way is meant to be derogatory. In this book, he chronicles food history in Australia from the time of us whiteys being here. The pattern that emerges is that Australian eating, has always been supported by some kind of industrial process; be it the British Empire or cheap fossil fuels. Food has always travelled to the population and we expect that. There has never been a peasant class, save for the Dungaree Settlers in the Hawkesbury and the suburban rustics! For the majority of the population, the link between work, the land and food has been displaced (or actively avoided!!!) Indigenous cultures in Australia obviously understand this link – in ways better suited to this landscape too – and shamefully, we have learnt little from them…..me included. If anyone out there knows anything about bush tucker in the Blue Mountains, please let me know.

If you can grow food where you live, even in a window box or a small container, I cannot urge you enough to do it. Grow. Grow. Grow. Do not under estimate the effect this simple and sustaining action will have on those around you. My youngest sister lives in London and until very recently, she has shown very little, almost no interest in gardening but with her birthday coming up….and when asked by us, if there was anything she might like for a present (give us some idea please!!!), she said “Anything that would help me with a garden.” My mother did not thrust her arms into the air with victory, however she knows now, that all her children know, that every home needs a garden especially a kitchen garden. She also knows skills can be learnt, if the willingness and enthusiasm are there.

On related matters, this appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday. Thanks Helen for emailing me the link.

I just don’t get it.

Maybe, I’m just out of step with the times but these sorts of stories make me want to scream, “What is so wrong with responsibility or cleaning up after yourself or admitting that your actions affect others, not always for the better and doing something to prevent it happening again?” Am I being too simplistic and naive?

I don’t understand how saying, ” Gee whizz, you know, the global economy is constricting and well, 1% of GDP maybe too much to contribute to the countries and people that will be/are affected badly by climate change. It’s a time of belt tightening”, abnegates the clear responsibility of those countries (and peoples), who are the greatest polluters and have gained the most from this system of economics. What is that? Oops, sorry but we need to maintain the lifestyles of the chosen few. Yes, the economic system is such a house of cards but well, we didn’t realise that those cards, were you know, actual cards. We believed that with technology, they had the strength of bricks!

I do not absent myself from those who could do more. Even as the Riot for Austerity year comes to a close, our household has not achieved its goals. There are quite a few areas, where despite making large reductions, we have not reached the 90% target…water, overall natural gas use, petrol, for example. Sometimes we are lazy and drive when we could walk or buy something that is shiny and new and not essential. However, we still persevere (and will continue to do so) because the choice to be lazy or impulsive is a luxury and the repercussions should not be shied away from. We have a responsibility to keep making these reductions and changes to our ways of thinking, coming up with creative alternatives and solutions. Is it always easy? No but why should it be? Why shouldn’t we have to try harder?

So, what has the picture of the magpie got to do with this? Magpies are stalwarts; they hang around during the winter and tough it out.

Autumn light

There is a definite chill in the air. However, it is not yet as cold as it was for that freak week in February where we had an overnight low of 3 degrees C. It has been a cool summer and now, autumn. I do like the crispness and afternoon light in the garden.

But oh, if we just had 2 or 3 weeks of sunny, warm days – I may yet harvest a ripe tomato and chillies. Sigh!

More from the vegetables.

This food looks good, tastes good and is good. There is much more to say about the politics and benefits of growing your own food but for me it starts with the experience and pleasure. This is what sustains you.

Three colours carrots. A golden beetroot. Stella Bianca beans. Kipfler potatoes…..or the makings of lunch.

Garden update.

The summer garden has been a little disappointing but really, when you attempt to grow non-native food plants in a clearing of tall eucalyptus, wrong orientation etc.; what do you expect? Add, the deviations from the known weather patterns -hello summer! might be nice to see you- and what you had assumed about food growing possibilities and what you think you know…… I always have such high expectations. Hmmmm.

Not to be deterred, however, I will not stop gardening because even the small amounts of food/flowers, this land gives me are wonderful to taste and my problem is that, I’m just greedy for more. Gardening, cooking and eating…it’s a fortunate life and next year…….heat loving plants like tomatoes will go into pots to see if that helps.  Carrots, parsnips, potatoes, some lettuces, chard, rhubarb, zucchini have been in small but constant supply…..really, what am I whinging about. A lot more gratitude is called for…really!

Birds in the trees

Crimson Rosellas Platycercus elegans

Evidence of some sun and these two were frolicking about. With all the rain, my front garden especially the lower section near the mailbox, is very sodden- actually I’d call it swamp. So I decided to plant some ferns, Blechnum nudum, to soak up the water, stop the advance of invasive grasses/ weeds, stop the soil from washing onto the road and water run off, in general. If there’s going to be this much rain, it should do some good like replenishing the soil, ground water and underground aquifers; that much I can try to ensure. Admittedly, it was good to plant something that loves the wet and the birds flying around, enjoying a break in the weather, were an added bonus.