[permaculture-oceania] New Members Story

[James Sprunt]

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Hi matt,

 

I was in Sydney for the Organic Federationof Australia conference & the Expo which was great although there is nodoubt it had an “industry” flavour, which is fine as longsustainability is still a part of the game e.g. food miles.

 

Great feeling around the Expo though –lot’s of healthy looking happy people.

 

Peace,

 

James

Melbourne

 

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From: permaculture-oceania-bounces at lists.cat.org.au[mailto:permaculture-oceania-bounces at lists.cat.org.au]On Behalf Of Matt Heffernan
Sent: Monday, 24 July 2006 7:39 PM
To: promoting permaculture andsustainable living in the oceania region
Subject: [permaculture-oceania]New Members Story


 

Gday all.


My name is Matt Heffernan.


I have just joined your mailing list & will tell you asbriefly as possible 


what I've been doing re Permaculture.


 


I  completed a PDC


at Ecoliving centre Randwickwith Robyn Francis last year.


 


>From suburban Oatley in Sydney, Ive designed & justrecently renovated(using a builder) my 2 bed full brick house, 


changing the layout,increasing garden space, 


building 3 beds & bathroom upstairs for a family of 4. 


 


I have 6 solar panels facing Nth, Room for 2 more sendingpower back to the grid.(just made the now defunct rebate)


For the 1st full qtr Mar-Jun, they provided approx 35%of my power.


They are fixed on roof & the gradient will be muchbetter for summer (peak).


Working on our usage.  


 


7000 litres - 2 water tanks. (no space for anymore).The rainwater is fed through the


house for everything using an electric pump. I have asediment & UV filter next to pump.


When the tank empties, town water switches in automaticallyand fed to house via mains pressure.


We've had plenty of rain lately & thereforehavent switched over to town


water for 2 months now. Yeeha. (and they filled again today)


we are using 200 litres per day which gives 37 days. 4Atoilets, 4A dishwasher, 3A everything else.


Working on our usage.


 


Used passive heating, cooling principles, plenty of crossventilation, 


laminated windows - casement for wind catching. Insulationin walls


and roof upstairs + sarking under colourbond roof, 2 whirlybirds, raised floor boards to be insulated soon I hope.


No aircon but gas for heating & cooking. 


 


All Bio paints inside, No PVC in the ground or for water-inplumbing. It was very difficult to 


decide on the best building materials from a sustainability& toxicity perspectivre and in some


cases pretty well impossible to avoid. Eg glues, laminates.


 



I have the shower & laundry pipes diverted to agreywater pump


and will be used for sub-surface around my fruittrees when required. Irrigation channels not yet setout &


considering alternatives. Reedbed would be great but spacean issue.


 


Backyard &, Frontyard orchard/food forest is veryjuvenile but so far planted Lemonade, Grapefruit, Lime, Avocado, Banana, 


Paw Paw, feijoas, figs, mandarin, orange, strawberry guavas,pomegranate, grapes, passionfruit, mulberry, lilly pilly, with a plan tohave about 30 fruit trees. Dwarfed where possible. 


 


Garden with veges all starting but slowly in winter.Incorporating herbs, groundcovers, edible perrenials & weeds, wormfarms, asmany compost piles I can scavange up etc. Chooks soon.


 


I love the garden and hope to produce all my fruit & vegin 5-8 years. Seedsaving also. I am very passionate about health-sustainable local organics (great expo yesterday), & solutionsto the energy future. Considering future directionlocally, particularly my kids infants/primary school when they start. Iwork as a muso so luckily have more time than a 9 to 5er.


 


Thanks for reading


Regards


Matt Heffernan or as my friends calls me - permy dorc! 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


----- Original Message ----- 


From: CameronLittle 


To: 'promoting permaculture andsustainable living in the oceania region' 


Sent: Monday, July 24,2006 8:08 AM


Subject: [permaculture-oceania] RE: Joining mailing list


 


Welcome to the list Matt.

 

you wrote:

> I did a PDC last year with Jed, Cheryl, Loki, John,Rosko etc (are you out there) facilitated by


> Robyn Francis. I often have 


> questions and could maybe even offer some worthwhileinfo, particularly 


> in regards to converting a typical suburban house intoa water & energy 


 


I suspect that people will be interestedto hear about your sustainable home project.

 

Regards,
Cameron

 

CameronLittle
Ecoliving Program Manager
UNSW Ecoliving Centre
14 Arthur St
Randwick NSW  2031

cameron.little at unsw.edu.au
ecoliving at unsw.edu.au

www.ecoliving.unsw.edu.au

ph.  02 9398 8838
fx.  02 9398 2416
mob. 0414 385 644

CRICOS Provider Code: 00098G

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