A House of our Own

We finally got a house! Huzzah!
Wonderful art deco style house.

With a great big back yard. Up there behind the little fence are two HUGE raised garden beds, just ready for all our veggies, a large compost set-up, and two fruit trees -- a peach and a citrus of some sort. The citrus is a little unwell, but we'll give it heaps of lovin' just as soon as we move in.

It's got a quirky little kitchen with lots of cupboards and a cute little diner-esque dining nook, and a gas oven justing waiting for all the cakes and bread I'm going to bake in there.

And gas heating to keep us snug and warm!

The only down-fall is that the toilet is outside, not inside (yelp!) not good for mid-night pee-dashes mid-winter. But I'm already coming up with ideas for composting indoor pee-buckets to save me from the cold.

In fact, we're coming up with all sorts of ideas for the space. The shed on this property is so big. Plenty of room for Dom's workshop (with work-benches and shelves all ready to go) with enough room left over to create some sort of community/ living space with couches and rugs and tables so we can run a brew-club, and work shops and crafternoons. Because we don't have a car, and what else would you do with a garage, anyway?

We went to visit it yesterday (we wont get the keys until next week) and I was so excited, with plans for rhubarb and passionfruit vines and herb-spirals and worm-farms, a barbecue and outdoor arrangements. We're hoping to get one, maybe two other people to live with us, hopefully of the Transition/permaculture persuasion. I'm really looking forward to living there!

New Year's Resolution: the Rules

The rules are very simple, really: no spending money on clothes for twelve months, period. Not new clothes, not second-hand clothes, not local clothes. Nada. No asking for clothing to be given/bought for me, either. No more clothes.

Like any rules, however, there are exceptions. In this case, underwear and hosiery are exceptions, because I can't see any way around it. I have to wear socks and knickers (well, I don't have to, but they make life more comfortable) and the items I have are going to wear out, and I can't really substitute things I already have for them. (If you've got any ideas around this problem, let me know!) So I can buy new underwear and hosiery, but purchases must be kept to a minimum and local, ethical and organic wherever possible.

As I am going for a few internships and other professional interviews this year, I may need to acquire some clothing suitable for such a situation. Wherever possible, I would first attempt to borrow any necessary items, and if that's not possible, then I'd try second hand, and only failing that would I buy new.

And I can accept gifts of clothing, just not ask for it or seek it out. Especially if the clothes are on their way to landfill or vinnies.

So there are the rules. Let's hope that publishing them here will keep me honest!

Introductions

Eight months ago, my partner and I moved to Melbourne from regional New South Wales. Our reasons were varied. For me, I came to Melbourne to study publishing at Melbourne University, and to hopefully open up some options for work (jobs for people with a background in theatre and writing are a little thin on the ground in a small town). My partner came to see what the city might offer in the way of professional roles in environmental sustainability (again, not so many of those where we’re from). And both of us thought we might like a little taste of the big city before we retreat to try our dream of living on the land – soak up all the theatre, art and exciting new sustainability initiatives, before setting up our cabin in the hills (or yurt in the woods, as the case may be).

So, we moved here. But I had a concern.

Both of us are pretty sustainability-minded – focussed on green-living, caring for the environment, and preparing for a post-peak oil, post-climate change era. Up north, the life we led made a focus on these things easy. My Mum and her partner have a biodynamic farm up there called Purple Pear, so we always had plenty of fresh veggies, yoghurt, honey and preserves. I lived in a collective where we supported each other to keep our foot-print low. I knew where to go to get organic produce and I knew all the ways to get around town and beyond by bike or public transport. In short, I knew just how to live gently on the earth in that time and place..

But I was leaving that behind, striking out in a new and unknown place. I would need to find a new source for all my green goodies, find somewhere to get my local fruit and find a new community of like-minded people. I was worried it would be too hard to do in the city, that it would be expensive, or that I’d lose momentum and lose my way.

But where there’s a will, there’s a way, and I made a firm commitment myself to keep living as sustainably as I could. Perhaps even to use this as an opportunity add new practices to my life, and break some old, bad habits. I’ve still got a lot to learn! And this blog is a record of my attempts to tread lightly, find creative ways to reduce, reuse and recycle, and live sustainable urban life.