Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I figure I'll cut my fuel bill by 60% when my daughter gets her license....

Mind you ... to reduce my household carbon footprint I'll have to kick her out then.... would reduce my power bill by about the same I reckon....

it's time for some to be WOKEN UP to reality.

This is NOT meant to be personal,,it is NOT meant as an attack or to belittle any of the valued contributers.

Quote from mylesau "Not sure how useful your question is Chappo. People have to work, and for some they cannot live close, so they will clock up the miles if public transport is not an option…
Best this statement is looked at in pieces,,,
1) The usefullness of the question,..........,,well myles many , the majority,consider questioning of the use of fossil fuels to be both valid and educational.
2)"people have to work".....,HAVE TO,,oh no,,,choice,consequence,result. My FATHER chooses NOT to work,,CHOICE,..... consequences and results are excellent.
3)"For some they CANNOT live close,.....,????? cannot,,,sorry the fact is CHOOSE NOT TO,,that very choice made by them has consequences.


next.....

Bullocks Chappo..... tens of thousands of people work in the CBD areas of every city in the world.....

I'm sure that they'd ALL like to live close and walk to work.... most can't choose to do so though...... coz only those with sufficient financial wealth can afford to.... the rest get pushed out into the suburbs...

Hence urban sprawl, motorways, fuel consumption etc etc....

A major reason for our huge environmental problem is the way we design our cities and where we place our industries....

We make people go to where the work is.... whether they like to or not..... coz only a slect few can actually afford to live close.....

You are LUCKY that you have been able to find somewhere to live close to where you work... and have been able to choose....

Rupert,,,once again this is Not personal,,,just being realistic,.....,,

Quote from Rupert" You're obviously very lucky to have both work and shops vitually around the corner Chappo... especially in Sydney....
Lucky??? NOPE,,, planning ( planned CHOICE) , decision , consequence,result.

Our decision to purchase our house near to shops,school,work , has consequences,,,,high price,,,smaller yard,,,but results are convenience and low usage of carbon,.....

No Chappo.... fortunate that there was housing within your range of available finance so that you could make that choice...

If the cost of housing in the area you work in had been 3-4 times higher than what you paid for your house.... would you have been able to "choose" to live there??

I prefer the word CRUD,,,Bullocks seems so British????

Several doses of reality needed to bring the above comments into perspective,.....

"most can't choose to do so though...... coz only those with sufficient financial wealth can afford to.... the rest get pushed out into the suburbs...

Cannot or choose not???? Big difference,,,decision,consequence,result. When I was 18 several of my mates where working as "body builders" , putting Aluminium trays etc on the back of utes and trucks,,they were earninjg $210 a week , HUGE money at that time,.....,they laughed at me studying and working for $74 per week. 25 years later,,,decision,consequence result,,,becomes clear,,,I live here in a nice suburb,,near Schools ,shops etc,,they live outin the middle of nowhere and complain about petrol PRICES and how LUCKY I am........,ROFLMAO
LUCKY,,,crud.

Ye olde style: open windows at night, close during day. Fan outside window to quickly cool things down in evening. We are 40 miles (60km) from ocean, so the air cools rapidly in evening.

Hi all,

My fuel usage is a real bug-bear for me. I hate how much I use due to circumstances which are difficult for me to control. I live in Lismore where there is high unemployment. After being (mostly) unemployed for 18 months I ended up taking a job in Byron Bay which is a 40 minute drive away. This would have resulted in a large amount of petrol being used each week.

As soon as I started I asked around and found 2 other people who live close(ish) and I organised a car-pool. Now I only drive once every three weeks, plus the added bonus of 1 car on the road each week instead of three. Also, when I drive, I drive my wifes car. Hers is a 4 cylinder. Mine is a 6. Naturally hers is more economical than mine so it is better that I drive that.

My wife works close so she only has a 5 minute drive to work. I am trying to convince her to ride a bike but she is not interested. Only so much I can do there... We live in town so most things for us is a walk away. We have just put an offer on a house that is even more centralised to town so that will be even better.

So to try to put it into litres per week....

I use 45 litres ever three weeks. My wife uses approx 30 every three weeks so I am estimating that our usage would be approx 25 lts each week (give or take).

Simon

Chappo why do you frequent this forum? Serious question.

I agree, a 2 bed flat in central london probably costs as much as a 10 bed mansion in a less affluent area. If you can afford either then you prolly don`t need to work anyway

Our domestic energy prices are predicted to rise 40% by christmas.. so we`ll need to reduce consumption by 40% to get the same bill we have now

No Chappo, you just got lucky, if you call living in a 'nice suburb' lucky. I personally don't.
If we are on subject, by your argument if you have money you are 'green' and those who don't arn't. Slightly contradicted by your comments in the wheelie bin thread.
BTW You missed one comment of Ruperts that was significant :-
"A major reason for our huge environmental problem is the way we design our cities and where we place our industries...."

Humanity is odd in that most animals stick with the food source, primary need, so what do we stick with? Shops arn't a food source, they remind me of aid trucks in third world countries. Lets hope the aid trucks continue to roll or your 'nice suburb' will turn nasty very quickly.

I like your analogy sleepe!

+1

As I indicated in my post earlier - I think there are pros and cons to most things, it is about getting the balance right (and it is only you who can decide what is right for you).

I do not ever expect to be self sufficient or even close to it, but my decision to move the family a little further away from my work, schools, shops etc had a lot to do with my desire to have sufficient land to have a decent number of chooks, have a bit veggie garden (including aquaponics - which I didn't know about when we moved here 5 years back) and do other things in a similar vein like have some fruit trees and have some decent sized rainwater tanks to collect rainwater for use in the gardens as well as laundry etc.

Every time I see petrol prices go up and the flow on effects to food prices, I think about 2 things:

1. Jeez, these prices are going to hit us hard
2. This provides further impetus to putting some more effort and money into making my small block productive for us.

Balance.

As for choosing whether or not to work - if all of us chose not to work then it would just be a great country wouldn't it (not). I still remember my first visit to a community gardens setup here in Brisbane. My main interest at the time was Permaculture, so I was very excited to see the place. I had a day off work and took my young son with me. I came away very disappointed at the fact that the place seemed to be run in the most part by relatively young people who had clearly chosen not to work, but rather hang around at the community gardens all day socialising with each other. These people didn't even have any interest in sharing their passion for the gardens with visitors (of which I was one) but rather just sat around talking to each other. This is all well and good except that I am sure all these people were collecting social security, were on health care cards etc. What were they contributing to society - SFA. I'm sure that there were/are people associated witht the gardens who are from an entirely different mold to the one I have described, but I'd suggest they would be in the minority. Very disappointing indeed.

I like the way you keep contradicting yourself Chappo





I could have add others but I "chose" not to ... result ...

the aliens would like to know the answer to this one too

,, , , ..... , , ,

the trees know the answer, they are our guardians and they are truly green