Sustainable practices anyone can incorporate into their own spaces

 

On the weekend my lovely gal pal Haelee came with me to check out a couple of sustainable houses in Hilton as part of Sustainable open house day. I feel like the residents of Hilton are advocates of sustainable living. Im always on the hunt for fresh ideas on ways to cut down on my carbon footprint/energy bills whilst also having a productive garden (which I don't have unless you count nasturtium flowers).
The first house we visited was nicknamed "Sustainaburbia" & rightly so. It was bursting with inspirational ideas & lots of upcycling of old junk into productive pieces. The salvaged bathtub (above) was turned into a garden wicking bed. If only I found an old bath tub at verge collection time before I bought my garden bed.

A broken fridge was cleverly turned into a worm farm.

Old mattress springs were even used to make climbing trellises for the plants. A frame & planter box were built around it.

 

 

The chicken coop was next to the compost. The gate was an old security door. And one of the sides was old mattress springs.

 

 

Sustainaburbia has the highest veggie patch bursting with produce. I was amazed with how much they fit into the garden. Every space had a purpose & was used. The owners make their own compost which is a mix of wet ingredients; lawn clippings, vegetable scraps, garden waste. Dry ingredients; straw, dry leaves, shredded paper, egg cartons, sawdust. Activators (in small amounts); manure, mature compost, old chook straw, comfrey, nettles, worm castings & blood/bone fertilizer. There was a talk about DIY compost & fruit fly control but we missed it.

 

I just love how the owners fully embrace salvaging a piece of junk destined for the rubbish tip & turning it into something practical & striking. So many possibilities of turning trash into treasure!!!

 

 

The second house we visited was Ferreira house. Owner Chris has opened his house for "Sustainable open house day" since 2011. It was quite busy when we arrived & there was tonnes of information & long talks about how to live more sustainable. Having a short attention span, I like to get my inspiration visually as I tend to zone out with long speeches (not to mention feeling claustrophobic in crowds).

 

 

I happily took home a water shower timer which Kobe is loving. You can get one free here (plus badges, posters, pamplets). There was lots of native plants & succulents which are waterwise incorporated into the garden.

 

 

 

A straw bale vegetable patch. I haven't seen one before but the benefits are you will have no weeds, the straw breaks down naturally into compost & is great at retaining moisture.

 

 

The highlight was this children's treehouse built on a gigantic tree. Loving the child size outdoor setting in the sandpit below it. My only concern was the open sides. Im all for outdoor play as opposed to tv time, Im quite lucky that I have many parks for Kobe to run wild in, all within walking distance from my house. there was also a pallet upcycled outdoor couch (which I didn't take a photo as people were sitting comfortably in it). 

 

Chris is mighty passionate about educating people on sustainability so its no surprises he is aligned with The forever project.

 

Well I hope you were inspired by what these eco-warriors are doing, I certainly was.

 

Happy Monday friends!

Grace