Positive Change Tips

Eco Design Tips

Why stop at a 5 star rated home? The more stars you have the more energy savings you can make.
Designing your home to avoid the need for air conditioning will save you money and make the home more comfortable to live in.
In Australia solar hot water systems are most efficient when they face north.
Properly designed homes are not only more environmentally sound, they are more comfortable and healthy to live in.
Design your living areas to be on the north side of your house to optimise the free energy of the sun and minimise heating to unwanted areas.
Position windows and doors so that a cross flow of air is possible when desired to quickly cool down your home.

Using recycled building materials reduces greenhouse gases by preventing the need for new products to be manufactured from virgin materials. It also saves on the amount of rubbish going to landfill.
Materials that have low levels of toxic gases (or Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) are much better for the health of your family. Many standard products contain high levels of potentially harmful substances.
Bamboo flooring looks great and reduces the pressure on forests.
Timber paling fences have a relatively short life before they rot and need replacing. Steel fencing, though it has higher embodied energy, lasts many years longer and can be recycled at the end of its life.
Low toxicity paint ensures that you will be exposed to significantly less toxic gases and fumes when moving into your new home.
The cement component of concrete (~12%) contributes approximately 92% of the energy required in concrete production. Certain industrial byproducts, such as fly ash and slag, can be added to the concrete mix to reduce the volume of cement required.
Use plantation timber to construct your home. It is a sustainable alternative to timber sourced from old growth forests.
Plantation timber has significantly lower embodied energy than steel.

Ensure the seals on your fridge and oven are in good condition so they seal tightly - replacing seals can be a lot cheaper than paying for the lost energy.
Choose appliances for the laundry and kitchen which have high energy star ratings - most appliances have a long lifetime so the additional cost of purchasing these items is paid back many times in lower energy bills.
Small gaps around windows and doors, wall to floor joins, and around service pipes can make your home very leaky. Seal up the gaps easily with a gap filler to stop letting the weather into your home!
Insulation will save you money on your energy bills as well as making your home more comfortable to live in.
Ceiling fans are a good way to make you feel cooler in summer without actually wasting energy on cooling the air.
A 'leaky' home makes your heating and cooling systems have to work harder - costing you more money in energy bills.
Gas heaters only produce around 1/3 of the carbon emissions that standard electric heaters do.
Why not test ceiling fans for a year or two and see if you can do without air conditioning?
A larger fridge will use more energy than a smaller one of the same energy star rating.
Make sure to only run the dishwasher with a full load to avoid waste.
Wash your clothes in cold water to save energy - and your clothes will last longer.

Tank water is not affected by Council Restrictions so you have control over how and when you can use it.
Be careful when using grey water in the garden that you limit the concentration of nutrients in the water so they don't build up in the soil.
Treating your grey water gives you a lot more flexibility in its use.
Water efficient washing machines also use less detergent.
Water efficient dishwashers use less water than if you washed the dishes by hand.
Good quality water saving shower heads can feel just as good as the old ones.
Mulching can not only reduce evaporation in your garden, but it can also improve your soil quality.
Encourage plants to become more drought tolerant by watering them deeply and less frequently.
Subsurface irrigation delivers water right to the roots of the plants where it is needed and eliminates

Make a shopping list before buying fresh food to avoid wastage from unused items.
Leave re-usable bags in your car so you always have them on hand when you arrive at the supermarket.
When giving gifts, try to give practical, good quality gifts that will not be wasted.
Buy tools and toys which run off mains power or re-chargeable batteries - single use batteries take around 50 times more energy to produce them than they provide.
Wrap gifts in re-usable items -a bag, pretty tea towel, re-usable ribbon OR recycled items such as old comics.
Recycle used printer cartridges for zero waste to landfill at participating Australia Post, JB Hi-Fi, Dick Smith, Tandy, The Good Guys, Harvey Norman and Officeworks stores.
Recycle any unusable supermarket plastic bags at the recycling bin at your local supermarket - they accept bags from any retailer.
Try to buy appliances that use mains power over batteries - single use batteries use around 50 times more energy to produce than the energy they contain.