Sustainable Men.

Recently, I snuck away from the NT for a long weekend visit to see two of my “most favoritest” of friends, Brent & Paul. Brent lured me there with a promised to “spoil me and treat me like a princess”; how can a girl resist?

After some time spent drooling over some of my favourite spots in Melbourne: a well visited cheese stall at the market, cafés in the endless laneways and my favorite Aussie designer at this shop, I took the five:30 up to Malmesbury, Victoria – a spot equally as spacious and charming as I imagined these two would live in.

I’m so glad I went – They were definitely gracious hosts in their new country abode. My visit was extraordinary: part educational, part relaxing, but mostly completely satisfying seeing old friends and engaging in their sustainable ways. I left amazed. And inspired. And quite insanely jealous of these two guys. They live a life that I sometimes catch myself daydreaming about and planning for myself.

Not only do they live in a completely self-sustaining house, but it is a strawbale house! (which is pretty damn cool), with a composting toilet, solar panels, and a rainwater catchment system. They can survive on stored energy for 4 cloudy days, cook on a wood burning stove, and are planning to dig a bore for water to fill the dam.

They make their own beer, press their own cheese, knead their own bread, plant their own garden and have their own chickens (+ plans for goats!). I'm totally in love.

I learned all about these systems, plus what killer sourdough bread tastes and looks like (humidity in the oven is the secret, I learned), how easy an EasiYo yogurt maker is (plus what a huge hole there has been in my life without one), and how to get lost in the forest with a dog that won't lead me home. Not to mention how beautiful cockatoos and parrots are in the front yard all day long, the secret recipes for nectarine & brandy jam, pickles and bread, and left with a bag full of yummy food goodies for my next community (I think Brent was worried about me!).

Ahh…..the good life, i.e. the country life. This is my spot.

I was in my own slice of green-sustainable heaven for four days, napping in hammocks, eating fresh bread, and being loved by these two. Thanks guys, for everything! Especially all the laughs and real meat!

As an aside, this same weekend coincided with the hugely media driven Earth Hour. I can’t help but stating my opinion here and now on this event; It’s my blog, right? I can do as I like.

First of all, I can respect the attempts, albeit meager, at engaging mainstream folks towards the dire needs of minimzining our environmental impacts. This is a good thing & any amount of hype is obviously needed since the majority of people live under a rock and choose to act uneducated on the topic. However, I cannot fully endorse such menial actions as cutting lights off for an hour as a way to acheive our goals. Somehow it felt cheap and blaze' to cut off lights for an hour & then pat myself on the back for a job well done. (In fact, we used candles ... and a corner lamp for the hour!). Secondly, what really get me is this: for those individuals out there who think it is too f**king hard to recycle their beer bottles, stop driving their huge SUV's, only buy bottled water and refuse to limit themselves on the excess carbon-rich activities in their life, this little Earth Hour trick was just what they needed to give them the false perception they were doing something good. Yes, certainly -- cut your lights off, but also your air-conditioners, dryers, toaster ovens and hairdryers more often than not. That -- and start giving a damn. You don't have to be an extremist, just make some changes! 1 Hour of 1 Night in 1 Year Doesn't Do shit, but give more reason to believe that your lights shouldn't be cut off every night for an hour. Earth Hour was a Crock. There, I said it. And that's all I have to say about that.