Sustainable House Day 2010

Today’s Sustainable House Day 2010 [1]. It’s the tenth annual SHD since the first one in 2001. Australia-wide, today a record 270 sustainable houses are open to the public [2]. It’s been said the recent national election swing against the incumbent government reflected disenchantment with its poor performance on global warming [3]. Whilst a comprehensive global warming mitigation plan must include major government intervention, it’s known that individual action, especially regarding energy conservation, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a major degree [4]. SHD’s website says that each year the average Australian household contributes 13 tonnes of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere (i.e. enough to fill more than 700 balloons every day) whilst using an average of 73,000 buckets of water a year (i.e. enough for around 12 baths a day). The aim of SHD is to show Australians how housing can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and water too, by the use of appropriate design and equipment without compromising comfort and enjoyment. I live in a sustainable house, but it’s not part of SHD 2010. I wasn’t asked and I didn’t volunteer. It’s a privacy thing. Anyway, if you’re in Australia and you’ve nothing better to do today than help save the planet, visit a sustainable house [5]. Admission’s free.