How to have an eco-friendly christmas!!

Some advice on “how to have an eco – friendly Christmas!

1. Don’t forget to recycle old Christmas cards or gift wrap by picking up a free card recycling bag from Australia Post.

2. Be inventive with wrapping ideas such as using comic book pages, get the kids to colour in the pages in their recycled paper colouring in books and use that, or use un- coloured colouring in pages to wrap presents for kids and let them colour in the wrapping later in the day to stay amused.

3. Perhaps car pooling with neighbors or family members to do Christmas shopping or make a conscious effort to use public transport on that day,

4. For Christmas decorations, use solar powered Christmas lights, and why not decorate a favorite indoor plant as your Chrissy tree instead of chopping one down for a week or two’s use.

5. Support local produce providers for Christmas food, get creative with Christmas left over’s and use them in salads, bakes or casseroles, buy food with minimal packaging, donate unwanted decorations to charity.

6. Get involved in creating your own Christmas masterpieces from your craft bits and pieces at home (i.e. painted pine cones, twigs and candles sprinkled with glitter make great centre pieces for tables.

7. Battery re-chargers are a simple yet sustainable gift, or give seedlings as gifts (possibly vege or fruit bearing), gifts that promote physical activity for children are great (i.e. push bikes, binoculars, magnifiers – all help kids get outdoors and involved with nature)

8. Why not include a family bush walk on Christmas day or Boxing day to enjoy the outdoors for free and perhaps walk off those extra Chrissy calories.

9. And try and holiday locally!

Sustainable Man at Mt Gravatt Plaza this week!

We have a stand at Mt Gravatt Plaza this week so pop in and say hi! We are promoting our $300 Westfield shopping vouchers for Solahart sales this month. Thanks Angela for handing out lots and lots of lollypops!

Sustainable Man Moves Premises!

This week we have moved from our shop at Seven Hills into a much bigger office with warehouse in Morningside! The whole team is very excited about our new (did we mention bigger?) office area. Our new address is 4/59 Riverside Place, Morningside.

Sustainable Man Staff Go Green at Melbourne Cup Day!

Our wonderful Sales Assistant, Hollie, decided during our Melbourne Cup Celebrations this week to make a fascinator for our Office Manager Kristen whose head was the only one noticeably missing some festive decorations! Hollie made a fascinator out of brochures we received in the mail that morning. Very eco Hollie! This one could have been a winner in fashions on the fields!

Are you an urban greenie?

Are you an urban greenie?

Do you qualify as an Urban Greenie? Check your status below!

Do you shower with a bucket?
Do you have less that 4 minute showers?
Have you installed a rainwater tank?
Do you catch public transport more than you used to?
Do you Reduce, Reuse, Recycle ?
Do you pick up litter or make sure all rubbish ends up in the bin?
Do you have native plants in your garden, which may use less water than a traditional garden?
Have you swapped to energy saving globes and turn off lights when you leave the room?
Do you bucket out the kids baths onto the garden?
Have you purchased energy or water saving electrical appliances?

If you answered yes to a lot of these, you are officially an Urban Greenie and you’re on your way to saving the planet.

Want to learn how to become an urban greenie? Follow Sustainable Man’s blog!

One in two to consider switching to solar hot water

Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are set to be dramatically cut with new research showing one in every two households in Queensland is considering making the switch to solar water heating over the next two years, probably due to a combination of the generous federal government rebate, the financial squeeze of rising electricity prices and concerns about the environment.

The national Newspoll survey of 1,062 home-owners aged 18 to 64, commissioned by Solahart showed that 56% of home owners in Queensland who don’t currently have solar hot water were likely to consider installing solar water heating over the next two years, which is a significant increase on the 9% of households currently enjoying hot water free from the sun.

Environmental expert Tim Flannery said the results were exciting.

"Australians are among the highest greenhouse polluters on a per capita basis in the developed world, caused largely by the burning of fossil fuels for energy. Residents in Brisbane have a role to play in reducing carbon emissions and it's promising to see that people are keen to take action," said Mr Flannery.

“Electric water heaters are a major contributor to the problem, accounting for roughly a quarter of household energy consumption. By comparison, using a solar water heater saves about 3 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year,” he added.

Solahart’s National Manager, Stephen Cranch said the recent 15% rise in Queensland electricity prices along with the generous federal government rebate are key reasons why solar water heating will increase significantly over the next two years.

“Higher energy costs as well as the generous $1,600 federal government rebate are enticing people to choose solar water heaters. On top of this more than $500 is also available in Renewable Energy Certificates for the same Solahart system,” said Mr Cranch.

“We expect the uptake will rival the huge spike in growth experienced by both the internet and mobile phones, with solar water heating becoming a part of everyday life for most Brisbane households. It’s also good news for workers as it will create hundreds of new jobs in the industry,” he added.

To find out more about Solahart solar water heaters call Sustainable Man

iNewspoll online Omnibus Survey, 30 April-3 May and 14-17 May 2009, 1,062 Australian home owners aged 18-64

The Sun Shines Bright on Brisbane

We all know that Brisbane is one of Australia’s most liveable cities but it is also the city that the sun shines very brightly on. A device known as the Cambell-Stokes Recorder has been measuring the daily sunshine of Australian cities for well over 2 decades. The device measures the number of hours of ‘bright’ sunshine, revealing that Brisbane has a consistently high average of daily sunshine all year round. In Melbourne the yearly average daily sunshine hours is just 6.0 hours with the least amount of bright sunshine in June with just 3.6 hours. Darwin, due to its monsoon season records an average of less than 1 full day of sunshine in both January and February. Whilst in Brisbane, May averages the least hours of bright sunshine with a respectable 6.4 hours and the annual average is 7.9 hours per day.
A similar picture is painted when we look at clear and cloudy days as determined by the system employed by the Bureau of Meterology which breaks up the sky into 8 sections called ‘oktas’. A clear day is when cloud is seen in 2 or less oktas and a cloudy day has 6 or more oktas filled with clouds. Melbourne sees clear days only 49.4 times per year and is considered cloudy for 179.1 days whilst Darwin has 103.8 days of sun drenching and is overcast for 133.2 days each year. Brisbane on the other hand is once again blessed with an abundance of sunshine averaging 124.3 days per year and just 109.6 days of grey skies.So it is clear that Brisbane is not the place to go into the umbrella business! However Brisbane residents should be putting some of that energy packed sunshine to work on some of the tasks that have too long been the burden of the polluting power station. With just 5-6 hours of sun a day a Brisbane family can reduce its electricity bill by up to 25% by installing a SolaHart Solar Hot Water system. With Federal Government Rebates and RECs it has never been more economical to go solar and save the environment to the tune of removing a small car off the road every year.

By Tod Parker, Sales Manager at Sustainable Man