From little things big things do grow.
Once country living saw fruit and veges grown in the back yard a few chooks and meat and eggs came too.
My back yard has no chooks but my fruit is swapped for eggs and we are all happy.
All on tank water not a drop leaves the block until it is used many times.
Looking for dramatic change? we all are but if every house grew just a window box of veges more if you have room and one fruit tree?
Strangest thing is people who get my fruit free tell me it is too much work to grow it?
8 citrus 2 plums 2 apples 1 nut and one other on a half acre block and plenty of room for veges, try it.

Belly

Gardening is one of the best exercises anyone can do.

And nothing beats pruning in relieving stress - take that and that and that! Of course it also generates self control - one must be left with a fruit tree after one has finished pruning.

The joy of picking your own fruit, digging up your own potatoes. I am confounded by those who bought a McMansion - all house no garden, all that boring housework cleaning the inside of the McHouse and no fun in the sun outside.

One really short step to sustainability would be a size limit on the dwelling that could be built on a site. How many bathrooms does anyone need? Who wants to clean them and all that water that is wasted...?...Where do the children play? And they look bloody awful, sitting on top of each other, no privacy at all. They look like some kind of bizarre up-market ghetto. OK, I'm sure everyone realises that I don't like them. But my reasons are completely valid.

My house to put it bluntly is not much more than a holiday shack, but it is a shack with a view, where I am constantly in contact with nature - sometimes more of it comes inside than I would like, but hey, its their world too, they agree not to bite me and I agree to live and let live.

Dear Fractelle,

All of us can do our share - if we just try, and every little bit helps.

We've recently installed water-saver shower heads - and we encourage family members to take shorter showers and half-flush whenever possible.

We've changed our lightbulbs, and we switch lights off when they're not needed.

I turn off any appliance that runs constantly without any attention.

I tend to buy locally grown products - in the fruit and veg. departments. I tend to walk more instead of driving - especially locally.

If we all did our bit - it would make a difference. Our next project
is - to buy 2 water tanks - (when we've got enough money).

Solar powered electric cars (and domestic solar power) are an integral part of the future of sustainable living. The problems with some of the earlier models was the limit of 100km per charge but I believe that with improvements in battery capacity they can go up to 300km (as revealed by the scientist/engineer in the film 'Who Killed the Electric Car').

Obviously this would not be conducive for haulage or longer travel but would go some way in alleviating pressure on current oil supplies. I fear we are probably too late to make a significant difference but the changeover to electric would also aid in reducing pollution and harmful emissions in our ever-growing cities.

I'd like water usage rules that allowed me make more effective use of the water available to me - if I'm under regional usage targets then it should not matter if a built in irrigation system is used on my garden rather than buckets or hoses.

I'd like to see more community gardens, I don't know of any near me but have looked through one at Morningside which was very interesting. They look like a great way to build community, exchange ideas and get some economy of scale for self grown fruit and veges. There are some things that fit a lot better in a larger garden than in a small backyard.

I'd like to see more bikeways on transport corridors, a bike track on the suburban rail easement might be one way to facilitate that in my area.

I'm managing to work from home more often lately, that saves a couple of hours of commuting, some out of hours care time and cost for my son and lets me work in a better work environment than a noisy office. A win all round and no AC running in my home office either.

Come to think of it pushing for climate appropriate attire in our workplaces and reducing the air conditioner load would have to help.

R0bert