The Greening of Gavin | Sustainable Living in the Suburbs

Yes, dear reader, the time has come.  Everything in life has a beginning and an ending, and I believe that it’s time to wrap up The Greening of Gavin blog and podcast.  All good things come to an end (to quote a very famous Star Trek series)!

All Good Things…

With no major greening projects on the horizon or further lifestyle enhancements planned, I’ve essentially run out of things to say, which after 1,870 posts and 132 podcast episodes is quite understandable.

I’m officially passing the baton to a younger generation of bloggers and influencers who may have better luck convincing the masses further to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

I know that I’ve played my part in the rebirth of the simple living revolution judging from the amount of feedback and emails I receive every day, so I feel very proud of that accomplishment.  I, like you, can make a big difference in the world.

What have we achieved?

During the journey, we’ve retrofitted the house with many green features, renovated the gardens into an organic food farm, and transformed the way we think and live.  All that, as well as starting a green business teaching others some simple living skills.

When I reflect back to that crazy day when my whole world was turned upside-down, I would never in a million years have thought that the blog would have come this far and how it would eventually have impacted our lifestyle for the better.

And to you, the reader.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting and following my family’s journey and antics since February 2008 when I penned the very first post.  It’s been a wild ride, sometimes controversial, but always interesting and fun.

So where to from here?

Well, the blog posts and podcast episodes will remain online until either the internet is destroyed or peak oil begins to impact us all.  Just joking, it will still be here as a valuable resource for as long as there are bits and bytes.  Check out my archive for all the posts.

Also, I will still have a strong online presence as I will be maintaining the associated Facebook page and YouTube channel for The Greening of Gavin.  If anything exciting happens around here then that is where I will be posting this type of update.

Additionally, the YouTube channel, CheeseMan.tv, will continue to release a weekly cheese making video, as well as my cheese making blog and associated podcast at Little Green Cheese.

To cap it all off, our home business, Little Green Workshops, is still growing strongly and will more than compensate for any time I gain from ending the blog and the podcast.  We are still running cheese, soap, soy candle, and bath soak & scrub workshops each school term if anyone wants to learn these dying skills.  You can find all the details of these courses on our workshops calendar.

Adieu

So dear reader, this is it.  Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the support, and I hope to see you on my other blogs and YouTube channels in the very near future.

Goodbye, my friends and keep on striving for a more sustainable world.

Is your place a house or a home?  Kim and I have some thoughts on the subject in today’s podcast episode.

Welcome back. Sorry for the hiatus, but we’ve been working and launched a big project  over the last 3 months, which we’ll talk about in next week’s episode.

Today we are going to be talking about why we think our house is a home and what the difference is between the two.  And answer the question on whether being happy at home has something to do with a reduced need for getting away on holidays each year.

There may be some background noise, as we are travelling in our Honda Civic Hybrid car from Ballarat to our home in Melton. We think the conversation is fun all the same.

Until next week, have a great week of sustainable living!

Chime in with your thoughts about what makes a house a home.  We would love to read your thoughts via comment.

Yay!  It’s our Christmas Special 2015 podcast episode.  Whether you celebrate or not, please take the time to join us recapping the events of 2015 and sharing not one, but two songs during the episode!

It’s been a very busy year now that Kim and I are teaching sustainable living courses most weekends during the year, but not too busy to miss out recording our Christmas Special episode that I know you will enjoy.

We would both like to thank you for reading the blog, listening to the podcast, and for those who live in Australia and New Zealand, for visiting our online shop or attending our workshops.

We’ve both had a fantastic time, and looking forward to bringing you more of our sustainable living journey in 2016!

See you in the new year!

Kim came up with a brilliant theme for this episode that will get you all fired up to start making budget gifts to give during the Christmas season.  We all know that this time of year can be expensive if others expectations are high, so cut your costs by making your own personalised gifts.

We talk about some of the great homemade presents that friends have given over the years.  It was because they were homemade that we remember them many years later, unlike all the crap that we used to buy and be littered under the Christmas Tree before our sustainable living journey began.

Thoughtful, simple, yet memorable gifts, made with love.  Who would want for anything nicer?

We also mention that the show will be more regular and that we are already planning our Christmas Special.  If anyone has any duet suggestions for our song, then send them in via email, the more the merrier.

Whatever the song is, it will be fun to produce.  It will be our budget gift to you!

Downshift (ˈdaʊnʃɪft) verb – change a financially rewarding but stressful career or lifestyle for a less pressured and less highly paid but more fulfilling one.

Yes folks, after another sorrowful wakeup call, I have decided to downshift another work day.  Life is just too short, and I have so much more to give.

Have a listen to the show to understand the circumstances behind reducing my hours at work, but ramping them up here at home.  If I’ve learnt anything on this green journey it’s that happiness is not just around the corner; you have to make it happen yourself!  So that’s what I did.

Next week I am hoping that Kim will join me for a Q&A.

If you have a question that you would like either Kim or I to answer on the podcast, leave us a voicemail via the SpeakPipe widget below.  Just remember to play the recording back to yourself before sending it to ensure that we will be able to hear your question.

Looking forward to hearing from you!  Remember, the more questions, the longer the episode.

Here’s to downshifting again.

Some major events around the place this week so this week’s episode is a bit of a round-up.

We had to remove the greenhouse due to catastrophic failure of the polycarbonate sheeting.  Its being replaced with a storage shed for soap making supplies for Little Green Workshops.  I will make some trellis against the new shed to espalier a couple of dwarf fruit trees, so all is not lost.

We just past 30 megawatt hours of electricity generated by our 2.8kw solar PV system!

Solar hot water has been free this month and will be until late March

Our garden got scorched from 4 days over 30°C.  In fact we had a day of 37°C which turned all our apple blossom brown.  I think we may lose the entire crop.

Next Wednesday we join get the National Broadband Network hooked up to the house and will be able to provide more video content.  Currently on our ADSL2+ connection, it takes me 5 hours to upload a 20 minute YouTube video.  Think of all the extra time I will have to produce more video content instead of waiting for uploads!

Oh, and lastly, check out the “My Videos” menu item on the blog.  You will find a gallery of selected sustainable living videos that I’ve uploaded over the years, including my four national television appearances!

If you have a question that you would like either Kim or I to answer on the podcast, leave us a voicemail via the SpeakPipe widget below.  Just remember to play the recording back to yourself before sending it to ensure that we will be able to hear your question.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Today is International Podcast Day so in the spirit of the day, Kim and I co-hosted an episode about something that we are quite proud of.  Proud of not keeping up with the Jones’s, especially when it comes to our home, furnishings, and garden.  Not anti consumers, but conscious consumers leaning towards home producers.

Join us as we chat about how we are not keeping up with the Jones’s in all the things we do.

From our humble beginnings living in a Navy married quarters, to choosing an affordable home, and then living within our means (after our little crazy consumer phase).  We talk through it all, and how we are not influenced by others and avoid the rat race.

Don’t forget that you can subscribe to the show using the buttons above via your favourite podcatcher app on your chosen mobile device, and if you have the time we would love to hear what you think of the show via an iTunes review and rating.  It’s as easy as pie and Kim gets very excited when we get a review!

Today I had a revelation.  I realised that if Kim hadn’t gone along with me at the beginning of my green epiphany, we wouldn’t have started our sustainable living journey nor started our small green business, Little Green Workshops!

And you know what?  I gave her a big hug, a loving kiss, and thanked her from the bottom of my heart.  I love what we do and am glad we are both excited about where this journey is taking us.

During this episode we talk about why we are passionate about Little Green Workshops with our friend Emma Sutcliffe, and also discuss how we believe we are converting consumers into home producers one simple living kit at a time.

You know, it wasn’t until I’d listened to this episode a few times that it clicked. It dawned on me that this is exactly what we have been doing over the last couple of years.

We’re changing people’s behaviours from consumers of goods, to that of producers of goods in a more sustainable way with far less waste.

That can only be a good thing for the planet, right?

Don’t forget that you can subscribe to the show using the buttons above, and if you have the time we would love to hear what you think of the show via an iTunes review and rating.

If you have a passion about green living too, don’t forget to head on over to Little Green Workshops and check out what we talked about during the episode!

You might just find something that turns you into a home producer as well.

This show is all about the 22 things you should start adding to your compost bin.

If you don’t have a compost bin, I highly recommend you source one, because there are many used household items that you can add to it that gives back nutrients to your garden!

From hair to cotton balls, there are so many unusual things that compost bins love to break down for you so that you can share these often wasted nutrients into your garden.  Your fruit and veggies will thank you for it!

Don’t forget that this podcast is supported financially by you, the listener.  This not only keeps the show (and blog) advertisement free, but keeps us on the air each week.

If you would like to support the show and pledge as little as US$1 to keep us up and running, please pop over to www.patreon.com/greeningofgavin/ and pledge away!

Also if you like the show, use the iTunes button and leave a rating and a review.  We love to hear what our listeners think about our show.

Until next episode, keep it green and divert some of that landfill into compost today!

Today I am inviting you into our dining room or inner sanctum if you like, for a candid lunch-time chat with me, Kim, and Emma Sutcliffe.   There’s nothing quite like having lunch with like minded-people and chatting about sustainable living.

Not much more to say about this episode except to pour yourself a cuppa, grab a homemade scone and enjoy this weeks show.

Also if you like the show, use the iTunes button under the player and leave a rating and a review.  We love to hear what our listeners think about our show.  Alternatively, you can leave feedback via comment if you don’t have an iTunes account.

Until next episode, keep it green!