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Australia
I ran away from teaching to the country to grow veggies. There are also some chooks and a pair of troublesome goats who were so much trouble they had to go! My simple green life isn't always as simple or as green as I'd like...but I keep trying!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Walking the Walk

I have taken the bull by the horns, taken the plunge, coughed it up, and forked it out.  


I have bitten the bullet and signed up for solar panels for the roof.



You may think I am a fool and that a fool and her money are soon parted or that I am spending money like a man with no hands.  It isn't as if I have money to burn or that the money I have is burning a hole in my pocket. 



It isn't about the money at all it is about the planet. 

I have been waxing lyrical for some time, talking the talk, been on my soapbox, lecturing about living sustainably ... so much so that I began to feel like I was fiddling while Rome burned. This is one little black duck that wants to stop living beyond her means.

Electricity in Victoria is generated by burning brown coal...which is filthy stuff.  It is so easy to turn on a switch, a long way from those generators, and ignore the consequences.  I think it is time for me to have the courage of my convictions and step up to the line to be counted.  So I have put my money where my mouth is.

Now all I need to complete this picture on the brochure is the handsome man with the two kids. 





9 comments:

  1. I dont think you are silly at all...I think we all should have them, we live in Australia for petes sake....so much sun...
    when we extend our home, we hope to put them on as well...our neighbours have a roof full of them...and hope to have no power bill in coming years, and actually get paid for power they make that goes back into the grid...makes huge sense to me...
    I say, handsome man or not, it was a worthwhile decision...

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  2. Well done Hazel. If they don't pay for themselves fast enough in monetary terms at least you can give yourself a pat on the back for contributing to a greener planet. Just curious how is you water heated at the moment? Solar geyser, heat pump or just a normal electric hot water cylinder?

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  3. Hi hazels thank you for the comment you left on my blog Sean is a lovely dog and if your cherry is anything like him we are both lucky people he really is part of our family. We also have a lot of sunshine here and we have a solar powered water heater which I love the water lasts all day and it has already paid for itself big time. One day I would love to have those power cells but first we have to finish the house. Bye for now ps love reading your blog

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  4. Well done, Hazel. I hope that many others will follow your example. If only our Governments would make it mandatory for all new houses to be built with solar panels fitted from Day 1, we would all be in a better position before long. Even with the relatively low light levels we get here in the UK, solar power is still viable in most cases.

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  5. Congratulations Hazel! I am looking forward to hearing about your experience with your solar panels. As you know I have solar hot water and not only is it environmentally friendly it saves us money and we never run out of hot water.
    Even on a very cold grey day in Melbourne our solar cylinders are at work and very little gas is used to boost the temperature of the heated water.
    Caesar

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  6. I'm impressed with your installation of solar panels! Despite the fact that Japan has the latest technology in solar panels, less people have installed them yet due to cost-efficiency. I strongly hope larger mass production will lower the price.

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  7. Good on you. It's also something we have been looking into. We have solar hot water but during the flood when we had no electricity we found out it needs power to pump the water up to the roof. I would like to know what you think of it.

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  8. I admire your decision Hazel, I'd love to get solar panels at some point in the future.

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  9. Lucky you, I have been trying to talk my hubby into getting it but to no avail, he doesn't think at our age we would recoup the cost. I keep telling him it is not about the cost but the planet. oh well just have to keep trying.

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