We do our homework

The sharing of information is one of the main reasons that this blog exists.

Making a sustainable seachange is a multi-faceted endeavour which may involve:

moving far away; adopting new ways of living; understanding new technologies;

building a house; learning new skills; making lifestyle changes; growing food; etc.

Almost certainly, all of these things demand that you acquire knowledge which you previously did not possess.

This blog will guide you to many of the sources of the knowledge you need.

What makes us fit for the task is that your hosts, The Woman and I are information professionals. We are experienced librarians, trained and practiced in the art of Finding Out.

And as we are finding out, you have to do your homework.

Because many of the people you would expect to have the answers to your questions simply don't know.

Others think they know but they don't. And everyone has an opinion, an agenda or an ulterior motive.

Make sure your decisions are informed decisions.

A few words on shades of Green.

Isn't it ironic Alanis, how Green politics used to be the domain of left-wing, tree-hugging environmentalists?

Now, Green is mainstream. No longer do you have to seek out the alternative lifestyle press! The cover story of the 6 December 2008 issue of New Scientist magazine. is "Go off grid...how to be totally self sufficient"
(Of course there is not much New about the Science involved. Passive solar design principles were used by the ancients!)

These days it is fashionabe to be Green to the point where the capitalist ideology, (Responsible for the pollution which is largely causing climate change) is now profiting from the sale of everything supposedly environmentally friendly.

But you dont need to live in a mud brick hut and be a card-carrying member of Greenpeace to appreciate the benefits of making a Sustainable Seachange.

As much as we admire those who are, The Woman and I don't see ourselves as latter day hippies or out and out Greenies.

Sure, we want to reduce our carbon footprint. We want to consume less. We want to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Grow our own organic food. Get our electricity free from the sun and our water free from the rain which falls on our roof.

Why? Because it all makes sense.

Sure it costs more in the beginning, but it reduces your ongoing costs so that as a retiree, (Whether as a self-funded retiree or on a government pension), you will have more disposable income.

For life's little luxuries!

Why blog about it?

The Woman and I intend to make a sustainable seachange by:

a) Leaving the city behind for a quieter life.

b) Building a more sustainable, greener home and lifestyle by using free natural resources to reduce our carbon footprint and our living expenses.

We know a lot of people have already done what we are planning to do.
Others are part of the way through the change and for still others, its only a dream.

It is our intention that this blog will document our experiences from the decision to make the change right through to when the house is built and we are eating produce from our own garden.

Blogging about every aspect of the change will give us a record of our experiences which we hope may be theraputic for us and beneficial to others.

If you come across our blog by accident or design we hope you will share your experiences or ask your questions so that other visitors can have have the benefit of our shared wisdom.

So read on. And come back often.

The plan is...

A couple of baby boomers will leave the big city of Sydney and move north to a coastal location where the climate is sub-tropical and the sea is in view.

The plan is to built a passive-solar environmentally friendly house on a rural-residential block of land big enough to support a permaculture garden and some fruit trees.

On-going living costs are to be minimised through the use of grid-feed solar electricity, solar hot water, growing our own vegetables and fruit and having a supply of fresh eggs from our own chickens.

We will collect and store our own rain water so no water bills for us.
No to sewerage also means no bills for a sewerage service either.

The objective is to create a comfortable and affordable lifestyle where we can enjoy middle age and beyond.

Sustainable Seachange explained.

So what do we mean by a Sustainable Seachange? Wikipedia says,

"Sustainable living refers to a specific lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual's or society's use of the Earth's natural resources. Practitioners of sustainable living often attempt to reduce their carbon footprints by altering methods of transportation, energy consumption and diet."

One definition of Seachange is an "Australian demographic phenomenon." "A seachange (or sea change) is an abandonment of city living in favour of a perceived 'easier life' in rural coastal communities. The term derives from the popular ABC TV television series SeaChange, which triggered the phenomenon of many city-dwellers mimicking the drama's protagonist's escape from urban life. "

And for our purposes, these definitions will suffice. Thank you Wikipedia