Building using natural, sustainable and local resources.
On the 18th of March we started our Biogas project. This project involves making a bio-digester which will turn manure into methane gas for cooking and other energy needs. Tom had to re-do some fencing and clear the site for the bio-digester. He calculated that with the amount of manure we are getting (around 30kg per day), we need a 5 cubic metre bio-digester, which will give us around 1 1/2 cubic metres of gas per day. Continue reading
For some years now we have been looking at minimising our energy consumption, and at alternative forms of energy creation in order to produce the energy we need. As we have animal systems in place here at PRI Sunshine Coast, we have a fair bit of manure on the property. As well as animal manure, we also have waterless (composting) toilets, so humanure is another resource on our property waiting to be used more efficiently than we currently are. After a lot of research over the past few years, Tom decided that a Biogas system would be the best way to go for us. Continue reading
Our road floods on both sides of our property.
Disaster is a word that strikes fear into most people. We usually believe disaster is out of our control. The actual happening of the disaster may be out of our control, but how we deal with it and how we come out the other end, is fully in our control. Last weekend we had a major rain event here, from an ex-tropical cyclone swooping through the region. Wind pushed trees over and there was major flooding in this and other areas. We were flooded in for 2 days. Continue reading
Our bathroom’s rock wall and newly laid rock floor
This past week Tom has been labouring hard, laying the rock floor in our rock walled bathroom. The bathroom has been a ongoing project now for at least 4 years. We were hoping to have it ready before our wedding 4 years ago, but that didn’t happen, and more urgent projects found themselves at the top of the list. Urgent projects like the bathrooms for the students, which pushed aside the need for our bathroom, hence we are still showering outside in a tent… Continue reading
