Get A Free Water Saving Kit …

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but only if you are in Victoria, Australia.

I was pretty excited when I first saw this offer, but then bummed out after seeing that it is only available for people in Victoria. The free water saving kit includes:

  • 4 Minute Shower Timer
  • Water Saving Books
  • Water Saving Tips
  • Information on How to Receive a Free Water Saving Showerhead

We have actually been looking for a while for a good shower timer, and the other three things would prove useful as well I’m sure (although we are about to sell a spare water saving showerhead in a garage sale in a few weeks).

If you are interested in the free water saving kit, and you live in Victoria, then check it out here.

Source: Australian Freebies

Townsville Homes Going Solar

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Looks like this year about 600 homes in Townsville will be going to solar power in an Australian wide test to “demonstrate how solar power, smart meters, energy efficiency and new approaches to electricity pricing could combine to provide a sustainable energy future.”

When I first read this my first thought was “Where do I sign up?”, but we would not be eligible. The government has decided that the homes being selected for the test would be located on Magnetic Island, just off the coast of Townsville.

The idea to use Magnetic Island as a test bed makes a lot of sense. They are isolated and a small community that is already using solar power in a big way with solar hot water. Although Townsville has only about 5% of homes using solar hot water systems, Magnetic Island has significantly more homes on a solar hot water system. This is because most of Magnetic Island residents are long term residence, where as Townsville is known for it’s “transient population”. The savings found in using solar usually comes in about the 5th year of ownership, so it is a long term investment.

During the seven year period of the “Solar City Project” they reckon greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by 50,000 tonnes, which is the same as pulling 1700 cars off the road.

Not a bad return for putting a few solar panels on your roof …

Source: Townsville homes goes solar | Townsville Bulletin News

Free Star Wars Audio Book – Listening while Painting

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Alright, I’ll admit it, I’m a nerd and a fan of Star Wars…

This week I found a free Star Wars audio book that I have been listening to while painting the ceilings under our house. I’ve actually found it to be really good to listen to an audio book while painting.

You can download the free audio book here. It’s “Star Wars – Legacy of the Force – Betrayal“, which is supposed to take place after “Return of the Jedi”. You can get Star Wars – Legacy of the Force – Betrayal for free, but then if you want any of the follow up books you need to purchase the written or the audio versions of them

Although I am a fan of Star Wars I have yet to see the second or third of the new movies. My wife can’t stand sci-fi, so I haven’t seen them yet, don’t know when I will.

What do you do when painting? Do you have a favourite thing to listen to (music, podcasts, audio books, etc.) while painting?

Let us know below…

Finally finished the Painting Undercoat

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Well, it only took me three weeks, but I finally completed the paint undercoat for under our house. In the words of our builder “It’s a real s#*t job!”.

When I took time of work to paint it took me about 4-days of full time work preparing before I could even start painting. This involved a lot of putty, no-more-gap (calking), scraping and sanding. It felt like every door had nearly 100 holes to putty, scrape and sand.

Now that the undercoat is finally finished I’ll be working on the ceiling paint first. It’ll be a basic flat white ceiling paint, which I hope I can get done within the next two weeks of evening painting.