On Monday 4 May 20266 we celebrated 30 years of the house being off-grid with Bob Carr, who launched the house in 1996 when he was Premier of NSW, and a few neighbours and others who shared the journey - thank you all, thank you Earth.
30 years off grid in the city
In 1996, three decades ago this year, I disconnected my city house from town water, town sewer, town stormwater and installed solar panels.
Perhaps the first in a city. But being ‘first’ had nothing to do with it, except that made it harder to get approvals, get my sketches turned into drawings (designers, architects, engineers wanted nothing to do with it). I did it for two reasons; one, in a child-like way because everyone said, “You can’t do that”, so I appreciate the spur to action they gave me. And, because I was tired of my inner voice saying you’re polluting the ocean, harbour and air and knew that only by taking action could I free myself from that lack of integrity in myself.
