Expanding Ripples – EcoFootprint
  • March 15, 2013
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Expanding Ripples – EcoFootprint

The social and environmental issues we are facing these days can feel incredibly overwhelming, big and unchangeable, despite our continued work to affect positive change in our own lives.  This feature highlights individuals and organizations who are working for positive change…taking small (and large) steps to create positive change for our environment and in our communities. I firmly believe that passion and action are priceless and that one person can inspire countless others…just like the expanding ripples in a pond are caused by a single disturbance.

I am incredibly pleased to introduce Dani from Eco Footprint ~ South Africa and hope her story will inspire you as much as it has inspired me!!!
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Tell us a little about your journey to your homestead…

A few years ago RMan, my husband, decided that the pension policies he had been sold years before were not performing as promised / expected.  Being fed up with the insurance companies getting richer, and their head offices getting larnier, he decided to cancel the policies and purchase land instead.  As an investment.  A risky move, some might think, as we were not that far off retirement age.  But we embraced it wholeheartedly.

What inspired you to begin this journey?

After traveling many miles we finally found a piece of land we could afford – a smallholding close enough to town to visit now and then, but far enough away to remain unspoilt by urban sprawl.

We found that we wanted to visit our “spot” in order to plant trees, but the prohibitive costs of B&B’s was limiting our visits, and wasting our available money.  So we bought a 2nd hand caravan that helped for a while, but it turned out to be too cold in winter (we recorded 0oC inside on a number of mornings) and too hot in summer.  And too small to house the two of us, our son, and our daughter and grandson at one time.   🙂

So we decided to build something small.  And, as we were starting from the bottom up – a NEW beginning – I convinced RMan to follow my dream – to build something which would encourage a simpler way of life – and an off grid lifestyle – a lifestyle which would reduce our eco-footprint as much as possible and make a more positive contribution to this planet.  Our grandson was one of my main motivations – I wanted him to experience a more down to earth lifestyle from an early age, and one which was not dependent on the latest (unnecessary) electronic gadgets, and “must have” modern conveniences – that walking a more gentle path on this planet didn’t have to mean drastic changes to his lifestyle.  For how could he choose his future path if he had no comparisons?

And in our build we aimed to use whatever unwanted items that we could glean through Freecycle and through recycling items we already had. And we were determined that double glazing (almost unheard of in this country) LED lights and solar power would provide for all our comfort and needs.  We managed to source locally made clay bricks and floor tiles (which reduced their transport footprint), and used a high lime render on the inside and outside walls – lime render absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – which have been coated with the lowest VoC (volatile organic compounds) paint available in this country.

Water catchment system

What do you love about where you are at now?

We have been fortunate in that we have reduced our expenses and our dependence on state provided services – the only thing we cannot do without is the mains water.  However, I have discovered that the transition from a “hi-tech” lifestyle to the one we are currently living is worth so much more than I can put into words.  Taking the time to use 99% manual implements (kitchen aids, good old-fashioned broom and mop, using elbow / arm power to kneed bread, etc), allowing the sun to provide for our needs, allows one the space to focus more on the job at hand and to stop trying to be superwoman. 

I have investigated, and learnt, a diverse amount of knowledge.  Such as eco-friendly methods of house construction, septic tank care, grey water reed beds, cooking on a wood stove using alien wood which provides employment for the locals, etc. etc.  Things that I would never have done if I had remained ensconced in my comfortable ‘town’ house with all it’s mod-cons.

And successfully growing our vegetables.  And fruit.  It provides the most incredible ‘high’ to be able to go outside and pick fresh what you are going to consume that night.  Fresh food doesn’t get better than that 🙂


Is there anything you would change about it all?

Not a single thing 🙂  Oh, actually, there is one.  I would’ve insisted that RMan buy all the recycled resin roof tiles that we would need for phase 1 and 2 of our build, so that we didn’t have to compromise and use clay ones on phase 2 as the resin tile company had gone bust.  (Resin Roof tiles are made up of recycled car bumpers (fenders), computer monitors, etc which are mixed together with sand and resin).



What new skills have you learned through your experiences and how have you applied them to other aspects of your life?

I had made a simple solar oven out of an old cooler box years ago.  As we now only have a two-plate LPG stove (from the caravan) for our summer cooking I splashed out and purchased a “pukker” one – my SunCook solar oven.  I have been amazed to discover that there is almost nothing that cannot be cooked in a solar oven.

I was initially hesitant to use the oven to it’s full potential, as it came with only limited instructions.  In order to try and dispel the fear surrounding solar cooking, and to encourage others to ‘take the plunge’, I experimented, and ended up writing what has turned out to be a very popular “Introduction to solar cooking” (which can be downloaded for free), which then led on to my writing an equally popular solar recipe book, “Free from the Sun“. 


My greatest dream is to successfully encourage as many other people as I can to adopt and use a solar oven for at least 80% of their cooking requirements.  After all, the sun is free, why not use it whenever possible and your weather permits, and through doing so help reduce the expulsion of unnecessary CO² into the atmosphere – at the same time you will be saving your hard earned cash for other necessary purchases / emergencies in the future or to put towards your rainy day fund…?  To that end I approached the SunCook manufacturers in Portugal and obtained the selling rights for South Africa.  I am selling them as cheaply as possible, in order to make them as affordable to the masses as I can.  If you’re going to talk the talk, then surely you should walk the walk 🙂

What have been your greatest challenges on your journey?

Adapting from having electricity on tap for 58 years of our lives, to being aware of how much power we have generated through our solar panels each day, and limiting our usage, if, and when, necessary.  With that said, it has been wonderful to discover how much we “wasted” in our old lifestyle – how much we took for granted, and how much power we actually need to live a very comfortable life.  Limiting oneself to using the majority of our power on those sunny days, and re-connecting with others through just talking, playing card / board games or reading / hobby work, when the power needs saving.  For instance, my blogging habits have changed – I’m not online (working and blogging) for 8 – 10 hours every day – I can only do that when we have enough power stored.  Yes, that does limit my frequency of posting, and interaction on others blogs, but that’s part and parcel of growing in awareness –  of the demands we put on ourselves, our demand from this planets resources, and the presumption with which we lived our ‘town’ lives.


Getting to know each other, and people, again – as opposed to allowing technology to provide for our “entertainment”.

What can people do on a daily basis to affect change in the world around them?

If you have a passion for something – follow that passion – and share that passion.  There is no greater way to encourage and inspire others than to care enough to share through your own experience.

Is there anything else you’d like people to know?

Do not be afraid to affect a meaningful change in your lives – you are never too old to adapt – RMan and I are currently proving it 🙂  When one removes the shackles of modern life as much as possible, there is a peace which enters one.  No amount of money, nor the most valuable possessions can produce that feeling.

And, insofar as our grandson, MKid is concerned, his mother and father are so impressed by what we have achieved that they have purchased their own smallholding near us, so that they too, can simplify all their lives…  There is no greater compliment than that 🙂


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Do you know of an individual, small business or small organization that you think deserves to be featured for the change they are affecting on the world around them?  Would you like to be featured?  If so, please email me at trinityvision3(at)gmail(dot)com or comment below with any ideas or suggestions! 

xoxo,
M
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Written by Melissa @ Ever Growing Farm