Living Off-Grid
Time and tides wait for no man so goes the adage. Paul Chambers has made living on top of the Australian Bush with his wife Sarah a sustainable living project since their apartment is made of two shipping containers. He has done several developments from that time to spice up our lives!
Reason Of Making The Developments
We are not a couple who will move out of our relationship soon. We are industrious and believe the model of the current economy is not sustainable. We do interact with others in exchange of knowledge and experiences that teach us how to build a sustainable home.
It has been an uphill task since money, time and effort. It feels good having stepped out of the Ferris wheel and living more lightly. Joy, happiness, and peace have followed suit. The things that did matter in life we did forget. It has been a thrilling experience to get back to our roots.
Making A Choice In The Awareness Of The Environment
As a result of living with nature is developing a sense of protection towards it. It came unexpectedly than any other times of life. The wildlife does share a home with us; this brings forth hours of surprise and relief. Our movement around the compound does not interrupt the Wallabies. They do graze around our house in a relaxed manner.
Being Joined By A Wallaby And Joy For Breakfast
When we woke this morning, Sarah did go to open the blinds covering our window. She did see a wallaby carrying a joey in her pouch. Slowly, we did open the blinds and watched the wallaby enjoy its breakfast. While lying in bed, I was able to film it; I later posted the footage on YouTube. We had never so close to the Wallaby hence we feel lucky. They have built trust with us to the point of coming that close.
Having Turned House To A Rainbow Our Container
Currently, we do have a beautiful stained glass in the shipping container. I’m certain that I am the first person to install the stained glass window, in a shipping container. At classes, Sarah did make a stained window glass. She did return home with a well-crafted 1.5m by 0.5m which we installed.
Later we discovered that it did add light emitted by the morning sun. Colours have also been able to add to our room, and they do dart around the walls and floors. During the evening hours, the 12V LED lighting is friendly and appealing to the eyes, which does light the bushland.
Rainwater Resembles Love; We Can Barely Live Without It
The rains did not fall as expected this winter hence we had a hard time. We did expect undisrupted rain that would make the grass greener and other pastures. The grass turned brown since due to its unavailability. Sarah even tried to make rain dances, but her efforts were fruitless.
We depend on rainfall for our drinking water; in this case, we collect it from the roof. Later we do store it in tanks. We do store around 20,000 litres which we use conservatively. Three months down the line with no rainfall, we were left with 500 litres. We were about to order chlorinated town water of 8000liters when the sky burst into rainfall.
We do drink water after filtering it through a Dolton pottery water filter. Large amounts of water are not used to shower, do laundry and kitchen. There is a wild bush saying from Australia that states; “a man’s wealth is measured by the water tanks.” The meaning of the saying is sinking deeply to my mind. I always explore ways of getting another water tank to safeguard our water supply.
Water can never be enough; we found out that the zinc alum does contaminate the water hence we consider filtering to have a sustainable life. We also do have a composting toilet in off-grid abode to reduce water.
Cozy And Temperate Electric Fireplace
Due to the pollution that comes in handy with using a wood log in the fireplace, we have improvised an electric fireplace. The bad fragrance that is emitted by the smoke does affect the environment by filling it with carbon monoxide, and we vowed to be eco-friendly hence the nature around us is safe as sound.
Solar Energy Our Reality Teacher
We have been able to use the electric power which comes from the solar in our daily lives. These do come with a lot of merits of saving money when it comes to paying electricity bills. We just convert the solar energy to electric energy and live a life off the grid.
Any electrical appliance used as long as the sun is shining. We do step up the solar energy with a 2KWS step-up generator. At the time of writing the best solar energy setup most solar companies installed was 1.5KWS that was ideal for many middle-class families.
No one needs to pay for electricity when solar is in plenty. Everyone can set up solar power, which we thought was hard but turned to be smoother than expected. These will also help in a conversation of the environment.
Human beings should care for the environment and avoid wasting resources in any way possible. The consequences of polluting the environment include degraded soils, reduction in fish and other water species, without leaving behind air pollution. If we do not protect the environment changes that bin the year 2030, we will require two planets to contain humanity is high.
Overwhelming Interest In Container Housing
I did document the vessel in two e-books available on my website, BuildShippingContainerHouse.com. I also did post videos on our YouTube channel which are accessible by everyone who is interested to gain the knowledge. Many people have shown interest in these e-books, and the global interest is overwhelming.
Relaxation With Meditation
One a personal point of view I have found out the joy in alone time to think about life. The Australian Bush has not disappointed in any way. In it, I have found a sustainable living. This information can be applied to other parts of the world.