Green Action of the Month
How sustainable is your home?
Sure we recycle and save water where we can, but how does your house stack up across the board? Are you a sustainability champ or could you use a little help.
The quick and easy sustainability assessment
If you want to keep life simple, try Environment Victoria’s own DIY sustainability audit. The Quick Guide to Sustainable Living will take you around your home, room by room, and ask you questions to show you where you’re doing well, and where you could be doing better. It’s full of easy suggestions which will make a big difference to your home’s impact on the planet.
Click here to download the Quick Guide to Sustainable Living
Especially for renters
If you’re a renter, then the Victorian Green Renters’ Guide is an excellent way to find out how sustainable your home is, and has a truck load of suggestions for what you can do which will keep you in your landlord’s good books.
Click here to download the Victorian Green Renters’ Guide
The government will audit your house for free! (and even give you a loan)
If you would like a thorough audit of your home, then the federal government’s Green Loans Program is a great way to get one. And they’re also free! All kinds of people, including renters, are eligible, and after a qualified assessor has been through your home they will give you a report which suggests the most effective changes you could make. You can then fund these changes through a Green Loan, which is an interest free loan of up to $10,000 for up to four years.
Which means you can pay off your solar hot water system while you’re saving money by getting hot water from the sun.
Sweet!
Give me the details
But wait there's more
Between the audit information and our ACT pages, you should have plenty ideas on how to make your home and your lifestyle green.
You might also want to look at our information on rebates, which will help make going green affordable.
Get yourself a rebate
Some of the big things you can do to make your home more sustainable, like getting solar hot water, can be pricey. Fortunately, there’s a whole swag of government rebates available to make things like this cheaper. Here’s our quick guide to which rebates are available from where. All rebates involve fine print, so make sure you go through the details thoroughly before going ahead. And if you are a renter, don’t despair! All of these rebates are available to both renters and home owners (although it is often the owner who has to put in the application).
Insulation
Rebate amount: $1000 – 1600 from the federal government.
Cost without rebate: $1000 - 2000
More information
Solar hot water replacing electric storage hot water
Rebate amount: $1600 plus Renewable Energy Certificates and Victorian Energy Efficiency Certificates from federal goverment.
Cost without rebate: $2,000 - 5,000
More information
Solar hot water replacing gas
Rebate amount: $300 - 2350 plus Renewable Energy Certificates and Victorian Energy Efficiency Certificates from the Victorian Goverment.
Cost without rebate: $2800 - 10,300
More information
Gas hot water replacing a peak electric water heater or a water heater fuelled by wood
Rebate amount: $300 - 700 from the Victorian Goverment.
Cost without rebate: $800 - $1400
More information
Rain water tank
Rebate amount: $400 - 500 from the federal goverment AND $150 - 1000 from the Victorian Goverment
Cost without rebate: $400 - 750+ for tank, plus installation.
Information and more Information
Grey water system
Rebate amount: $500 from the federal government AND $500 from the Victorian Government.
Cost without rebate: $10,000
Information and more Information
Hot water re-circulator
Rebate amount: $150 from Victorian Government.
Cost without rebate: $400 - 600
More information
Dual flush toilet
Rebate amount: $50 from Victorian Goverment.
Cost without rebate: $600 - 900
More information
Basket of water saving goods
e.g. mulch, shower timers, drip watering systems
Rebate amount: $30 when you spend $100 from the Victorian Goverment.
Cost without rebate: $100
More information
And don't stop there. Did you take the Green Action of the Month? What did you find out? What tips and ideas do you have for others...
Tell us about it in the comments section!
