The Greening of Gavin | Sustainable Living in the Suburbs

Yes, dear reader, the time has come.  Everything in life has a beginning and an ending, and I believe that it's time to wrap up The Greening of Gavin blog and podcast.  All good things come to an end (to quote a very famous Star Trek series)! All Good Things… With no major greening projects  [Continue Reading …] The post All Good Things Come to an End appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Is your place a house or a home?  Kim and I have some thoughts on the subject in today's podcast episode. Welcome back. Sorry for the hiatus, but we've been working and launched a big project  over the last 3 months, which we'll talk about in next week's episode. Today we are going to be talking  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 132 – A House or a Home appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Yay!  It's our Christmas Special 2015 podcast episode.  Whether you celebrate or not, please take the time to join us recapping the events of 2015 and sharing not one, but two songs during the episode! It's been a very busy year now that Kim and I are teaching sustainable living courses most weekends during the  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 131 – Christmas Special 2015 appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Kim came up with a brilliant theme for this episode that will get you all fired up to start making budget gifts to give during the Christmas season.  We all know that this time of year can be expensive if others expectations are high, so cut your costs by making your own personalised gifts. We  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 130 – Budget Gifts appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Downshift (ˈdaʊnʃɪft) verb – change a financially rewarding but stressful career or lifestyle for a less pressured and less highly paid but more fulfilling one. Yes folks, after another sorrowful wakeup call, I have decided to downshift another work day.  Life is just too short, and I have so much more to give. Have a listen to the show  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 129 – Downshifting Again appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Some major events around the place this week so this week's episode is a bit of a round-up. We had to remove the greenhouse due to catastrophic failure of the polycarbonate sheeting.  Its being replaced with a storage shed for soap making supplies for Little Green Workshops.  I will make some trellis against the new  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 128 – Major Events Around the Yard appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Today is International Podcast Day so in the spirit of the day, Kim and I co-hosted an episode about something that we are quite proud of.  Proud of not keeping up with the Jones's, especially when it comes to our home, furnishings, and garden.  Not anti consumers, but conscious consumers leaning towards home producers. Join  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 127 – Not Keeping Up With the Jones's appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Today I had a revelation.  I realised that if Kim hadn't gone along with me at the beginning of my green epiphany, we wouldn't have started our sustainable living journey nor started our small green business, Little Green Workshops! And you know what?  I gave her a big hug, a loving kiss, and thanked her from the  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 126 – Why We're Passionate about Little Green Workshops appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

This show is all about the 22 things you should start adding to your compost bin. If you don't have a compost bin, I highly recommend you source one, because there are many used household items that you can add to it that gives back nutrients to your garden! From hair to cotton balls, there  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 125 – 22 Things You Should Start Adding to Your Compost Bin appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Today I am inviting you into our dining room or inner sanctum if you like, for a candid lunch-time chat with me, Kim, and Emma Sutcliffe.   There's nothing quite like having lunch with like minded-people and chatting about sustainable living. Not much more to say about this episode except to pour yourself a cuppa,  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 124 – Sustainable Living with Emma Sutcliffe appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Recently, I was interviewed by Emma Sutcliffe about my small solar power system that I built myself.  You can read about it in this post titled To Grid or Go Off Grid. Why Not Do Both?  We conducted the interview just before a delicious lunch that Kim prepared, so you will hear her in the background of  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 123 – Solar Talk with Emma Sutcliffe appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

There are many ways to describe how many of us live, but one that resonates strongly with me is old-fashioned living.  Living in a simple and hard-working manner like our grandparents did to maintain a peaceful and joyous life.  Its the simple things that often bring the most joy in our lives. It kind of reflects the this weeks guest  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 122 – Old Fashioned Living with Michelle Snape appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

What can you do if your partner is resistant to your green lifestyle?  How do you convince them that it is in their best interest financially and good for the environment. Well today we explore the topic of influencing your partner with my special guest Amy Webber. We dive into various ways we have both  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 121 – Influencing Your Partner with Amy Webber appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Growing food in a small space is often challenging, but Sue St. Jean has taken on that challenge head on.  She ripped up her lawn in back and front of her 5000 ft² (464 m²) Rhode Island home, and began planting edibles to feed her family. She then became a URI Master Gardener and began  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 120 – Urban Gardening with Sue St Jean appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Have you ever wanted to measure how sustainable your home is?  I have often wondered if there was a means to do this beyond the basic environmental footprint. Well, it just so happens that Jennifer Richards has developed a method of measurement that she has called the Household Sustainability Index.  During this episode we discuss  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 119 – Household Sustainability Index with Jennifer Richards appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

All that plastic getting you down? Want to live a plastic free lifestyle?  Well I have a treat for you! On the show today I'm joined by Lindsay Miles who is the author of the popular blog Treading My Own Path. After watching the documentary Bag It, she made a fundamental change in her life  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 118 – Plastic Free Living with Lindsay Miles appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

I've often said that Debt equals Slavery in another form.  Given the current economic climate, I think that this episode is well-timed.   The stock market is trembling, Greece is on the ropes, and we have been warned of a housing bubble here in Australia.  It is now a good time to act. Getting out  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 117 – Getting Out of Debt appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Kim joins me on the show this week and during this episode we delve into what is working in our sustainable lifestyle and what is not. We cover such topics as non laying chickens and short showers on a cold morning, to going on holidays using Google Maps, loving homebrew beer, homemade cheese, and real food. As always,  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 116 – What's Working What's Not appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Bek Stiegler went pretty much went from the average consumer (supermarket shopping, buying stuff she didn't need, buying the cheapest and not caring where it came from etc) to growing pretty much all her own food (except meat and dairy), reusing and recycling, and being an extremely conscious consumer.  She lives in Melbourne on a 750m² suburban  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 115 – Bek's Backyard with Bek Stiegler appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

This week we catch up with Gürkan Yeniçeri, a fellow sustainable living practitioner who lives in Canberra, ACT.  For those of you who listen to the Little Green Cheese podcast, you would have heard his cheese making story during episode LGC 04. Gürkan and I talk about so many different sustainable living subjects during the show that  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 114 – Sustainable Living with Gürkan Yeniçeri appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Erin is the author of The Rogue Ginger a blog dedicated to sharing her plastic free and zero waste lifestyle. During this episode and via her blog she shares plastic free alternatives to shopping, cooking, makeup, fashion, cleaning and travel while trying to create zero waste. The journey began June 2013 when she watched a  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 113 – Plastic Free July with Erin Rhoads appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

In the studio this week I have a chat with my daughter Megan. This is her first time on the show, and we discuss in-depth on why and how she now lives a vegetarian lifestyle. It is amazing that she only embraced vegetarianism a year ago and it has changed her complete outlook on life.  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 112 – Megan goes Veggie appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Catching up with friends made via this community is always a treat.  Sarhn McArthur-Gumbley is one of those many friends that I have made over the years via this podcast and blog but never met. Sarhn's first visit to the show was way back in episode 014 where she was living in inner Sydney, well on her  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 111 – Sarhn McArthur-Gumbley Revisited appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Knowing where our meat comes from very important to Kim and me.  We want to ensure that any meat we consume has had the best possible life and has only one bad day.  Ethically raised and not factory farmed. Imagine my delight when I was contacted by Lucy who runs a free range farm in  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 110 – Lucy House: Dawson Valley Free Range appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

You've heard me talk many times about my sustainable living journey, but what about Kim? After all, she has been right by my side for the entire trip, so what does she really think about it so far, and how does she think she has changed along the way. It's an interesting question that we  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 109 – Kim's Journey appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Who loves their daily cup of coffee? I know that I do! But instead of brewing it up in you K-cup machine, or grabbing that takeaway in a styrofoam cup, think again. There are better and less harmful ways of having your morning cup of coffee. I'm taking about brewing, coffee cups, coffee grounds, and alternatives to  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 108 – Your Daily Coffee appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Influencing others is often so subtle that you don't realise that you are doing it! Whenever you talk about your sustainable lifestyle with passion, others pick up on that, and you may just get them thinking that they could also do that in their own lives. If anything, a sustainable lifestyle is infectious when you  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 107 – Influencing Others with Stories appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

This episode is essential listening for gardeners at all stages, from raw beginner through to the seasoned green thumb.  It has a little something for everyone, even if you don't currently have a garden, but are wondering what tools to buy or borrow before you start growing your own vegetables. I list and describe my  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 106 – The Top 8 Tools I Use When Gardening appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

I was recently interviewed by Randy Adams as part of his leadership studies at the University of Florida. Randy is a big fan of my other podcast Little Green Cheese and reached out for an interview. Of course I said yes and the rest is recorded history, and I answered in my own modest way.  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 105 – Randy Adams Interviews Gavin appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.

Budget cooking without waste is our theme this week.  We talk about all the ways we save money in the kitchen feeding our family.  Includes 101 things to do with Zucchini (just joking)! Also during the show we talked about using quality ingredients, growing and using herbs, growing your own veg, how to get your  [Continue Reading …] The post TGoG 104 – Budget Cooking without Waste appeared first on The Greening of Gavin.