After bushfires crept dangerously near their Wamboin property in 2020, Syd and Camille Goodman made a promise to change the best way they lived.
Confronted by the results of local weather change, they determined to radically scale back their carbon footprint.
“We kind of felt a bit helpless,” Syd mentioned.
“We knew the issue was local weather change and we thought, ‘properly, what sensible issues can we do to take management?'”
However Camille mentioned attempting to calculate an acceptable quantity of emissions they need to be producing really led them to attempt for a zero-carbon way of life.
“The extra we seemed into it we realised there is not any correct quantity,” she mentioned.
“We simply thought, ‘we’ve to shoot for zero, like as near zero as attainable’.”
Now, they have put in photo voltaic panels at their property and are primarily dwelling “off the grid”, due to an uncommon supply: recycled laptop computer batteries.
“[I] purchased outdated laptop computer batteries by the kilo … then it was a case of disassembling all of them, testing all of the batteries and eliminating all of the unhealthy cells,” he mentioned.
“Laptop computer batteries have perhaps six cells in them, you might need one failed cell however the remaining can be good, or typically they’re all good.”
Syd mentioned 800 laptop computer batteries now successfully acted as one giant battery unit for a rooftop photo voltaic system.
“[It’s] 44kWh, principally the identical as three Tesla Powerwalls,” he mentioned.
“It is positively not the best method to do it, however [it is] the most cost effective method to do it.”
The couple data their private carbon emissions every year however Syd mentioned the most important change in his private carbon footprint had come from swapping over to electrical autos.
“I’ve at all times been environmentally aware, however it’d by no means entered my head that there was an issue doing [long car trips] in any respect,” Syd mentioned.
In 2019, Syd mentioned his carbon emissions had been simply over 10 tonnes, with three-quarters of that from his autos alone.
“The following yr I might bought it right down to 4.78 tonnes and lowered the automobile emissions right down to 1.8 tonnes,” he mentioned.
“This yr I’ve bought it right down to 2.26 tonnes, and my automobile emissions are 0.85 tonnes.”
‘We have carried out all the simple bits’
Attempting to go carbon zero has created some challenges for the couple, particularly as they get nearer to their purpose.
Whereas they managed to scale back their carbon emissions considerably over the previous yr, they mentioned now they’d carried out the fundamental issues it will turn into more and more difficult to scale back their emissions additional.
“It is laborious as a result of we have carried out all the simple bits,” Camille mentioned.
“We have carried out the automobile, we’re on photo voltaic right here, all our home equipment are electrical. We do not fly anymore. We have minimize down lamb and beef and dairy.”
Camille additionally began a job in Wollongong, a number of hours’ drive from Wamboin, which meant the couple needed to rapidly improve their newly bought electrical autos for one with the vary to journey over the longer distance.
However she mentioned that total, making the pricey adjustments within the quick time period had improved their lives longer-term.
“None of this has made our high quality of life worse, we might say it is positively improved it,” she mentioned.
When requested if she had any suggestions for others hoping to chop their emissions, Camille mentioned an important factor was merely to goal for what was manageable.
“We’re doing all the pieces we are able to, and what everybody can do is completely different,” she mentioned.
“Simply do what you’ll be able to.”
