Seven Hills resident Mike Haydon was considering packing his bags and moving to the country in search of a cleaner, healthier life for his family.
But then he realised "big changes need to start in the cities" and opted for transforming his house to allow a sustainable lifestyle.
That was two years ago. Since then he has reduced his quarterly electricity bill from $700 to $180, decreasing energy consumption from 30 kilowatts hours a day to 12 kilowatt hours.
"The cost of living in Sydney is out of control and personally I wanted to be in control of all of my expenses," Mr Haydon said.
"Reducing our energy load is the best thing we can do for the environment and most changes can be done for free."
Mr Haydon, who runs human communications workshops around Australia, started by switching to energy-efficient lights and unplugging equipment on standby such as printers and DVD players.
"Also consider installing a water tank and starting a garden. Growing your own food is the No 1 thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint," he said.
"The key to being self-reliant is understanding what you need to produce.
"The majority of houses are built without future running costs in mind but existing homes can be retrofitted for minimal cost, but planning is the key."
Mr Haydon said he wanted to do something to help change people's lives for the better and stumbled across permaculture.
"My passion is to educate people on permaculture and living a sustainable life being self responsible for the lifestyle you choose," he said.
He teaches sustainable-living practices for local councils, schools and community groups and opens the family home for tours to the public.
Visit yabba.com.au to read his personal experience and extensive information on how he achieved "off-the-grid living".
Free tour: Mr Haydon will run the first tour of his house on Australia Day, 10am-4pm. He wants to teach others how to make their own house sustainable. He is giving free entry to all our readers (usually $40).
Click here to register and use the code BTSUN for the free tickets.
