The Courier-Mail
By: Graham Readfearn
Switching all their power to renewable electricity was more of a last resort than a first step for the carbon-friendly Cebuliak family.
"We cut our energy consumption to just about half of what it was,'' said 22-year-old Ben Cebuliak, of Mansfield. "Then, after we had saved as much as we could, we went over to 100 per cent renewable.''
The Cebuliaks have one of the state's lowest household carbon footprints, an achievement The Courier-Mail's One Degree Challenge campaign is helping to promote. On Monday we launched a search for five groups of Queenslanders -- four households and one small business -- to take on a challenge to cut their emissions. The Cebuliaks' move to a low-carbon lifestyle started after father Bryan, a 53-year-old GP, read leading Australian scientist Tim Flannery's climate change book The Weather Makers.
"I had been aware this was a problem before but that book and a couple of others I read really did crystalise it,'' he said. "This is an important survival issue for my children and maybe their children in the future.''
To lower their emissions from electricity, they installed a solar hot water system and replaced their washing machine and fridge with more energy-efficient versions. Then they switched their electricity supply to 100 per cent Government-accredited GreenPower from energy company Origin, which sources most of its renewable power from wind farms.
Ben, who is studying urban planning and transportation at Griffith University, said: "This is all about trying to maintain the quality of life that we enjoy today and saving ourselves from our own destruction.''
The Cebuliaks are among almost 160,000 Queensland households to get power from Government-accredited renewable resources. Latest figures show that Queensland homes and businesses using renewable energy are saving more than 250,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases a month.
Away from their home electricity, the Cebuliaks also generate emissions through their travel habits -- mainly through Bryan's annual flights to Canada to see relatives and his daily one-hour drive to and from work.
To compensate for those emissions, Mr Cebuliak has bought credits which go to investment in renewable energy projects.
What the Cebuliaks did
* Read IPCC and Australian Government reports to learn about climate change.
* Audited household carbon emissions using an online footprint calculator.
* Bought energy-efficient appliances and a solar hot water system.
* Started growing vegetables and bought chickens to cut their food miles.
* Offset their travel emissions through a renewable energy offset program.
* Switched all their remaining electricity use to renewable energy.