On a sleepy street in the heart of Brisbane’s New Farm stands a typical raised Queenslander housing a typical suburban family: the Vittones – mum, dad, three kids. At a glance, it looks no different from the homes flanking it, homes that have stood shoulder-to-shoulder for a hundred years.
Yet, look closer, and you’ll glimpse the twin 6000-litre rainwater tanks concealed in the back of the carport – the only clue from the street that this 16-perch block is a whisker away from being fully sustainable, and this family of five uses less water per day than the average couple.
In the Spring edition of Queensland Property & Lifestyle Baz McAlister reports on a New Farm family that is aiming to live life sustainably.
Stefano Vittone is an architect by profession, and his wife Fiona a former economist, now a naturopath. This, perhaps, gives the couple an unfair advantage over the average family when it comes to sustainable living, blending holistic, thrifty and practical approaches. They’re handing down this awareness of water and energy consumption to their three little girls aged 11, eight and four.
“They’re at that age where they’re okay sharing a bath together,” Mr Vittone says, “and if we create the awareness now of how we’re using water, when they start having their own baths and showers they’ll be conscious of how much they’re using.”
This family of five uses less water per day than the average couple. Mr Vittone comes from a working-class Italian Catholic migrant background and says he has instilled his parents’ and grandparents’ awareness of consumption and sense of self-sacrifice in his children.
“We’ve lived in New Farm, in this house, for 14 years,” Mr Vittone says. “Our intention was to open the house right up – I’m an architect but I like to get on the tools as well, so I opened it right up and raised it up, extended the downstairs. With this sort of lightweight house it’s quite an easy thing to do, and it used to be cheap, too.”
The Vittone’s rainwater tanks went in late 2006, after a four-month wait. They chose the largest ones possible for the available space beneath the house – two 6000 litre tanks.
“We need another 6000 litre tank to be fully sustainable, for the washing machine and toilets. But as it is, it does the garden,” Mrs Vittone says.
“My ultimate aim,” Mr Vittone says, “is to hook up the system to supply the whole house, both potable and non-potable water. We’ve set it up so the full catchment of the roof drains to our tank, which a lot of people don’t do.”
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