Belinda Moore

From Saturday night until yesterday evening, our family participated in The Big Switch Off. It was interesting to talk about it leading up to the event. Some family members were not keen to participate, but agreed to go along with the challenge.

Like many participants, we bent the rules a little. We left our fridge and freezer turned on. The Switch Off folk recommended buying bags of ice to keep everything cool. But I had just stacked the fridge with a couple of hundred dollars worth of Organic food (can’t choose the delivery day). And I figured by the time I drove to town to buy the ice with its plastic packaging etc, leaving the fridges on (but barely opening them) was the better option for us.

We also had an invitation for a BBQ last night. Our friends weren’t participating in The Big Switch Off so we ate cooked food and there were lights on etc. We also drove there (about 12km) in our car. We did have a meal planned for the evening, so might have to eat that during the week.

It was really great to see the kids away from the screens all day on Sunday - no movies, PS2 or computers. No stereos or lights left on with no one in the room. No lights at all!

I did no washing for the day and brekky and lunch were both cold meals. My husband boiled water on the pot belly wood stove for his cups of coffee.

We planted seeds, built a couple of poly-pipe domes - one for the baby chicks and one for the guinea pigs the children want to acquire. Some of us took a walk and swim in our creek. The kids tidied their rooms and read books and played outdoors!

If a challenge like this comes up again, I will recommend it to others. Our family are now more aware of the power we’re using on a daily basis. Most of us are keen to have more switched off days, meals by candlelight and live music and conversation. And we’re all hoping to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.