Sustainable House

Sustainable House Tour an inspiring example of what any household can do to help the world! Michael Mobbs' Sustainable House in inner Sydney. www.sustainablehouse.com.au

What's a sustainable house? So it’s 2013 and my house beside Sydney’s central business district, Sydney’s Sustainable House, has been disconnected from mains water and sewer since 1996, some 16 years ago. All the daytime energy is from the sun, and the energy company sends me cheques for my clean energy from the sun I sell them during the day. Four people have lived here for energy and water bills

of less than $300 each year. How did I get myself out of my bills and into this lovely sustainable pickle here in the heart of Sydney? Two things got me here. The first was engineers telling me it couldn’t be done; thanks fellas. The second was my fed-up-ness with the sound of my voice complaining about governments not doing anything about the pollution from electricity stations they owned and make money from. So when we decided to make the kitchen and bathroom bigger in the 19th century terrace house we decided to stop our own sewage and energy pollution during the three month renovation. I have lived in this house since 1978 and began the process of making it sustainable in 1996. The house is in Chippendale, inner city suburb of Sydney, there are regular tours where I talk openly about what worked and what didn't work. Over 20,000 visitors since 1996. A tour can show how each individual person or family can make steps towards living sustainably, starting with something as simple as a change to a water-efficient shower head. Water from my house roof in the city is cleaner than town water - anyone can use his approach. Public and private tours available. Enquiries and bookings:
• [email protected]
• 0424 460 525

Buy my books online at
https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au/books/sustainable-house/

Little stories about off-grid in the country, city and villages:
03/08/2026

Little stories about off-grid in the country, city and villages:

Plus the best tips for making the massive switch.

How to keep rain where it falls - and cool streets and cities:
01/08/2026

How to keep rain where it falls - and cool streets and cities:

Raingardens keep rain where it falls to grow plants and trees. So raingardens cool cities. Well done they are cheap, quick, low tech, no steel or concrete or timber and built in one day by one or two people. Here’s the how, how not to, why and some suggestions about getting them done quickly wi

For 76 years I’ve tried to show my love for Earth, to do her no harm. To respect and keep the air clean which she freely...
08/07/2026

For 76 years I’ve tried to show my love for Earth, to do her no harm. To respect and keep the air clean which she freely gives me to breathe, so too her water and rain, her soil and the plants and trees and all the little critters.

So what? Not much, really.

For 76 years I’ve tried to show my love for Earth, to do her no harm. To respect and keep the air clean which she freely gives me to breathe, so too her water and rain, her soil and the plants and trees and all the little critters. So what? Not much, really.

Gabriel Weitzer, an intern from the United States and working with Sustainable House, published a blog about the recent ...
07/07/2026

Gabriel Weitzer, an intern from the United States and working with Sustainable House, published a blog about the recent heat in Paris, France and the United States -

“I recently read Sarah Wilson’s article, Notes from a Burning Paris , and what stood out most was not only how hot Paris had become, but how completely the heat had taken over normal life.“ Gabrieal Weitzer, intern with Sustainable House

Leadership showing and doing - how to keep local money and local soil in the local community -
04/07/2026

Leadership showing and doing - how to keep local money and local soil in the local community -

Kitchen scraps and garden waste can be a valuable resource. But some communities are forgoing the Fogo bin and collecting their own compost

What heat does to humans (as for birds, insects, fish?):
02/07/2026

What heat does to humans (as for birds, insects, fish?):

Around the world, global heating is already causing more frequent h...

We're in the collapsing climate now - clean energy only meets new energy demand . . .
02/07/2026

We're in the collapsing climate now - clean energy only meets new energy demand . . .

Even as we watch a deadly heatwave sweep through Europe, the US president’s ineptness has created reason for optimism on the climate crisis

Kerbside food scraps collection increases household food waste and costs
01/07/2026

Kerbside food scraps collection increases household food waste and costs

Research shows kerbside food scraps collection increases household food waste and costs.

Paris is burning:
28/06/2026

Paris is burning:

wondering what collapse looks like?

Handy thoughts here about community . . . what does and does not work; the story at the start got me in and reminds me o...
27/06/2026

Handy thoughts here about community . . . what does and does not work; the story at the start got me in and reminds me of our community gardening:

Handy thoughts here:

"Let me start with a story.

In 1864, within the space of 4 months, 2 Australian ships were shipwrecked on Auckland Island, south of New Zealand.

The first, the Invercauld, was wrecked on the northwest of the island. Its captain, George Dalgarno, took the approach of ‘every man for himself’. The crew splintered. The strong abandoned the weak. One desperate sailor resorted to cannibalism. Within a year, only 3 of the original 25 had survived.

The second was the Grafton, wrecked on the southeast. Its captain, Thomas Musgrave, took a different approach. His 5 sailors worked together. They built a hut, shared food, cared for one another and even made a chess set to keep their minds alive. After 18 months, they sailed hundreds of kilometres to seek rescue. Every sailor survived.

The setting was the same. The social bargain was different.

We economists spend plenty of time talking about capital. Physical capital is roads, bridges and machines. Human capital is education, skills and experience. Social capital is the invisible infrastructure of a country: whether people trust one another, join together, volunteer to help the needy and feel responsible for more than themselves.

When social capital is strong, communities solve problems sooner. Businesses transact with less friction. Governments of different stripes collaborate. People have someone to call when the diagnosis comes, when the house floods, when the job vanishes, when the neighbour needs a hand.

When social capital weakens, a country becomes lonelier, scratchier, less resilient and harder to govern. Everything takes more checking, more guarding, more legal drafting, more suspicion. The national mood gets brittle. Problems that could be solved around a table are left to fester."

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet, and acknowledge the vital work that First Nations leaders do to build community.

Address

58 Myrtle Street
Chippendale, NSW
2008

Opening Hours

11:30am - 12:30pm

Telephone

+61424460525

Website

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