If you want to keep life simple, try Environment Victoria’s own DIY sustainability audit. The Quick Guide to Sustainable Living will take you around your home, room by room, and ask you questions to show you where you’re doing well, and where you could be doing better. It’s full of easy suggestions which will make a big difference to your home’s impact on the planet.
If you’re a renter, then the Victorian Green Renters’ Guide is an excellent way to find out how sustainable your home is, and has a truck load of suggestions for what you can do which will keep you in your landlord’s good books.
If you would like a thorough audit of your home, then the federal government’s Green Loans Program is a great way to get one. And they’re also free! All kinds of people, including renters, are eligible, and after a qualified assessor has been through your home they will give you a report which suggests the most effective changes you could make. You can then fund these changes through a Green Loan, which is an interest free loan of up to $10,000 for up to four years.
Which means you can pay off your solar hot water system while you’re saving money by getting hot water from the sun.
Some of the big things you can do to make your home more sustainable, like getting solar hot water, can be pricey. Fortunately, there’s a whole swag of government rebates available to make things like this cheaper. Here’s our quick guide to which rebates are available from where. All rebates involve fine print, so make sure you go through the details thoroughly before going ahead. And if you are a renter, don’t despair! All of these rebates are available to both renters and home owners (although it is often the owner who has to put in the application).
Rebate amount: $1000 – 1600 from the federal government.
Cost without rebate: $1000 – 2000
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Rebate amount: $1600 plus Renewable Energy Certificates and Victorian Energy Efficiency Certificates from federal goverment.
Cost without rebate: $2,000 – 5,000
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Rebate amount: $300 – 2350 plus Renewable Energy Certificates and Victorian Energy Efficiency Certificates from the Victorian Goverment.
Cost without rebate: $2800 – 10,300
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Rebate amount: $300 – 700 from the Victorian Goverment.
Cost without rebate: $800 – $1400
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Rebate amount: $400 – 500 from the federal goverment AND $150 – 1000 from the Victorian Goverment
Cost without rebate: $400 – 750+ for tank, plus installation.
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Rebate amount: $500 from the federal government AND $500 from the Victorian Government.
Cost without rebate: $10,000
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Rebate amount: $150 from Victorian Government.
Cost without rebate: $400 – 600
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Rebate amount: $50 from Victorian Goverment.
Cost without rebate: $600 – 900
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e.g. mulch, shower timers, drip watering systems
Rebate amount: $30 when you spend $100 from the Victorian Goverment.
Cost without rebate: $100
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