In January, a kind reader sent me though some information about a competition that was being run by the Alternative Technology Association who were looking for the best sustainable living blog in Australia. Thanks to a nudge from Michael in Canberra, I nominated my blog. Remember when I wrote about submitting a nomination for a blog award, and everyone helped out by linking, liking and boosting. Well guess what? I won the award/competition!
This blog is the winner of the “ReNew Blog of the Year”! I am ecstatic. Late last week I popped into the ATA office and had a chat to the media manager who wrote this media release;
By day, Gavin Webber is a mild-mannered IT professional working in Melbourne’s CBD.
But at night and on weekends he becomes a committed and feverish blogger, informing the world and giving practical tips on cheese making, apple growing, chooks, DIY backyard building and many other sustainability topics.The Melton father of four has been named Australia’s best environmental blogger in a national competition by the Alternative TechnologyAssociation’s (ATA) magazine, ReNew.
The ATA is a not-for-profit consumer-based organisation promoting renewable energy, sustainable building and water saving. A profile of Gavin and his colourful and innovative blog, The Greening of Gavin, and the runners-up in the competition are in the latest issue of ReNew.
He started The Greening of Gavin in 2008 as part of a dramatic change in lifestyle after seeing Al Gore’s inspirational documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.
“I was a conspicuous consumer before I saw the movie,” he says. “It was a wake-up call – why didn’t I know more about climate change? I decided to do my own research to understand the politics and human side of it all.”
Within months Gavin had bought a hybrid car, converted his hot water system to solar, installed solar panels on the roof of his house and ripped up the lawns to plant vegetables and fruit trees.
He has written more than 1000 blog posts since starting The Greening of Gavin, on subjects as diverse as peak oil, home-made spaghetti, Christmas gift ideas for the anti-consumer, worm farms and bread making.
“I’m just an ordinary bloke. I try to show what can be done at home, and if I can do it anybody can if they have the space or inclination.”
Jacinta Cleary, the editor of ReNew, congratulated Gavin on his outstanding blog:
“This blog has a lot of heart. It’s not just about the practical changes that Gavin has made at home, it’s also about why he’s made the sustainability shift in what he describes as a journey of highs and lows.”
As I said, I am ecstatic about winning, and I have given interviews this week to both of our local newspaper and will appear in next weeks issues. It feels good to get the message out there again.
The first prize was two 110 watt 12 volt solar panels, which I am sure I will put to good use, and will write about the project. I better start looking for a cheap charge controller and deep cycle battery.
Anyway, you can read more about the competition on page 24, in issue 119 of ReNew magazine. Subscribers should already have the magazine, and it hits newsagents throughout Australia around the 16th of March.
So a big thank you goes out to all of you, the readers. Without you, I might have stopped writing long ago (well, maybe). Thanks a million!
Congratulations, well earned!!
Congratulations Gavin
Congratulations – I’ve been reading & enjoying your blog for a while
Congratulations! I can’t think of anyone more deserving.
ooo I’m jealous of those solar panels! Congratulations.
Congratulations, Gav! I’ll have to look at the mag when I go to my parent’s house tomorrow night- I subscribed my dad to Renew as a gift 😉
Good on you Gavin!
Congrats Gavin. You deserve it. Your blog is a great source of information and inspiration 🙂
Congrats Gavin!
Congratulations you deserve it!
Well done Gavin you are very deserving of the win
Congratulations Gavin! Way to go!
Hooray for the Greening of Gavin, a beautiful chronicle of change.
Prue
Congratulations!!
Congratulations Gavin, well done and well deserved!
Congrats Gavin, you truly deserve this award!
Congratulations, I think it’s well-deserved.
Well done – this was an award you totally deserved!
Congratulations, you are a blogging machine. It takes a lot of time and persistence to build a blog and attract a real following, well done.
proud as punch as usual well done my number one son
Mum
Thanks Mum, love you lots xoxo
Congratulations Gavin!
Congratulations Gavin and family.
Congratulations Gavin. I have just found your blog as I have just started making Cheese. It has been an eye opener for me. I have, I think, gone back and read through all of the historic blogs, and have followed your journey with great interest. I applaud what you are doing and will continue to follow your blog. It has made me question my “footprint” and my place in this wonderful world of ours and I am now trying to find ways of changing things. I have always grown my own veg but am now looking for other ways of lessening my drain on the environment. Thanks for all you do. Regards from Auckland NZ
Congratulations, that is fantastic!
I have been admiring your efforts and thinking I MUST make cheese and soap – two things I have always wanted to do and just havent gotten around to yet. You are pretty inspiring!
Thanks everyone for your kind comments. I really appreciate them.
Gav x
You deserve this award without a doubt for such an amazing blog. I await every one of your posts since my (recent) discovery of your writings with bated breath. Yours is the one I look out for in my reader before any others. And you have inspired me to get on and make some real soap, and find things to do that are green and free – like eucalyptus fabric dyes and prints. I wish I could follow suit with your cheeses but as a lactose intolerant I’m stymied… although I do have two cheesaholic children, so maybe I should make it for them… or better still… they make it for themselves – that’s thought I like!! 😀
I am now saying ‘no’ to carrier bags in all shops… choosing rice in cloth bags not plastic packets… and best of all I did my pantry makeover (I’d be honored if you’d take a sneek peek at it on my blog %D ) using only recycled Aussie Farmers Direct veggie boxes.
I am getting such a kick out of NOT spend, spend, spending… it’s getting adictive!!
Well done Gav, and thoroughly deserved!
Congratulations Gavin! A well deserved award too. Your blog is very informative with lots of great ideas. Keep up the great work.