CRI听力:Sharing Sustainable Living

Many Australians are looking for more efficient ways to run their homes.

Across the country, hundreds of residences are on show to mark Sustainable House Day, an initiative that began ten years ago designed to encourage renewable energy, recycling and all-round greener living.

Brand new display homes showcased the latest innovations, alongside older homes, retro-fitted to improve their efficiency.

Canberra residents Geoff Hyde and his wife Fern say there's more to sustainable living than just installing solar panels.

"We've revamped the entire back of the house so that we've got better solar orientation, we've added the 10 thousand liter water tank, 2.5 kilowatt PV array, and in our garden we've got 50 square meters of veggie patch."

Geoff says the garden is shared with two other families.

"It's the little things you can do to change the way you live, which really impacts on how much energy you use and how sustainable you can be."

The latest energy efficient technologies are also on show at one of Canberra's newest suburbs.

Visitors are treated to demonstrations on heating, lighting and climate control.

And for those more interested in interior design, there are plenty of workshops on reducing, reusing and recycling everyday objects.

Now in its tenth year, the event highlights how those well and truly on the road to sustainability will benefit.

Geoff says the switch to green living has certainly paid off for them.

"We've effectively halved our power usage since we started this journey."

For CRI, I am Li Dong.