About GIY
GIY Green It Yourself is mostly about watching and doing. Check out this intro video on the basics of what it is all about.
GIY Green It Yourself came about following my stint as a Carbon Cop on ABC TV.
This show did a great job raising awareness and getting people talking about energy efficiency but I felt that to give people real skills and confidence to make their home and lifestyle energy-efficient there needed to be more information, but no an overload of it.
GIY gives you simple, step-by-step instruction (which can seem a little laborious to experts ) on how to do the changes, including what tools and products to use, so that green DIY is easy.
I want to make a green handy-person out of everyone - especially if you don't consider yourself naturally handy.
With the right information and how-to skills you can do the job in a flash and get on with other things.
How the site works
Do you have a green job that you need to do? Have you heard of all the things you need to do that will reduce your energy bills but don't know where to start?
Explore the videos and try a project. If your project or question isn't answered, tell me what you need to know and I'll answer it for you (or get the experts and gurus onto the job).
GIY jobs are totally achievable jobs that will make a big difference to your comfort levels and your energy bills. Draft-proofing, shading windows, setting up worm farms and fixing drip drip drip dripping taps. All very GIY doable.
When you are ready to GIY, check out the shopping list for what you need to buy, where to buy it and how much it will cost. If you want a bit more info to throw into conversation at dinner parties, the fact sheet will give you some scientific back-up.
Perhaps you would like to share your GIY experiences (via video or words). I'd love to hear your GIY stories.
And subscribe to our newsletter to keep up to date with what's new on the site.
Product testers and reviewers
Have you noticed how many more green products are out there? Some are fantastical innovations, others sprouting green claims which grow into stuffwe don't need. Which ones are worth trying and buying
I'm calling on you lot to become unbiased, true reviewers of these things -not unlike those punching machines they have in IKEA, tirelessly plompingtheir mechanical bottoms on chairs and bedsHere's how it will work. I will source green products and offer them to GIY subscribers to test and review with vigor, candor and honesty. In return youwill write a little review for GIY telling us if you think the product isall it's quacked up to be.
I will also review the product and write a blog.
Reviewers will be selected randomly by a Dexter-like robot made out ofcardboard boxes and tin-foil covered toilet rolls...until I can come up withan idea with a higher compatability rating.
Who the hell is Lish Fejer
Lish is GIY Green It Yourself puppeteer, content and concept developer.
She is a broadcaster,science communicator, presenter and energy efficiency aficionado, she is best known as co-presenter of ABC TV's Carbon Cops and occasionally refered to Australias Queen of Green.
Lish has had an interest in energy efficiency ever since she realised it actually worked. As a student, looking to reduce her energy bills and still live comfortably, she started to do a few things that were considered pretty radical back then. She shaded windows, insulated hot water pipes, put on a jumper and realised that there might actually be something in this. This has since developed into a raving obsession.
She lives in a Canberra with her husband, two children, four chooks and 15,000 worms
How you can help
You can help me by:
- becoming a subscriber to the site.
- doing a GIY project and another and another and another ... and then bringing GIY into conversation at dinner parties, telling your friends about it.
- giving me feedback about your GIY experience
- giving me suggestions of what projects and topics your would like to see on GIY
- lending skills or expertise to help us keep producing GIY content
- offering financial support
- passing our details on if you know someone who would be interested in sponsoring GIY, advertising or providing some in-kind support.
Expert Advice
There is so much information about energy efficiency and there are 101 ways to do the one job. To make green DIY easy and uncomplicated I have chosen one way.
To make sure all our information in correct we have enlisted the help of some serious energy experts and gurus.
These are:
Jenny Edwards from Scinergy
If you find a technical error or gross inaccuracy please contact us and we'll fix it up pronto pronto.
About the British Council
This project got off the ground with the generous support of the British Council through their Big Green Idea grant program in 2009.
The initiative is designed to provide ‘seed’ funding to projects that motivate individuals to minimise their personal impact on climate change, and have the potential to make a real contribution to Australia's environmental future.It is now run on the smell of an oil-free rag and would welcome sponsorship.
Ethics and Moral High Ground
A huge benefit of GIY is the complete editorial control that I have over the site. This is something that I really value.
Products:
I believe that naming products leads to greater ease of making changes.
I have chosen the products based on their performance, availability, price and where possible, environmental credibility or because other folks recommend them. Other products are showcased because they do a good job and fill a need in the market.
I recognise that products are always developing and changing so if you have a dodgy experience with a product we recommend, or think that another one is worth putting on GIY, please contact me. I want to make sure the content stays current and relevant.
I am happy to review products however are not bound to incorporate these into the site unless I feel they do a great job, fill a need and provide good value.
Funding:
GIY cannot grow into a muscly green-advice-giving machine on alfalfa sprouts alone.
To continue to provide a free, unbiased and useful resource I need funding to continue to produce content.
I will do this through advertising and sponsored/funded videos.
Advertising:
I will sell advertising space, to relevant companies, to be displayed on the website. I will not do 'shaky ads'.
Sponsored/funded videos:
When the episode is filmed and ready to be put out there, I will contact the companies who make the product used, and enquire as to whether they would be interested in sponsorship or advertising.
If they sponsor the video, I will publicly praise and thank them for their sponsorship in the credits, website and or video depending on what level of sponsorship they have given GIY.
If they don’t then all this praise will go unsaid.