At the age of 81, Harold Tribe didn't want to play golf or join a club or just sit around at home - he wanted to save rainwater.
So in 2006, Tribe, a former housing developer, installed four tanks to his home with one pipe to connect them. Then he fed rainwater from his roof into the tanks via two pipes at either end of the structure, and simply watched as the precious drops slowly and steadily collected at his Edgewater Crescent home.
He invested $1,200 of his own money, and a couple of weeks of his time, to get it going. He didn't ask anyone for help, didn't join an environmental group and didn't consider it some new age fad.
For him, it all came down to one question: "What's going to happen if we don't take care of the environment?"
"There's an awful lot of waste in this country and I think everybody has to have a certain conscience about what's happening to the environment," he said, adding with a smile. "I'm on the side of environment and I like frigging around with these things."
The water tank keeps that conscience hydrated. It can collect 4,000 litres of rainwater, and a good overnight rain is sufficient to fill it up.
Two pipes on both ends were connected from the northern side of the roof. The water that comes from the roof goes through a strainer to clear leaves and rubbish. Then it goes into the tanks, which further connect to an automatic pump that connects to a hose.
"We have been using all this water for our lawns. It's amazing how much water comes down, even though it just gets it from one side of the roof," he said.
Tribe is now taking a step further.
He is planning to connect the pipe from the tanks to the toilets, putting a valve to stop municipal water when it's not needed.
"I hope to do it before this year, but you know, all this cost money," he said.
Connecting the pipes to the toilet will cost him another $800.
Ana Santos, the coordinator of Climate Action Network (CAN) said toilets take up 32 per cent of the total water usage in a home. By connecting the pipes to the toilet, Tribe will be saving a lot of municipal water.
"I am very happy and surprised that at even at this age, he is doing his best to conserve water. Our population is increasing, we will face water shortage and I just wish more people would follow his example," Santos said.
Tribe's house is also built of recycles material and he also plans, at some point, to change his toilets to half and a full flush.
