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Reducing your power bills - and helping to save the planet - is easier than you think, according to one of the organisers of the Perth Sun Fair to be held at The University of Western Australia on Sunday 1 April.

Leonie Wight said using new computer software, eTool, to design a house with a small carbon footprint was one of the many free seminars on offer at the fair, aimed at introducing people to sustainable technology and lifestyles.

Other seminars include sustainable happiness 101; turning the yuckiest foodscraps into fertiliser; trading without money; solar and wind farms; reducing food and waste miles; how toxic chemicals impact on human health and ethical investing.

Controversial topics such as uranium mining and Australia's connection to the Fukushima nuclear disaster; and fracking for shale and tight gas in WA are also on the schedule.

"I hope people will come to the fair and discover other ways of living," Ms Wight said.  "For instance, they could ask some simple questions and then watch their power bill drop.

"I have a husband, a child and an air-conditioner - I just got my bill and it's $5 in credit.  I do have solar panels on my roof but I also do the ordinary things like turning the lights off when I leave a room and have energy-saving globes."

The fair, on UWA's Oak Lawn, will run from 9am to 4pm.  There will be children's craft activities, a clown, a music concert during the lunch break and giant games such as chess and snakes and ladders.  Food can be bought from the UWA Student Guild.

Media references

Jonathon Thwaites (Perth Sun Fair Coordinator)  (+61 8)  6488 7932  /  (+61 4) 19 924 355
Leonie Wight (Perth Sun Fair Project Manager)  (+61 4) 04 942 443
Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783