:: One People, Many Cultures ::



::Living Together in Respect and Friendship::

I signed a contract to buy a new flat yesterday and was horrified to see a clause stating that I couldn’t dry my washing on my balcony. This clause has been around in contracts for a long time, primarily to prevent a building looking untidy. I dislike mess as much as anyone and I understand that it impacts the value of flats in the whole building, but it’s inconsistent with where Australians pretend (?) to be regarding concern for the environment.

Without the right to dry clothes on the balcony, and having no access to a clothes line, I’m restricted to drying indoors (inefficient and even more messy) or using the tumble dryer. Even if they’re becoming more efficient, how can we ask our corporations to make large cuts to emissions if we can’t even be bothered to make simple concessions ourselves?

With my balcony only visible to commuters flying past on the train, I have no intention of honouring this clause myself.

From a conversation between 10 year-olds overheard on the train:
‘GMail? My father uses GMail.’