He is South Africa’s most renowned DIY Pro, and She can transform from City Slicker to Safari Bush Babe. Meet the Garforth-Venter’s at their new Eco-Home.
This eco-couple, Riaan and Michelle, are no strangers to our television screens. Whereas Riaan is better known as Die Nutsman, Strictly Come Dancing champ, television producer and author, Michelle has graced our screens as a leading environmental conservation journo and producer of television shows like Bush Radar and Wild Ltd, and formerly the face of the ever-popular Top Billing and Morning Live. Just a few months ago, Riaan and Michelle starred in Love & Mortar — a reality documentary series which followed the couple’s every step in their quest to build their ultimate bioclimatic home.
This series invited viewers into their daily lives, revealing how they juggle their busy careers and schedules while building and furnishing their family home. “We initially started by retrofitting our old home to be as green as possible. It was through this process that we realised that the only way to truly be 100 per cent bioclimatic was to build a new home. It was a logical progression for us to build a new home for our new family.”
Their aim is not only to educate Rainn on the values of respecting nature, but to be living proof that you can live in luxury without damaging it. “I want to teach our son Rainn and the public that they should respect and acknowledge one another. We are all connected, humans, wildlife and the environment. We tend to go about our daily duties, thinking that we are separate, that one doesn’t affect the other, but it does. The ripple effect caused by human behaviour has been shown time and time again.”
Therefore, they ensured that their home adheres to as many of the green building guidelines as possible. Riaan and Michelle started by doing their ‘homework’ — almost a year and a half’s worth of research into the how, exploring different construction alternatives and green or eco-friendly products on the market. “We then took all this information to our architect who came highly recommended his knowledge of bioclimatic eco friendly construction. There are so many remarkable products available — yet, so little guidance available for consumers to decide which is right for them. Also, once investigated, many products aren’t actually healthy for you or the environment. Our objective with Love & Mortar was to lift the curtain on the myths of eco-building and general products and show what can be done to live in a healthier, greener home,” says Michelle. “We decided to build our home on the Avianto Le Jardin Estate because they share the same ethos as we do. The architectural guidelines ensure that all homes have things such as solar panels and rainwater catchment systems.
This estate prides itself on its forward thinking of becoming the first, true enviro-estate in South Africa.” Okay, so you might assume that it could be strenuous to adapt to the same kind of environmentally friendly lifestyle and building practice like Riaan and Michelle. However, both of them firmly believe that it’s easy to adapt to it once you understand, and ultimately, you will save quite a few pennies in the long run. “Our aspiration with the home was to be able to show the South African public that green and bio-climatic could be sexy and modern, that you could have a home with all the modern comforts that we have all become used to, as well as, built out of bricks and mortar, and at the same time, still having a positive impact on the world around us.
“We try to lead an environmentally friendly lifestyle as much as possible — we recycle, avoid plastic bags, maintain an indigenous garden and use our worm farm to fertilize the plants. We have even eliminated chemicals to clean the house! “ Michelle and Riaan are currently writing a book (a practical guide to sustainable living in South Africa) as well as spearheading ‘green’ workshops to encourage and teach large corporations to take to the challenge and start making the changes necessary to play their part in the fight against global climate change. The couple did not only learn about environmental friendly products, but also about working relationships between spouses. “We find it simple to work together because we have open lines of communication and we always separate work from home. Small arguments at work are never taken home and always resolved, so that nothing is left to fester into something bigger than it actually is.”
Next year, Riaan and Michelle will present an insightful television series, Greenline, where they will be sharing their wisdom with SABC3 viewers. “The show will focus on positive stories on South African green living. There’ll be an in-studio guest every week who will have something to do with the green movement and the field presenter will be out reporting on the latest green news from the wind turbines being built in SA to the mines and what they’ve done to relocate their grounds. Riaan will offer viewers DIG (Doing it Green) tips in each episode.
