Elise shared her summer story through the Summer Survey. Our Western Sydney Community Campaigner spoke to her about her experiences, which she shared here in her own words:
I’m writing this in the coolest place I can find in my three-bedroom private rental apartment, sitting on my bed in my bedroom with a fan pointing at me, at 6pm on a day when the outside temperature in my western Sydney suburb peaked half an hour ago at 38.9 degrees.
I have a wet towel wrapped around my head, and I’m regularly spraying water on my face, neck, and arms from a $2 IKEA spray bottle. Once or twice every hour, I go through the connecting door into the kitchen/dining/living area, to refill my glass with ice cubes and water, as quickly as possible, in my hot-as-an-oven, west-facing kitchen.
This is my third summer living here, and although there’s still no air-conditioning (I’ve never lived anywhere with an air-con), I feel like I’ve finally figured out the best systems to keep cool. First thing in the morning, I completely close all the bedroom windows and blinds, and close the connecting door to the living area. This part of the flat is built with double brick walls and has a high pitched roof, so it stays noticeably cooler all day when we keep it closed up. But the kitchen/dining/living area has a flat, uninsulated roof and on days like today, it’s too hot to even be in the kitchen, let alone do any cooking for dinner. We sometimes wait till quite late in the evening to eat, and just stay in the bedrooms drinking lots of water for as long as possible.
My kids and I all have disabilities that affect our interoception – our capacity to be aware of internal body signals and feelings, and interpret them accurately – so in this weather I also need to keep checking on my kids, make sure they’re not overdressed, and remind them to drink, because they sometimes get absorbed in what they’re doing and don’t notice themselves becoming overheated or dehydrated.
Shutting all blinds and curtains also helps keep Elise’s home cool
I’m unemployed due to my disabilities, and after paying my rent I struggle to afford basic groceries, transport and bills. Being able to find low-cost/no-cost ways to manage the heat in my current accommodation has really helped with my financial anxiety, and it’s also helped me feel empowered that I can do practical things to help keep my family safer, and made me much more aware of the importance of good housing design and construction.
Renting is tough for a lot of reasons – one of the reasons is not having the autonomy to make structural changes that could make our housing safer and more liveable in extreme heat, or make our cooling costs cheaper.
I know I’m lucky in my current place that I’m able to do as much climate control as I’ve just described – a lot of my neighbours have it a lot worse, and they also have younger children, babies, and elderly parents sharing their apartments, who are all at higher risk during heatwaves. Getting to know neighbouring families through local community groups, and hearing how they struggle in the heat, has really increased my determination to get involved in efforts to raise awareness and bring about change, especially for renters in my area of western Sydney. The crisis is only going to get more urgent.
