August 3, 2010 by Carolyn Boyd,

As featured in Talking Property,Domain

The Age Newspaper

It can be desperate times if you are looking to rent something. Especially when vacancy rates are dipping under 2 per cent in some areas, such as Melbourne’s inner city and its outer reaches.

Even if you’re not too fussy, tight rental vacancy rates in many cities means the situation can be dire. So it’s not surprising that when we asked our readers what they had done to secure a rental property, more than one-quarter said they had offered more than the asking price, taking a punt that a landlord couldn’t resist some extra income.

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Green renters is proud to join a number of other excellent organisations in the Victorian ‘One million Homes Alliance’.

The One Million Homes alliance has come together to show unprecedented support across the Victorian community for an ambitious energy and water retrofit program that would reach one million Victorian concession card homes.

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The annual Enviroweek is back again for 2010 and runs from 12th – 18th September.

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We’ve written quite a lot about toilets in the past and so I was interested to read that  Water Aid Australia and Lift the Lid are inviting Melburnians to be part of a Global Guiness World Record Attempt to form the World’s Longest Toilet Queue!

The World’s Longest Toilet Queue is a mass mobilisation event and Guiness World Record attempt bringing together thousands of campaigners from over 50 countries across the world to demand real change. This si your chance to show your solidarity with the 2.5 billion people worldwide who don’t access to safe and hygenic toilets and help to lift the lid on the global sanitation crisis that kills 4000 children everyday. To be part of the World Record, go to River Terrace at Federation Square between 11am and 3pm and queue up for just 10 minutes to sit on the giant toilet.

Saturday 20th March
River Terrace, Federation Square, Melbourne
11am-3pm

The Festival raises awareness and provides tools for change by showcasing tangible solutions to the ecological and social challenges we face.

In 2009 the Festival at Federation Square attracted over 124,000 visits and engaged more than 450 community volunteers.

In its eleventh year, the Festival is getting even bigger!

The 2010 Festival will include 2 programs, the Main Event at Federation Square (19-21 February 2010) and the Local Events Program (6-21 February 2010). The new 2-week format will enable individuals and communities across Australia to host and promote their own sustainability event, extending the reach of the sustainability message even further.

The Main Event at Federation Square in the heart of Melbourne will continue to celebrate the very best examples of ecological and social sustainability. The event will fuse interactive workshops, talks, demonstrations, artworks, exhibits, films and live performances. In recognition of the climate situation, the Main Event will be inspired by the theme: Get Ready for the Safe Climate Decade!

Our pics (most relevant/interesting to Renters)

Top 10 Reasons to Grow Your Own

How Car Dependence is Turning the Suburban Dream into a Nightmare

Sustaining Fashion? An Open Forum Exploring The Darker Side Of Fashion

GM Free is the way to be

Living Zero Waste

Life Time Affordable Sustainable Housing

Consumer Power-Making the Change

Sharehood Communities

And of course… How to Live Sustainably in a Rental Property yep, we are presenting a talk. It’ll be lots of fun with pictures, samples and demonstrations of things you can make yourself, so please come along . You can also chat to us as part of the Sustainable Living Library

Monsanto is an American-owned international agro-chemical and foods conglomerate. It employs about 45,000 people and peddles over eight billion dollars a year in chemical products all over the world. While Monsanto has been critised for some time for their production of NutraSweet and the genetically engineered rBGH (Bovine Growth Hormone), the latest criticism is for it’s moves into the world of GMOs (genetically manipulated organisams). They produce ‘RoundUp Ready’ soya beans that are genetically altered to be resistant to their chemical herbicide ‘Roundup’ (the biggest selling agro-chemical in the world with sales totalling more than $620 million a year), which provides 40% of the companies operating profit.

You can view afantastic documentary on Monsanto, why they are evil and why you should say no by clicking here

You also might like to attend the following rally:

Farmers and Shoppers World-Wide say No ! Monsanto !

WHEN : 7 am on Thursday 18th February

WHERE : Hilton on the Park, 192 Wellington Parade East Melbourne (near Fitzroy Gardens) 

 Monsanto spokesperson Peter O’Keeffe will address the Rural Press Club at the “Hilton on the Park” promoting farmers’ “choice” to grow GM canola and Monsanto’s role in the future of agriculture.

 In solidarity with majority world farmers who are fighting for sovereignty against multinational control of their land and patented seed monopoly, we will rally outside the Hilton to say “No! Monsanto !”

Profits, seed monopoly and patenting are Monsanto’s real agenda.

From the cotton fields of Indonesia, where the company was fined $US1.5 million for bribery while trying to influence a GM cotton approval, to India, where over 100,000 people fasted in January against seed monopoly and GM eggplant introduction, world-wide awareness of the threat of GM crops is building. Corporate spin will not convince us that Monsanto’s patented seeds will “feed the world”.

We don’t want unstable, untested GM food products on our plates while GM canola spreads and contaminates our paddocks, in the name of a farcical “choice” which destroys our choice to farm and eat GM free.

Join us for a GM free breakfast rally with speakers and debate.

Rally sponsors : MADGE info@madge.org.au LASNET lasnet@latinlasnet.org Friends of the Earth Australia realfood@melbourne.foe.org.au

We’re big fans of the ‘make do and mend’ ethos here at Green Renters, but I’m not sure I’d wear these creations out of the house! Good to see such an important issue covered in a mainstream fashion magazine however!

(The photos are by Tim Walker for Vogue Nov 2009)