Christmas is coming… argh!

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

snow Over the next few weeks, here at Green Renters we will be taking a look at:

Handmade and homemade gift  giving

Shopping locally and Ethically

Eco friendly Christmas decorations

Christmas wrapping the green way

Dealing with non ‘green’ relatives

Preserving your plants whilst you are away…

Also we will be having a very special giveaway next week!

Stay tuned for more details!

The Smallest Room in the House makes the biggest mess….

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

I’ve been reading alot about toilets lately. It’s exciting to see that the enthusiasm many people have for cloth nappies and reusable sanitary cloths has extended to other bathroom activities.

WipeBanner There’s  Crunchy Chicken’s annual cloth wipe challenge which involves using fabric cloth instead of toilet paper for either number one or number two depending on your enthusiasm. Even those the cloths need to be washed, it reduces the use of water in manufacturing toilet paper, oil, energy and of course tree production. It also saves money.

toiletpaperwaste

pic from Treehugger


I was interested by her comment

I know when I first started out, I felt like I was doing something illicit. Like wiping my ass on the bath towels and not telling anyone. Or picking my nose and wiping it on the carpet. Well, you get the idea. Once you get over that strange feeling of wrongness and embrace the softness of cloth wipes, one can become rather giddy with excitement. Or something like that.

There’s also a murmur of interest in DIY bidets, either clip or or more organic means such as a garden hose trigger gun (hehe). Find out more here

bluebidet

Budget veggie growing….

Monday, September 28th, 2009

Garden pot plants

I found these cheap gardening tips in the Simple Savings Newsletter for September. It provides lots of tips on living cheaply and sustainably rather than consumer driven.

(more…)

Woolworths signals major shift to free-range eggs

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

Chickens_FreeRangeArticle from the Herald Sun

Rhett Watson and Geraldine Mitchell

August 14, 2009 12:00am

BATTERY hens may become a thing of the past with a supermarket giant signalling a shift to free-range eggs.

Woolworths will reduce its reliance on cage eggs by almost halving to 11 the number of brands it sells.

The move is expected to speed up a consumer-driven switch to free-range and barn-laid eggs.The average price of a dozen cage eggs in Victoria is $4.50 compared to free-range eggs at $6.50 . Woolworths’ fresh food general manager Michael Batycki believes the move will lower prices for free-range eggs.

  • “(This) will influence our suppliers . . . and may generate a faster rate of change and that’s good,” he said.”As demand for free-range and barn-laid increases, through the economies of scale we should see a greater level of affordability.”Mr Batycki said battery hens could be phased out. But the Australian Egg Corporation said suggestions of the cage industry’s demise were premature.General manager James Kellaway agreed the price of free-range and barn-laid would fall if demand rose. But they would never be as cheap as cage eggs.About 80 per cent of Australia’s 13 million laying hens are kept in cages.

    But the market share of free-range eggs has almost doubled in eight years to 31 per cent.

    Mr Kellaway said he understood concerns about the health of battery hens, but he didn’t believe the practice was cruel.

    Animal Liberation spokesman Mark Pearson said any change by a retail giant such as Woolworths was a positive step in pushing Australia to ban caged hens.

    “They are sending a huge signal to the industry that it is inevitable battery cages will be relegated to the scrap heap of history and that’s because of what the consumer wants,” he said.

    Victorian Farmers Federation egg group president Brian Ahmed said slashing the sale of cage eggs in supermarkets would remove consumer choice.

    “I thought we gave people a choice in this country,” he said. Reducing the sale of cage eggs would devastate the industry. “It would run people broke,” he said.

  • Amazing compared to 2004 when Free Range Eggs made up only 9 per cent of the eg market in Australia! Whilst it’s not a complete phase out of cage or barn laid eggs everywhere, it’s a start and certainly evidence that as consumers, we have a lot of power to dictate the world we want to live in by what we buy and what we consume.-Cate

    Freeganism video

    Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

    meet-the-freegansTreehugger put a great little post today about a new award winning documentary about Freegans / Dumpster divers, take a look.

    www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/meet-the-freegans.php

    Community Building Made Easy

    Thursday, June 11th, 2009


    how-to-build-community
    How many of these do you do? List via Pink of Perfection

    Home gardening for beginners-free workshop-November 13

    Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

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    Paul, Adam and Nathan from Permablitz are inviting all to this free 2-hour seminar on how and why to successfully grow your own veges and fruit.Arrive at 6:45 for a cuppa before the 7pm start.No RSVP required.

    For more information email permablitz@gmail.com
    Address:
    Kindness House – 288 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.

    Time: 18:45 -21:00