I was interested when a friend of mine Gauri started a blog on how she would cease from shopping for non-essentials for a year. We all know that shopping and buying things we don’t need are big problems when it comes to reducing our environmental footprint. She kindly consented to an interview for Green Renters.
The Naked Lentil, a three part documentary series made by Greg Williams and Kylie Bryant, starts this Thursday 28th of January, at 8.30pm.
Tune into SBS One at 8.30pm on Thursday to see the first episode!
The doco follows Lentil through a pretty turbulent time…. mounting debt, staff conflicts… and heaps of other crazy jazz! It also shows an incredible community that comes together to make sure the doors of Lentil stay open.
It’s going to be a rocky ride and you’ll see lots of familiar Lentil faces!
Watch it. Tell your friends. Tell the person next to you on the tram!
THE NAKED LENTIL* BEGINS SOON!
Check out:
http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/nakedlentil
http://www.sbs.com.au/secretsandlives
Episode 1 – 8.30pm 28th January.
Episode 2 – 8.30pm 4th February.
Episode 3 – 8.30pm 11th February.
*Please note the show features no actual human nudity… only a few nudie vegetables.
1. Stay home and celebrate
Seriously, I ‘ve always suspected that NYE is the night for people who don’t go out any other night of year.
As green planet suggests
if you stay home and host your own ring-in-the-new shindig, you’ll save transportation emissions—and, of course, money. You’ll also be able to better control the environmental impact of your night, from sending out email invitations to preventing the food and paper waste that comes from bars and restaurants.
Really pleased to find that Martha Stewart has been talking about food and vegetarianism and ethical farming, interviewing the director of Food Inc and organic farmers featured in the documentary. (It’s a great documentary, we saw it this year at the Melbourne International Film Festival) She even spends some time cooking vegetarian recipes. Good stuff as she has an enormous fan base.
As a renter I don’t really see the point of store bought Christmas trees. They’re synthetic and kinda ugly and we have no where to store them inbetween Christmases (like most rental properties, storage cupboards are lacking). I don’t see in the point of a cut tree, and the potted variety seem to die off in the summer heat anyway.
I also should mention that we don’t really have the space for a big Christmas tree, our living room is quite small!
So I was excited to see these photos of DIY christmas trees using household objects…
The first three are from here. The ladder looks great and I like it as it doesn’t take up too much space. The second photograph is of an old drying rack, I think something similar could definitely be made with an old clothes horse!
Simple but effective!
The harddisk Christmas tree is a hilarious use discarded discs, whether cd’s, or computer disks!
And the pinecone tree is great for traditionalists who want the pinecone smell 
I like the idea of making a junk mail Christmas tree out of all the junk mail that seems to arrive in the letter box, even with a ‘no advertising’ sticker.
Rooting a plant in water allows you to add more green around the house without buying more plants. Simply take a clipping from an existing plant and place it in water. In one week, roots will have begun to grow. Not only do we like the fact that we can spread the greenery (and green) around our house this way, we love the look of rooting a plant in a transparent glass container.
via Apartment Therapy.
We’ve done this at home to good effect with mint and geraniums.
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!
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.
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.
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
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.
I’m really excited to hear that “No Impact Man” film is opening in the US.
The doco is about Colin Beavan who decides to completely eliminate his personal impact on the environment for the next year.
It means eating vegetarian, buying only local food, and turning off the refrigerator. It also means no elevators, no television, no cars, buses, or airplanes, no toxic cleaning products, no electricity, no material consumption, and no garbage.
No problem – at least for Colin – but he and his family live in Manhattan. So when his espresso-guzzling, retail-worshipping wife Michelle and their two-year-old daughter are dragged into the fray, the No Impact Project has an unforeseen impact of its own.
Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein’s film provides an intriguing inside look into the experiment that became a national fascination and media sensation, while examining the familial strains and strengthened bonds that result from Colin and Michelle’s struggle with their radical lifestyle change.
Want to find out more? You can check out the No Impact Blog and even try the challenge yourself!
