environment Archives

save money on the bills by going green

This is a guest post from Wallet Watcher. Following a green lifestyle doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend more. There are little things we can do in our everyday lives to save energy and maybe even a little money. Green living is all about simplicity—using less while also re-using and recycling more. There are [...]

food for thought thursday–jevons paradox

Increased energy efficiency is often touted as a solution to our environmental problems. The more energy efficient our contraptions are (like cars and light bulbs), and the less non-renewable resources we use, the better off the environment, right? Jevons argues no. In 1865, the economist William Stanley Jevons observed that despite improvements in technology and [...]

food for thought thursday – space to garden

I came across this on the Inhabitat website: the Norwegian tradition of growing grass on the roof of the house. Norwegians have been growing plants on rooves for hundreds of years, but the idea is becoming more popular in modern buildings. The benefits of these green rooves include: providing insulation creating a wildlife habitat absorbing [...]

planning for emergencies

source When writing for this blog, it helps me to do a little editorial planning ahead of time and way back in November I had planned this week to write about emergencies. You see, despite having lived in QLD for over four years and despite having been evacuated because of bush fires down south, we [...]

pest control and the cycle of life – to kill or not to kill?

You may or may not be horrified by this confession, but we share our home with a variety of bugs and other critters. While I wouldn’t go as far as to say we live in complete harmony with these fellow residents, for the most part ants marching across the living room floor are ignored and [...]

carbon neutral: can we wash away our carbon sins?

I must be the last person on the planet to have seen it, but I finally watched Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. Now I am one of the pre-converted. I don’t need to hear a bunch of stats and studies to convince me that our modern lifestyle is affecting the environment in potentially catastrophic ways. [...]

do you drink bottled water?

Whether it’s money saving blogs or environmental blogs, I read it time and time again: save money and the planet by not drinking bottled water. I’ve mostly ignored these articles. We don’t drink bottled water, I didn’t think it was that common. After all, you’re paying through the nose for something that you can get [...]

“Eat well grown food from healthy soil”

I recently read Michael Pollan’s Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual, the follow up companion to his In Defence of Food. Food Rules is a tiny book that contains 64 short ‘rules’ or guidelines for eating. And by short I mean I read it in under half an hour. If you’re wanting to eat more healthy [...]

An Alternative To Plastic Fruit And Veg Bags

Continuing on the theme of reducing plastic consumption, an alternative to plastic fruit and vegetable bags.

Do You Buy Garbage?

Do you buy garbage? When you think about it, most of us do. And I’m not talking junk food or poor quality products, I’m talking garbage. Save money and reduce waste by spending less on garbage.