So many of our personal care products are filled with toxic ingredients like lead, mercury and carcinogens. Trying to stop using products with these ingredients can seem impossible.

Annie Leonard has produced another great Story of Stuff animation – this time focusing on cosmetics and the ugly truth of toxics in, toxics out. (more…)

It’s good to see my compost bins are getting around.

I spied my lovely bins on this DIY composting blog – actually they did ask permission to use my Flickr image. Glad I, and my bins, can be of service ;-).

Good to know we are helping to spread the composting word.

It has been raining heavily in Sydney for a couple of weeks now and my worm farm catchments are overflowing. With so much worm wee (juice) and rain I am also running out of plants to put it on.

Rain, particularly heavy rain, is just one of the reasons you need to protect your worm farm from the elements. Luckily my worm farms are out by the shed and under some native trees so they don’t get directly rained on and are protected from harsh sunlight (when it isn’t raining).

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I recently read an interesting article in the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) saying green features in a house could improve its resale value.

The article sited a report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which found that a house in the Australian Capital Territory worth around $365,000 could increase its sale price by nearly $4,500 if its eco star rating improved by just half a star.

This is pretty interesting and a valid point considering electricity prices in Australia are rising rapidly. According to the SMH article, prices in New South Wales are expected to increase by 64 per cent during the next three years. And according to NSW’s Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, the average electricity bill will rise by between $577 and $918 a year by 2013.

Quite a substantial price hike, and probably a good reason to improve the energy efficiency of your house. (more…)

Did you know that about 60 per cent of rubbish Australians throw away could be composted? No? Just as well it’s International Compost Awareness week (May 2 – 8 ) then.

Actually, maybe you did know that but I thought I’d share my composting tips with you anyway. (more…)

Chickens seem to be making a come back to suburban gardens across Australia.

And why not? Chickens eat your food scraps, fertilize your garden, eliminate bugs, keep your kids entertained and best of all produce tasty, fresh eggs. (more…)

There is nothing better than a good music festival and one of my favourites is Womadelaide, in Adelaide, SA.

Besides the impressive music, relaxed vibe and child friendly feel the festival’s waste management practices are really inspiring. Red wine aside, these practices are enough to leave anyone with a happy, warm, nicely wasted glow.

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If you eat canned tuna in Australia then there is a good chance you are swallowing a creature on the brink of extinction.

The health benefits of eating tuna have long been promoted but how is eating Tuna affecting the health of our oceans and the longevity of the species?

Many cans of tuna contain fish that are almost extinct. Already Northern and Southern Bluefin tuna stocks have collapsed and Bigeye, Yellowfin and Albacore Tuna are decreasing. Destructive tuna fishing practices also lead to the widespread slaughter of hundreds of thousands of turtles and sharks.

So how do you know if you are eating a threatened species?
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Today is  Blog Action Day and the theme is climate change. So what better day to write about a climate-saving feature packed house that I visited in Sydney on Sustainable House Day.

Visiting John’s sustainable house in Gordon was more than just checking out rainwater tanks, solar panels and a vege patch. It was more of a journey through John’s concepts and philosophies in life, which all in some way focused on sustainability. (more…)

How’s this for a low impact bath. My kids recently had a bath in my brother’s backyard.

The bath was found lying around my brother’s property – he previously used it as a worm farm.

The water was collected in a tank and the heating came from burning reclaimed wood (see the ashes under the bath).  The air conditioning and heating – well that was provided by Mother Nature.