This is a selection of our articles from the original Green Renters site, some syndicated from other blogs by permission. From product reviews to tutorials and recipes, we have strived to product a selection of our most popular resources. These will be finessed, consolidated and polished over time.
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Potted Summer |
First day of summer! |
Garden, Garden, the rented spade | |
20 ways to live greener and save money |
I love this clever little image clipped from the web. With the number of new gidgets, gadets and what nots, it isn't surprising that there appears to be a common misconception that going green means spending more of our hard earned money. Here are 20 EASY MONEY SAVING tips that will not only help you contribute to a positive environmental impact but keep you from breaking the bank at the same time. |
Bedroom, consume less, energy, energy saving, food, How to save energy, How to save water, Kitchen, Lounge room, money saving, Spare room, transport, water | |
5 easy summer holiday DIY projects you can do today: #1 Draught proof your house |
Project 1. Reduce drafts in your house |
diy, DIY. green kitchen, Kitchen, Laundry, Spare room, tutorial | |
5 super cheap, green products for renters |
Plastic buckets. Less than a dollar each typically and they last for ages. essential for collecting rain water, shower, laundry water and the like. Tea/Coffee pot. I drink lots of tea. Making the switch to loose leaf tea was a mental challenge at first as I like the convenience of tea bags but I now love the ritual of making my own pot of tea. Saves money and packaging and my hydrangeas love the tea and coffee leaves... |
Australia, Bathroom, Bathroom, Bedroom, buckets, diy, Garden, Kitchen, Laundry, Melbourne, napkins, Renting, Spare room, Tutorials, washing | |
50 ways to save water in a rental property |
Kitchen
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Bathroom, Garden, How to save water, Kitchen, Laundry, renter gardening, water, water saving | |
A Small Place |
I’ve unashamedly stolen the title of this post from Jamaica Kincaid, who, in the late 1980s, returned to the island of her birth – Antigua – and asked a profound question. |
Garden, gardening, guerilla, renter gardening | |
Advertising |
Whilst we work extremely hard to find other sources of funding in order to be able to continue what we are doing at Green Renters, currently our only sources of income for the projects we run are our workshops, fundraising events and advertising. |
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Air Plants |
Air plants make great plants for renters. Apart from their brilliant appearance of being straight out of a sci-fi, they are incredibly easy to look after, take up no space and are easy to move from house to house! |
air plants, container gardening, Garden, Garden, the rented spade | |
An Easy DIY summer projects you can do today. Part 2: Window curtains |
Curtains have many benefits in keeping out heat and sunlight. Ask around your relatives, most people seem to have a spare pair of the rubber backed insulated curtains stashed in a cupboard somewhere. |
Bedroom, craft, diy, electricity, recycling, Reuse, sewing, Spare room, tutorial, waste reduction | |
Another fantastic example of recycled container gardening |
The Eden Project works with Places of Change, a capital improvement programme funded by government agencies which seeks to improve services for people who are homeless. People involved in this year's garden came from homeless charities, community housing and supportive housing agencies and eight prisons. |
container gardening, Garden, recycled gardening, weekly container gardening spotlight | |
Aqua Wash from MOTTA |
First up, the Aqua Wash, one of several washing machine detergent and powder alternatives currently available on the market. The Aqua wash contains dozens of tiny ceramic beads that break the water molecules to such a size that the oxygen within them is ionised, effectively filling the water with electron particles that penetrate dirt in your clothes. To put it simply they change the properties of water to enable it to clean dirt without soap. |
aqua wash, japan, Laundry, motta, Utilities, washing, washing powder | |
Balcony Gardening, renter style... |
Possibly one of the most lovely balcony gardens I have seen... You can view more shots of it and find out the details here |
balcony, flickr, Garden, Garden, Green, trestle | |
Banana muffins are the best |
We're having people over for lunch today so I have been baking some root vegetables. When I use the oven I always try to cook a few things at once to maximise the gas usage. So I decided to make these for breakfast/morning tea muffins.
Ingredients: |
bananas, cooking, Kitchen, muffins, recipes | |
Bare rooting plants! |
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. |
container gardening, free, frugal living, Garden, Reuse | |
Basic plant propagation |
One of the biggest costs involved in gardening is buying plants from nurseries, but the major cost in retail-sourced plants is the labour in producing them. By removing that expense, you can fill your garden with plants using your loose change. This workshop covers plant & seed collecting, growing from seed, plants from cuttings, division and other simple plant propagation techniques. |
Gardening | |
Bean loaf |
We eat a lot of beans at home. I can't eat too much tofu for health reasons and I find beans are a great cheap source of protein and fibre. You can add them to spaghetti sauce, salads, stir fries, mexican dishes, curries... lots of things! I was planning on making a lentil loaf for dinner last night and started organising myself only to find I had run out of lentils. So here's the recipe I came up with. Ingredients |
bean, Kitchen, recipe, vegan, vegetarian | |
beans beans beans.... |
Ever tried making your own baked beans? here's a yummy recipes I found recently. I'm going to give it a go (once the weather is cooler) but by making the beans from scratch: |
beans, Kitchen, recipe | |
Beetroot Chutney |
For this chutney you cook the first step is beetroot whole with the skin on. This keeps in more of the flavour and nutrients of the beetroot than if you were to peel it first then cook it. Peeling cooked beetroot can be messy so you might like to wear plastic gloves when doing this. You can play around with the spices to change the flavour to one that suites your taste. This sweet and spicy chutney is great in sandwiches, served with cheese or as an accompaniment to curries. |
beetroot, Cheap & Healthy recipes, chutney, cook, cooking, Garden, Kitchen, preserve, Reducing food waste | |
Best plants for container gardens? |
Green Planet has published an article today on the best edible plants for container gardens. What are your favourites or successes? I find mine depend on the amount of watering, the heat and whether they are visited by neighbourhood cats! Cate's successes: |
container gardening, Garden, gardening, Gardening in small spaces, Green, pot plants, weekly container gardening spotlight | |
Bokashi vs Worms |
We've talked many times in the past about composting with worms, the commercial options and the DIY options, previous articles can be found here. Frankly, worms are great but not suited to everyone and every situation, so for those of you wishing to enter the wonderful world of composting there is always bokashi. |
bokashi, compost, Garden, Garden, Kitchen, renter gardening, scraps, Waste, worms | |
Bread making, renters style |
I've always been a bit reluctant to make my own bread. Every person I've ever met who bought a bread maker has told me with zealous zeal how awesome and easy they were to use, followed by a look of sorrow as they admitted how much weight they gained. Add to that a small rental kitchen without enough space for a pots and pans let alone a bread maker and a rather wonky oven and I had my doubts. |
bread, Cheap & Healthy recipes, cooking, food, food waste, Kitchen, recipes | |
Building momentum for a greener future |
Cate awarded WWF Earth Hour Award and introduction to Green Renters |
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But everyone else has chickens! |
I realise it is the first day of winter in the Southern Hemisphere so I should be writing about cold climate gardening or something. However I am occupied with poultry thoughts. I really, really, really, want chickens in my backyard but the landlord KEEPS saying no. Rotten egg. How do I create my ultra urban super duper permaculture rented garden without them??? Plus, who doesn't love free eggs. |
Chickens, Garden, Garden, the rented spade | |
Buy nothing day |
Buy Nothing Day is your special day to unshop, unspend and unwind. Relax and do nothing for the economy and for yourself - at least for a single day. |
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Can you help? |
Chris and I started Green Renters a few years ago as we were tired of visiting 'Green' expos and events and finding ourselves left out of the loop by environmental groups and those who provide environmental resources due to our housing status. |