Project 1. Reduce drafts in your house
While a cool breeze is lovely in summer, i's more common to notice the hot wind blow under the door or rattling the windows. It's unpleasant, and if you choose to use cooling, it reduces its efficiency
Further, in winter, draughts can account for up to 25% of heat losses. Reducing these draughts can be a cheap and cost effective way of reducing heating and cooling costs.
Draughts can be further reduced by:

Kitchen

1. Wash your dishes in a plugged sink rather than under a running tap or use a container such as the the Hughie sink
2. Wash your vegetables in the plugged sink rather than under the tap
3. Make flat soft drink into icecubes or use it to water the garden
4. The most water efficient methods for cooking vegetables are microwaving, steaming or using a pressure cooker

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

Ever tried making your own baked beans?
Like many, you may be fearful of certain side effects. Treehugger gives some solutions here.

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:

Veggie Chili with Cornbread Dumplings

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:

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. 

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.