One of the big energy hogs in our house is our clunky old second fridge in the garage. I measured its energy consumption with the MS6115 power meter, and it uses a whopping 2.5 kWh/day!

Many Aussie houses have one of these beasts, which is a big reason why the NSW State Government is now offering [...]

60 Minutes recently ran a story titled Backyard Revolution, about the growing (pardon the pun!) movement towards backyard vegie patches. Finally TV stations are joining us in the 21st century, so if you missed it you can watch the story here.

The story featured one of Australia’s most-loved TV gardening presenters, Peter Cundall, talking about the [...]

On Sunday, I visited John Burgess at his home in Gerringong. John is the owner of Fresh By Nature, the official NSW distributor for Backyard Aquaponics systems. He is also active in the Backyard Aquaponics Forum, the biggest and most active aquaponics forum in the world with almost 2,500 registered members, and aquaponics systems all [...]

Have a read of the current water restrictions rules from Sydney Water.

Kids can run under sprinklers any time of the day, you can hose windows and walls any time, and you can wash your car at any time. You can also leave your hose running unattended to top up pools or fill containers, and you [...]

You may have noticed that I’ve just added a new page to the menu bar above these posts, Australian Rebates.

I’ve tried to collect all the information I could find on Australian federal rebate programs, as well as all the different rebate schemes for the various states. There are a lot of good opportunities in there [...]

Have you considered switching to green power?

Are you overwhelmed by the choices?

There are dozens of green energy suppliers, offering all sorts of plans and options. Some suppliers are ‘greener’ than others, and prices vary widely, so how do you choose who to go with?

Enter the EasySwitch web site.

You simply enter your postcode, and they show [...]

[ December 27, 2008 to January 4, 2009. ] The New Moon phase for December 2008 runs from 27 Dec – 4 Jan. The New Moon is the time for planting above-ground annual leaf and seed crops, as well as flowering annuals and melons in the traditional [lunar planting calendar](http://green-change.com/2008/12/11/what-is-lunar-planting/). For information on what to do in the various climate zones around Australia in the New [...]

[ December 19, 2008 to December 27, 2008. ] The Last Quarter moon phase for December 2008 runs from 19 Dec – 27 Dec. The Last Quarter is the time of rest in the traditional [lunar planting calendar](http://green-change.com/2008/12/11/what-is-lunar-planting/). For information on what to do in the various climate zones around Australia in the Last Quarter phase, check out Aussie Organic Gardening’s [What To Plant In December](http://aussieorganicgardening.com/blog/?p=197) [...]

We received an email last night from Earth Utility confirming our order for a 1 kW solar power system. They also phoned today to make sure we were kept informed. I’m really happy with their service so far.

WARNING: Earth Utility appears to be in trouble (updated 28-04-2010).

Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the [...]

If you’re in Australia and have been thinking about getting a grid-connected solar power system, there’s a really good deal right now with Earth Utility. If you order before 15 December 2008, it’ll cost $2,500 installed (after rebates, RECs, etc and excluding utility connection costs).

WARNING: Earth Utility appears to be in trouble (updated 28-04-2010)

I just [...]