Hot Water Rebate

The hot water rebate is Australia’s first national and comprehensive site that will calculate how much you can receive in rebates.

You can learn more about environmentally-friendly hot water tanks, calculate your rebates instantly, and do it in one easy place.

All you have to do is enter your postcode HERE to calculate your rebate.  It’s that easy.

How Do Solar Panels Work?

Solar Panels and indeed Solar energy are becoming increasingly common elements of our lives.

This animated video sheds “light” on the process.

Simon Turner

Movie: “The End of the Line”

The Economist called this movie, “The End of the Line”, “the Inconvenient Truth of the Ocean”.
This powerful movie is narrated by Ted Danson and confirms one of the biggest problems currently facing the world – over-fishing.
As things stand, whole species of wild fish are under threat to the point that scientist predict that the doomsday of the ocean, where over-fishing has wrecked the entire eco-system and there are no fish left, could be as close as 2048.

Simon Turner

Eco-Projects Around the World

There are some amazing minds that are coming up with some amazing, conceptual designs for environmentally sustainable living spaces.

In this article I’m showing some of my favorite eco-projects. Some are simply conceptual, and may never get off the drawing board, whereas others are full steam ahead, however, all great ideas come from somewhere!

Which are your favorites?

Co-Op Canyon, Dallas

This a conceptual design intended for Dallas, created by Standard Architects, and is inspired by the cliff dwellings of the Anasazi Indians.

Designed as a sustainable, carbon neutral environment for 1000 habitants, the terraced dwellings overlook an urban canyon.

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The Eco Oil Rig

Morris Architects, a Houston-based architecture and design firm, recently took top honors for two of their submissions in the Radical Innovation in Hospitality design competition.

Taking the concept of resort islands and over-water villas to a whole new level, the grand prize winner, the Oil Rig Platform Resort and Spa makes use of one of 4,000 oil rigs out in the Gulf of Mexico and transforms it into a luxurious eco-resort and spa.

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The Super Tower

Based on the estimation that London will need to provide housing for 100,000 new people each year up until 2016, this building houses 100,000 in one hit and with the city being the only framework capable of handling burgeoning populations such responses are vital.

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Zira Island in the Caspian Sea

Planned as a zero-energy project, the “resort and entertainment” creation will resemble the “seven peaks of Azerbaijan,” each “peak” being buildings covered in solar panels, which will house residential, retail and commercial space for the resort.

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Sky-Terra Skyscrapers

San Francisco-based designer Joanna Borek-Clement has envisioned these eye-popping Sky-Terra skyscrapers – not just a single building, but a network of interconnected towers that are inspired by the shape of neuron cells.

To cope with the growing need for green urban space, as cities become increasingly congested and dense, the Sky-Terra super-structure seeks to give city dwellers back the ability to spend time outdoors, exercise and relax.

see more

Simon Turner

Environmentally Friendly Construction: The Bubble Deck

Designed and made in Australia, the Bubble Deck is an ingenious creation that will not only prove an environmentally friendly alternative to non-structural concrete, but also actually be a welcome addition in the construction industry.

The plastic bubbles are approximately the size of a football and are encased within a frame thus creating a “honeycomb” pattern.

The design means that there can be up to 50% longer spans between building columns and no beams. It will also allow for long cantilevers and open facades and ultimately proves that eco-friendly building doesn’t have to be more expensive.

Simon Turner

Some Tips to Help Save the World and a Little Money as Well

If you can slide a piece of paper under the seal while your fridge door is closed it needs replacing. This will save kilograms of greenhouse gases, reduce your electricity bill and keep your food fresh.

Furniture used to be built to last. Buying second hand furniture and having it restored is likely to be cheaper than buying new, saving both money and the earth’s resources.

The website www.freecycle.org lets you list any of your unwanted items and find stuff you want, for nothing. A site similar to eBay, but you don’t have to pay.

Australians throw away $5 billion worth of perfectly good food every year. Stick to a list or shop online to avoid impulse buying and waste. Isn’t this a frightening fact?

Did you know that 36% is the percentage of daily indoor water Aussies use for showers and baths, compared to 19% for the US and 20% for the UK. Aren’t we a clean bunch!

Christine Watson

Recycling: Designer Objects Produced from Recycled Materials

Regenesi is an Italian company that designs and manufactures objects from materials that have been recycled.

Created by Entrepreneur Maria Silvia Pazzi the quintessential thought process behind every item is that is must adhere to strict aesthetic and sustainable criteria.

The company uses everyday materials that include glass, cardboard, aluminum, and plastic, to produce bags, crockery, lamps and much much more, all the time believing that “there is no contradiction between being function, eco-compatible and beautiful.”

Simon Turner

Eco Tips: How to Keep Your Air At Home Clean

Grease, dust and dirt not only settle on surfaces in your home, resulting in sticky coatings everywhere, but they also contribute to air impurities. By controlling or eliminating dust and chemicals in your house you can keep the air in your home clean.

Here are some simple things to do to help “clear the air” in your home:

- Open windows whenever possible, especially when cooking or cleaning.

- Use covers on cooking pans, particularly when frying – use a splatter guard

- Use steam-or oily vapor producing appliances under the hood of the stove with the ventilating fan turned on. Use the fan to control cooking odors and smoke as well.

- Clean high, flat surfaces several times a year.

- Turn on the bathroom exhaust fan to keep steam from collecting dirt and diffusing it throughout the house.

- Change/clean air conditioning filters regularly.

- Maintain your vacuum cleaner so dust is not being blown back into the air as you vacuum.

- Prevent dust and dirt from entering the house with doormats and weather stripping.

- Dust surfaces regularly.

- Don’t smoke.

Christine Watson

Eco-Friendly, Reusable Fresh Snack Packs

Fresh Snack Packs, made from PVC-free, non-toxic plastic, are exactly the kind of reusable sandwich bags that we’ve all been looking for to replace those horrible plastic bags that fill waterways and hurt the environment in general.

With an easy-to-open velcro fastener, you can put all types of food items in safe in the knowledge that they’ll stay fresh and not dry out and then reuse them again the following day.

Designed by mother of three, Crystal Figlietti, these packs come in three sizes and can be purchased on their WEBSITE

Simon Turner

The Keyboard Chair – Part of the Use More Use Less Project

As part of the Use More Use Less Project 2009, designers Dante Bonuccelli and Lamm have cleverly crafted no-longer-used computer keyboard pads into a curvy and sleek unique piece of furniture! Your derriere will never push so many buttons as on this chair

Simon Turner

Plastic Fantastic: Follow the Expedition of Plastiki

David de Rothschild plans to sail 12,000 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Sydney in a boat made entirely out of plastic bottles and recycled waste products.

The Plastiki Expedition has brought together a group of intelligent guys and girls to design the boat, which will be made of 12,500 2-liter plastic bottles collected by Waste Management.

Weighing in at 9 tons, the Plastiki will have a crew of six, a composting toilet, onboard renewable energy and a garden.

And if this doesn’t sound astonishing enough, the team haven’t built a boat before either!

Follow their adventure HERE

We wish them fair winds!

Simon Turner

Greenart Gardens: Indoor Living Goes Outdoors

Australian landscape design company, Greenart Gardens, are experts at dressing up gardens as interiors would be dressed.

Just have a look at some of their handywork in the images below.