The Bokashi Bucket fits neatly under your sink to make indoor composting a breeze.

Why Use The Bokashi Bucket?

• No odours or smells.
• Makes composting easy – simply put the waste in the bucket with some Bokashi mix.
• Low maitenance – no upkeep needed like other composters.
• Fits neatly under your sink to be out of sight.
• Produces a highly nutrient rich liquid fertiliser.
• Stops your bin from smelling.
• Composts almost all organic matter including: meat, eggs and cooked food.

How To Use The Bokashi Bucket:

The Bokashi Bucket is easy to use with the 3-step process:

1. Place your waste into the bucket.
2. Mash the waste to remove air.
3. Sprinkle a hand full of the Bokashi mix over the waste.

It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

Repeat this layering process until the Bokashi Bucket is full.
Drain off liquid (Bokashi juice) as necessary. Once the bucket is full to capacity, the waste can be buried to completely bio-degrade.

Todae are offering free shipping until Monday 2nd August, so be quick!

Click here to get to the Todae On-line Store

]]> http://www.ecovise.com.au/2010/07/29/bokashi-bin/feed/ 0 http://www.ecovise.com.au/2010/07/29/kylie-kwong-talks-about-sustainable-produce/ http://www.ecovise.com.au/2010/07/29/kylie-kwong-talks-about-sustainable-produce/#comments Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:45:52 +0000 chloe http://www.ecovise.com.au/?p=412 Kylie Kwong, the doyenne of contemporary Chinese-Australian cuisine, is back from her food tour of Australia, armed with her new book:

It Tastes Better: over 100 new recipes using my favourite sustainable produce.

The book tells the story of Kylie’s own food heroes and the producers who supply her restaurant.

Hear her in a recent Radio National interview here.

Don’t forget Kylie also has started a stall at Eveleigh Markets near Redfern, every Saturday, serving up delicious treats.. go down & check it out!

Therefore the biggest cause of rising electricity prices is the high capital cost of increased investment in electricity networks – investment that is critical to guarantee supply reliability.  No one wants brown-outs!

Australia’s electricity generation is projected to grow by nearly 50 per cent between now and 2030 to meet growth in demand.

We simply cannot maintain supply reliability for households and businesses if we don’t invest in electricity supply infrastructure. That investment can be paid for only with higher electricity prices.  During the past three years, prices have risen by about 35 per cent. These price rises have nothing to do with the CPRS.

Network costs already make up about half the final electricity bill for households and small businesses in Australia.

These costs will come under further pressure as we confront the need to connect new renewable and gas generation regions to the existing electricity market and respond to more demanding technical and health and safety specifications, for example, to improve safety following the Victorian bushfires.

Source:  The Australian

… preventing Heat Losses!!

With up to 35% of heat escaping through the ceiling, the No. 1 Priority for every home (and business!) is INSULATION!

It’s cheap! And the payback is incredibly quick as it will reduce the need to you to have the heater cranking, and reduce your heating bill by up to 35%…

With a Return On Investment (ROI) of between 50-70%, why wouldn’t you do it straight away!

Insulation helps to:

• reduce the need to use your mechanical heating and cooling systems, saving money on your energy bills
• improve weatherproofing of your home
• reduce moisture problems like condensation.

Some types of insulation can also make your home more soundproof.

Bradfords Insulation is a long established & well reputed insulation company.

A 2006 United Nations report found the meat industry produces more greenhouse gases than all SUVs, cars, trucks, planes, and ships in the world combined…!

We particularly LOVE the Nutty Zucchini Loaf, and Lime and Coconut Tart… Mmmmm

Find out how to get either a pdf or hardcopy here.

Types of Heaters

There are many different types of heating, with different sources of energy and levels of efficiency:

• Gas heaters and efficient reverse-cycle heat pumps are cheaper to run than standard electric heaters.
• Ducted-air central heating systems can use either gas or reverse-cycle heat pumps as the energy source.
• Hydronic central heating systems are usually gas-fired but may use a wood-fired heater, solar system or heat pump.
• If you choose an electric heater, electric fixed heaters (a type of reverse-cycle heat pump) are the most energy-efficient type.
• Heat shifters have a fan and ducting to direct warm air to unheated parts of your home. They can be cost-effective to install and low-cost to run.
• Wood is a renewable energy source if it is harvested sustainably. Use a low-emission heater, not an open fireplace. Before getting a wood heater, check with your council or local government to find out if smoke and particle emissions from wood heaters are a potential health concern in your area.
• Electric portable heaters can be cheap to buy but very expensive to run. Many are not as effective as other methods of heating.
• Electric in-slab floor heating often has the highest greenhouse gas emissions of any heating system and may be the most expensive to run.

(Source: LivingGreener Government website )

The Heating Calculator

So the first step is to prevent heat losses in winter as much as you can before investing in a new heater – see This Months Top Tips for ways to do this.

Then, before purchasing a heater, use this Heating Caculator to helps you to estimate the heat losses of the room(s) you want to heat, and the capacity your heater needs to have to replace those losses.

Several financial institutions now offer green loans to their customers.

Low Interest Green Loans can be used in many cases for:

• Double glazing
• Environmentally Friendly Vehicle
• External Awnings
• Greywater Treatment System
• Insulation
• Solar Hot Water Heaters
• Solar Power (Photovoltaic)
• Water Storage Tanks
• White Goods & Appliances

Here’s a selection that are not tied in with the Government Green Loans program and offer low interest loans for green purchases:

• Hunter United Credit Union Green Saver Loan :
• Bendigo Bank – Generation Green Personal Loan
• Savings and Loans – Green Personal Loan
• Community First Credit Union
• MECU – goGreen® home improvement loan
• Community CPS Australia – Enviro Loans

As always, when selecting a bank or other financial institution for a green loan for solar power, be sure to read all the terms and conditions carefully before signing any contracts.

Generally, products with a 5 star environmental rating will qualify for our green loan. To see what products qualify, visit http://www.livinggreener.gov.au/take-action/save-energy/buy-energy-efficient-appliances/

Examples of products covered by our Green Loan product include:

• Any vehicle with a 5 star environmental rating (View qualifying cars) 
• Solar hot water systems
• Energy efficient white goods and appliances
• Insulation
• Rainwater tanks
• Double glazing
• Photovoltaic (PV) panels and systems
• Grey water Treatment system.

A Community First green loan provides you with the following:

-  A personal loan at our standard variable mortgage rate
-  No monthly loan account keeping fees
-  Additional payments allowed
-  Redraw on your loan
-  Ability to roll your loan in to a home loan at an even cheaper rate
-  Loan terms from 1-5 years
-  Loan amounts from $1,000 to $50,000 

For more information or to apply see here

So here we are…

 ecovise : [ee-co-viize] – verb

 1.  to learn new behaviours and purchasing options that improve the sustainability of your (home) environment

2.  to improve efficiency and reduce wastefulness, resulting in monetary and ecological benefits.

The Press is filled with articles on how energy prices are rising dramatically, so this is really coming into peoples radar.

Ecovise can help you save money on your power bills and show you have to reduce your carbon footprint (+ more), and our service costs you NOTHING.

Claim your FREE Home Eco-Assessment, valued at $250… NOW!

WHY..?

• It’s Free!  (Government subsidised… For a limited time!)

...AND…

• $ave on your power bills!
• Improve the Thermal Comfort of your home, in summer, & winter!
• Reduce your carbon footprint!
• Increase the value & desirability of your home!
• Receive a detailed Report with tailored recommendations!

Ecovise is an Accredited Provider of these Free Home Eco-Assessments under the Australian Governments Green Loans Program.

We look forward to meeting with you,

Chloe Evans

Director  -  Ecovise

It found that Environmental issues ranked 5th as a priority at present, but 2nd as a priority for the future, after only the health system, and then ahead of education, public transport & roads.

The most common reason for concern was future generation, and 78% believed climate change is happening, with 69% thinking the NSW Government should take urgent action on the issue.

See here for a look at the Full and Summary Reports.