Yearly Archives: 2017

Fruit and veges in season — Nowadays, due to rapid global transportation and advanced preservation techniques, it is possible to buy almost any fruit or vegetable at any time of the year. Downsides of Buying out of Season: Chemical preservation methods, with possible adverse health concerns, may have been used to prolong shelf life. Gassing may […]

Buying Fruit & Veges in Season

22/07/2017 in Food by akina

And, if you have room, fruit. Gardening is a healthy exercise. While it may not always work out cheaper financially to grow your own, you will know for certain how the produce has been grown (e.g. spray free or fully organic). Save and plant your own seeds where possible (cheaper […]

Growing your Own Veges

22/07/2017 in Food by akina

Bulk Buying — Provided the item you are buying can be used before – or soon after – the expiry date, it is often much cheaper to buy food and other items in bulk. Do, however, check the prices carefully as occasionally we have found that it can more expensive to buy a […]

Bulk Buying

22/07/2017 in Food by akina

Laundry — Hand wash small loads rather than using a machine. There are many laundry powders available which can be used with cold water. Avoid using an electric dryer – exposing laundry to the sun’s rays on a clothesline seems to add to their freshness & may even be healthier!

Laundry

22/07/2017 in Energy by akina

New Zealand has the worst homelessness in the OECD, new figures show. YaleGlobal Online, a magazine published by the prestigious US university, says “more than 40,000 people [in New Zealand] live on the streets or in emergency housing or substandard shelters” – almost 1 percent of the entire population, citing […]

New Zealand’s Homelessness the Worst in OECD

21/07/2017 in Shelter News tagged New Zealand by akina

Lighting — Light Bulbs Most light bulbs in my house (except those likely to be frequently turned on for short periods only) have been replaced with energy-saving bulbs. My limited understanding is that the older style incandescent bulbs wasted most of the energy consumed by turning it into heat. My personal preference […]

Lighting

20/07/2017 in Energy / Housing by akina

Hot water cylinders — Heating hot water can easily account for 30% of your electricity bill. My hot water cylinder has been turned off for the past two years. While it’s not for everyone, in my case I now use a gas shower unit similar to the one illustrated here. Again, while not to […]

Hot Water Heating

20/07/2017 in Energy / Housing by akina

Vampire Power — Standby power, often called ‘vampire power’, refers to the electric power consumed by electronic and electrical appliances while they are switched off or in a standby mode. Up to the middle of the last decade (2000 – 2010), before the widespread adoption of new regulations, standby power was often several […]

Vampire Power

20/07/2017 in Energy / Housing by akina

Energy Consumption — While it is fine to say “let’s reduce our power consumption”, often we may not have much idea of the typical total consumption of an individual appliance over a period of time: Work out (often found on a label at the back or underneath an appliance) what the item’s power […]

Electricity Consumption

20/07/2017 in Energy / Housing by akina

hemming jeans — I am able to buy new pairs of perfectly serviceable jeans from a local department store for $10. Unfortunately, being one of nature’s height-challenged people, they are invariably too long. For a professional to take up the hems – $30. Goodbye savings! For many years I had therefore persevered with […]

Hemming a Pair of Jeans

20/07/2017 in Clothing by akina