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Pumpin’ with rage

Pump packs are the work of the devil. Not only are they a waste of metal and plastic, when it’s finished there’s always a load of product at the bottom that gets chucked out along with the bottle ‘coz it’s just too much hassle to try and tap it through the (often skinny) bottleneck. Don’t you hate that spluttering noise when the stuff runs out, the deliberately* short straw is no longer immersed in liquid, and it’s just sucking up air like some kind of demented fish gasping for breath? The companies that make these products flog “refill packs” supposedly […]

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A rant on toilet paper

“Single roll” toilet paper dispensers are the work of the devil. At home it’s not so much of a problem because you can always just go and get another roll (or yell for your wife to bring it :P) but I’m talking about commercial or public toilets with those massive rolls. At the church where I used to volunteer, we always had to throw out “nearly finished” rolls – imagine you found yourself in a public loo running out of toilet paper because some stingy accountant was trying to save money by ordering the cleaners not to change the roll […]

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More fuel economy tips

This is a quick addendum to my previous post about fuel efficiency. I recently read a story about John and Helen Taylor, a couple who hold several Guinness World Records for driving extraordinary distances on the least amount of petrol possible – for example, Melbourne to Rockhampton (2438km) on a single tank! One particular quote from the article* stood out for me: “If everyone in Australia saved just 10 per cent [on fuel], that would give Australia a saving of $5.2 million a day”! Now that’s a great example of how to make a big difference in the world simply […]

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Around the house: electricity

If you live in NSW, your electricity bill is going to go up by around 20% from the beginning of July. So now, more than ever (even if you don’t live in NSW), you should be thinking of ways to reduce your energy use. Here are a few that I recommend: Use energy saving light bulbs These are significantly cheaper to run than your old incandescent bulb, and many businesses are giving them away, with some even coming around to install them for you for free too, because they get carbon credits which they can then use to either offset […]

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Improving fuel economy for your car

With the cost of petrol (or gas, for our friends across the Pacific) ever rising, driving is becoming an increasingly expensive exercise. But of course there’s no avoiding it, is there? Getting to and from work, taking the kids to soccer practice, going shopping for groceries – we are all slaves to the tyranny of distance. And thanks to our “wonderful” government, public transport just doesn’t cut it. With that in mind, here are 3 very simple things you can do to squeeze the most out of every tank: Keep your tyres inflated – next time you fill up, stop […]