Useful Tips and Tools for your Green Journey
We are always on the look out for useful tips, accurate well researched information and practical tools to help you make more informed decisions about your health, the environment, living more sustainably and become more resilient members of your community. Click the link in the topics below.
Garden | Food | Healthy Homes | Human Health | Permaculture | Bees
Sustainability & Environment
- Building Green Without Going in the Red - Sustainable Alternatives: A household guide to healthy affordable building materials.
- Fostering Sustainability in the Kitchen: A guide to conscious communal eating - food (organics, purchasing, preservation, local food systems and growing your own); using appliances in the home; waste and recycling.
- Going Green eBook: Techniques for becoming more eco-friendly while shopping, at home, in the garden and more.
Garden
- Aerated Compost Tea - How to Brew It and How to Use It: Explains what compost tea is and how to make it (including recipe and ingredients); answers FAQ; and provides general guidelines on how to correctly use it.
- Bush Tucker Species: Native species recommended for planting as bush tucker. A comprehensive list and description of a wide range of Australian natives. Produced by Noosa & District Landcare Group.
- Crop Rotation: What is it and why rotate vegies anyway? Follow this easy four bed crop rotation system to get started.
Creative Composting for the Home & Community Gardener: Outlines the benefits and uses of compost; how to compost step-by-step using A.D.A.M. and solve common problems.
- Dam Wall Species: A list of local native species (small shrubs, vines, grasses and groundcovers) suitable for planting on dam walls. Produced by Noosa & District Landcare Group.
- Disease Prevention in Home Vegetable Gardens: Covers sanitation; physical, biological and cultural practices; staking and trellising and solarisation techniques.
- How to Make A Water Garden: An illustrated 'How-To' guide with a tool and material checklist for building a lined pond; a recommended plant list and information on care and maintenance.
- Native Fish & Waterplants for Ponds & Dams: Native waterplant species and fish suitable for stocking ponds and dams on the Sunshine Coast. Produced by Noosa & District Landcare Group, it includes a list of local suppliers.
- No-Dig Gardening: Follow these instructions on how to make a no-dig garden step-by-step.
- Organic Gardening: Follow these simple principles of organic gardening - they are simple and easy to adopt to grow productive, safe gardens.
- Selecting Fruit Trees for the Home Garden: A brief outline of fruit tree selection, pollination, pruning and general care by Tim Parker.
- Under the Carpet - Chemical Watch: Many gardeners recycle old carpets to suppress weeds in the garden, cover compost bays and use on garden paths. However many are unaware of the dangers of this practice, particularly for organic gardens. This article highlights some of the toxic chemicals that are present in carpets and underlay and provides safer alternative suggestions.
Food
- Eating in the Dark: How Australia's food regulator is failing us on genetically engineered food. Outlines the food labelling laws in Australia and highlights issues for consumers.
- 2011 Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce: Useful purse or wallet sized guide to which conventionally-grown fresh foods are the most (Dirty Dozen) and least (Clean 15) contaminated by pesticides. Helps you decide which produce are most important to buy organic.
Food Miles in Australia: Food miles measure the distance food travels between production and consumption. This CERES report provides insight into the sustainability within our food systems and highlights the need for consumers to make more sustainable food choices.
- Fruit and Vegetable Q&A & Storage Tips: Common questions about fruit and vegetables and a guide on how to store fresh vegetables.
- Humane Food - Choose Wisely: An RSPCA Consumer Information Kit that helps you make better choices about animal welfare-friendly food.
- Local Food - Everyone Eating Local Can't Be That Far Away: Why the organic movement needs to help reframe the global food debate to place localisation of organic food systems at the centre. The article discusses the issues but more importantly, some solutions.
- Mini Sustainable Seafood Guide: A useful purse size guide to choosing your seafood wisely. Information on a more comprehensive online guide can be found at our Links page.
- Out of Stock, Out of Excuses - Tuna Sustainability: How Australian supermarkets stack up on tuna sustainability. A practical tool from Greenpeace to help you shop more sustainably. Outlines the issues and which companies have the most and least sustainable fishing practices.
- The Real Story of Farmer John: The inspirational true story of American farmer John Peterson who lost his farm and then rebuilt it with a vision to grow organic vegetables, and finally turned it into a biodynamic CSA (community supported agriculture) farm that feeds 5,000 people.
- Towards a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Booklet: Covers a wide range of issues relating to globalisation and sustainable agriculture, and reasons why we need to change the way we produce and distribute food. It also outlines the nuts and bolts of the Community Supported Agriculture vision. Produced by Friends of the Earth (FOE) Brisbane.
- True Food Guide 2010 (Full Guide): The Greenpeace True Food Guide is the only Australian guide that lets you know which food products contain genetically engineered (GE) ingredients.
This helpful tool for consumers is well-researched and a very comprehensive checklist of products.
- True Food Guide Kids Edition 2011: Australia currently has limited labelling laws for genetically modified (GM) foods. This handy purse sized Guide features food and drink products marketed at kids. It rates food brands and products as Green (non-GM), Orange (phasing out GM ingredients) and Red (may contain GM ingredients) making it easy for you to avoid GM foods when shopping.
- 20 Reasons to Eat Organic: The BFA lists 20 good reasons why organic food is a better choice for our health and the environment.
- What Colour is Your Food? Healthy reasons to eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables with a checklist and tips.
Healthy Homes
- Cleaning the Air on the Inside: Article on Sick Building Syndrome and the health benefits of indoor plants.
- Detox Your Home: Easy steps you can take for a safer and healthier home.
- Easy Guide to Reducing Hazardous Chemicals in Your Home - A purse sized
guide by Safer Solutions providing you with a handy reference to common
hazards & a list of low-cost, healthier and green options. -
Healthy Homes Checklist: A practical checklist produced by the Environmental Working Group to help you identify common toxic chemicals and safer alternatives for less toxic living.
- Home Detox: Jo Immig, author of The Toxic Playground and Safer Solutions identifies the 7 nasty chemicals you must remove from your home.
- Safer Cleaning Supplies for your Home: A list of 10 tips to protect your family's health while cleaning in the home - produced by the Environmental Working Group.
Human Health
-
Avoiding Chemicals in Everyday Products: This article summarises toxic chemicals in everyday products like personal care, cleaning, kitchenware and furnishings to watch out for, but more importantly better choices you can make.
- Organic Diets Reduce Pesticide Exposure Study: Research findings conclude that an organic diet provides a dramatic and immediate protective effect against common agricultural pesticides.
- Our Everyday Toxic Life: Authors of Slow Death by Rubber Duck, Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie share their findings on the poisons in everyday products we are commonly exposed to in daily life.
- Toxic Toy Story: How plastics and toxins are endangering children's health. Jo Immig highlights some of the troubles in toyland and provides tips for choosing toxic free toys.
Permaculture
- Essence of Permaculture: A 16 page summary of Permaculture concepts and principles taken from 'Permaculture Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability' by David Holmgren. It contains an introduction to Permaculture, thoughts about the future of the movement and the values and use of the Permaculture principles.
- Permaculture - A Beginners Guide: An extract of the book by Graham Burnett - A brief illustrated outline of Permaculture ethics and principles.
-
Permaculture - A Design System for Sustainable Human Settlement: Outlines ethics and principles and a diagramatic design system for a positive future.
- Permaculture Ethics and Design Principles Poster: The Permaculture concept is so broad in its scale that it can be a real challenge to explain to newcomers. The Ethics and Design Principles poster is a great teaching tool to present to students, or a reference to help you memorise the icon names. Suggested size to print: A3 and above.
- Permaculture Flower Poster: The Permacuture Flower poster is a great teaching tool to present to students, or as a reference. The flower illustrates how the Permaculture journey, beginning with the Ethics and Design Principles, moves through the key domains required to create a sustainable culture. Examples of specific fields, design systems and solutions are listed to help understand the concept. Suggested size to print: A3 and above.
- Roof Top Permaculture - Transformation of the Inner City Environment: This comprehensive eBook covers What is Permaculture?; Roof Top Permaculture; The Garden's Focus; Technical Issues and Maintenance.
Bees
- Getting Started in Honeybees & Native Bees: Valley Bees have put together a fantastic resource to help you get your first hive together and learn the basics.
- Planting Trees to Attract Bees: This is a helpful guide to a wide variety of species you can plant as well as pollination; bee management actions to take month by month; and how to establish a bee-friendly garden.
More downloadable resources coming soon...
| File | Description | File size |
|---|---|---|
 20 Reasons to Eat Organic | BFA lists reasons why organic is a better choice | 217 Kb |
| 2011 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce | Guide to most & least pesticide-contaminated produce | 158 Kb |
| Aerated Compost Tea - How to brew it and how to use it.pdf | Answers FAQ; Recipe & ingredients to make and use it | 149 Kb |
| Avoiding Chemicals in Everyday Products | Outlines common toxic chemicals and safer choices | 114 Kb |
| Building Green Without Going in the Red | A household guide to healthy affordable building materials | 1006 Kb |
| Bush Tucker Species.pdf | Native species recommended for bush tucker | 975 Kb |
| Cleaning the Air on the Inside.pdf | Sick building syndrome & health benefit of house plants | 237 Kb |
| Creative Composting.pdf | Benefits/uses; how to make compost & solve problems | 2302 Kb |
| Crop_rotation.pdf | An easy four bed crop rotation system to get started | 3524 Kb |
| Dam Wall Species.pdf | List of local native species to plant on dam walls | 1013 Kb |
| Detox Your Home.pdf | Easy steps to take for a safer & healthier home | 234 Kb |
| Disease Prevention In Home Vegetable Gardens.pdf | Covers techniques for disease prevention | 135 Kb |
| Easy Guide to Reducing Chemicals in Your Home | Purse sized guide to hazards & safer options | 147 Kb |
| Eating in the Dark.pdf | How Australia's food regulator is failing us on GE food | 2365 Kb |
| Essence of Permaculture eBook.pdf | Summary of Permaculture concepts & principles | 465 Kb |
| EWG Healthy Homes Checklist.pdf | Identify toxic chemicals & safer alternatives | 78 Kb |
| Food Miles in Australia.pdf | Report on why to make more sustainable food choices | 590 Kb |
| Fostering Sustainability in the Kitchen.pdf | A guide to conscious communal eating | 457 Kb |
| Fruit & Veg Q&A & Storage.pdf | Helpful tips & how to store fresh vegetables | 195 Kb |
| Getting Started in Honeybees & Native Bees | Valley Bees introduction to the basics of beekeeping | 1335 Kb |
| Going Green ebook.pdf | Techniques for becoming more eco-friendly | 641 Kb |
| Healing Herbs eBook | Wonderful list of ways to use herbs for health | 9725 Kb |
| Home Detox.pdf | 7 Nasty chemicals to remove from your home | 2297 Kb |
| How To Make A Water Garden.pdf | How-To guide with checklists for building a lined pond | 585 Kb |
| Local Food article by Jo Immig.pdf | Local food - problems and solutions | 321 Kb |
| Mini Sustainable Seafood Guide.pdf | A guide to choosing more sustainable seafood options | 742 Kb |
| Native Fish & Waterplants for Ponds & Dams.pdf | Suitable waterplants & fish species | 490 Kb |
| No-Dig Gardening.pdf | How to build a no-dig garden step-by-step | 1219 Kb |
| Organic Diets Reduce Pesticide Exposure Study | Organic diets protect against ag chemicals | 114 Kb |
| Organic Gardening.pdf | Follow these simple principles of organic gardening | 4230 Kb |
| Our Everyday Toxic Life.pdf | Poisons we are exposed to in daily life | 358 Kb |
| Out of Stock Out of Excuses - Tuna Sustainability.pdf | How Australian supermarkets stack up on sustainable tuna | 1204 Kb |
| Permaculture A Beginner's Guide.pdf | Brief outline of Permaculture ethics/principles | 1288 Kb |
| Permaculture Ethics & Design Principles poster.pdf | A great teaching tool for students or reference | 282 Kb |
| Permaculture Flower poster.pdf | A great teaching tool for students or reference | 175 Kb |
| Permaculture.pdf | A design system for sustainable human settlement | 1470 Kb |
| Planting Trees to Attract Bees | Informative guide with species and helpful information | 2236 Kb |
| Roof Top Permaculture.pdf | Transformation of the Inner City Environment | 448 Kb |
| Humane Food - Choose Wisely | RSPCA Consumer Information Kit for animal produce | 751 Kb |
| Safer Cleaning Supplies List for Home.pdf | 10 tips to protect your family's health while cleaning | 560 Kb |
| Seed Saving Presentation | 2416 Kb | |
| Selecting Fruit Trees for The Home Garden.pdf | Brief outline of fruit tree selection & general care | 47 Kb |
| The Real Story of Farmer John.pdf | Inspiring true story of biodynamic farmer John Peterson | 221 Kb |
| Towards a CSA Booklet.pdf | Why change the way we produce & distribute food | 573 Kb |
| Toxic-Toy-Story.pdf | Problems with toys and tips for non-toxic toys | 369 Kb |
| True Food Guide 2010 (full guide).pdf | Comprehensive Food Guide to avoid GM products | 1020 Kb |
| True Food Guide Kids Edition 2011.pdf | Features food and drink products marketed at kids | 1088 Kb |
| Under the Carpet.pdf | Toxic chemicals in carpet & safer alternatives | 254 Kb |
| What Color is your Food - Benefits of eating a Rainbow.pdf | Healthy reasons to eat a rainbow of fruit & veg | 333 Kb |
