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It’s time for “waste” to get a better publicist: many items we constantly discard can find new life and purpose right in our back yard. Australia generated 75.6m tonnes of waste in 2023, according to government data, and landfills are not keeping up. With recent reports that Sydney’s landfill capacity is projected to run out … Read more

Gardeners, a horticultural pal of mine has always said, are an inherently thrifty bunch. Some of us will pay a hefty price for a particularly good pair of secateurs or boots, but in general, the car boot sale spade can be a trusty companion, certain perennials exist to be divided, and seeds are to be … Read more

We know about honeybees and bumblebees, but most of the UK’s bees are neither: they’re solitary bees, loners who come in a dizzying range of sizes, colours and varieties – more than 240 species. Have you heard, for instance, of the hairy-footed flower bee? “They’re one of the first bees to emerge each year,” says … Read more

Sometimes, when the hose of my vacuum cleaner knocks over a potted plant, adding a layer of drudgery to an already miserable chore, I feel ground down by domesticity. Futurity once promised us robot butlers. What happened? The despair led me to this week’s quest. Can AI actually transform my day-to-day existence? DIY has, historically, … Read more

The problemFungus gnats are one of the most annoying houseplant pests because they seem to appear out of nowhere, hovering around the soil and your face with equal enthusiasm. One internet fix suggests crushing eggshells and adding them to the compost to keep the gnats away. It sounds thrifty and natural. The hackThe theory is … Read more