Resources

If you want to dive deeper into any of the ideas on Smart Renting, here’s a list of books and websites that have influenced us in some way. For your convenience we have divided them into the relevant sections on the website. You might even find these books in your local library:

 

Your Home

Slash your energy bills

  • The Energy Freedom Home by Beyond Zero Emissions

An excellent book on cost effective ways to retrofit existing Australian homes to use less energy and save money.

Talks about past and forgotten technology that can be used to make a more sustainable society.

Slash your water bills

A great resource for planning simple and low cost systems for reducing water use.

Food glorious food

Very practical information for new and experienced gardeners on growing food, being water wise, creating a habitat for birds and bees and turning waste into compost.

Although this book encompasses so much more than just growing your own food, it has loads of information about how to grow serious amounts of food in a residential space with case studies on its companion site.

A very accessible and entertaining read for beginner foragers to safely identify and make use of 20 of the most common edible and medicinal weeds in Australia.

The low tech Internet

  • Families in the Digital Age: Every Parent’s Guide by Toni Hassan

Discusses the impacts of the digital age on children and offers practical ways for parents to help their children to reconnect with the real world. It is also a good read for adults who want to reconnect with the real world.

Declutter

  • The More of Less by Joshua Becker

A comprehensive book on ways to declutter and why living in a decluttered home (and life) is so good for you.

 

In the Community

Getting Around

A not for profit organisation that represents public transport users in Victoria through lobbying, promotion and research to help improve public transport infrastructure and services.

An encyclopaedic knowledge of bike repairs building on the legendary knowledge of the late Sheldon Brown and very helpful for doing bike repairs at home.

The world’s toughest car guide covering most popular makes and models from 1980 onwards offering non-advertising influenced reviews for a small fee.

Slow Travel

For the semi-regular traveller, this book will pay for itself many times over with a mix of smart travel tips and ways to prioritise your spending on the travel experiences you really want.

If you think that you’ve done bike tours with next to nothing, we challange you to check out this guy. Whilst we wouldn’t go this far, his site is an excellent resource if you want to travel lighter and enjoy bike touring more.

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