Renew Magazine

Fact-based and human-interest stories about building climate and energy resilience in your home and community. All the latest in sustainable issues and technology, as well as useful how-tos for reducing your footprint and contributing to a more resilient future.

Renew Magazine

Editorial

Quarterly round-up

PRODUCTS

Cleaning up the trucking industry • Heavy vehicles produce a disproportionate level of exhaust emissions. One company is working to greatly reduce this without disrupting the industry.

EV charging as fast as a fill-up • Charging an EV is slower than filling up with fuel, but the gap is rapidly closing, with Chinese automakers leading the way.

Smashing atoms, heating homes • The Large Hadron Collider is CERN's most famous ongoing operation, but it's not just doing nuclear physics—it's heating local homes as well!

Monster electric machines • Mining machines use vast quantities of dirty fuel, producing millions of tonnes of pollution globally each year. But a change is in the wind.

The Electrify Bouddi experience • In Killcare on the NSW Central Coast, Electrify Bouddi is helping residents accelerate the shift to clean energy. Local journalist Michael Troy reports.

Surfing on sunshine • Robbie Campbell, CEO of clean energy provider Plico, tells us about working with Surfing WA to deliver a solar-powered HQ on Perth's Trigg beach.

Retrofitting for resilience in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands • Mia-Francesca Jones reports on a pioneering retrofit project in the APY Lands that is improving thermal comfort in remote homes, while helping inform the future of climate-resilient housing.

Keeping things working in a throwaway economy • Australia's repair problem isn't just about broken appliances. Legal frameworks, product design and digital control systems can make repair harder than replacement, even as communities try to revive a culture of fixing, reports Jacinta Cleary.

Before you throw it out…

What needs to change in Australia

iFixit's repair manual

The return of soft plastics recycling • Australia's soft plastics recycling system is on its way back, but its success depends on turning recycled material into real products.

Soft plastics: what you can recycle (and what you can't)

Built by many hands • Writer and illustrator Brenna Quinlan tells the story of how a community in Western Australia helped her and her partner Charlie build a sustainable straw bale and cob earth home.

Supporting regions through a just transition • Amanda Cahill is the founder of The Next Economy, an organisation that supports regions transitioning to a low-carbon future. With a background in economic development across Australia and the Asia-Pacific, her work focuses on how the shift away from fossil fuels can be fair, practical and locally led. As global momentum and tension build around climate action, Amanda sits down with Nathan Scolaro to share what she's seeing on the ground.

Groundswell: powering the cultural shift on climate • From grassroots giving circles to influencing Australia's screen industry, Groundswell is reshaping how we see and act on climate change. Writer Daniel Simons reports.

Life on the lease • Janina Waldmann dives into Australia's rental reality, where rising costs collide with cold, inefficient and often unhealthy homes.

Clearing the air: making homes safer during bushfires • Protecting ourselves from harmful bushfire smoke in our homes remains challenging, despite increasing awareness of the dangers of this form of air pollution. Gus Goswell explores the options.

Measuring the difference

Smoke day checklist

When water attacks: blocking floodwaters • As the weather becomes more unpredictable,...