Is your house healthy?
🏘☔️🫧🧤A warm and dry home should be between 18 and 21 degrees Celsius, and humidity should be between 40 to 60 percent.
👉Here are some key things to check in your home:
🔎Is there floor and ceiling insulation?
🔎Does your home have gaps that cause draught?
🔎Is there a window, door or skylight in each room that can be opened to the outside and remain open?
🔎Is it free from mould or signs it could be damp?
🔎Is there a qualifying fixed heater in the main living room? (a fixed heater that has a heating capacity of at least 1.5kW)
As of 1 July, all private rental homes must now meet the Healthy Homes standards for residential tenancies. The standards cover heating, ventilation, insulation, moisture and drainage and draught stopping.
For more details on key things to look out for, getting your home checked against the standards, and what to do if your home does not comply, visit: cab.org.nz/article/KB00000893
Original post from Citizens Advice Bureau NZ: cab.org.nz
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Have you got New Zealand's best shed? Show us and win!
Once again, Resene and NZ Gardener are on the hunt for New Zealand’s best shed! Send in the photos and the stories behind your man caves, she sheds, clever upcycled spaces, potty potting sheds and colourful chicken coops. The Resene Shed of the Year 2026 winner receives $1000 Resene ColorShop voucher, a $908 large Vegepod Starter Pack and a one-year subscription to NZ Gardener. To enter, tell us in writing (no more than 500 words) why your garden shed is New Zealand’s best, and send up to five high-quality photos by email to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. Entries close February 23, 2026.
Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!
Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.
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