Inhaltsverzeichnis für August 2021 in CHOICE

Depending on which research you read, anywhere up to 90% of Australians want to pay attention to ethical or sustainable factors when shopping. However, many of us are not so effective at putting those good intentions into practice. I suspect this is largely because it’s often difficult. There are lots of products that are marketed as ‘eco’ or ‘sustainable’, but it’s hard to find out what this means exactly. There are apparently more than 50 eco labelling schemes in Australia – some with robust certification requirements, others a little more sketchy. The one thing they all have in common is that they aren’t mandatory. A business can pretty much whack an eco label on a product without any requirement for anybody to check it. Even claims that come with a…

If you’re under 30 years old and not a high-income earner, and you don’t actually need hospital cover for the foreseeable future, then there’s no benefit to taking out health insurance. Loading: The Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading, a government initiative to encourage people to take out insurance early, only applies after you turn 31, so does not affect under 30s. Surcharge: The Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) is applied by the government at tax-time to high-income earners who don’t have hospital cover. But if you’re a single person earning up to $90K (or couple or family earning up to $180K), you’re exempt from paying the MLS and there’s no tax benefit to having health insurance. Free cover: If you’re under 25 (soon to be raised to 31) and a full-time…

The Invictus X9 is a cordless vacuum cleaner frequently promoted on home shopping channels. These segments, which run for about half an hour, feature numerous customers praising its features, such as the LED lights on the crevice attachment, or how it’s like “carrying a bag of feathers” up the stairs. Keep watching, and you’re encouraged to “call now” to take advantage of a “very special offer” for viewers which, at the time of the particular segment we watched, consisted of a free three-piece accessory kit and motorised mini brush – items which are already standard for many stick vacuums. However, the price of the actual vacuum is never revealed until you call an operator. While we don’t know for sure if customers would get the same offer, we can reveal…

A longstanding source of unfairness around superannuation has been the way the court process divides up super assets in divorce proceedings. Finding out how much super a former spouse has is often a complicated, time-consuming and expensive process for a person already going through the stress of a divorce. Some people have been gaming the system by not revealing how much or where all of their superannuation is invested. But in some cases this omission may not be intentional. In fact, many Australians simply don’t know that they have multiple super accounts. A failure to disclose super accounts can have disastrous consequences for the other person in the divorce – superannuation is often the second-largest asset Australians own after their home. Women are more likely to be affected by this…

A long with the regulator keeping a watchful eye on energy retailers (see article, left), the ACCC is also monitoring them to ensure cheaper energy prices are passed on. The price that retailers pay day-to-day for uncontracted electricity fell by 50% from mid-2019 to early 2021, and the ACCC is determined to see that households and small businesses get the benefit. COVID restrictions have had a big impact on electricity use. The ACCC says that residential use rose 10% while small business use fell 17%. “Many households that were already experiencing financial difficulty had higher electricity bills to pay," says ACCC chair Rod Sims. "And although lower bills for small businesses would normally be something to celebrate, it wasn’t a welcome outcome in the context of a pandemic recession.”…

You’ve probably heard of period underwear by now – underwear that you can use instead of pads or tampons during your menstrual cycle. If you’re a convert, you’ll be excited to know that some companies, such as Modibodi, are expanding their range to include activewear. We trialled their 7/8 Recycled Active Leggings to see how they perform with different types of exercise. What are Modibodi period-proof leggings? Modibodi’s period-proof leggings look much like any other pair of exercise leggings. They have a sleek, black appearance and you likely wouldn’t be able to pick that they’re period-proof (unless you look very closely). They only come in one level of absorbency – moderate to heavy, which they claim can safely hold 15mL of liquid – the equivalent of two to three tampons’…

It’s no secret that the world has an addiction to consumption. In fact, Australians alone throw away 67 million tons of waste every year. “We live in a disposable society; we consume, consume, consume and then we throw things away,” says Katherine Hynes, co-founder of eco store Asiki, who runs workshops to help people reduce their waste. “But here’s the big kicker. There’s no magical place called ‘away’. Most of these items end up in landfill.” Fortunately, there are more and more reusable products coming onto the market every day, to help consumers cut back on single-use plastics. You may already own or be aware of the benefits of reusable coffee cups and water bottles. Here we look at five other reusable swaps you can make, along with their pros…

The Balnea Body Company Hand Wash refill (various scents) – 50% Coles Antibacterial Handwash (various scents) – 50% Omo Laundry Liquid Dilute at Home refill (original and sensitive) – 55% Tricare Invigorating Handwash (various scents) – 55% Fluffy Concentrate Fabric Softener refill – 64% Cove Glass & Window Cleaner refill – 65% Cove Surface All-Purpose refill – 65% Cove Bathroom & Shower refill – 65% Damprid Moisture Absorber refill – 68%…

A standard e-bike service should include some, or even all, of the maintenance measures below. It will probably cost between $100 and $300, depending on how thorough it is. ● Tighten all axle nuts, including quick-release hubs.● Tighten all nuts and bolts, including cranks, pedals, handlebars, brake levers, gear levers, stem bolts, headset, kickstand, rear rack and any others, as required.● Check the frame for any stress fractures or cracks.● Check the wheels are true.● Adjust the brakes and gears.● Check the chain and cassette for wear.● Inflate tyres to their correct pressure.● Check the lights.● Degrease the chain and lubricate it.● Wipe the bike down.● Check that all electrics are working and update the software.…

Even the gentlest washing machine won’t give you back everything that you’ve put in. Your clothes shed tiny bits of material, known as microparticles, every wash. These make their way down the drain and into our waterways. Some microparticles are natural fibres, such as those from cotton garments. Others, such as those from polyester clothing, aren’t. And, with our passion for fashion and a surfeit of synthetic fabrics, these synthetic microparticles are a growing environmental concern. What are microparticles? Microparticles are very small (less than 5mm long, typically about 1mm) particles that are produced when materials break down. They consist of all manner of materials including animal, cellulose and synthetic. Too small to be captured by your typical washing machine’s lint filter, once shed in the washing machine they make…

We often talk about the best ways to save money on printer ink, but a good-quality printer can also be better for the environment. Efficient models use less ink, which means you’ll buy (and dispose of) fewer cartridges – good news for the planet and your pocket. Like most tech products, printer cartridges contain potentially harmful components, including metals, hard plastics and various chemicals. Although almost all of these can be recycled, most of them aren’t – Australians still throw away almost 14 million printer cartridges every year. Yet recycling a cartridge is pretty easy. This, combined with economical ink usage and eco-friendly print settings, can help reduce your printer’s environmental footprint. Why recycling matters Almost all parts of a printer cartridge can be recycled. Some parts can be used to make…

In May, I got a call that shocked me. The ABC wanted CHOICE to talk about ticketscalping. They had reports that tickets for a Paul Kelly show in Bathurst, NSW were being sold for hundreds of dollars more through online ticket resale site, Viagogo. I was confused. Wasn’t there a law against this practice? In fact, didn’t CHOICE recently work with the NSW Government to crack down on these ticketing scams? Why are we still seeing outrageous mark-ups for tickets online? I checked and the ABC was right – the ticket to see Paul Kelly in Bathurst that originally cost $90 was being sold online for $741. As I write this you can find tickets on Viagogo that cost hundreds of dollars more than the original sale price. Want to…

Community choice.community @phb: What do you cook in your pressure/slow cooker? @pamelanorth4: I had one of the original Crockpots for about 30 years. It was heavy and difficult to wash because the bowl couldn’t be removed. The moment it died I bought a new slow cooker. I love cooking a piece of beef in it in the summer without having to heat up the kitchen using the oven – just don’t use premium cuts because they’ll fall apart. @uptightoutasight: My daughter has just bought one and though she is working from home, loves the set and forget, and the smell of the house while she works. We looked at CHOICE reviews before she bought and just got a basic one, no searing etc. My only complaint is that the ceramic…

Electric vehicles are generally more expensive than their petrol equivalents. The good news is that a handful of Australian lenders are now offering consumers ‘green car loans’, many of which come with a reduced interest rate on eligible eco-friendly vehicles. But are these new green loans as worthy financially as they are environmentally? And how do you find the loan that’s right for you? We take a look at your options. What is a green car loan? Green car loans are marketed as an incentive for consumers to buy qualifying eco-friendly vehicles instead of standard petrol cars. Green loans are different from standard car loans in that they generally come with lower interest rates or certain waived fees. But Andy Kollmorgen, investigations editor at CHOICE, strikes a note of caution:…

Flight Centre’s terms and conditions have a few other features that caught our eye and sail close to the wind of being unfair contract terms. They include: ● If you book through Flight Centre but have to cancel the booking for any reason (including those outside your control, such as pandemic-related border closures) you won’t get your money back until Flight Centre recoups it from the respective third-party travel provider, which may take 12 weeks or longer. But we’ve seen cases of refunds or vouchers not being issued for eight or even 12 months.● If a Flight Centre-affiliated travel provider cancels your booking and offers you a refund, Flight Centre can deduct a variety of fees from the refund at their discretion before you receive what’s left of it.● Flight…

Our kitchen lab experts, Fiona Mair and Martha Psiroukis, carry out four main cooking tests: 1. Reheating quiche to assess how evenly the microwaves heat solid, high-fat food. 2. Defrosting mincemeat using the auto settings. Parts of the food can start cooking if the auto-defrost time is too long, the power program is poorly designed, or the oven’s microwave distribution is uneven. 3. Defrosting a whole chicken, which assesses the microwave’s auto-defrost ability when it comes to a non-uniform food. 4. Cooking broccoli to see how well the microwave cooks vegetables – broccoli shows overcooking very quickly by way of colour change. Our experts also check ease of use: whether the controls are intuitive and easy to operate, and whether instructions are easy to follow. They also check the effectiveness of the…

Cordless stick vacuums can cost as little as $29, but don’t be tempted to chuck them in your wheelie bin when they finally die. Not only is such e-waste banned from landfill in some states (including Victoria and SA), but the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries themselves are toxic and flammable, and include heavy metals which can get into groundwater. According to the Battery Stewardship Council, in Australia 5290 tonnes of lithium-ion batteries (found in many consumer electronics, including stick vacuums) reached the end of their lives in 2017–18, but only 320 tonnes, or six percent, were collected for recycling. We currently rate stick vacuums for performance and ease of use rather than environmental factors, but there are ways to help reduce the environmental impact of your existing stick vac (or your potential…

83% Ionmax ION632 82% Ionmax ION612 While the two highest scoring Ionmax products have limited features, they do the job well and are close to what they claim to be on the box. The 632 has a higher tank capacity, which means less running back and forth to empty it, but still not ideal at less than four litres. All the top scoring Ionmax models are desiccant type, and all of the Ionmax models have a timer feature. It’s worth mentioning that the 632 had the highest noise rating in our test at 60dB. 79% Dimplex GDDE50E With a perfect water removal score of 100%, and a timer, humidistat and wheels, this is the best rated refrigerant model in our test. It’s also the heaviest, at 20kg. Thankfully, its two carry handles and…

CHECK OUR TEST RESULTS Look for printers with a low yearly ink/toner cost that can print a substantial number of pages of text or graphics (depending on your needs). It will be a trade-off, and you may need to print at a lower quality to improve ink economy, but it’ll help in the long run. Consider the amount of ink used during the cleaning cycles as well. The column ‘Excess ink used for cleaning’ in our table displays the percentage of ink a printer uses for cleaning, relative to the amount of ink it uses for printing. For example, a printer with an assessment of 400% uses four times more ink when cleaning, which is hardly eco-friendly. TURN ON ‘ECO MODE’ Most printers have an ‘eco’ or ‘draft’ mode that…

The Australian Energy Regulator says it’s concerned that energy debt is on the rise, while the number of customers accessing hardship policies is not. The regulator says it will be closely monitoring retail energy providers to ensure they identify residential customers in financial difficulty and offer them payment plans and other hardship support. AER chair Clare Savage says the Retail Law and Rules state retailers must consider a consumer’s capacity to pay when arranging a payment plan. “Payment plans are critical to assisting consumers in financial difficulty to manage their debt," says Savage. "And unfortunately there have been reports where retailers may have been setting up payment plans for consumers without taking into account their capacity to pay, which is of significant concern to us.” Last year EnergyAustralia was fined…

A recent alert by the WA government warns that loose lithium-ion batteries can ignite if they touch coins or keys, causing serious burns. In one recent case, Perth resident Steve required skin grafts. “There must have been a perfect storm where the coins touched each side of the battery terminal at the same time and it ignited,” Steve says. “When I peeled back my shorts, the skin on the thigh looked like it had melted and there was a black char burn where the battery had stuck to the skin.” “Lithium-ion batteries of all sizes carry a huge amount of stored energy,” says WA director of energy safety, Saj Abdoolakhan. “This is what makes them a popular source of power for a wide range of equipment, such as whipper-snippers, drills,…

Q The ABC recently introduced Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2 which meant we could no longer access ABC iView on our LG smart TV. I twice contacted LG customer support to ask whether a software update was available to solve this problem. On each occasion (three weeks apart) they were unable to advise whether a software upgrade was possible or when it might be provided. Given the period for which LG must have known about this change and its consequences, this is a very disappointing level of customer support. I also feel that the ABC might have done more to advise viewers about this change and its possible consequences before it was executed. Is there anything we can do? A CHOICE TV expert Scott O’Keefe: This issue of streaming TV…

Ask any professional chef what kind of cooktop they use and they’ll almost certainly tell you they cook with gas. Gas cooktops are also favoured by many home cooks for their fast heat-up times, ease of temperature control and versatility with different types of cookware. In fact, just under half of all energy for cooking in Australian homes comes from gas. It can also be cheaper than electricity for people who have a natural gas connection and no solar panels. But a new report is shedding light on the dangers of using gas in the home for cooking and heating. We take a look at its findings, and what your options are for improving safety in the home. Just under half of all energy for cooking in Australian homes comes…

Australians use an average of 130kg of plastic per person each year, according to WWF Australia. If you’re looking for ways to cut down on the amount of plastic you use, one of the simplest things you can do is switch to using refillable products. The concept is simple: buy the original bottle once, keep it, and once empty top it up using a second, more eco-friendly container (or refillable station if you have access to one). A growing market Not every product on your shopping list will have a refillable option, but it’s a market that’s growing in popularity – search online and you’ll find lots of independent retailers offering various refillable products or subscriptions. Supermarkets also have an array of refillable products to choose from and are even…

Electric bikes (also known as e-bikes) have an electric motor that kicks in to help when you need some extra power, such as on hilly terrains or when you're cycling long-distance. Service and maintenance are essential for keeping your e-bike running smoothly and preventing breakdowns, accidents and costly repairs. And it’s not just a matter of keeping the frame, chain, tyres and brakes in good working order, as you would with a regular bike – you’ll also need to make sure you’re taking care of the electrical components, including the motor, display, battery and cables. Doing a basic home service If you ride your bike frequently, you should give it a simple home service roughly every month, working through the following general maintenance list. FRAME To clean your e-bike frame:…

Two of the ongoing problems with Australia’s super system are closely connected: the existence of underperforming funds, and the difficulties in working out if you’re in one. Proposed reforms will shine a light on struggling funds and make it easier than ever for Australians to see how their fund is doing with their retirement savings. This package of reforms is known as Your Future, Your Super. The new performance test The regulator, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), will assess funds in a kind of ‘fitness test’ to see if they’re doing a good job managing your retirement savings. The Productivity Commission had previously recommended introducing this kind of test. From September, you’ll be able to check whether your fund passed or failed through the new YourSuper comparison tool on the…

Microwaves are trusty appliances, according to our CHOICE member surveys, with a generally excellent reliability score over an eight-year period. But when simple problems do occur, they can be tricky or costly to fix. Spare parts such as door handles or turntable spindles may be hard to come by if a product has been superseded by newer models, and even blown globes usually need a technician’s help for safety reasons. Even minor repairs, like a globe change, might need a technician’s help for safety reasons Members tell us that faulty microwave ovens often get completely replaced by retailers and manufacturers – and every microwave that goes into landfill contributes to their environmental footprint. Under Australian Consumer Law, suppliers and manufacturers can choose to replace rather than repair your item for a minor…

From an environmental perspective, your fridge has more potential to do harm than the average domestic appliance. It’s one of the few appliances in your home to use refrigerants (some of the others being air conditioners and heat pump dryers), which don’t have a great track record when it comes to contributing to global warming or depleting the ozone layer. Then there’s energy consumption. Your fridge is also one of the few appliances in your house that’s always on, so it’s important that its energy use is easy on your wallet and the planet. While refrigerants are getting better, both from an environmental and performance perspective, the increase in the size of the fridges we’re buying means energy efficiency should be top of mind when you’re looking to upgrade or replace…

Our experts Matthew Tung and Adrian Lini conduct the following tests: PERFORMANCE ● Hard floor dirt pick-up: We use cornflakes, potting mix and flour to evaluate how well the stick vacuum picks up each of these.● Cleaning corners and edges: Sand is spread into a right-angled corner and vacuumed to see how close to the corner each cleaner is able to pick-up dirt using the standard cleaning head. This is commented on but not scored, as you will get better results using a crevice tool.● Pet hair removal: We embed cat hair into the carpet and vacuum it to a set pattern and speed in exactly the same way as the dirt pick-up test.● Thorough carpet clean test: We embed sand evenly into a section of carpet and vacuum it.…

Home entertainment products need electricity and, unless you’re able to tap into a renewable source, that means they contribute to global emissions. The production and delivery of your new TV also adds to the problem. But you can choose a model with a smaller footprint. There are lots of energy-efficient TVs on the market that can help keep emissions down – and your power bills low – if you know what to look for. Your old TV, and the packaging that comes with your new TV, doesn’t need to end up in landfill Your old TV, and the packaging that comes with your new TV, doesn’t need to end up in landfill, either. You can recycle all of these things, though the steps required can be a little convoluted. Here’s how…

Chief Executive Office Alan Kirkland (CEO), Alana O’Sullivan, Nikki Jamett Commercial & Finance Tristan Ye (Director), Thelma Bracken, Samuel Gunawan, Jing Jin, Amy Lawrance, Edward Mao, Chau Nguyen, Sera Raicama, Masami Tanaka, Kelly Yang, Phyo Zin Campaigns & Communications Erin Turner (Director), Eleanor Barz, Jonathan Brown, Katelyn Cameron, Alison Elliott, Daniel Herborn, Jim Hook, Andrew Kelly, Jessica Kirby, Brendan Mays, Franco Morelli, Xavier O’Halloran, Matthias Oldham, Amy Pereira, Dean Price, Julia Steward, Patrick Veyret, Jillian Zarate Data & Technology Ashwin Sridhar (Chief Data and Technology Officer), Matthew Barry, Andre Becker, Jie Chen, Graham Cox, Bohdan Dubik, Parsa Edraki, Camilo Forero, James Green, Daniel Harrow, Andrea James, Farrukh Khan, Sal Khan, Ishan Koirala, Simon Miller, Ehsan Razavi Nejad, Wahida Nusrat, Rathan Pathuri, Deepak Kartik Coimbatore Prakash, Samir Sadikhov, Mitch Thompson, Peter Vien,…