Eco Friendly House And Garden

Why Not Make Even More Out Of Your Eco Friendly House And Garden This Year?

Rather than just living in your house as normal - why not consider a few of these ways to no only improve the eco friendly qualities of your home - but to make it work for you too.

I mean, why should a house just sit there doing nothing? Make it more useful than it already is by making some small changes or concessions….

Here are a few ideas for you to consider with regards to ’sharing’ your home with others for the benefit of others - as well as your bank balance in some cases!

Empty Rooms Are A Waste:
Even if you turn of all heating and seal up all windows - an empty room is a waste of resources!

It’s already in a home filled with energy and bodies - so why leave rooms empty when you could make them work for a living and keep the worlds ‘footprints’ smaller - after all, the more people living in the same house can save on so many levels!

If you aren’t into a full time tenant and live in a busy town or city, why not consider a Monday-to-Friday tenant instead. No huge commitment, less belongings and they are usually a reliable adult too!

Or the other end of the extreme - if your house is too big for you but you don’t want to downsize for whatever reason, then why not eco renovate and create a self contained unit in the basement or whatever and rent this out as as a permanent let or holiday home depending on your location.

Hotel Rooms Even More So:
Why not treat your home as a swap for a hotel room - either as a holiday for yourself or while you are away.

Firstly, you could take a holiday swap this year instead of booking a hotel. let a family move into your home while you go live in theirs! Not everyone is looking for an equal swap either - you might get a cute cottage for your family home, or a spacious farmhouse for your city flat!

Secondly, if you live near a local attraction or event (like Wimbledon or a show ground) then why not time your holidays to coincide with a huge demand for lettings! Signing up with an agency could bring you up to £2000 a week depending on your home and the event you are close to!

Parking Spot Or Tennis Court?
Same goes for the outside of your home - why not rent out unused space to others at virtually no cost to you or really any effort either!

If you have land that people could park on and you live in a busy location - why not let someone park there? You aren’t using it - and they probably waste time and petrol every morning looking for a spot!

And the same goes for your tennis court, trampoline, pool, piano, climbing frame or anything else you have sitting around that you aren’t using 24 hours a day. You might not want to charge your closest friends - but a few quid for a game of tennis for some young kids or keep-fit oldies won’t go amiss - basically paying for it’s own maintenance.

Your Skills Too:
It’s not just physical things that can help out others and bring in a few extra pounds - what about your own skills?

Music lessons, language lessons, discussion groups, Body Shop parties and product research groups. All could use your skills and your lounge, conservatory or kitchen - and of course - you!

Or if you are on a country walk or in a cute village, why not sell cakes and tea or garden veg and flowers in your front garden for passers-by!

House In The Country

Get Your Home On TV!
If you live in a city, your home has a great garden, great views or great architecture, or you have some great internal features - you could ‘model’ your home!

Let a photo or TV agency know about it and you could rent your house and garden out for magazines, TV or even movies!

You don’t even have to do anything, they set it all up and then take it all away again - pain free and you won’t be in any of the shots - unless you want to be!

Having a small indoor pet can really help you to save on waste and improve your recycling!

The statistics just in on the amount of food families waste is unbelievable and what with throwing away all those cardboard boxes and toilet rolls!

So why not get your very own micro-processing unit for these such things?  And have some great fun along the way…..

Rodents:
Getting yourself a little furry friend from a rescue centre could be one of the cutest things you acquire this year!  Maybe it’s a furry hamster, a cuddly guinea pig or a tiny mouse - whatever tickles your fancy could be worth its weight in gold in terms of that badly bruised apple or those wilting vegetables!

Whether it’s a tiny thing in a cage indoors, or a larger pet outside in a hutch - it can help you to break down your waste into more useful ingredients!

Those cardboard tubes can be chewed up by your gerbils making them easier to compost - or those veg could be converted into concentrated compost by a bunny rather than rotting in the air and attracting flies!

Any pet which has gnawing teeth and eats fruit and veg is a winner!

What’s Best For What?
Well, needless to say, they all have their specialities in the biodegrading world - and size is a factor too.

Guinea Pigs and rabbits are the best for munching large amounts of food waste - such as left-over allotment materials that aren’t great for the family - including stalks and stems of most plants. 

And not only does their used bedding go great in your compost heap - but they can be harnesses in the garden as lawn mowers as well!  Get the right shaped run and you can move it regularly around the lawn to keep it nice and trim!

Communal living smaller animals can be just as useful - for example 3 gerbils.  They love to chew anything and try all sorts of fruit and veg.  Perfect for shredding up those cereal boxes into easy-to-compost pieces - and creating a nice used bedding material or cardboard, vegetable waste and sawdust!

What’s Not So Good:
Syrian hamsters are probably the least useful - but still cute!  They only live alone and aren’t too big - so there is only so much waste they can eat for you!  They also don’t chew up cardboard as much as gerbils - but can be easier to handle for the younger kids!

Rats generally eat meat in their food so aren’t too good at creating compostable waste - however a couple of rats can certainly get through your leftovers if you give them a chance!

Degus and chinchillas are specialist eaters - so can’t be given fruit or too much variety in their diets - hence not many foods and treats available for them in the pet stores!  It makes them very ill - so not too good for an eco friendly pet!

However - whatever small pet you choose to help your out with your composting and waste food control - make sure you consider a rescue animal first.  There are hamsters, gerbils and rabbits waiting patiently in rescue centres all over the country for a good home.

Could you be one of them?

Make some time to go to a show to get some top tips for your eco friendly house and garden!

The whole show doesn’t have to be uber green - just on the right theme, and then you can go and pick out the bits you like and put pressure on the companies that are not offering what you want!

Many tips and tricks for home redecorating or garden landscaping don’t have to be new-fangled and complicated - there are many things that we can do that are eco friendly without even trying!

Also at shows, you get to see products that aren’t found in supermarkets due to their ‘rules’ on listings, like biodegradable toiletries, organic foods and fair trade supplies.  You just won’t find these on the high street - so they bring them to the shows so you can get hands-on experience with them rather than blindly ordering things off the Internet!

1) The National Home Improvement Show - Earls Court, London
With over 18 exhibitors being from energy efficiency companies and talks and seminars from environmentally active lecturers and TV presenters - you know you could be on to a good thing here!

Take your pick from all the departments including renovations, kitchens, bathrooms and gardens as see if you can get some great advice on using the right resources, getting eco friendly appliances and other homewares as well as sustainable produced garden furniture and buildings.

2) The National Wedding Show - NEC, Birmingham
If you are even remotely thinking of getting married - then you must consider a trip to a wedding fair.  Weddings can cost at least £20,000 for a simple affair - so if you are after an eco friendly wedding, then you had better plan in advance to make sure that you get the best products and services booked up in advance - rather than have to settle for second best when you run out of time!

And, there are bound to be things involved with a wedding that you hadn’t really even considered looking in to like car hire and tablecloths!  At a show like this - they have already done all the thinking; just turn up with a notepad and pen and comfy shoes!

3) Mind, Body & Soul 2010 - Olympia, London
Take a day out to unwind from the stresses of life - and try out some of the great relaxation remedies, complementary therapies and practical sessions.

Find yourself surrounded by experts on stress, therapy, yoga and many other well known and well used techniques that could help you realise your potential and make some serious changes in your life, your work or your free time.

Raised Garden

4) Grand Designs Live - NEC, Birmingham
Covering everything from food to flowers, lofts to landscaping and from sash windows to sustainable sheds!

Seriously, it’s not just about buying a plot of land or derilict church and building a massive monstrosity on it like the earlier Grand Design TV Shows - its all about making things better, more eco friendly and long lasting - and not just for 1 home - but for whole communities.  

5) The Baby Show - Earls Court, London
Come here and find out about everything you will need for your little one before they arrive - and for your growing ones who need some new inspiration and equipment - or for yourself to help cope with the new lifestyle that is shaping your every day life.

Not only will your get the chance to try out all the existing products that are new to you - there will also be innovative products and companies out there with something new to the whole world!  Whether it’s a new eco friendly material, new biodegradable toiletries or organic baby foods - you can bet that it is all here!

So, what are you waiting for - make some space in your diary….

They are well known for their tireless work to help wetland birds - but there’s plenty more!

The RSPB Wildlife Charity based in the UK are here to protect more than just waders - they cover all sorts of wings, legs and trunks!

No, not elephants: trees, plants and whole habitats!  Saving 1 species of bird is virtually meaningless; as the birds need a place to live and feed too - so just focusing on 1 thing was never going to be a successful plan!  So they have expanded their range and set more targets for themselves.

So what are the 5 main aims of the RSPB today - other than just keeping british bird populations healthy - and how can you help then to increase their efforts!

1) Safeguarding The Sea!
We know that they are already working to protect, clean and manage inland waterways and estuarine environments - I mean, we have all been to one of their reserves - but what about the huge expanse of water along the coast and out to sea!

With the recent implementation of the Marine Act in England and Wales, they are working hard to give this environment the best protection they can as over 50% of the UK’s birds and wildlife rely on the sea for food and breeding.

However, the Act doesn’t extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland - so you could be working with them to protect these areas too.

2) Avoiding Extinctions:
By knowing which species are where in the UK, the RSPB can tell when they are in trouble and need a helping hand.  Sometimes this is just through careful monitoring, but more commonly it means taking drastic and emergency action.

Whether it’s the captive breeding of individuals, the re-introduction of others or the working in secret locations to protect small populations, they make sure that the few remaining birds have got the best chance possible to breed and rear healthy offspring.

And it’s not just in the UK that they are trying to save species, for example they have reduced the accidental deaths of 18 species of albatross by a whopping 85%.  Longline fishing around the Antarctic was killing 1000’s of these birds every year - and they hope to extend this success around the worlds other oceans.

3) Inspiring Indonesia!
Working overseas again, the RSPB is saving precious rainforest in Sumatra - aimed at the bird life but now protecting mammals, insects and amphibians too.

Providing and protecting a tropical habitat that is home to rare tigers, sun bear, monkeys and all sorts of colourful birds and other wildlife is their top priority in this region - and they hope to protect more land here and across the globe.

4) Coping With Climate Change:
They actively lobby the government on all issues they feel relevant to preventing any more climate changing activities like opening further coal-powered power stations and encouraging sustainable energy production, such as wind farms.

They arranged a hugely successful march through London last year - called The Wave - and are now asking the public to sign their ‘Letter to the Future’ so that a million voices can all tell the Government what we think our country should be doing for the Planet.

5) Countryside Fun!
What is the point in saving these habitats if nobody is going to use them?  So the RSPB work hard to make the countryside accessible for all by improving and expanding their reserves and other protected areas.

By encouraging schools and adults alike to respect and explore the Great Outdoors, they are helping to make sure that there are people in the UK today who will take care of our countryside in the future!

You can help by becoming a member for as little as £3 a month (less than the entry fee to 1 of their paying reserves) or a family from just £50 for the whole year!

Or you can offer to volunteer at a reserve near you and make a physical difference to the UK countryside and the wild places around you.

There are still more tips coming to me for your horse, pony or stable yard!

It is so easy to see a new top tip when you walk through the yard - either by doing something yourself or seeing someone else doing it.  Sometimes, your friends might be doing something that saves then time or money or just because it’s easier - but it could be a great eco friendly tip!

1) Learn to sew!  Putting patches on elbows, new hems on your rugs and darning your woolly socks together can all make your existing clothes last longer!  You don’t need to look perfect at the yard - especially if it’s cold or raining!  Making your clothes last longer means you get to spend your money on more exciting things! 

2) Go solar-powered for those little things like the stable radio - or you can get wind-up versions too.  Maybe buy a solar powered ‘travel charger’, so while you are mucking out - your mobile phone could be charging itself up naturally!  And make sure your lighting is powered by a green energy supplier!

3) Make sure you always muck out your horsebox or pony trailer as soon as you arrive at your destination to prevent the damp bedding soaking into the wooden floorboards.  Obviously, the longer you let the moisture soak in, the more damage it can do - and the shorter the lifespan of your trailer!

4) Learn to make your own equipment if possible, like feeding a piece of reused foam through the headband of a head collar to act as a poll guard.  This way you get to use all your old bits and bobs from around the house - and the stores don’t need to keep making more of everything!

5) If your horse eats it’s fresh bedding (or you want to make your bedding last longer) - you should mix in some of the old bedding when mucking out.  Not only will this mean that you need less bedding each time - but your horse should stop eating the wrong materials - and prevent wasted vets fees and your time!

6) Also to save vets visits, wasted treatments and last minute panics - keep a record of your horses medical information.  For example knowing the temperature of your horse before and after exercise, in summer or in winter can mean that you know for definite when there is something wrong.  Saying that your pony is ‘really hot’ isn’t the best way of judging for treatments and medication!  So if you have a definite record beforehand - you will be sure when something is wrong or when something is just the ‘top end of normal’.

7) And again - store your feed and medicines in metal dustbins or other suitably waterproof and pest-resistant containers.  That way you will keep things vermin-free as well as avoiding leaks and breakages.  This all adds up to less wasted products, no contaminated feeds and no poorly ponies - there really is no need to waste time, energy or money ever again!

8.) Use a left-over piece of plastic drainpipe to put over the top of a stable door to prevent your horse crib-biting.  By cutting it into 2 pieces, you could rest it over the top of the door to stop it being destroyed!  Not only will this stop you having to repair or buy a new door eventually - but can’t hurt the horse either!

9) Depending on the size of your own land - why not fence off a small area and grow your own hay.  Either feed as hay or make it into haylage instead.

10) Or why not go organic - and grow your own horse veg!  A few lines of carrots, some turnips, garlic and even an apple tree don’t need a lot of room - and could mean fresh organic and local veg for your pony (and you!).

Well, what do you think of those then?  Any help to you - I hope so.

Don’t think that ’someone like you’ can’t make a bigger company have to make changes.

In today’s society there are plenty of ‘little poeple’ out there fighting for a larger cause - so don’t think that you couldn’t be one of them.  Not everyone wants to take on something huge - but if you do, then take the following as inspiration.

The Film CRUDE (2009) is all about a massive ongoing court case between the indigenous tribes of the Ecuadorian Amazon and Texaco (which was brought up in 2001 by Chevron).

30,000 people from the area filed a class action lawsuit against the huge oil company in 1993 for polluting their land.  They wanted them held responsible for causing human health issues, animal health issues, and environmental health issues through systematic ’spilling’ of oil into the natural watercourses and penetration into the ground from continuous overflow and dumping of toxic petrochemical waste over the past decades.

And who took on this case for the people?  A newly qualified young lawyer called Pedro Fajardo who lives close by.

He had grown up watching his environment being destroyed and poisoned by the petrochemical company, and decided to work really hard towards fighting his case as soon as he was able.  Being from a poor family he worked extra hard to get good grades and so was able to get sponsorship from a Catholic School to take his law degree.  This case was his first case taken on after graduating!

How Is This Relevant To Me?
Well, what are you passionate enough about to make a real difference?  What things have you thought were ‘unfair’ or ‘unjust’ in your local area or around the world?

You can make a difference if you just make sure you are in the right environment to make a difference - and you make sure you can do the best job possible to achieve it.

For example a friend of mine found out that a property close to the entrance to her children’s school was going to be converted into 8 flats - with the drive emptying out into the street where her children walked every morning.  She found out about the application and what it meant for the local area and then produced a short print-out of facts to other parents - raising her concerns over increased traffic so close to children.

She managed to get enough signatures of complaint from other concerned parents that the application was refused - although she wasn’t too happy about the photo of her they put in the local paper!

I know this is only small fry compared to the years long battle in CRUDE, but every small step can lead to a larger one.  And every other person out there fighting a case is winning for truth.  As Pablo said in the film; Texaco have a harder job than him fighting the case as he is just telling the truth - they are having to think of a lie to cover that truth every time!

How Did He Do It Then?
Of course it wasn’t just a self-funding attorney from Ecuador that is taking on the entirety of the $200 billion annual revenue multi-national oil-producing Chevron - he had friends!

When you are fighting a true case like this - where the evidence speaks for itself - you will always find other people fighting for similar causes that will chip in - making your voice louder.

For example Pablo had won the attention of a US attorney and his board of funders - and they believed in his cause.  Whether they were really in it for the Ecuadorian people or the huge sums of money doesn’t matter - they were there when he needed them.

Other charities also stepped into assist, including Trudie Styler and Sting who work for their own humanitarian charity the Rainforest Foundation Fund - as well as articles in magazines such as Vanity Fair.  Of course the best voice for his cause was when this documentary was made by Joe Berlinger (and make sure you watch it) - as the world can now see first-hand the people involved and the damage they are having to live with.

So don’t think that when you start something you are alone - you can always find others willing to make a difference too - and together you can make it bigger!

During the bright sunny weather - there are butterflies everywhere!

But what are they all called, and why does it matter?  Well, it matters because butterflies are very specific feeders and so can tell us what the health of certain plants is like - and therefore which habitats are disappearing and which ones a expanding.  And this information is vital to biodiversity and conservation.

So - how many butterflies can you identify?  Which plants have you introduced or encouraged in your garden to attract butterflies?

Well, now is your chance to learn a few more and actually use this new information to help a national survey tell us about our changing environments.

The Survey:
The Butterfly Conservation Trust and Marks & Spencer have got together to organise a very simple sample survey of your local butterflies.

Basically, all they want you to do is tally up all the butterfly species you see in your garden or on a walk in just 15 minutes.

No need to learn a billion species or any rare butterflies - just the common and most widespread species in the UK.

They have even produced a fantastic, clear and comprehensive visual identification guide to around 15 butterflies - showing both upper and lower wing patterns.  They couldn’t have made it any easier!

So could you spare a few minutes now looking through the species guide and then 15 minutes at the end of July to tally them up?  A pair of binoculars wouldn’t be a bad idea either!

Why Butterflies?
Well, butterflies are very obvious in the environment.  They don’t try to hide - infact they brandish their wings to the sun; they come out during the brightest, clearest days and they are usually brightly coloured too - with some quite striking patterns.

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly

This means that it would be a lot easier that trying to spot night-flying moths or small mammals etc!

As mentioned before, they only feed on certain plants and only lay their eggs on certain other plants, so you can be very sure that where there are White Admirals there will be Honeysuckle and where there are Silver-Washed Fritillary there will be Dog Violet.

Therefore if there certain plant species dying off or becoming more abundant due to land-use changes or differing weather patterns - the butterflies will have to change their local habitat to make sure they and their young can feed.

And this is where the survey can tell the specialist and awful lot!  The information for just our garden might not really tell us anything - but add that up between all the survey results and the picture will become much clearer.

So the more people who can spare 15 minutes of their time - the more definitive the results will be, and the more action can be taken to make sure we don’t lose butterflies from our gardens - and don’t lose entire habitats because we didn’t care to look!

So, go get your suncream and a pen!

Female Dogs are still being forced to have litter, after litter, after litter, after litter, after litter……..

The only way they can get to stop this repeated assault and to be freed from their small and very dirty cage or crate is to die - then they get thrown outside into a bin or hole in the ground!

And this is no lie or just some horror story made up by rescue centres - type in ‘puppy farm’ or ‘puppy mill’ in an ‘images’ Internet search - and you will see the evidence!

Basically puppy farms only exist because people are STILL buying the puppies - even after years and years of advertising and petitioning by rescue centres and animal welfare bodies!  People just can’t see sense.

So, what can you do to stop this trade in endless puppy farming without spending an extra penny?  Well if you want to buy a puppy - read through the advice below:

1) Check Out A Rescue Centre:
There are always pedigree and first cross puppies filling up rescue centres all the time.  Only this week there are 18 puppies at a local RSPCA centre; 8 mastiff cross, 6 lurchers and 4 spaniels - all cute and all looking for homes!  And there are hundreds more waiting in other centres too!

These are usually unwanted litters - basically the owner did not neuter their female dog and a free-roaming neighbouring male dog got to her when she was in season.  Hey presto - a litter of first cross puppies are born! 

By getting your puppy from a centre like this is a great way to stop puppy farm breeders - as the less puppies they sell, the less likely they are to breed more.   

2) Being Really Picky With Your Breeder:
Well the first thing you can do is not ever buy a puppy from a breeder advertising in a local newspaper in the first place.  Yes, there are some genuine breeders out there who want to sell their puppies - but it is often not easy to spot them in local publications amongst the ‘money-makers’.

You need to look out for a couple of things before calling anyone, as there are many clear signs that can tell you that these people don’t actually really ‘love’ their dogs - and are therefore probably just after the money.  Than if you do call - check out a few further details…..

Advertising More Than 1 Pedigree Breed For Sale:  
What type of irresponsible pet carer allows 2,3 or even 7 of her female pets to become pregnant at the same time?  If they are ‘pedigree’ dogs - then the owner has actually paid and arranged for the many seperate male dogs to come and do the stud work!  And what sort of ‘loving’ pet owner can keep up to 7 female dogs as pets in the same home?  No-one - so all these bitches are outside in kennels.

Giving Only A Mobile Number:
Are they saying that they are more likely to be away from home than looking after the puppies?

Saying That You Might Not Be Able To See The Mother:
By the time you can collect the puppies the female could be pregnant again - or skeletal!  If she hasn’t had the correct nutrition through the latter stages of the pregnancy (or her whole life) then she will look totally bony and exhausted by the time the pups are ready for rehoming.  No wonder they won’t let you see her!

However, you should be suspicious if you do see the mother and she hasn’t got very swollen and dangly nipples - it means that the puppy isn’t hers even if she is sniffing it or the puppy is trying to suckle.  Whelping females (females that have just given birth) have unmistakably dangly boobies!

The Puppies Are Less Than 8 Weeks Old:
In an ideal world for the puppy - it should stay with it’s siblings and in the company of it’s mother up to between 8 and 12 weeks.  Puppies younger than this are really a little too young to be rehomed - no matter how cute they look - so the secret is to not look at them in the first place!

All puppies are cute - otherwise we wouldn’t want to get one in the first place.  And if you are looking for a particular pedigree breed - then they will look virtually identical anyway as that is the idea behind being a pedigree in the first place!

Offering To Meet You ’Halfway’ Or To ‘Drop It Off At Your House’:
This plays on the ‘falling in love with the cute puppy’ syndrome.  Breeders want to be seen as kind and friendly by saving you the trip to meet them - but in fact they are just making sure you don’t see the state of their kennels and the poor suffering bitches in their puppy farm!

If you want a cute chocolate Labrador puppy and have your money in hand - and the breeders turn up with a very cute chocolate Labrador in their hands - you will take it from them.  Even if it is too young, a ‘bit poorly’ has an ‘upset tummy’ or even a sore foot or cut on it’s face!

Basically - you will be so ‘in love’ with it that you will still pay full price for a ’sick’ puppy - it even adds to the appeal - I mean how could you turn it away?  

That’s their plan - and you fell for it!  Just like the thousands of people before you that they have been supplying with puppy farmed pets!

So What Can You Do?
You need to be tough - but the only way to stop this is to make sure that you don’t ‘feel sorry’ for a puppy, and don’t buy any that fit the above ‘dodgy’ criteria.

Every puppy farmed puppy you do buy just gives the breeders good reason to go and breed a whole new litter.  If you could make around £4000 for a litter of cocker spaniels - imagine how much you could make if you had 10 bitches breeding 2 or 3 times a year?

But, if you made nothing at all from the first litter - but had spent £1000’s of your own money feeding these 10 bitches and their 80 puppies and didn’t sell any - would you do it again?

Make sure you plan your puppy purchase so that you are not cornered by these people or fall in love with a sick or badly bred puppy!  There are plenty of healthy loved puppies out there to choose from!

Brilliant ideas to purify your lifestyle and feel good about it - she says….

Basically this book tries to cover all the organic and natural ways you can overcome the ‘evil’ or modern products and all the chemicals they contain.

And to prove it, she divides her advice up into 48 categories of ‘nasties’ including make-up and nappies. She explains in each case why we need to swap to more natural alternatives - by using scientific and medical arguments against each - and then offers organic, (man-made) chemical-free and more ‘natural’ products or ingredients that you could use instead.

The Book Itself:
I loved the layout of this book, and it was so easy to read that you find yourself reading chapter after chapter.  Each chapter is a 4-6 page debate as to the pro’s and con’s of each mini subject including for example, Make-Up, chocolate and toothpaste.

Hughes-Cooper helps to explain some of the main down-sides to the products we use today and offers alternatives.  There isn’t a full explanation of each due to the ’short’ nature of each chapter, and some of her answers or arguments are a bit vague or non-proven - but she certainly makes you think about all these issues while you are reading. 

She regularly uses phrases like ’this is totally natural’ - but remember that this is what they used to say about Arsenic, Lead and radio-active products that ‘glow in the dark’. It’s also important to remember that anything that can be found in plants, animals or in the earth is technically ‘natural’ in origin, but I doubt you will be in a hurry to use toadstools, uranium or snake venom in your kitchen or bathroom!

Due to the way in which you can read through this book relatively quickly, I found that I would stop for a moment after reading a particular fact and think ‘Oh my goodness, I should stop using that’ but then read on through to another section and do the same again. It seemed like page after page of doom and gloom, and worries about my health, but then I just carried on reading.  Almost like I wanted to find out how awful I was being to my own body, but then actually did nothing about it.

As with most of the ‘best things’ in this life, whether it’s growing your own veg, not flying, using only organic make-up, growing sprouted mung bens and seeking out the parabens free version of everything, the thought of it all just seems to overwhelm the normal working person.  I myself would love to consider doing most of the things Hughes-Cooper recommends in her book, but the time it would take and the possible financial costs just seem a bit prohibitive.  And it left me feeling like a bit of a failure!

Yes, there are some easy ones to achieve, like growing my own herbs in the window box and buying organic milk (as I do them already), but others I hadn’t really thought of doing, like buying hemp products instead of 100% cotton and un-bleached feminine products - which should both be quite easy to start doing. 

However, something else caught my attention as I read this book: Organic doesn’t automatically mean eco friendly - you might need a trade-off.  For example making your own smoothies, fruit juices, pies and vegetable noodles, all involve buying a new piece of electrical equipment - and creates a lot more washing up!  Neither of these are eco friendly.

Should you buy organic wines from Australia or non-organic British wines?  Think of the weight of the glass bottles coming from the other side of the world!  And there are constant references to using ‘natural’ cleaning products like white vinegar and bicarbonate of soda - but can you imagine what would happen if we all used these instead of all the shop-brought cleaners?  Vinegar is from grapes - so excessive amounts of water-hungry fruits will need to be grown to keep up with demand; and the soda is mined from the ground - so imaging habitats being destroyed to ‘naturally’ clean all the kitchens in the UK and US! 

I totally agree, however, that our actions can make us humans healthier and at the same time have less of a ‘chemical’ impact on the environment.  And sometimes the choice you have is so very simple.  However, there is still so much that you need to work quite hard to achieve, and I just don’t think that everything in this book can be achieved by a working family.

I mean I thought I was putting a reasonable effort in to the whole eco friendly/organic movement, but have only seemed to have achieved about a third of the things mentioned in the book. with maybe alf a dozen or so more in the pipeline now after reading it.  So, I hope that everyone who reads it (just like me) manages to get a few new ideas from it, because all those small things will soon add up!

Result: 3/5
If you were just reading this book the one time, then it might not really be of any use to you, other than making you think about how many toxins you and your children have absorbed over your lifetime, but if you were to use this as a reference book then things could be very different - and my Result would rise to 4/5 for it.

It certainly has it’s uses as a starting point for the layman, and has highlighted a few new things for me, but the thought of searching endlessly on the Internet for the right products, or reading label after label when I only have 10 minutes free time before having to collect the kids from school - or worse still, I have the kids in tow, then these things become unreasonable to achieve.

This book is part of the  ‘52 Briliant Ideas’ series, so I will be looking out for other relevant books to give me some more inspiration!

ISBN: 978-1-905940-57-8

Could you live without posted flyers - and live with super fast mobile technology instead?

Imagine reducing the demand for paper-based realty advertising - and reducing the need to keep driving into their store to pick things up - and all the ink you will be saving as well.  It seems almost criminal that we haven’t thought about this sooner! 

I have found out about a product that would allow your local realtors to provide you with all the important details about a property to you whilst you sit in your car admiring the outside view! It’s like a mobile real estate system that has multiple benefits for the environment - and for selling your home!

It’s called House4Cell, and it can help the environment in more ways than you could imagine - so why not consider finding an estate agent that uses it when you come to moving home.

There seems so much ‘eco friendly-ness’ about this technology, that you should be pestering your real estate agents to take this on regardless of whether you are buying or selling your property!  And it is a simple as text messaging.

Real Estate Text Messaging Solution?
Basically, the realtor will put a normal ’For Sale’ sign outside the property that is listed with their contact details on it - but underneath this they will attach a further sign that says something like: Text: ‘This House’ to 55535′. It’s like a modern mobile answer for today’s home buyers. No more hanging around in the rain - or waiting until Monday morning to get the details!

With this technology, it allows the potential buyer to stay outside the house that they like and simply text the given number into their phone. They will then instantly receive the property details and up to 3 internal pictures onto their mobile phone or smart phone - even Verizon phones can receive these images!

This way, no matter what time of day it is, weekend, holidays or whatever - people can get the information instantly without having to drive around town trying to find the agents store.  It also reduces the need for all that printed paperwork that comes with property searches and the extra staff needed to sort it all out!

And, the sooner your can get moving after finding the right home! How many people just miss out on the home of their dreams after having to wait for details to come through the post!

What Else Does It Do?
Well, apart from all the eco friendly things listed above - this system could make house prices lower; or at least stop them rising. I mean if a lot of their work is now done automatically, then realtors will need less staff and resources in place to keep their business running.

And with lower running costs businesses can offer more to their customers as they are spending less time on the phone and printing off sheet after sheet of images! 

The company that developed the product - Cellit Mobile Marketing - have also added a few extras for the buyers. For example, they can text or email you further details on request, and can even offer updates on price reductions of homes you were interested in as well as other similar homes in the area.

So, if you like eco friendly technology - and you want to use less paper and waste less time and energy - then you should love this!