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?

Finally, London has put some focus on a bicycle hire scheme in the City!

Rather than focusing on trying to stop heavy traffic - they have decided to focus on promoting and supporting a cycling scheme for commuters, locals and tourists alike!

Hopefully this is the first step towards changing the way we look at cities and transport for the future - and the more of us that support the scheme - the more likely further improvements are!

Tower Bridge - London

Why Bikes?
Well, the idea behind the current scheme is to allow people to cycle around London without having the initial worry and cost of buying a new bike - and then reducing the worry of securely storing these bikes in flats and on the street.

By offering the use of secure bicycles that you can hire for a small fee - these 2 worries are eliminated - and at the same time making the streets cleaner and safer and reducing the need for increasing other resources.

Over 12,000 people have already signed up for the scheme - so that’s 12,000 bikes that haven’t had to be made!  They will all be sharing the same bikes in the scheme making great environmental sense!

And of course, it is better for the environment to have 500 bikes trundling around the streets than 50 half-empty buses.  And it’s better for the 12,000 people to be cycling themselves from A to B than to have them just sitting on a bus or tube.

Added to this - bicycles are made for 1 - whereas car hire schemes will usually leave 3 empty seats!

How It Works:
At the moment you need to sign up online to join the scheme - then you receive your ‘key’ which allows you to ride any of the bikes around the city.

There are 2 separate charges for the scheme and they are explained below.  Once you understand the difference between these, it is so simple to use.

Charge 1) Access To A Bike:
You will pay a small fee to actually free a bike up from it’s docking station, which can be as little as 12p a day if you buy an annual pass, or up to £1 a day if you pay daily.  This Access lasts a full 24 hours from release of the bike from the docking point.

Charge 2) Time-Based Hire:
You will pay a set fee for the length of time you have a bike out of a docking station.  Fees range from £1 for an hour up to £50 for the whole day (a day = a 24 hour period).  If the bike is not returned to a docking station before the 24 hour period elapses there will be a steep fine to pay!

However, less than 30 minutes on a bike (ie - from leaving 1 docking station to being secured in another docking station) if totally free!  So you only pay the Access Fee - which could be as little as 12 pence!

Needless to say that the more you use it the more cost effective it is, and using it for short distances is the key to good value.

Using it for longer bike rides might not be as cost effective as using a standard bicycle hire store - but could be more convenient.

Either way - make sure that you support the scheme in any way you can, so that the Government can see that people want less traffic on the roads, we want better pedestrian and cycling facilities and associated safety improvements - and we want greener travel improvements across the country.

If you help make London a success - it could roll out to other large cities!  Imagine all that green energy being used up on pedal-power rather than petrol!

Should you use normal plastic loads of times - or biodegradable plastic just the once?

There have been many recent developments in the plastic industry and the most controversial is the biodegradable versions that we had all waited so long for!

However, there are some unforeseen problems with these new versions - and it is a difficult eco friendly choice between them and ‘normal’ plastics.

See the 2 examples below of the 2 ways in which these plastic can be more eco friendly:

1) Buy a product in a normal plastic bottle and either re-use it forever or recycle it again and again, or;

2) Buy a product in a biodegradable plastic bottle (either HBP or OBP) that contains ingredients that will speed up its bio-degradation or turn it into compost when you dispose of it.

The 2 don’t mix!  It has to be 1 or the other!

What Does Biodegradable Mean?
If you first consider the word ‘biodegradable’ in its general meaning - it is any product (solid or liquid) that will break down naturally into environmentally safe and virtually natural products that can be used by living organisms in around 6 months.

However, there is no legal definition in terms of products in the stores - so anything claiming to be ‘biodegradable’ could be just that - or could be nothing of the sort; even if it has green pattern all over it and a picture of some wildlife on it!

So, what these biodegradable plastics are trying to do is to be better than existing plastics.  They claim that they will break down into less harmful and polluting particles relatively quickly compared to standard plastics, and so will have less of a detrimental effect on wildlife in the long term.

Don’t forget that existing plastics will also break down naturally (in the sense that if you leave a carrier bag part buried in your garden - it will eventually fall apart) but the plastic doesn’t actually disappear, it will just be in ever smaller parts.

Why Biodegradable Plastic Then?
Well, there has been an awful lot of bad press for plastic lately - what with sea turtles swallowing carrier bags and albatross feeding bits of plastic to their young - not to mention the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch that people were looking for a way to make plastic bottles, containers and other products get a lot smaller a lot quicker.

By making a plastic that breaks down as soon as possible means that whole bottles and bags won’t be found floating in the sea killing birds and turtles any more!

Washed Up Plastic Waste

You still need to be aware of the way the products break down though to be most effective - for example the 2 types of biodegradable plastic currently available as HBP (hydro-biodegradable plastic) and OBP (oxy-biodegradable plastic).

And as their name suggests; one needs water to break down quickly and the other needs air - so bury these in bin bags in land fill sites won’t really make either of them disappear any quicker than normal plastics - but imagine they were litter in the countryside or rubbish floating in the Atlantic.

It’s a whole different story then!  They would soon disappear making our wild areas cleaner and safer for living things!

What’s The Problem Then?
We have discussed that biodegradable plastics must be the best for the environment then - as they don’t stay in the environment for ever and ever as whole plastic products - they break down fast into less harmful particles!  Right?

Well, it’s not so clear cut as you can’t recycle them. 

Adding either HBP’s or OBP’s to recycled plastic can actually be more harmful than good - as these new plastics are designed to break down - so they can actually render a recycled plastic product virtually useless in just a few months!  And many councils are actually trying to get them banned as a result!

We all know that there is only a reason to make a product if it is financially viable - so reducing the need for plastic recycling could cause an end to recycled products!

And if the biodegradable products are meant to break down - then we are actually creating a market for more and more plastic to be created.  Rather than re-use your old toiletries bottles and food containers again and again - you would have to keep buying new ones instead!

So, is the new plastic actually any more eco friendly than the old?

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….

Teach Yourself: a practical understanding of the weather system, he says….

Basically this book explains how the weather ‘works’. By looking at the atmosphere and how the rotation of the Earth affects the movement of air, you can find out about cloud formation, severe weather events, weather forecasting and, of course, our changing climate.

And to prove it, he opens up with a very straight forward set of diagrams to show all these things in action in a normal state. Obviously he uses actual weather event examples throughout and there are colour plates in the centre to offer visual guidance.

The Book Itself:
I do love the simple nature of the majority of this book.  The way everything is explained step-by-step and there are usually pictures or diagrams to illustrate every new point he brings up.

Having a previous interest in the weather systems and of course climate change, I was already quite versed in his terminology and found I could work quickly through the facts and descriptions.

This book did base it’s main themes on weather in the area around the UK, but it used examples and weather paterns from across the globe, like monsoon weather and El Nino events. 

The Author helps to explain some of the basic cloud formations as well, which (towards the end of the book) he uses to help you identify the most likely weather to affect you in the next few hours.  By studying the shape and height of the clouds he can virtually guarantee that you will be able to spot when rain is on the way and when it should stay clear - using the very principles of cloud formation that he explained at the beginning.   Which I found quite fun and generally right!

All of this could be very useful if you are small-holding, growing your own crops, collecting rainwater, live by a stream, are out of a long hike or organising an outdoor eco event.  The weather really does affect almost everything that we do - so knowing a little about it can make a difference to our everyday lives.

He tries to avoid bringing climate change into every chapter and reserves a whole section (Chapter 10) to covering a few of the basics.  But he also saved a whole chapter (8) to how actual weather forecasts are made and prediction mathematics - which is where he lost me!  I found this section far too scientific, and if like me you have a brain that just ‘doesn’t listen’ when it finds something to complicated or that it just isn’t ready to understand yet - it gives up.  I didn’t manage to read this section all the way through - but I am sure that once I understand more about the basic weather systems, this information may become more interesting! 

I totally agree that the weather systems will continue to work as they see fit and as part of the negative and positive feedback systems - regardless of what us humans decide to do.  He has a few ‘future’ predictions based on current human activities but noone can know for sure what will happen in the next few hundred years - I’m sure the dinosaurs didn’t think that a meteor would just fall from the sky and affect their happy little lives!

Result: 5/5
Apart from the one technical chapter towards the end - I absolutely loved this book - and the introduction it gave to me about how the worlds weather is currently ‘working’.  This way I can better understand when there are changes - and also make a bit more sense of the weather forecasts on TV and weather events in general.

I loved the way towards the end that he touched on what we are doing to prepare for the future in terms or accepting that things will change.  I mean scientists are already very sure that sea levels will rise at least a few feet minimum, and global temperatures in the north will increase - so what are we going to do about it?

Are we going to carry on as normal and hope that we sort these things out, or should we start making subtle changes today - for example ‘not building any more housing in areas likely to flood from sea-level rises’?  He makes a startling statement about rising temperatures too - that in France during the 2003 heatwave over 10,000 extra deaths were recorded - and that the temperatures they experienced then could become the normal summer temperatures for that region within the next 100 years (or less).  So are we preparing for it now?

I don’t think we are.

ISBN: 978-0-340-96641-9

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!