Eco Friendly House And Garden

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?

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.

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!

Can working in your local bakers be just as eco friendly as saving whales in the Pacific?

Yes, of course it can!  Just because you aren’t out there on the front line fighting deforestation and humanitarian crimes - doesn’t mean you aren’t making the best choices for your environment.

Don’t get ‘ethical’ issues confused with ‘environmental’ issues - the latter being active for the planet - and the people and communities benefiting from the ethical side of things.

How Can You Help?
Well, working closer to home is an easy one for starters.  Why travel miles to work if you can get a job within walking distance of your front door.  I mean, there will be people driving past you as they work in the offices or stores near your home, and you spend the day working close to their home!

It’s not always working for an eco friendly business that makes your individual job more eco friendly either.  I mean travelling 20 or more miles a day in your car to get to an eco friendly workplace by no means compares to someone who walks 5 minutes to work in a local bakers - even if the baker doesn’t use the most eco friendly equipment! Over a year the difference is more obvious.

And if you are eco minded - then you could help to implement changes to your workplace to make them more eco-friendly in themselves.  I mean if you could work locally to promote eco friendly practices in a locally run family business in your own community - what could be more eco friendly!

Look At Yourself Now:
Even if you aren’t planning on changing jobs - there are plenty of things you could look at in your current role and help to change.  And with the shortage of truly ‘green’ jobs about - you are probably better to become a mini activist in your current role!

However, it’s not all the same green!  Just because the charity you work for helps wildlife conservation - it doesn’t mean that everything else is a given.  For example, if you are working in a retail outlet on behalf or the many charities out there - is that really green at all?

Retail stores are a massive polluter and creator of waste - I mean you only need to look out the back of a store to see the tonnes of waste cardboard and other packaging being used.  All the pricing, stock holding and transportation add up to something huge - so can you really call this an ‘eco friendly’ job?

Ideas For The Future:
Start to think about everyday things in your job as well - rather than the large sweeping achievements of the great big companies.

I like to think that the people who are working for their community are making as much of a difference as those campaigners on the other side of the world.  It’s the people who just plod along day after day thinking of all the things they could do - but not doing them!

I know now isn’t the time to be giving up your job on a whim - but you could start to work through all those little things that have been nagging you.  Find out about local funding for certain projects that might apply to your business.  Promote communication methods that save energy and canteen options that can reduce food miles.

And, trying to find an eco friendly business improvement that can save your company money will always go down well with the boss - so try to find an cost effective eco friendly angle for everything!

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

If you have a cat, dog, ferret, rabbit, horse, tortoise or other large pets - you should get it a microchip!

It is National Microchipping Month in the UK, but wherever you live - it is still a great eco friendly thing you can do to make your life easier and that of local vets and animal rescue charities a lot easier - leaving their time free to do more vital procedures in their practices.

I know the connection is not that obvious - but remember that time is money, so if time has to be wasted by several people trying to catch, report, transport, check over, kennel and then search for and confirm the pets owners - this is wasted money, time and energy that could have virtually all been avoided if your pet had a microchip!

How Does It All Add Up?
Well, the first thing to do to make your pet ownership more eco friendly is to not lose you pet in the first place by making sure your garden is secure and that you do not leave children in charge of any animal unsupervised outside of your home.

However, once ‘lost’ it starts to create a problem - firstly for the considerate person who bothers to catch it and keep it safe.  Working at a rescue centre I often get calls from poor people finding a lost pet on their way to work and then having to sort things out before getting into trouble at work for being late!

And there is that first phone call.  They may call a local vet first or a rescue centre - either way there has to be staff on the other end of the phone to answer that call.  Then comes the detail reporting: 1) firstly we need to check our paperwork to see if anyone has reported that pet missing, 2) if not, then we have to complete a form of our own to say that someone has found a particular pet, then 3) we need to give the finder advice about other locations to try and call for help, or even send around a volunteer to collect it so the finder can get to work!

All of this costs money - and uses up valuable charity time and the paper and ink for all the forms that need to be printed out.

And of course the owner who has lost their pet could be calling all sorts of other places reporting their pet missing as well - calling local vets, pet shops and rescue centres to see if anyone has reported the animal as ‘found’ - wasting even more time for all these different locations and their staff, completing endless forms full of contact information!

As you can imagine a lost dog could have created at least 6-10 phone calls (half from their owner and half from the ‘finder’) all around 5 minutes each (that’s up to 50 minutes) and completed around 3-6 ‘Lost & Found’ forms.  What a waste of time!

And this is all assuming that the owner is found within an hour or 2.  If not, then a rescue centre or vet might have to take in the animal over a period of a few days - using food and space that should be available to sick or injured animals. 

If the rescue centre only has 10 kennels in the first place and 1 has got a ‘lost’ dog in it for a week and there is a ‘lost’ cat in another: it could have to turn away other abandoned animals due to lack of space.

All because the animal wasn’t clearly identified.

So Why The MicroChip?
Well, every veterinary surgery and rescue centre will have a handheld scanning machine that can pick up the code from an implanted microchip in your pet.

So if you find a ‘lost’ animal, like a dog or cat, you could just take it into a local vets and get it scanned in about 1 minute.  And then you can virtually get the owner on the phone and the pet wil be home in no time at all!  None of these round-the-houses phone calls - and no forms to fill out!

The number of each microchip is unique and can be used to pull up a record of the pet and all the owner contact details (if the owner has kept it up to date of course!).

Therefore if everyone had their pets chipped and everyone who ever finds a lost or injured animal takes it straight to any vet; this whole Lost & Found scenario - that takes place everyday across the country - will end!

Finder Then: Find lost cat, find a phone, call rescue centre and give details, phone local vet and leave details, phone another vet and leave details, phone local pet store and leave details, ask a few people in the area if they recognise cat, then make arrangements to keep pet secure and feed and water it until the owner is found, then wait by the phone all day until they call and finally make arrangements for owner to collect their cat.

Finder Now: Find a lost cat - take it to a vet - go home.

The Eco Friendly Result:
So now that every pet can be reunited with it’s owner without calling about 6 different people - the rescue centres and vets can use their staff to do more important things like treating sick and injured animals and finding homes for those that have been abandoned without having to worry about answering the phone all the time!

And we all know that making better use of your time and resources is the more eco friendly option - so by microchipping your pet, you could be plugging that little gap in the pet world and saving energy and time to boot!

Not to mention getting that lost pet back to it’s owner the fastest and safest way!

Well, there are never just a few ways to be eco friendly around the yard - there is always something else!

So, to help you get even greener in the stable -  I have put together another 10 top tips for you and your horse or pony to help save resources and making things last longer!

1) By picking out your horses feet while still in the stable means that the bedding stays where it is needed - rather than being swept away when you clean the yard!

2)Always keep a list of all your eco suppliers to hand - not only for yourself, but also to recommend to others if they need something specific.  That way, you won’t have to resort to the easiest suppliers when you are in need!

3) Always wear an old baggy t-shirt over your jumpers when grooming or doing ‘hay’ related jobs as they won’t stick to it - whereas your jumper will just get covered in hay or hair - and need washing more often! 

4) Grow your own organic veg for your horse or pony as well.  Make sure you grow your own selection of horse-friendly veg as well as all the things you need; so turnips and carrots should be on the list!

5) When feeding hay to your horses in the field - make sure you select the least windy area to do so - otherwise you will be wasting hay as it blows across your field rather than getting eaten! 

6) Same goes for other feeds - you need to make sure that your horse is getting everything he needs and none is wasted.  So weigh out feeds and hay if necessary, as well as not over-feeding or allowing your horse to kick over the food bowl or tread on the hay.

7) And use bags or sacks when transporting hay and straw across the yard so it doesn’t all blow away for the same reason.  And noone wants to sweep the yard more than they have to!

8.) Get your horse to wear a summer sheet underneath their winter rugs, as they are much easier to wash - so making your winter rugs last longer and keep your horse warmer!

9) And for you - if your long boots have split up the leg - then cut them off at the ankle and use them as a spare pair of short boots for odd jobs around the yard!

10) And finally: If you manage to puncture your plastic boots in the yard - fix them yourself with a bicycle repair kit - making them waterproof again. That way you won’t need to splash out on a new pair! Boots can live forever - or as long as you want them to!

Yippee - that should save you some money - and save the environment from more wasted resources!

Good job!

Lighting your home for low energy consumption is an important part of modern eco living.

But don’t forget that it is also very important for all your other hoursehold activities too - like reading, entertaining and general safety.  So do think about these when trying to change your lighting for the better.

If you don’t plan for the correct number of light fixtures in your rooms - or bulb brightness; then you may end up having to make adaptations to the room, or changing room uses - which could all be avoided with better planning.

For example, if the lights are not bright enough in your lounge, you may want to read and use your laptop in the kitchen instead, where seating is usually more uncomfortable - and you may have to keep moving out of the way for others to eat.  And why heat the front room if noone ever really uses it anyway?

But then what if your kitchen is open plan to the hall, the stairs or the conservatory - heating that space is going to cost you more money and energy than having fitted a suitable light in the lounge in the first place!

No Need To Compromise:
Planning for a greener home doesn’t mean you have to ask for less stylish fittings - and you can still take advantage of contemporary designs like modern alessi Designs or AXO’s avant-garde approach in your home.  ‘Eco Friendly’ doesn’t have to mean ‘boring’ - just plan ahead and choose the eco options where possible, for example fittings that work with low energy bulbs and lighting that makes a room in your home fit for the purpose you want to use it for. 

I mean, you can still have glitz and glamour in your home - but make sure it is with a purpose: like some delicate chandelier lighting in the dining room!  If you have a dining room that you want to glam up for special occasions - then go for it!  Energy-efficient light bulbs can be used for most fittings these days - and you still get to enjoy that special treat for yourself without having just a boring single lampshade in your room!

And, as you use it regularly for entertaining - it will be fit for purpose and so make better use of that space, those fittings and your energy choices.  It can also help to keep that room ‘kid free’ so it stays as a special place for grown-ups or special events.

Planning Ahead For A Night In:
Another idea is to have 2 sets of independent lights in a room - for 2 different purposes.  Take your lounge: day to day living for the family, or quiet night in for the grown-ups? 

If you are like me and want the lounge only lit with low light while watching an evening movie - then consider a pendant light - or three.  Rather than leaving the bright kitchen or hall way lights on to create that ambiance; why not light the room with low wattage (and low energy) tiny lights - maybe with colored covers for some warmth. 

And don’t forget - keeping the lighting in the room you are actually in means you can close the door and keep the warmth inside in the winter - rather than it all leaking out of the open hallway door!

So, plan ahead - way ahead - and make sure that the time and energy you spend on planning your new light fittings will fit with your hopes and uses for each room. 

No more having to sit somewhere stupid just because it’s brighter, no more having to move the furniture around to fit in a new lamp - and of course no more compromise on having an eco friendly house!

Not only will a working smoke alarm save your your life - it will save natural materials!

Imagine the total and utter devastation of a burned-out home.  Imagine all your possessions - gone!

Now think about the tiny little battery that could help prevent that - and all you need to do is press the little ‘TEST’ button every week or so to prevent this waste.

Now let’s not even think about the really personal possessions that will be lost - let’s just think about the rest as well: the sofa, the curtains, kitchen units, beds, wardrobes, carpets, tables, electrical goods, pictures, toys, and everything else you adorn your home - and your life - with.

All gone.

photo credit: Timitrius

Now, think about all those materials that have been needlessly wasted - and which now need to be replaced,  Possibly even your entire house itself is destroyed completely - and maybe even parts of a neighbouring home too.

Yes, if you are insured, the financial costs of replacing it all will be low - but that isn’t what eco friendly living is all about, is it? 

Why Bother Then?
And, I’m not trying to say here that these material things are more important than human lives - but it is yet another reason to check (or buy) a decent smoke alarm for your home!

And yes, I am well aware that a smoke alarm might not be able to save everything in your home - but it gives you the chance to save most of it.

It is really time that we started to value our possessions as more longer term investments., rather than just acting like they are ‘fashion accesories’ that can be replaced whenever we want.

Value Isn’t Always In Money!
We need to start valuing our homes and their contents as though they are as valuable as the natural resources we are plundering to make them.  Your curtains could be made from materials that were grown in a hillside farm in Asia, your table from a forest in South America and your electrical goods from a mine in Africa.

You wouldn’t be so quick to replace them if you could see where they came from, the things that were done to retrieve them and all the natural materials used to get them to you in the first place.

Furniture and the like should be valued at their entire cost - from source to your home - not just their financial cost from the store.

I bet a table made by your grandfather and given to you for nothing would be far more valuable to you than a table you paid £1000 for from a store!  Even though someone elses family has made it for you instead!

We need to start thinking about everything as more valuable these days - and you can start by checking your smoke alarm!