Eco Friendly House And Garden

Why plant yourself in an office when you can get your work done out in the garden?

Running an eco friendly business shouldn't be separate from your lifestyle, so why should you have to make all your decisions and phone calls in your office?  Why can't you plan your next meeting while you are planting your next crop of courgettes?  Or catch up with your contacts while you are painting your pottery?

Eco living is all about the life/work balance not just remembering to check the page setup before printing anything or ordering those reycled content envelopes!

But Smart Phones Are Bulky?

Well, good job I wasn't talking about smartphones then!  I was thinking about wireless headsets.

Modern mobile gadgets can have their place in an eco friendly office – especially if they replace old-fashioned, energy-consuming older versions – but why still rely on an old phone for your office?

Yes, simple phones with no ansaphone or display features don't use electricity and are still the most eco friendly form of telephone communication – but you can't run a successful business these days without technology – and this includes your phone.

If you were trying to run nearly all big businesses with one landline number, no answering or call divert system and no website – you wouldn't get too far.  So why not take all the gadget world has to offer – but just choose the most eco friendly companies to buy from and recycle all your old equipment.

What Is Out There?

Well, there are many companies out there that can offer a range of wireless communication headsets and accessories – like Plantronics - where you can get the whole set-up you need from the one place.  There are also many types of headsets and bluetooth ear-pieces to choose from

And you could be out there too!  Most businesses thrive on their ability to answer customer calls within seconds and to actually offer a human voice to your consumers – so what better way than to have your landline linked up to a headset that you can wear or carry around your home and garden with you – and never miss a call!

There are different accessories of course, for different purposes.  Ear pieces for when you are in public, or comfy supported headsets for longer use and greater ease of use.  Whatever suit your needs – and wants.

All options keep both your hands free for getting on with the important things in life without having to wedge the phone between your chin and shoulder, muffling your voice or dropping your phone!

Never miss and eco customer and never waste time at your desk waiting for a call!

Think smart – think eco friendly!

A seemingly perfect eco friendly product could have a naughty little secret……

When people see an eco friendly alternative, or a potentially eco friendly product – they might not always see the whole story – and this is where enbodied energy comes in to the picture.

Basically – there is a hidden trail of things that go into making anything – and this trail could hold some less than eco friendly pathways that you hadn't thought of before.

They aren't all bad though – they just need to be taken into consideration when weighing up one thing against the other – for example local grapes might use more energy to grow than South African grapes – even though they have used less energy to transport to market.

But to make all this easier to understand, let's look at what embodied energy really means: "…..the total energy used to create a product from scratch and then dispose of it after use".

However, when you really pick this apart it includes an awful lot of things – so lets look at those grapes now.  So, we need to grow the grapes, pick them, pack them and get them to the shop – simple?  Not very……

photo credit: martingarri

Embodied energy would include the following list of things:

1) Maintaining the vine since the last harvest – which includes feeding, watering, clipping, treating and possibly heating or covering throughout the winter – which includes all the creation of all the chemicals used from scratch, energy to pipe the water, energy to move people and products to and from the site, energy to dispose of waste products, energy to heat or create covers for plants and the energy to create and maintain the necessary tools for the job.

2) Harvesting the grapes – which includes transporting all the staff and equipment to and from the vines, including and refrigeration, storage and internal transport of the grapes once harvested.  And the energy needed to dispose of all the waste created by this process.

3) Packing the grapes – which includes all the packaging needed to wrap and protect the grapes while they are moved through the packing process (and the energy needed to make all this packaging in the first place and the energy to package the packaging and transport it to the vineyard), energy to run the machines, conveyers, and storage facilities while stored and before transportation.  And the energy needed to dispose of all the waste created by this process.

4) Transporting the grapes – which includes all the energy needed to chill and protect the grapes while they are in transit – this of course will include all the energy needed to fuel the transport from vineyard to warehouse and could include road, rail and ship or air freight (and of course all the energy needed to keep that transport in tip top condition for transporting the product in the first place!).  You will also need to use a small amount of energy in all the paperwork that needs to be completed as the product changes hands and moves through countries.

And after they get to the warehouse – they may be repackaged and re-loaded onto other modes of transport to go to individual shops, and then are stored, protected, chilled and moved around the stores using yet more energy.  And of course, all the energy needed to dispose of all the waste created by this process.

You then need to buy them from the shop – using the tills and bags and your car or bus for transport which of course are all made of energy – and then you use your fridge to chill them, your water to wash them and your electricity to dishwash your kitchenware and then your bin bags to dispose of the stalks and packaging (and the dustmen have to use energy in their vans to collect it!).

Is That All?

Now, obviously this is a very detailed story of a grape's embodied energy – but is very simplistic as there are many things that haven't even been calculated here!  And who want's to have to think about all of that when choosing grapes for tea?

However, there are some very simple things you can think of when choosing between 2 or more products for their eco friendly qualities – and this is one of them.

By thinking of the processes that have gone into making each of the products, you can get a clearer picture of it's qualities. 

So, yes, those local grapes did only travel 20 minutes down the road to your local market – but did they have to use tonnes of energy-rich fertilisers to maintain in a not-the-best-suited environment as well as megawatts of heating to keep them alive through the winter waiting for the next harvest!  

Or is the energy of transporting those African grapes (which were grown in a perfect environment with no need for heating or treating) less overall?

So, the concept of embodied energy can switch many 'simple' ideas on their head – but it is itself a very difficult thing to put your finger on.  As you can see from the breakdown above – there are so many factors that it may be near impossible to fully estimate!

But at least you know what it is now!

If you lost your beloved family Pet – how could you get it back fast!

There is nothing worse for a pet owner to find your pet isn't where it should be at dinner time – or to have your dog run away while out on a walk after being spooked!

You just feel terrible and can't stop looking until you find them.

But what if there was a way to find out if anyone has found them before you.  What if you were wandering around the streets calling for them, yet unbeknown to you – your lost dog was being pampered and looked after by a local veterinary surgery.

However, the vets don't know who this cute pet is!  They have no idea how to find you (unless your pet is micro-chipped of course) and even if your home number is on their collar – you aren't at home to answer it.

Join A Network.
Instead of feeling alone in finding your pet, why not find a way to send your pets details out in one go to all the relevant people.

Rather than searching through phone books looking for local pet stores, kennels, catteries, rescue centres, vets and all sorts of other possible 'pet finding places' and then having to call them all and rattle off all your details time after time – just tell 1 person.

There are many organisations set up for finding lost pets, but some of the best ones are those that send out a mailshot (including texts and faxes) to a whole network of possible 'finders' all instantly. 

These Lost Dog Finder companies have found all the relevant contact numbers and have spoken to all the organisations in advance to make sure that when their information is sent through – it is treated as urgent – not as junk mail.

Save All Those Resources:
As you can imagine, the time involved in calling them all yourself and your phone bills, mailers or travel expenses going to and fro can be huge – especially if you added up all the people who have ever lost a pet in your area, your county or the country doing the same!

And it isn't just your resources either!  I volunteer at an animal rescue centre and we get several calls virtually every day for lost pets.  Not only can the conversation take up at least 15 minutes of (volunteered) time – we also have to take all the relevant details onto a paper spreadsheet, housed in a folder on the side.

Needless to say, you would call at least 10 such charities or vets in the search – who all have to take down the same details on their spreadsheet in their folder on their shelf.  And they might also get several calls everyday.

Now of course, we all want you to find your pet safe and well – and we won't stop offering this Pet Finder service – but if you multiply that up to around 250 such calls a week, that's over a 1000 such calls a month.

With a texting/faxing alert system, that could be reduced to 1 single call from you (the pet owner) and that same information gets sent out to everyone that same day.

But My Pet Won't Get Lost:
If I have a penny for every time someone says to me 'this is the first time Fluffy has run off' I would be so rich!

If everyone thought ahead and accepted that there is a possibility for things to go 'wrong' then there would be far less faffing around when things did actually go wrong – and as a result, things could happen quicker.

If everyone had a plan in place for when or 'if' their pet was to go missing – then they would be more likely to get it back within the day – or even within a few hours!

Planning ahead was never easier or more eco friendly!

Shouldn't being eco friendly be easier than not being green?

Why do so many eco friendly alternatives mean 'putting yourself out' or taking longer to get things done?  When you are a busy mum or are running a tight business – green alternatives should be making your life easier – not slowing you down!

So, I have found a few great eco inventions that could make being eco aware that much easier – and hopefully save you time and money along the way…..

Whole House Switch Off:
Why waste time checking all your plugs and appliances are switched off before leaving the house – because if you are in a hurry – you might not be so thorough!

By wiring up your whole home – or just parts of it – to 1 single 'OFF' switch your life couldn't be easier!  Obviously it won't be linked up to your fridge and freezer, or anything else you need to leave on – but all the lights, TV's and other appliances will switch off until you return home!  Easy.

Power Aware Cord:
If you don't fancy a giant one off switch, then maybe glowing power cables can make it easier to see if things are switched off before you go to bed rather than climbing behind units and cabinets to check the wall switch.

Strida 3 Folding Bike:
Rather than having to carry around your bike seat, take spare clothes to work or wipe oil off your trouser leg – you could ride a tiny folding bike instead!  Gone are the days when a bike was in 1 piece and you needed to worry about leaving it outside.  No more riding in the rain or catching your shin on the pedals when pushing your bike into the garage! 

This neat little bike folds up so easily and is so portable that you have nothing preventing you cycling to work or town knowing that you can still pop inot the shops – or catch a bus if it starts raining!  And they are thinking of making an even smaller, lighter version too….

Eco Friendly Room Dividers:
There are several different eco friendly room dividers on the market that can change the appearance and layout of a room without resorting to stud walls, re-decorating or demolition. 

Either made or felt, wood, eco-friendly plastics or strengthened cardboard and designed in a modular fashion – these 'walls' could be made, shaped or moved to suit your needs – without great cost.  And coming in a variety of colours – they could act as temporary 'wall paper' as well then changed with the seasons being used again and again over time.

Just keep them coming…. We need more like these……

What is this eco friendly living method that is creeping into our lives?

You have probably heard of the Permaculture movement, but aren't really sure what it is all about.  The prefix 'perm' doesn't immediately sound eco friendly or green, but suggests permanency – long term goals and aims.

But long term 'culture'?  The word doesn't instantly connect with your changing lifestyle – but it could.

Define Permaculture:
Well, there are plenty of definitions all revolving about the same point but emphasizing the particular niches within it:

"Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that mimic the relationships found in natural ecologies."

"Permaculture is about designing ecological human habitats and food production systems. This synergy is further enhanced by mimicking patterns found in nature."

"Permaculture is sustainable land use design. This is based on ecological and biological principles, often using patterns that occur in nature to maximize effect and minimize work."

"A system of perennial agriculture emphasizing the use of renewable natural resources and the enrichment of local ecosystems."

Basically, permaculture can be seen as a way of living and farming in synch with the way that nature would do it herself.

In the way that natural cycles in weather, plant distribution, human activities and so forth carry on regardless when unaffected by humans – why can humans fit into that system rather than change it?

Forests grow from bare rock in nature; each plant or animal finding the best way to fit in to the changing habitats – so why can't humans exploit that natural series of events to help them survive – and without affecting it adversely.

Change Isn't Always Good.
We know that over time, a heath will become overgrown with scrub plants which will eventually turn into trees and so a woodland is born – and this is the way that nature works best. 

But when humans want the land to stay free of trees – they have to go against that very natural pattern – and this takes time, energy and money.  For example, large scale farmers have to plough the land regularly to stop other plants growing, kill insects with chemicals, kill wildlife by other means and basically fence off the natural habitats long term and feed and water it excessively in order to grow the 1 thing they want.

However, permaculture looks at growing crops that are naturally occurring there – or can grow well in that location without draining on resources or getting rid of natural plants and animals as a result.

It still isn't an easy job as you need to be able to survive on these crops and make a living from them- but you use nature to help you farm and grow them instead of chemicals and a life-long battle!

The Basic Plan:
Permaculture is a working science with some very technical examples - but its principles can be easily understood.

Ideally a working system would use less energy, increase productivity and help restore or balance the natural environment.

For example housing the duck pond near your flower garden or veg patch so that these ravenous feeders can eat all your garden slugs for free (saving you food for them and chemicals to kill your slugs).  Or growing mature trees over your water source, so that less water evaporates from it and the plants can water themselves. 

photo credit: george.schon

Much of this you might think is common sense – yet we still buy white bread (which has most vitamins and minerals bleached out of it – with man-made vitamins and minerals added back in afterwards) and we sell all our home-grown milk to other countries and then buy milk back from yet more countries to make up the difference!

And the principles of permaculture are just applied to farming methods – they can be applied to almost any human environment including cities!

But that's a whole other story……

photo credit: Bryn_S

Whatever you want a balloon for in the first place – it will mostly end up as litter whe you're done!

They might be brightly coloured and fun for the kids, or in huge numbers for the work party - but they are terrible for the planet and wildlife alike.

But – as with everything – there are choices you can make as to how god or bad you want your balloons to end up being on the environment. 

Even if your balloons are bright pink – they can still be very green!

First Things First:
The most eco friendly balloon is one that is never used – so ask yourself: do I even need a balloon at all?

What are we saying with a balloon that can't be said with something else – like a plant, a new hat or a homemade cake!

Most balloons end up a litter in some far away environment – mainly due to parents assuming that children won't 'let go' of it (which is as likely as your children never spilling a drink, or dropping food) or organised events trying to celebrate something by releasing non-biodegradable litter into the air!

But people still want a balloon don't they; so here are some easy things to think about when buying balloons that could make all the difference to what happens to your balloon after it flies off in to the distance.

Tie A Knot – rather than using a plastic stopper – as this means there will be less waste created and less resources used in the first place.

Use Some String – rather than using a shiny ribbon or metallic tape – as this means that the string can be chewed through if it entangles an animal, and will biodegrade far faster than shiny things!

Don't Use Shiny Anything – rather than using a natural rubber or latex balloon – why would you want to use man-made non-recyclable or compostable materials to celebrate anything?

photo credit: Lunchbox Photography

Use Fresh Air – rather than filling the balloon with Helium – as this will reduce the demand for such a rare gas as well as preventing its release into the upper atmosphere.

Use Latex  - rather then using non-biodegradable rubber balloons – as this will degrade easily in the environment or in your compost heap rather than choke a seabird!

Don't Let Go! – rather than risking your balloons early departure, always tie it down securely.  Don't assume that you or your children will hold on to it forever – as you know they alwasy get away!  Even if you balloon is tied up with a knot, attached to thin biodegradable string, filled with your breath and made out of latex – you still don't want it to fly off!

So, 6 great ways to make your balloons better for the environment!

Using aprons and covers for furniture isn't just something nans and great aunties do – it's eco thinking!

We all know that the key to eco friendly living is making good things last longer – rather than throwing away cheap items and buying new ones instead.

And what better way to protect something valuable or just something that you don't want to have to replace that often, than using a protective cover when necessary.

I don't mean covering your carpet in plastic sheeting all year and not letting anyone sit on your furniture – I am just thinking of the simple ways to make your household items last that little bit longer - by reducing waste, and saving you some money in the long run too.

Protect Your Belongings.

Needless to say that when you go out in the mud and rain – you don't put on your Sunday best!  When painting your home I'm sure there won't be a silk blouse or sparkly evening dress anywhere in sight.

It's because you don't want to ruin something unnecessarily when you could have worn something less valuable – or something already dirty instead.  

So why, when you cook your favourite Mexican or Italian dish, don't you protect your everyday clothes?  No doubt you are entertaining friends or have just got in from work – so why aren't your 'nice' clothes worth protecting to?

photo credit: Leszek.Leszczynski

A simple apron – whether practical or indeed comical – could stop fat, dressings and sauces splashing onto your everyday clothes.  You might even make it into 'your thing' – like 'Sarah always has some comedy apron on' – no doubt leading up to whole host of crazy birthday presents from your friends and guests! 

You might be thinking – "but I can just wash the food off" and you are completely right – but at what cost?

Wash, Scrub & Tumble:

Most outer clothes can be washed less frequently than other garments – for example how many times do your socks get washed in relation to your overcoat?

But washing comes at an environmental cost, as do the washing chemicals for heavy staining, the hot water and the subsequent spinning and drying.  So why would you want to create more work for your household appliances and add to your growing budget?

An apron can be used day after day without excessive washing – basically you expect to have a dirty apron – that's what they are for!

And you clothes stay cleaner for longer, can be worn more than just the once in most instances and you will use less energy and resources per cooking experience.

And it's not just aprons that protect your clothes of course; so raincoats, Wellington boots, coveralls, and well worn clothing that you kept hold of over the years can all be used when things are going to get dirty fast!

Protect Your Home:

And it's not just your clothes that need protecting – your furniture and fittings could do with a little help too.

Rather than replace the whole entrance carpet due to the patch of muddy wetness near the door – why not buy a nice rug that covers that area and create a shoe storage area that will keep the mess contained.  That way you only need clean, wash or replace that rug instead of the whole downstairs!

Similarly, make a cover for the footstool that can be cleaned seperately, use a table cloth, tea and plate coasters as well as investing in a pair of slippers or house shoes for everyone to keep the whole place in perfect condition.

Other kitchen tips might include things to reduce the amount of cleaning you need to do and so reduce the chemicals needed.  For example invest in proper microwave containers to prevent explosive splashes up the interior and buy smaller oven trays as and when so that you don't have to clean a whole tray to cook 3 sausages or a few leeks!

And when you choose replacement fittings, appliances and paints, etc – look for the one you like that might last a bit longer depending on your families needs.  For example, darker wall colors in homes where hallways are narrow, so that things that bang against the walls don't leave obvious marks, and coarser darker carpets and rugs in home with back gardens that lead straight indoors – especially where dogs and cats are involved, as I know they don't wipe their feet!

Even internal doorways can become worn down through repeated use, so maybe consider rugs there too, and moving the furniture around always keeps the carpets fresh in a room where a 'pathway' seems to form – like around your bed or along the hallway between dining room and kitchen or wherever.

By protecting the small part of the whole item that will bear the brunt of your actions – you can make the whole item last longer, and you will soon see the eco (and financial) gains from your actions.

Rather than lock up and leave – why not space-share?

Your local community hall is a prime example of great eco thinking whether you think of it like that or not. It is the hub of the local area with kids clubs, jumble sales, talks and teas as well as countless other sports groups, specialists and aerobics!

All it has are 4 walls and basic amenities – but everyone can have a share in its space and resources – and it is used for most of the day, every day. It only had to be built once, only has one land footprint, only needs one electric and water supply and is well funded for repairs and maintenance.

However, not so for the local business offices.

They are all separate units with separate utilities, separate land footprints and each owner has to pay for all repairs and maintenance; and it is only used for 8 hours a day. That's 16 hours a day it is empty plus possibly the 48 hours for the weekend as well.

Not really an eco friendly building even if it has low energy lightbulbs!

Timetabling:

This new buzz word is trying to make communities and businesses think about sharing facilities. Not only to reduce costs, but also to reduce the need for separate properties and individual expenses and resources etc.

It's a bit like a time share. Rather than you buying a house on an island and only visiting a couple of times a year – you take a turn at living in an island home with another 25 people – making better use of that property and sharing the costs.

You are also sharing in the eco savings!

photo credit: kaiwaisheep

So by drawing up a plan of shared action, you can make a building, hut, hall or office work harder for its money! For example using a school building in the evening for adult education, using a community hall for step classes after the Scouts have gone home, and using a church for WI meetings outside of worship hours.

All these things can reduce the demand for new buildings and new resources.

Sharing Skills:

Obviously to be able to share a workspace, the area – and your equipment – needs to be flexible and easy to move.

If the space is already occupied by equipment that can't be moved or removed, then you have to work around it, but generally if you have flat-pack furniture and large but easy to move storage containers, then setting up and packing away can be very easy and quick. For example, when you go caravanning the space is used very wisely.

The table flaps away, cupboards are wedged into corners, roofs can be raised and beds are created with a few slides of a cushion. The space is very eco friendly – and easy to use.

So why not try to imitate this with a church hall or school building. Having excessive (and lockable) storage is a plus as each group can leave their stuff onsite rather than loading up their car everytime or carrying it down the street.

An Eco Improvement:

Added to this sharing, the act of not having a single use facility also has other eco benefits.

For example with shops and offices, they sometimes have a 'set design', they want everything to be branded and perfect – which obviously leads to its own problems.

Once a new 'trendy' shop has set up and traded for a while, it may want to move on – and then what happens to its furniture and fittings? They will no doubt get thrown out or broken by the next company that move in.

Personalising your own space is very wasteful.

Tastes change, businesses come and go – and resources get wasted. Whereas if you are designing a multi-purpose space with many people in mind, the furniture and fittings are built to last in very simple colours and designs – the 1 size fits all approach.

So, why not plan in the sharing aspect next time you get involved with a community group or are looking for a new site for your eco business.

Not only could it save you money – it could help the whole community.

A Real Guide To Sustainable Living – they say, and they mean business. 

This isn’t a book that you can take lightly – it is full of maths and equations to justify their suggestions; and some things really need explaining as they turn common eco conceptions on their head!

Basically this book explains how we should be approaching our lives if we truly want to live an eco friendly lifestyle – or to live ecologically within our ‘allotted’ means.  By ‘allotted’ they mean if we are only to use our fair share of worldly resources rather than just putting a green angle onto everything we do.

And to prove it, they open up with a look at the widely held beliefs of the world without even considering the eco consequences to see what we are expecting the Earth to do for us as we are today.  From there, they try to whittle us down to what the Earth can actually do for us.

The Book Itself:
The book is something you need to read with a notepad and calculator on one side and some strong coffee on the other!

I have a basic grasp of ‘footprints’, ‘embodied energy’ and the worlds finite resources – but the maths part was a bit too much to keep on top of piled thick, as it was, in the body of the text.

They did have a huge number of very easy to understand charts and tables of everything they were talking about (which helped make up for skipping all the equations) and I didn’t loose the thread of their arguments by not reading all the numbers and MJ’s etc.

The Authors help to explain why some of the things that we assume would be eco friendly turn out not to be based on a bigger picture – for example walking isn’t that ecologically sensible if you are getting all your energy (ie eating) processed cheeseburgers from a store.  Basically, the energy chain of land use, transport, chemicals, packaging, heating, storing and selling the burgers in the first place is so huge that the ‘eco’ effort of walking fuelled by burgers wasn’t really ‘saving the planet’.

photo credit: Bob B. Brown

Similarly a 20 minute shower in an eco friendly low-water shower still uses nearly twice the amount of water than a 5 minute shower in an old-style water-intensive shower.  Further more, sharing a bath between 2 people uses around the same water per person as that same eco-friendly – but long – shower.

They use compelling reasoning to hold this all together as well as extensive research data from around the globe.  And even though a lot of their arguments offer very simple solutions to the World’s ecological problems – much is still recommending a somewhat ‘alternative’ lifestyle, where you use hemp for clothes, buy less things, stay ‘behind the times’, somewhat, live in smaller houses with the lights off and share things with other people rather than buying your own.

Now I know that this will all reduce our eco footprints and keep our emissions down and the world turning – but these aren’t the eco friendly living tips that people want to hear.  The people that do want to hear this are probably already aware of most of their discussions already.

I totally agree that our actions are sometimes more important that the eco technology that is on offer (like flushing the toilet less times will save more water than flushing more times with a low-flush mechanism, and choosing a small basic home will be better in terms of resources than living in an enormous eco friendly house) but I think that it is preaching to the converted.

Result: 3/5:
Even if my not-so-eco-friendly friends could have forced themselves to have read this entire book in the first place, I don’t think they would be heeding much of it’s advice.

I think it is a great text-book style book and can really help to compare ecological differences between common activities and products, but I don’t think it will change peoples attitudes in the style in which it is written. 

Although I really enjoyed several section of this book, I noticed a flaw.  They spend so long working out the embodied energy (EE) of a product (or the products and activities that went into making the parts for that oringinal product) that they sometimes considered slightly different things as important in each case.

For example, in the only section of the book that I had a really good knowledge of (pets) they managed to completely write off the transport angle for the tinned food in their comparison of dog and cat food (even though they went into shoe leather replacement in the walking vrs driving section).  They say that the eco effect of tinned packaging was negligible because we are encourage to recycle tins!  Well, how on earth do they intend to get these tins to those 76.5 million hungry cats worldwide without making an ecological impact?

And secondly their argument included showing that a cat food with less meat content made less of an impact (obvious when you consider the land used for beef and the land used to grow the winter food for beef as well) – however, cats that are fed on low amounts of meat will be more likely to become ill, get dry skin, loose hair, get gum disease etc (as not enough meat or too much vegetable matter isn’t good for a cat).  As a result – you will be using your vet more often or maybe adding shampoos and supplements to your cat to ‘cover up’ all these new problems.

Now I’m sure that these cosmetics and medicines (and trips to the vets) have just as much of an impact as adding the few extra percents of meat in their food in the first place.  High quality dried pet food are fed in smaller quantities as other foods, and are known to reduce these health (and aesthetic) problems – as well as coming in bulk paper packaging instead of heavy, bulky tins filled with 80% water!

They also said that a well handled hamster will be happy to live on it’s own – where infact the most common type of hamster (the Syrian hamster) will ONLY ever live on it’s own.  If you put 2 in the same cage, they will no doubt fight to the death within just a few days!

So now, can I really believe all the other comparisons they made in areas that I know little about?

ISBN: 978-0-500-28790-3

Take inspiration from the tricks of historical homes – and reduce your impact!

If you have ever visited a historic house that retains a certain amount of it's true furnishing – then you could be inspired to try the same.

Now obviously, many historic houses have things that any modern eco friendly home should avoid – like extensive glazing on northern facing walls, trophy animal heads from overseas and dinner parties with 11 courses – but they also have some great ideas that you might need to investigate a little further to see the eco benefits to.

One recent idea that took my fancy was a room decorated with curtains instead of wall paper.  Now at first glance it seemed totally overwhelming and somewhat odd – but on speaking to the room steward it all made sense.

Eco Friendly Furnishings:
It turns out that this 'curtain' room was infact a money saving (and personal preservation) idea that incorporated great eco design – stolen from Norman castles and Tudor mansions!

Now, stone walls were no fun – and were very cold infact – so people from history used to create great tapestries that they would hang on the walls of their castles to keep the heat in!  Yes, these tapestries were beautiful in their own right and may well have portrayed a great battle or a great hunt – but they were really for stopping the cold.

If you have ever watched period dramas, they were also used to hide 'secret' doors and to create an image of wealth and prosperity!

And – the eco friendly part – could be changed to suit the mood without being destroyed.

Variety Is The Spice Of Life:
Say you wanted to change your bedroom design.  You would no doubt have to change the wallpaper, paint over existing walls and even the curtains or blinds would have to go.

Now, say you were able to 'peel off' the inside of your bedroom and keep it somewhere safe until you wanted it again – wouldn't that be a great idea?

Well, that is exactly what these wall 'curtains' allowed the home owner to do.  They wanted lighter, brighter and fun designs for the room in the summer; and maybe heavier, cosy and darker colours in the winter to help keep the place warm through the colder months.

So rather than having to destroy one interior to replace with another – and spend money and resources in the doing – they just got the winter curtains out of the loft and changed them over instead!

An instant change of room could be achieved without wasting any more money or materials.  Great for important meals, important visitors or for added wear and tear if it was a kids room!

photo credit: SimonCMason

Modern Twist:
I know you might look a bit odd in your city apartment if you started hanging curtains in every room, but you could use modern tapestries or other materials to cover large sections of wall and still look 'normal'.

Kids could have their rooms painted in a neutral colour and then have removeable embellishments to suit their fancy – like giant curtains on the window wall that don't just stop at the window's edge but continue to the floor and walls – or curtains they can draw on with washable inks.

Maybe they could have great big removable stickers that they could move around the room as and when they fancied a new scene – or even use wipe-clean pens to draw their own wall designs.

You shouldn't need to destroy a whole interior to change your rooms – and obviously any materials hung over doors and windows (and external walls) can help to reduce heat loss at the same time.

We all like change – just do it responsibly!