Eco Friendly House And Garden

Some simple tricks can stop your heating bill spiralling out of control and wasting all that energy!

Remember visiting you grandparents house and there were a few things that you didn’t have at home that you thought were funny.  Well some of them were totally eco friendly and we never took them on board.

Nans had these funny things as there wasn’t such a thing as central heating, so all of these were used simply to keep warm and stop cold draughts blowing aroundthe house.

Now of course, they can save energy, money and the environment too - so maybe I can take you on a walk around my nans house and see what you can do today.

Plastic Sheets: 18% of heat is lost through your windows.
In the colder rooms that weren’t used so often had tight plastic sheets taped over them on the inside.  Double glazing was unheard of so putting in your own secondary ‘glazing’ was the way to go.

If you didn’t want to open the windows through the winter, then why not seal them up for the colder months.  These days of course you can buy actual double glazing, retro-fit secondary glazing - or even buy an eco friendly equivalent of the old plastic sheeting called Eco Glaze which is acrylic sheets that are attached to your window with magnetic strips so you can put them on or take them off when you want!

Maybe even consider triple glazing in bad areas or just the leakiest window!

Giant Velvet Curtain: 15% of heat is lost through doors.
My nan had the most amazing thick red curtain on the back of the front door.  It was on a great big rail and it was more than twice as wide as the door and at least a foot too long - great for hiding behind!

By making sure that there was more than enough curtain to block any breezes made it all the more worth having.  I mean if you are fitting a curtain in the first place, it’s a bit pointless if it is too short or too thin.  Spend the extra pennies and get it right first time.

Maybe consider fitting a simple porch to buffer the outside and inside spaces.

Long Tube Of Socks:
Along the bottom of the lounge door when we were all sitting inside was a handmade tube of old socks and rags.  I suppose it could be made into a comedy sausage dog if you sewed ears on!

It was the perfect way to stop draughts coming under the door when you were heating just the one room.  Just like today - when you have the log burner on the go in the one room, keep all the heat in there too.  Modern equivalents can be plates you screw on to the bottom of you door with a furry edge - but I quite like the idea of making my own sausage dog!

Over-Patterned Rugs:  8% of heat is lost through floors.
Now, you don’t have to go an buy a bright swirly rug or a heavily-pattered dark red rug to stop cold air coming through your floorboards!

These days you can fill the gaps on old floorboards with man-made natural fillers, buy nice plain rugs in all sizes, or fit carpets with thick underlay to make sure that your home stays warm!

Maybe consider fitting underfloor heating if you are having other work done in your home.  This is a much more efficient way to heat your home than traditional central heating and means you can put your furniture where you want it rather than having to fit it around huge radiators…….. 

So, go round to your great aunts house or your friends nans and check out their energy and money saving tips!

Has your spring clean left you with quite a lot of things you don’t want?

Well, someone else might find a good use for them - so why not take yourself out to a car boot sale and see what you can make for things you don’t even want!

There are many car boots held every week across the UK although they may not be as widespread elsewhere, and they are great fun to do.

However, there are a few tricks of the trade that will make your car boot experience a lot better than just plunging feet first into it on that early Sunday morning!

1) Check Out Some Sites As A Buyer.
Make sure that you have visited a few local sites before you pitch your spot.  Some car boots aren’t as organised as others and can have stalls spread out over a large area of land but with stalls quite some distance apart - not good for sales!

Other sites can be a field of mud, others too small, and yet more with terrible access (or exit afterwards).  Some have a set start and finish time, but others just let people come and go throughout the day - which can leave you alone in the field if all your neighbours go home early!

And find out the price of a pitch - if the car boot costs more than £10 for your car - then make sure you have enough stuff to make the difference.  You will have to get up early, drive to the site, sit there all day hopefully selling at least that amount in goods and then probably queue up for ages to get out afterwards - so is it worth it?

2) Contact The Person In Charge First.
Make sure you have spoken to the person who is in charge before you get up early one day - as there are protocols to follow!

One car boot I went to where the entrance of which was on a main road had an unknown secret: you had to join a queue about 1/2 a mile away in a main back street half an hour before it opened to get a spot.  If you queued up outside the site when it was due to open - you were told to drive around the block and join the others - at the very back!

3) Find Out What You Can Sell.
This might sound strange, but some car boots will only allow old things to be sold - so if they see you there with plants, bulk goods and maybe even certain electrical items, you may get told off or outed!

Other places might be really strict on the amount of space you get, so having a clothes rail would be virtually impossible if you have a long table too!

Other sites have so much space that you can park your car sideways, therefore getting metres of space to display your things, and allowing you to have everything within touching distance of the customers, rahte than them having to rummage around in boxes under the table or having to ask you to pass stuff across to them!

4) Bring The Right Equipment.
Make sure that you can display most of your goods around hand-height so that everyone can see what you are selling and can have a good look - so this means a table of sorts like a decorating fold-up table (as you need to fit it in your car with all your stuff as well) and if you are selling clothes a rail would really make a huge difference.

Boxes on the floor for books is perfect - but preferably pack them together in prices if you have enough, so a box for 10p and box for 50p books etc. Same goes for tiny toys or other little things, so, ‘Anything in the Box = 50p’ type of thing.

You will need a fair amount of small change if you are going to be serious about this, so at least £10 worth of 50p’s and less and £10 of £1’s should be a minimum - depending on the price of your goods. There is nothing worse than giving a price for something and then have to refuse the sale as you have no change left! Most customers bring small change - but it’s best to be prepared!

And along those lines - bring plenty of carrier bags from your re-using stash to give to customers - they are more likely to buy more stuff if you offer them a decent bag!

And a plastic sheet to cover everything if it rains wouldn’t be a bad idea!

5) Set Your Prices For The Good Stuff.
If you are selling some large or really nice items, then make sure you set a minimum price before you set out as otherwise you could come away with less than you deserve.

There are also the ‘early scavengers’ as I like to call them, who go to car boots for a living. They know what stuff is worth money and what things they can sell on their own stall round the back of yours for twice what you were charging!

How they do this is to start rumaging through your things while you are still getting them out of your car. They pester you with seemingly reasonable prices, or offer for bulk goods - which you think is great!

You are making money before you are even finished unloading - but remember, they are only buying it from you as you are a ‘newbie’ and they want to buy yours cheap and sell it on for more! So it’s something to think about - make less money straight away, or hold on to your higher prices and sell them for yourself through the day.

In fact, why don’t you do a spring clean with the car boot in mind - as it could help you be a bit more ruthless - especially if you are not sure if you want to sell a certain item. By setting a high price you definately won’t go below you can come away with a result either way - making a decent amount for it - or keeping it yourself anyway!

6) Enjoy Yourself!
Make sure you plan to make a day of it. Take decent clothes incase it is cold, and convince someone to come with you if you can (or at least pop in to see you half way through) otherwise you won’t be able to go to the loo or to buy yourself a hot drink if it’s cold!

Take a packed lunch if you can as some can start as early as 6am in the summer and finish after 3pm. Do you want to have to go hungry - or end up spending your takings on a car boot burger?

I’ve done them before and I would do them again - but I have made all my mistakes, so hopefully your won’t have to…..

Posting something isn’t just about getting it totally wrapped up in paper - it’s about sending with love!

What I mean is, that the actual packaging and size of the packaging you use can have a huge environmental impact when sent through the post - and also the item you are posting could be better selected if you really want to save resources!

The Packaging:
Starting with the materials you choose for wrapping, it would make sense to avoid non-recyclable materials in the first place as they can only be thrown in the trash upon receipt.  And wrapping something up and then putting it inside an envelope or another layer or wrapping for posting seems to be just a waste of resources.

Bubble-wrap should be used inside the packaging rather than as part of the wrapping so that it can be re-used at the other end in both parts.  I mean, if you send a gift wrapped in a sheet of bubble wrap and then put inside a normal envelope or sheet or parcel wrap - then both parts can be put to use again by the recipient or the envelope recycled!  However, using an envelope with it’s own bubble-wrap concealed within cannot be recycled - only reused as a whole.

And, you don’t really want to use heavy packaging - like loads of sticky tape - as this will make your entire package heavier to post and therefore it will use more fuel and energy to move from your post box to the recipients!

The Size Of It:
Many, many, many people use the wrong sized packaging when posting an item.  It makes sense to find out the categories for your countries postal charges so that you can find out which is the most cost effective way to post it - and - the most energy-efficient way to post it.

Buying or using a larger-than-necessary envelope will take up more room in the postal system than a smaller one - creating more journeys for the postman and their fleet of trains and vans when added to all the other post going the same way. 

And in the UK, the rates charged for packages depends purely on the dimensions - so folding a pliable gift a certain way could save you a lot of money!

Anyone who sells things over the internet will know all about the best way to package something!  For example sending a ‘packet’ weighing up to 750g (1st class) is £2.65 - but sending a ‘large letter’ weighing the same (1st class) is only £1.77 - with just a few millimetres between them!

It’s worth knowing the small print if you have a lot of gifts to send! 

And why post items that the recipient can get for themselves - for example; toiletries and cosmetics.  Why send weighty bathroom goods through the post when they can buy them in their own stores?  Just use a paper voucher for that store - or make a personalized voucher telling them what you want them to buy with your money.

It’s still going to be the same gift - just from the store 10 minutes from their home rather than your store 500 kilometers away!  The items have already been driven across the country from the factory to the warehouse and then to your store - why get the postman to drive it somewhere else as well!!!!

The Gift Itself:
If you know you are posting something - then make sure you choose wisely.  Why send an item that is going to be costly to post in the first place?  And - are you going to pay the postal service to guarantee it arrives in one piece or more importantly credit you if the item is lost or damaged before it even arrives!

And, would it not be more eco friendly to have the item delivered directly to the person in the first place.  I find it quite funny that the wrapping of a gift is so important.  Some people have a gift delivered all the way to their home (at a cost) then wrap it themselves (at a further cost) then post it back out to the recipient (at even more cost!).

Why not just get it sent directly to the recipient in the first place - and have already told them to expect it and not to open it until you desire.

It’s still ‘wrapped up’ by the company - and it is still a gift from you?  This is even worth doing for overseas deliveries in some instances as the company your order from may well have overseas distribution sites that make posting items direct more cost and energy efficient!

Or better still - buy them an item that is virtual, so you don’t have to post anything!  Why not buy a ‘gift’ that helps others rather than clutters up our homes further, like charity gifts, memberships, or other good causes!

Make a difference with your money rather than making more things for landfill!

There has been more and more talk about reducing the amount of natural materials we use in everyday products like clothes and home furnishings - but they last a long time.

Why hasn’t there been more attention paid to disposable natural materials that only get the one use before being discarded - like feminine hygiene products.

There are a huge number of females on the planet that need to use these items every month, and for several days of every month. But we just use them for a few hours then throw them away.

Not only are tampons linked with serious and potentially fatal health issues, but they are also a great polluter with it’s links to chlorine bleaching and the whole products are also polluting in themselves when incinerated and with less-then-eco friendly (irresponsible) ‘owners’ flushing them down the toilet!

One recent quote from 2008 estimated that around 2.5 million tampons, 1.4 million sanitary towels and 700,000 pantyliners were being flushed sown into public waste water systems - which all needs to be cleaned up!

Personal Hygiene Problems.
Besides the fact that they are excessively packaged to keep them clean, they are sometimes also highly scented (wasteful and more noticeable to other females), with added gels or lubricants (often known pollutants or endocrine disruptors), added colourings (wasteful and possibly allergy-triggering), they also come in a range of different sizes and types that are really a waste of resources.

All this choice might make it seem a fairer choice for females - but isn’t it just a way for ladies to use the wrong product?

For example, a lady buying 1 box of tampons may buy the medium strength variety as a general ‘favourite’ for most of the cycle, but then towards the end of the cycle may need only the least strength variety - but will she go out to buy them separately? Probably not.

She will continue to use the same ones she already has in the bathroom, using more resources than she actually needs. However, as they are only a ‘disposible’ product some people don’t worry too much about something they have in excess.

It’s the same a those people who throw away the used plastic knives and forks after a garden party rather than wash them up and save for next time. They are made to be disposable, so you find yourself (and your guests) just throwing them away!

Now, I am not suggesting that you re-use disposable sanitary products in any way - but at least only use the smallest least-wasteful product for your needs. Or, find yourself a re-usable product that does the same thing!

Re-Usable Products.
You might be amazed at how many products are out there for sanitary protection - if only you could drag yourself away from the highly marketed products you repeatedly buy from your high street drug stores or super markets!

There are many companies that make washable sanitary towels out of terry cotton that are made in a variety of sizes. They are fully adjustable to make a perfect fit for everyone and are fully machine washable and tumble-drier friendly!

There are also washable sponges that work under the same principle as tampons, but are fully re-usable and therefore eco friendly!

And finally, there is a new style of product known as ‘The Moon Cup’ or ‘The Keeper’ (depending on the material used) which is re-usable and contains no known harmful chemicals.

These small cups are designed to fit inside a female in the same way as a tampon, but instead of ‘absorbing’, they ‘collect’. Therefore, instead of throwing them away after use, you actually just empty them, rinse them clean, then re-use.

The savings are immense. Not only can they save on natural materials, chemicals, packaging, transport, and disposal - they will also save you money! Month after month, year after year!

Both the Keeper and the Moon Cup are both accredited by the Good Shopping Guide, whereas Always, Carefree and Tampax are brands that get the highest levels of criticism for their eco friendly attributes!

I know it’s not Spring - but have a good clean out to get your home eco friendly!

We all hoard things.  Whether it is in the cupboard under the stairs, the garage or in the spare room!  So why not release your unwanted items into the world where other people need them!

What use is that tub of old paint, or that bag of clothes you don’t wear?  They aren’t doing anything hidden away in boxes and bags - so get them out into the world where other people can use them rather than buying things new!

How Do I Get Rid Of The Old Items?
Well, it depends on whether you want to give them away for free, or whether you want some money for them.

If it’s free you are after then there are plenty of options starting with your own local amenity site.  They are usually affiliated with a local recycling firm that takes away your furniture and electrical goods and them sells them at a reduced price to local people or people who are on a tight budget!

There are also many websites like FreeCycle that allow you to list anything you no longer want so that other people can come around to your house and collect them.  So it saves you a drive to the tip!

Most charity stores will take clothes and shoes as will the ‘Charity Bins’ at Superstores and some Retail Parks.  They can be quite fussy about electrical goods and damaged goods though.

If you want some cash for your goods then there are jumble sales, carboot or garage sales - or you can list the better items on sites like e-bay, from old toys to RV’s!  Virtually everything sells these days - and the buyers pays the postage too!

What Next?
Well, there will be things that can’t be used by others - like old paperwork and broken pots, torn books and tatty magazines.  So you need to thin them out into 4 groups:

1) Important documents and personal paperwork that you need to shred
2) Things that you think will be useful in the next few months or pictures for scrap-booking
3) Things that you can recycle
4) Things that you can only throw away

Not only will sorting things out give you more space at home and probably a few extra pennies in your pocket - but it will allow you to make room for the things that matter.

Like those recycling bins in the kitchen, the do-it-yourself corner where you can make and mend things, the kids can cut out magazines and paint pictures and you can feel good about having passed a few things on in the world - keeping the goods moving rather than creating demand for new ones!

Happy sorting!

Watch this short video - and it will jolt you into reality!

Where do you think all your stuff comes from?  What happens when you get that new phone?  How can we get our stuff so cheap?  What is the real cost of our spending?

All these are answered in this lively, well animated and well written short video by a well traveled, very experienced environmental investigator specialising in health and justice issues across the globe.

It is filled with some scary facts about what we are doing to our planet - or in reality what we are not doing to help our planet.

It highlights - with a fact-packed dialogue - what we are allowing to happen or are being coerced into thinking is ‘OK’.

Annie quotes that the US represents just “5% of the world’s population but uses 30% of the resources and makes 30% of the waste”  Is that right?  Or is that just how it ended up because no-one has really ever thought it was wrong?

Think about it!
She certainly makes you think about everything you are going to buy - or anything you have recently brought.  And it should certainly make you think about anything you are planning to throw away!

The cost of something shouldn’t be the value that the store attributes to it.  For example the $4.99 radio she talks about in her video could not possibly have only cost $4.99 to make. 

Firstly, the store has to make a profit and it needs to be packaged up and shipped across the world from where ever it was made.  So none of that is what it actually cost to make either - so we are down to about maybe $3.00 or less to make?

And how long would you think 1 single radio takes to make from it’s basic parts? About 30 minutes?  No, that would be stupid, right?  But would you work for less than $6.00 an hour? I don’t think so.

So, how much money do the people that build these get paid?  And we haven’t even started on the people it took to mine the raw materials and the time it took to shape them into the component parts.  And what about driving and shipping costs?

And we haven’t even started on the cost to the environment…… 

Yet to some people, throwing out an un-needed $5 radio is not a worry to them - it’s only $5. They don’t even think about what was destroyed or who was exploited to make it in the first place.

And you can be sure that many people do not think about what happens to it after they throw it out!

Well, Annie explains all in her hard-hitting fact-filled docu-video - but keeps it fun and a bit funny even.

And you can help out by showing people, schools, social clubs or anyone else this video to help change that!  Check out the resources on the site for more information.

A Life Stripped Bare: tiptoeing through the ethical minefield - Leo Hickman

I read a lot of books and magazines about the environment and ways to become more eco friendly, but I have at last found one that is really down to earth about the whole thing.  It is full of interesting facts and figures - but entertaining at the same time.

The reasons he gives for his actions and the changes he does and doesn’t make are so ‘real’ that it offers us all a chance to see where we too are choosing how ‘green’ we think we can be - or how ‘green’ we actually want to be!

He shows that you don’t have to go without things or scrimp and save all the time, but that it can be a viable option depending on your life style.  For example, working in a formal environment and having a baby can mean a different set of criteria to those working on a small holding without a family.

Could you really go to work in central London if you hadn’t shaved your chin for a week or were trying to wash your suits less and your whites weren’t that white?

What’s It About?
Well, the author Leo Hickman, has decided to find out how he could become ‘green’ and make his house more eco friendly.  He has recently moved to a new property and has a small baby, but generally he is just like any other average person in terms of ethical living.

He invites 3 specialists in to his home and life to find out what he has achieved so far, where he has gone wrong and what he can do in the future.

The result is a totally truthful account of his life and thoughts - as well as those of his not-so-convinced wife!

He covers everything from holidays to worms, nappies to the NHS, kitchen cleaners to lemon juice - and will have you in stitches along the way.

Why Is It Good?
Well, it allows you to see for yourself how eco friendly your own home is and more importantly - how you judge the actions of others.

There are many things he isn’t doing (or won’t do) that I find quite acceptable - and some things he decided were ‘ok’ that I found myself shocked at.  But basically it’s all about levels of green - as I must shock people who are ‘more green’ than I am with some of the things I think are quite acceptable.

He also gets letters from random people (he writes for The Guardian newspaper) who are what I would call extreme!  There is 1 lady who ‘washes only her stinky bits’ to save water and brushes her teeth with what she herself describes as a foul tasting concoction of salt and bicarbonate of soda to avoid chemicals!

Where do you sit on the green-scale?

How It Made Me Feel:
In general, his words certainly made me feel that I was lacking in certain areas and could really try a bit harder - but I also tended to agree with his comments regarding how ‘little’ it all feels in the whole global picture.

When you hear of all the disasters on the planet and how governments of the world seem to be trying their best to cut down forests, kill off species and pollute the atmosphere - you wonder if washing out your milk carton for recycling or watering your garden with bath-water is really going to stop the planet from falling to pieces?

Leo’s story just makes me feel like the little things do help and that my efforts are not being wasted.  It also tells me that there are many, many, many other people out there doing the same - or better - to help us curb our wasteful habits and make a difference for the future.

More Eco Friendly?
If you do fancy reading this book - make sure that you get this book from your local library to save a whole new one being made - and while you are there check out their noticeboard for some local events you can attend to support your local community!

If you do want your own copy for reference, then check online (there are usually free Internet computers at libraries) for a second-hand one on many of the book trading sites like Amazon, eBay, or Freecycle or search for another site. 

Let me know what you think!

Here, we continue from yesterday, with the final 3 tips on making those small steps to running a healthy eco friendly house!

5) Don’t Do Disposable!  Try to reduce your consumption of disposable items - they are everywhere.  Pens, sticky note pads, razors, toothbrushes, cotton-buds, cotton wool balls, facial pads, tissues, baby wipes, hygiene wipes, even personal ‘lady’ items.

Try to find the longer lasting equivalent - it’s not less hygienic if you do it properly.  For example facecloths instead of wipes or cotton wool is perfectly clean and gets the job done - then gets washed - and does the job all over again!

Toothbrushes with changeable heads and razors with replaceable blades all go towards reducing waste - and reducing your consumption of new materials.

Feminine hygiene products now come unbleached, and in smaller sizes to help reduce waste and resources - but now even come in washable versions.  There is even the menstrual cup today (a small insertable item that will ‘contain’ rather than ‘absorb’) that does away with the need for cotton products altogether!

Similarly, the contraceptive device known as The Coil (an IUD) works perfectly well as a contraceptive device for most women - reducing the need for wasteful alternatives.

In sexually active individuals and couples, one Coil could reduce the need for a continual supply of ‘the Pill’ - filled with either/or both oestrogen and progesterone (which eventually leave our bodies and enter the water system and affecting animals and plants) and could stop the rising tide of used condoms filling landfills or floating down the beach!

6) Buy Big!  Make sure that you buy the largest pack size of your products that you can.  Not only does this reduce packaging per unit - it should also save you money and reduce your weekly trash pile! 

Therefore, not only will you need to shop less as a result, the container is more likely to be re-used for storage.  (You can keep a smaller bottle for decanting into if space is an issue).

Don’t be tempted by promotions or buy-one-get-one-free offers for the smaller products.  They usually work out the most expensive way to buy your products, weight more with the extra containers, use more ink and labels with their individual wrapping or information, take up more room in your house and create more waste.  Therefore their overall ‘cost’ is not actually any cheaper!

And Finally (7):
Try something new if it’s eco credentials impress you.  Remember that advertised brands in commercials and magazines, pay $$$$$$$’s to advertise - and it’s you who pays for it.

You pay for that model to walk along tropical beaches for an ice cream, or that famous person to fly a plane for some anti-aging cream, or a mountaineer to climb a high mountain for a washing powder.  That must mean that they are making a huge profit from you somewhere - and that means that their products are made a lot cheaper than the price you pay!

Unadvertised products usually put a lot more into their products as they sell by word of mouth saving advertising costs.  And, in all honesty - noone recommends a product that doesn’t work, taste good or fit properly. 

So trust a brand that has been recommended by people you know sometimes instead of just believing what you are told on the TV!

Let me know how you get on, or have any other tips…….

You don’t need money to make the world go around according to the millions of LETS schemes being implemented and successfully run around the world!

These rapidly growing Local Exchange Trading Schemes basically allow people and communities to become more people focused and sustainable - lowering the need for external services and supplies, and reducing the amount of ‘old’ products thrown out and new products purchased.

What Do LETS Do?
The whole system is set up on the basis that everyone works for nothing - there is no money involved. You do things for credits.

Now these credits can be called anything you want in your community - whether it’s Acorns, Gooseberries or Gribbets - and they are all worth the same. You only get ‘paid’ whatever others think you are worth in your community and many skills are equal.

For example if you were a secretary and did an hours work, it would be equal to a solicitor working for an hour. If you made a piece of furniture for someone, it may well be equal to someone mowing you lawn.

Each scheme has it’s own moderated credit system and all the members decide what should be worth what. Your credits are stored up for your services and then you can spend them by using the services of others.

That way, if you offer to babysit for someone for 7 Groats, you can then call on someone else to help you put up your shed for that same amount. The idea is that people can get things done by local people without having to spend money.

How are they helpful?
The way that LETS come into their own are where people have a skill that they can share. If a person is not currently working for whatever reason, they can still offer that skill to others without the hassle of having to be employed or having to draw up contracts.

It also means that people can practice and improve their current skills without having to be employed by a larger company. So a part time photographer can put their skills to use without leaving their current job in the towns supermarket. Or a retired person can still offer their advice as a lawyer or soliciter in exchange for heavy gardening or a dog sitter while they take a holiday.

It’s also great for those with niche skills who can get to practice their trade and get their services recognised without having the drag of finding formal employees or a retail premises.

They also offer a great service as it is not a direct swap - you are not offering something to the person you get your service from - so the person who’s flat you are cleaning isn’t the one who has to give you something back - you pick and choose the services you want to receive.

Why not see if there is one in your area - and give it a go?