Eco Friendly House And Garden

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……

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.

Low energy, CO2 reducing, HFC-free, natural materials, easy to maintain and fully compostable! 

Now that sounds a lot better than the high energy demanding, hydro-carbon filled, man-made material landfill site-filling drain on resources air conditioning units that we all know at the moment!

So if you are thinking of replacing or installing a new air conditioning system for your home or office, then maybe compare the benefits of this new system alongside the normal ones – and make you choice then.

The Financial Benefits Of The New System:
There are many many eco-friendly benefits of these new air conditioning units which I will list below, but there is also the financial costs too.  For example, the replacement filters can be fitted by you rather than having to call out an engineer, and the maintenance of the whole system is low from the start and it only costs about 10p per day to power.

You also need to input less energy into the units to keep them running as they transfer their energy very efficiently within themselves requiring less input from external energy sources.

And, they control the levels of carbon dioxide in your workspace.  Now we all know that a stuffy office is not conducive to work – and you normally fell like it’s time for a nap – but this is only due to the rise in the level of CO2 (the ppm count) with all those warm people breathing out!  So, if this level is maintained at a low level, everyone should be able to keep working and be more productive during the whole day.  And this mean better profits – essential for a small business!

The Green Credentials:
Here are some facts and figures from the Cool Phase website detailing the eco benefits of their great new invention!

• Each system installed could save around 800kg of CO2 a year.
• Units do not contains any ozone damaging refrigerants or contribute to excessive global warming.
• Outer casing is made from FSC approved plywood materials.  
• All materials used are natural, and so can be mashed up and composted at the end of their life.
• Units recover heat from their surroundings late in the day and store them until the following morning with no need for extra energy.
• If you live in the UK – this is a locally built product!

So, we should stop thinking of air conditioning as being a constant flow of freezing cold air into the workplace – but more of an ambient controlled atmosphere that actually does condition the air of your office, school or home for the better.

Better for the environment, better for your health and better for your wallet!

I Checked My Own Toiletries Products To Prove I was Below Average……..

……and the results were a shock to me!

Now, I hardly use any toiletries on a daily basis.  By this I mean that I don’t wear perfume, style my hair or wear make-up every day.  It’s rare to do these things once a month even – but I was still amazed at my chemical usage!

After writing my recent article: 7 Tips For Eco Friendly Health & Beauty, I went to bed as usual and actually remembered to put some night cream on my face (not something I do every night - but that night, I looked at the ingredients:

41 there were in total!  In 1 tiny product.

That is almost unbelievable for what I thought was a simple anti-wrinkle face cream – so I took a good look at everything else toiletries-wise that I had used that day:

Shower Gel:             19
Anti-Perspirant        10
Dandruff Shampoo  35
Sore Neck Cream      13
Hand Soap               28
Night Cream             41

Total:                    136 ingredients!!!!!!

10 more than the average!  I dread to think what my friends use, what with nail varnish, make-up, hair care products, perfumes, body lotions, shaving creams and cleansing products!

Surely, we are just too accepting of the advertising or the packaging on the shelf.  Why have I never wondered why these products need so many components?

I have often wondered why the food I eat – like flavoured crisps or cakes – have so many added ingredients, but never my toiletries which ultimately enter my body through my skin.  And here I haven’t included toothpaste (16) and washing up liquid (10) or the washing powder I use that stays on my clothes (15) amongst others.

But do more eco-friendly products actually have less ingredients, the same number but ‘better’ ingredients, or just less and better ingredients?

The Competition:
Well, I had a peak at some eco friendly products to compare, and here are some of the results:

Ecover Washing Up Liquid: 10
Same number of ingredients but more plant-based ingredients.  But I suppose that even daffodils are toxic to humans, right?

The Body Shop eau de toilette: 5
One of these is water (aqua) anyway, but the first (and therefore the largest) ingredient is described as ‘ethanol which has been rendered toxic!’.  However, we know it wasn’t tested on animals!

Ethical Superstores Lavera Anti-Dandruff Shampoo: 23
Quite a few less, but still quite high I think.  It’s vegan friendly and has some organic ingredients.  All of the ingredients were either plant extracts or not on the ‘dangerous’ list when it comes to chemicals!

Neals Yard Night Cream: 17
Well, it hasn’t got the anti-aging claims of my current face cream – but then I still think I look wrinkly – so maybe it’s not worth all the extra chemicals anyway!  Most of these ingredients are known herbal ingredients to help with skin, etc.  It all looks very nice on the packaging!

Mine has many ingredients that I cannot pronounce and includes a muscle relaxant, several known irritants, an ingredient used in paint solvents, an ingredient used to repair roofs and make basketballs, a lubricating oil and a fuel additive!

Maybe I will think twice when I buy my replacement products!  And a future article will no doubt show my findings on which ingredients to avoid in your own toiletries and cosmetics!

What about you?  What’s your worst product in terms of number of ingredients!  Add up your normal days worth and let us know!