Easy Ways to Make your Home More Eco-Friendly

GREEN BRITAIN DAY 10TH JULY 2009 - Just one day to go!

We all want to do our part to protect the environment, but that can be seem difficult, if not impossible without spending loads of money. But doing your part doesn’t have to be hard. Small steps add up to a big difference, you just have to know which ones to take.

Use less water.
Saving water is all about small steps, here are a few that will help save big.

1) Turn off the tap while you brush your teeth
2) Take showers that are a minute or two shorter
3) Only flush the toilet when you need to
4) Only run full loads of laundry and dishes
5) Buy from sustainable producers. These are farmers and other producers that use techniques that pollute less and use less water. You can do some research online or ask at your local organic market to find these products.

Use less energy.
If you don’t have the money to buy a hybrid car or convert your house to solar power, you can make a big difference with small changes.

1) Buy energy efficient appliances. They may be more expensive, but make up for the increased cost in lower energy bills.
2) Unplug chargers when you’re not using them. Mobile phone and other chargers use up power even if there’s nothing attached to them.
3) Use renewable energy sources where possible - e.g. Solar-Powered Phone chargers etc
4) Put devices with remotes, like T.V.s, DVD players, and stereos, on a power strip and turn it off when you’re not using them. These devices use a lot of power to run the remote receiver even when the device is off.
5) Walk or ride your bike for short trips.
6) Buy local products. It takes energy to transport food and other products across the country. Buying local not only supports your local economy, it helps them use less energy.


When it comes to saving energy and water, it’s a great idea to get your kids involved. You can even make it a game. Have them track how much water and electricity everyone is using. You can compete to see who uses the least water. You can often count on your kids to help keep you on track when given the task.

Reuse.
Most of us know the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, but when we work on conserving, we often leave reuse out of the picture. While you can often find tips on how to reuse common products from other people, what you need most is creativity. With a little thought there are many items around your home that can be reused - toilet paper holders can be used to sow seeds for the vegetable patch. And old yogurt containers can be cut into strip to make plant labels. Old food jars can be refilled with homemade foods or can make great impromptu vases.

Use environmentally friendly products.
When you go to the grocery store, you probably see more and more 'natural' or 'eco-friendly' products every time. There are generally two big problems with these products:
1) Just because they’re more natural than regular products, doesn’t mean they’re entirely natural.
2) They’re often expensive.

If you want inexpensive, natural, safe products, why not just make them yourself. Vinegar is a great way to clean and disinfect glass and other surfaces. Need to remove stubborn stains? Just add some baking soda to your vinegar cleaner. Some quick searching online will lead you to hundreds of other natural safe home-made cleaning products.

We all knowing that going green means better for the environment, but it’s also better for you. Conserving resources also helps save you money, which is something all of us need to do in these uncertain times.

Green Britain - Some concerns.......

Only 4 days to go to 'Green Britain Day'!

As you will know by now, I am a fan of being green.
To me, being green means living in such a way as to minimise my impact on my environment, to use minimal natural resources, and to try and benefit my environment wherever possible.

This may seem to some like a pretentious grandiose notion - but it isn't really - I'm doing it in my own small way because I believe it is right to do so.

However, I do have serious concerns about the motivations of businesses and organisations when they try to convince us of their green credentials. In most of the press and TV pieces I've seen, their 'green' statistics have been, at best incomplete, and at worst, downright misleading.

Businesses jump onto bandwagons for one reason only - not for altruistic motives, but to make as much money as possible.

Now, I don't have a problem with that, as long as they ARE being green - but how many are?

The so-called green credentials of big businesses and organisations remind me of the on-going food-labelling saga;

There was a time when food companies didn't have to worry about mentioning how much fat or salt their products contained. Then it became an issue and they were forced by government legislation backed by health organisations into stating the full nutritional breakdown in their products, in the hope that this would force them into reducing this or that ingredient, to make the product healthier and to help the public make informed choices about the foods they were eating.
Did the foods become healthier?
No.
Did the food companies properly comply with the legislation?
Yes - not to do so would have hit their profits and reputations.
Did they find ways of making the self-same products seem healthier?
Yes - marketing people, like Government spin doctors, are masters at manipulating the information to produce the response they want.

The same thing is happening with green issues - Nothing much has changed, except the way the information is presented to the public.

Here's a case in point; Wind Farms.....
Each giant windmill in a wind farm has it's own 'carbon footprint', which was created when it was manufactured. The Wind Farm's overall carbon footprint depends on how many of these windmills it has.
Now, the companies that operate these wind farms are very quick to point out the benefits of them, but are less forthcoming when it comes to the ecological cost of manufacturing them. ( These companies make so much money, they're not going to do anything to jeopardise their profits - are they? )
If the overall carbon footprint of making them, is bigger than the carbon footprint they save during their operational life, then they are not ecologically cost-effective.

Let me put it another way; You are told that company 'X' made £100 million in sales last year - Sounds like a good investment? Maybe, maybe not. If their costs were £101 million then suddenly your perception of the company changes. If company 'X' wanted you to invest in them, do you think they'd be open about their costs, unless you forced the issue with them, by doing your own research?

Exactly.

Be careful what you accept as fact.

Green Britain - Another use for plastic bottles!

In one of my earlier postings, I showed how plastic bottles could be re-used as mini-greenhouses in the garden - well, here's another garden use for those same plastic bottles!

As before, just cut the bottom of the bottle off, and remove the cap - then dig a hole in one of your flower or veg beds to half the depth of the bottle.

Put the bottle upside-down into the hole so that the open bottom is on top.

Now fill the bottle with water - instant water trap! Great for when there are long dry spells. It solves 2 problems - firstly the water doesn't run off dry, baked soil and secondly, it gets the water deep inside the bed, so less of it evaporates!

Put several of these water traps round your garden and watering is a breeze! Also, when it finally rains after a long dry spell, the rainwater gets to where it is really needed - around the deeps roots of the plants!

10th July 2009 is 'Green Britain Day'

So, 10th July 2009 is 'Green Britain Day' - but why have just one day?

Check out the 'Green Britain Day' website here;

Green-Britain-Day

But, why not make EVERY day a 'Green Britain Day'?
All you have to do, is do something 'green' for yourself every day!

It could be saving money by re-using something you were going to throw away, eat some fruit or veg that you've grown yourself, walk to the shop instead of using the car, using less electricity to keep your bills down, or one of a hundred-and-one other things!

And by doing something 'Green', even just for yourself, you're helping your environment and your planet!

So, be selfish and do something 'Green' every day!

Green Britain Day - 10th July 2009

Do your bit for your wallet and your planet!

I know - you're sick of being preached at to save energy, recycle, and generally live more efficiently! So am I! The information put out by governments and big business is usually bland and not very productive.

I thought I'd redress that imbalance by giving you some information that you can actually USE - TODAY - NOW!

Without further ado - here are my first few tips;

1) I know the growing season is moving swiftly along, but there's still time to plant plenty of foodie-things in the garden - You can still plant peas or beans for a late crop, or how about some green salad items like Pak Choi, rocket, or bean-sprouts. You can't get fresher - and you'll know there's no chemicals involved!

2) Instead of using local authority recycling bins - why not re-use as much as you can yourself?
( And who know's what happens to stuff that goes in them? Besides, the local authority usually makes & saves money from the stuff you throw away - so why shouldn't you? )
Here's a few ways;
a) Empty plastic bottles make great mini greenhouses or cloches for seedlings etc - just cut the bottoms off and cover the seedlings! ( For ventilation during the day, unscrew the cap - to protect them at night, put the cap back on! )
b) Invest in a paper-brick maker - then you can reuse your old newspapers and the like - use them for a barbeque! Old newspapers can also be used to make papier-mache - in the 1800's lots of items were made from papier mache - but it's very much a lost art now, as palstics have become the norm. Why not revive this art? The items made will be fully bio-degradable - unlike most modern plastics.
c) Talking of plastics - food-trays can be re-used as seed-trays! Just thoroughly wash, fill with compost, add the seeds and water. Quick, easy, and cheap! And related to the item above - if you make papier-mache seed trays, you can then plant the whole seed-tray directly in the ground where, as the seeds grow, the tray will decompose, adding nutrients to the soil! ( and you can cover the seedlings with the plastic bottles! )
d) Old clothes which are not fit to go to charity shops can be cut up and made into dusters, or sheets for a pets bedding etc.

3) Turn your heating / air conditioning down! These are wasteful of energy and very expensive - as we all discover when we see our energy bills! In the modern world, we have become soft - we have been conditioned to central-heating etc. Most households have the heating up way too high - so turn it down by one or two degrees. No-one will notice if it's done gradually - they'll get used to it, and you'll save about £2 a week on your heating bill!

4) For a free ebook on being green & saving money click on this link; Go Green - Save Green - it's usually £1.00 but free when you click from here ( that's the 'nice surprise' mentioned! )

Please feel free to add your comments and thoughts!