One Little Thing

I've changed my profile to reflect my new aims. Bear with me.

It seems that I was quite an activist over the weekend.
On Friday I attended the CATE disco and comedy night and managed to meet a couple of faces I knew online. I'd made a partial effort with my costume - it started life as a pair of trousers and had ripped across the seat a few days before the event so I added a fabric offcut and made it into a skirt. A lot of people had really made an effort to make their costumes out of rubbish - very impressive. I took a 'green' test and made a pledge to switch to green energy. To be honest I've been meaning to do this for some time and it was the push I needed. I'll let you know when it's done. I was rather disappointed to find that the venue itself was far from green, using plastic cups that they couldn't refill and probably didn't recycle. I realise that these are safer than glasses but would prefer to see some sort of intermediate stage - possibly sturdy plastic that could be washed and re-used? Perhaps we could persuade them to start recycling. What do you think?

Saturday saw me heading off to the VIVA Incredible Veggie Show (and breaking the SOCPA law as I passed through Westminster tube wearing a Friends of the Earth badge without a permit - oooh!). Now I've been vegetarian for 18 years but I haven't quite made it to vegan although that's what I aspire to be. The festival provided me with some great ideas for replacing dairy in my diet and some convincing reasons to do so. With food samples available all over the place it was hard to resist and I came away with a few jars and packets as well as a load of literature. I even had to buy an extra canvas bag to put it in. I will try to cut down on my dairy intake although I'm not going to make a straight jump to the vegan boat as I think I would probably just land in the water. I managed to resist a cheese pasty yesterday. It's a start.

We then moved on to LGBT London Pride parade and festival. We caught the back end of the parade just as it was moving off and worked our way forward to the Amnesty International float which was playing Eurovision hits as part of the current Amnesty campaign. It was wonderful to see so many happy people celebrating diversity and equality and I was indeed proud to be part of it. Not sure about the environmental part - there was a lot of litter on the floor and I'm not sure that it got recycled - but at least there were a few environmental stalls which I guess shows that people are interested.

So I have this week pledged:
- Switch to green energy
- Cut down on dairy

I also want to really work on promoting the current Greenpeace campaign asking supermarkets to make a total switch to energy efficient bulbs. Please take a few minutes to participate in this campaign as it is vital if we are to win the war against climate change. I filled in letters to all shops listed but if you really can't spare the time then at least please write to the two or three shops that you use most. Also consider putting details of the campaign in your own journal and/or emailing your friends about it. I will be.

Have you switched to energy efficient bulbs yet? Have you changed all the bulbs in your house? Don't wait until a bulb blows to buy an energy efficient one - you'll actually save money by replacing them all now! For further info see my previous post on energy saving CFL bulbs.

Talk to me.
I'll be back next week.

Ok so I wasn't back when I promised. I seem to have lost my ability to research and write blogs. I'm still making changes at home although not as many as I would like. In light of this I will be changing my profile slightly and re-shuffling my aims. Perhaps one thing a week was a bit ambitious.

Tomorrow (Friday June 29th) is the Crap At The Environment (CATE) Green Feet disco and comedy night in London. For those of you who don't know, CATE is a movement of people who -although they're not very good at it - are trying to be greener. So I'll be going along tomorrow and hopefully coming back full of enthusiasm and inspiration. If you're in the area you might consider coming along - tickets available on the door.

And then I'll write a whole new blog entry next week. Fingers crossed.

Subjects I have lined up (in no particular order) are:
Handkerchiefs
Washing up
Laundry
Toilet cleaner
Menstrual protection
Loo roll
Batteries


This Saturday (June 30th) I will also be exploring the VIVA Incredible Veggie Show. If any of you are considering becoming vegetarian this is a good place to start.

I had also hoped to create a website for the One Little Thing project, with a blog feed and tips, campaigns etc., but it just hasn’t happened. Partly due to lack of a web designer/editor and partly due to me being lazy. If any of you have web design/editing skills and would like to create some pages with me then get in touch.

Well I think that's it. I hope someone is still reading. See you soon.

Hello everyone.

I am still here, I do still care, and I am still being green.

I just needed a break from writing blogs but I'll be back next week.

See you then!

I've been rather lax with my actions of late. I missed a week and intended to make two changes and write two posts last week but only managed one. This week I've managed nothing. This makes me feel sad, disheartened and a bit of a fraud. If I can't take up my own challenge why should I expect anyone else to bother? The only reason I can give is that I'm dealing with a long-term health problem (nothing terribly serious, just rather difficult) and it sometimes catches me out. Take that as you will - as an excuse or a reason.

I was going to give myself a complete break this week and end the post there. Then it occurred to me that as I had titled my post 'No Post' and someone had last week asked me a question about cutting down on junk mail then maybe I should just do a quick post about that. I'm not sure what will happen next week. I'll try to post something although it might just be a quick tip. Or it might be a long post, I just don't know right now. In the mean time check out my personal journal for campaigns to sign up to.

( Stopping unwanted mail )

Once again missed my deadline for last week, so once again two posts this week: today and one at the weekend. This is a different subject to the one I was originally going to write about. This post was brought about by several things that have happened (or not happened) recently. The first involves skips.

I hate skips. I hate the wastefulness of them, the way that perfectly good items of furniture and building materials get thrown into them. I am not above salvaging/scavenging items out of skips. The problem is that I'm polite and like to ask the owner of the thrown-out items if it's alright to take them.

Last month I asked for a bench - a beautiful and perfect garden bench - from a skip along the road from my mother's house. The skip was for house clearance after the old man who lived there had passed away. I was told (by a builder) that the owner wanted £5 for it. Hmmm. Then why put it in the skip? I went to make further enquiries of my mother. I found out that the house was indeed being cleared by the old man's son and that my mother knew him. We went back along the road but no one being about we dropped a note through the door saying that we definitely wanted the bench and would there be any chance that he could drop it along (a few doors away) so that we didn't have to drag it out of the skip. We left the issue of money unmentioned. A few days later my mum bumped into the old man's son and he said that of course she could have the bench for free (the builder, as suspected was trying to make himself some cash) but that unfortunately someone else had piled a load of rubble on top of it. All sorts of goodies got covered in rubble. Too much rubble in the end to move. I never did get my bench and it went to the dump.

Last week I heard about a friend taking some furniture to the dump. Not only was the furniture in excellent condition but it was actually wanted by another friend who would have snapped it up given the chance.

Saturday saw me walk into a charity shop and get offered a pile of books for free as they were about to be thrown away. Arghhhhhhhhh!

Yesterday in another skip opposite my mum's house I saw a couple of large plastic bins - or potential plant pots as I prefer to call them. I couldn't bring myself to take them (that's stealing isn't it?) but I badgered my mother into asking for them. On the way home from my mum's I saw (oh the horror) a piano (albeit an extremely beaten up one) sitting in a front garden. I was a little upset, and the look on my face prompted my best friend to suggest that I commandeer it and use it as a planter!

It upsets me that I constantly see discarded or about-to-be-discarded items everywhere - items that I know could be put to good use. It worries me that I have to rescue as many as possible. Where will it end? Will I really end up with a piano planter? I've already asked to cannibalise my mum's dead washing machine. The drum will make a nifty planter (if I can get it out) and the glass part of the door makes a great salad bowl. It worries me more that other people don't see the use of these things. OK, maybe not a piano-planter, but at least that someone might want their perfectly usable furniture, clothing, whatever.

So this is my complaint for the week: stop throwing out things that can still be used!

The rule here - as always - is Reduce, Re-use, Recycle.

Reduce
Why do you need a new one? Can it be repaired, renovated, redecorated? If it's still suitable for the purpose for which it was made then don't throw it away! Often something just needs a new coat of paint or some creative jazzing up. By reducing what you throw away and what you buy, you save energy and resources - both in creating a new product for you to buy and in disposing of the old one.

Re-use
If you don't want something let someone else have it. Just because it's old, worn, or even broken, doesn't mean that someone out there won't want it. This can be either for the use which it was designed for (a bucket as a bucket) or for something else (a bucket as a planter). Creative re-use of an item (or part of an item) means that even if something is broken it can still be useful (a bucket with holes still makes a great plant pot). Think hard before deciding to throw something away.

Recycle
If you don't want it and no one else will take it then it's time to recycle it. Don't put it in the bin! Take it to the recycling centre!

( How to Reduce, Re-use, Recycle )

We ordered our first ever organic fruit and veg box last week. We had been meaning to do this for some time, the only thing stopping us being the concern that we were really rubbish at actually eating a lot of vegetables and that much of it would go to waste. Our solution to this has been to gradually increase the amount of vegetables that we buy and make sure that we eat them. A lone carrot or potato gets chopped up and used in a curry or stew. If something starts to look wrinkly we have to eat it right away rather than trying to pretend it's not there! By keeping our meals simple and quick we have ensured that no food is wasted and that we now get our five-a-day.

I have suggested this plan to everyone else who has declared their interest in a veg box but their hopelessness with vegetables. As with many things in life it takes a little planning and perseverance. Even if you have no skill in the kitchen (me) you can still chop the veg, boil it, smother it in a tasty sauce (from a jar!) and serve with pasta or rice. We aren't all Jamie Oliver and most of us don't want to be.

My veg box was £11.99 for 6 types of veg and 4 types of fruit. My first box contained potatoes, carrots, a cauliflower, onions, pak choi, mushrooms, apples, bananas, kiwis, oranges. We did a price comparison of these at the supermarket where we usually shop and the equivalent in organic veg there came to just 13 pence cheaper and only 3 of the items were UK sourced. In contrast, the pak choi in my veg box had a label on it with the name and address of the man who grew it in Cambridge!

We checked out three different companies that deliver locally before we made our choice. We based our decision on how well we thought the company did in terms of local sourcing policy, fairtrade, transport of foreign items, packaging etc. We finally went for Everbody Organic. Their veg bags and boxes start from just £6.49 for 6 items. They try to keep all produce seasonal, but with things like oranges and bananas (which I don't want to give up) they have to source from abroad. When they do they ensure that goods are transported by boat (not plane) and are fairtrade where possible. Packaging is a wooden crate with cardboard dividers that can be re-used. If there's a type of veg that you really hate you can have it permanently excluded from your order, and you can add extra fruit and veg to your box, as well as other grocery items. All in all a good deal I think.

I'm also making an attempt to grow some veg of my own this year. You can see some photos of my attempt here. I may have started some things off too late or early but only time will tell.


( What you need to know about Fruit and Veg )


Action for this week

Sign up to a local organic veg box scheme. Check that the company actually sources locally and seasonally wherever possible, and that it has a good policy on any imported produce (e.g. bananas are all fairtrade as well as organic and always come by boat) and packaging. Get your neighbours to sign up too - either separately or by sharing a box.

Grow your own organic vegetables. Anyone can do it - even if all you have is a windowsill. Check out the RHS Grow Your Own Veg site, Self Sufficientish, or The Window Box Allotment for ideas. Garden Organic is also an invaluable source of information.

If buying organic fruit and veg at a supermarket check the country of origin and whether it has been shipped or flown in. Try to choose produce that has come less distance (like me you might need a geography lesson!) or has come by boat.

If you don't want to buy organic at all then try to buy locally - from farmers markets or nearby farms (yes city farms do exist!). This produce is better for the environment than its foreign-sourced equivalent.

I completely missed posting an entry last week. I've had quite a bit happening recently so instead of feeling like a failure I'm going to post two entries this week. This one - mainly an update - and one on Friday(ish!).

So what action did I take last week? Well, I managed to increase the range and amount of items that I recycle. When I took my drinks cartons to the supermarket recycling bank I found that they also had facilities for recycling cardboard, paper, glass, metal and plastic, as well as collecting clothes and shoes for redistribution in developing countries. Fantastic!

I already recycle paper and glass (doorstep collection), and metal and drinks cartons (bank), so now I can add plastic and cardboard - in truth the bulk of my bin - to the mix.

All types of card and brown paper can go to the bank. Plastics I'm not so sure about. The picture on the side of the bank is of plastic bottles but there is no indication of what actual materials it takes. The staff in-store aren't very knowledgeable, and the website is two years out of date. So I have emailed the store customer service department so see if they have some answers. Meanwhile I am saving all types of plastic until I have a definite answer.

The recycling area in my kitchen is rather overflowing this week, whilst my bin is only half full and won't need to go out for collection. If I can get down to one bin bag every fortnight on a regular basis I will be very happy.

Action for this week

- Contact your local council and urge them to increase the range of items collected in doorstep recycling schemes and banks. If there are already recycling collection facilities / banks in your area, make sure you use them.
- Contact your local supermarket and urge them to install recycling banks. Give examples of their competitors, or other branches of their own store, installing banks and urge them to do the same.
- If you are a parent or teacher, urge your school to get involved in recycling.
- Consider whether your prospective rubbish has another possible use. Plastic ice-cream containers make good lunchboxes, bread bags are good for sandwiches, yoghurt pots make good plant pots. Be creative or google it!
- Try to buy items with packaging that you can recycle.
- Crush and tear items to make them as small as possible to fit in your bin. Smaller waste is better waste!

( Updates & Review )

Well, it's Easter, so you're probably expecting me to write something about chocolate. Well it's actually a bit late - you've all bought your Easter treats. But I guess it might be useful for next year. I don't actually eat chocolate (I'm not allowed sugar) but I do buy it for Paul, who is a bit of a chocolate addict. And I was planning on buying him an egg this year.

( So, what exactly are the problems with chocolate, or with Easter eggs specifically? )

Action for this week

- Check out the Good Chocolate Guide and commit to buying traffik-free chocolate.
- Sign the declaration that you will buy traffik-free.
- Where possible try to buy Fairtrade and Organic.
- Consider buying milk-free chocolate (most dark chocolate or soya-chocolate).
- Try to choose chocolate with less and recyclable packaging. And recycle it!
- Drop an email to the chocolate companies that you would usually buy from and explain why you won't be buying from them anymore. Or if you really can't give up your favourites at least pester the companies for information on their environmental, labour, trade and animal welfare policies and urge them to improve on these.

I've been quiet for a while. At the moment I'm still struggling with illness and trying to have a full week of being well. Last week I didn't quite manage it and so no blog entry. But I haven't given up. In fact I've actually managed to make a lot of new friends, both on here and over at MySpace. Thank you to anyone who has added me recently. Feel free to make comments and suggestions.

Someone I spoke to recently who is doing a similar thing is comedian Mark Watson, who is Crap At The Environment but wants to get better at it. He is busy gaining followers and setting them environmental challenges and is definitely worth joining in his quest. Read his MySpace blog and check out his website. There is also an LJ community based around CATE. Go look.

And now to the subject in question:

Did you know that drinks cartons can be recycled?
Neither did I until recently.

It annoys me that the fruit juice and soya milk I buy are only sold in cartons. I have to bin the empty cartons and they end up in landfill. Even though I always flatten them down so that they take up less space in the bin I would much rather recycle them. And now I can. A carton recycling bank has just appeared at my local supermarket. This is great news and it's about time.

As I increase the number of items that I can recycle I need to make more room for storage. I have a small recycling area next to the rubbish bin in the kitchen and I empty and sort this every few days into individual containers in the garden. I'm lucky to have a larger space outdoors to keep my recycling, but if you don't have a garden you can still make room. The key to being greener (as with many things) is organisation. Know what goes where, make sure your entire household knows, and recycle it regularly, don't let it build up into an unmanageable mountain.

I've also written to my local council to ask them to start collecting drinks cartons for recycling. If I get a reply I'll post it here.

( What you need to know about drinks cartons )

Action for this week

- Contact your local council and urge them to collect drinks cartons. If there are already recycling collection facilities / banks in your area, make sure you use them.
- Contact your local supermarket and urge them to install a recycling bank for drinks cartons.
- If you are a parent or teacher, urge your school to get involved in recycling.
- Post your cartons for recycling.
- If you can't recycle your cartons, at least pull out the corners and squash them completely flat before binning them, so they use less space at landfill.
- Consider buying your drinks in a container that you do have the ability to recycle, instead of a carton that you have to bin.

Book production accounts for 2% of world paper use.(1) Whilst this is a small percentage it is still a huge amount in terms of the actual amount of wood pulp used. And not all of it is from renewable resources. In fact, a good deal of it is from illegally logged timber - some from already decimated rainforests.

"The UK spends an estimated £712 million (US$1.4bn) on illegal timber and wood products per year - the equivalent of £11.76 per person in the UK. This equates to 7.2% of the total value of forest product imports (£9.9bn) in 2005." (2)

The WWF estimates that 26.6% (more than a quarter) of this illegal timber is used in the paper industry. (2) There are no figures to suggest how much of this paper makes it into the book trade.

So what can we do about this?
- Well, you can email your MP and ask them to support new legislation on illegal logging.
- You can put pressure on publishers to ensure that their paper is from certified renewable sources (or even better - recycled). Penguin have a statement on their website about the paper used in their books but many publishers don't see it as an issue. Email them and show that it matters.
- Make use of your local Public Library. They stock a wide range of fiction as well as reference books and could really do with your support. It's free to join and free to borrow books.
- In terms of saving resources and reducing waste it is always better to buy books secondhand. It is usually cheaper too. Use the guide below for acquiring books as well as for getting rid of them.

I am always surprised when people tell me that they simply throw books away after reading them. 'You mean give them away?' I ask naively. 'No, put them in the bin' comes the reply. This upsets me. What a waste of a perfectly good book. What a waste of precious paper. What a waste of a tree.

So I decided to put together a little guide on what to do with used books:

Make some money from them
- Sell your books online, on a site such as Amazon or Green Metropolis. Listing them is easy and there is the potential for making good money. Payment is direct into your bank account, so no messing about waiting for cheques to arrive.
- Take them to your local second hand bookstore and see what kind of price you can get.


Let someone else make money from them
- Take your books to a charity shop or charity bookshop and let them make some money for a good cause. It's best to check what type of books each individual charity will take, as well as what kind of condition they should be in, before handing them over. Some shops immediately reject and destroy certain books (Mills and Boon being a common example) and you don't want your good deed ruined by having your books sent to the tip.

Give them away/Swap them
- Offer them to friends and colleagues. Make a list and post it on your blog or email it out and see who wants what.
- Hold a book swap party. Set a date and tell your friends to round up their unwanted books and bring them over. Browse and exchange!
- Set them free with BookCrossing. Print out labels from the website, stick them in your books, and then leave them in public places (on a bus, at the dentist) for other people to find and take home. If you are lucky you might even get a postcard from your book, telling you where in the world it has ended up.
- Swap your books on BookMooch or Read It Swap It. List books you want to give away and post them to whoever claims them. Then request books of your own which people have to post to you.
- Offer your books on Freecycle. Find your local Freecycle group, join, and then start giving things away. Obviously you can claim and even request things - from books to biscuit tins, cookie cutters to cars.
- Donate them to Book Aid International where they will be sent to developing countries to help promote literacy.
- Create a book exchange at work/school/wherever. Grab some unwanted books, put them in a box/on a windowsill with some signs here and there referring to a 'book exchange'. People don't have to leave a book to borrow/take one and they'll soon get the idea. Maybe add some book crossing labels to some of them.

Recycle them
- If they have pages missing, are torn, crumbling, stained beyond recognition and really unreadable then you can recycle them. If you tear off the front and back covers and the spine you can usually put the pages in with your paper recycling (check with your local authority). The card covers can be recycled or composted.
- Turn your them into a piece of artwork or find a completely new use for them.

( Further Info and References )

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that my postings have become slightly erratic. I originally intended to post every Monday but have got rather out of sync. I will attempt to rectify this in future. Making changes in my life takes a little forethought, research and planning. It is necessary to have several changes in progress at any one time, so that if something doesn't arrive on time, or doesn't quite work out as expected, I will still have something that I can complete and write about. Because I only want to write about the completed actions, things that I have actually done rather than just intend to do, as that way I am not cheating myself or anyone else. At the moment I am a little behind due to illness, and this post should have gone up last week, but didn't as the action was completed but the post wasn't! Some of you have already suggested issues you would like me to look into but I would welcome further ideas. Your feedback is always appreciated. And so to the issue in hand...

A few weeks ago I started to look into the issue of water conservation. I vaguely remembered a campaign in the 1990s for showers instead of baths, but that's about as far as my knowledge went. Oh, and collecting rainwater for the garden instead of using tap water. But I didn't really know why it was important not to use so much water.

There are many ways that we can help to conserve water, and I will examine them one at a time on this journal. The thing that I decided to focus on first was saving water each time I flush the toilet. This was prompted by an email that I received from Friends of the Earth (I am signed up for their daily hints and tips) and seemed to be an extremely easy thing which I could do quite quickly, and at the same time would have a relatively large beneficial effect.

Saving water with each flush involves putting a water displacement device (also called a cistern displacement device) into the toilet cistern. This takes up space which would otherwise be occupied by water and means that less water is available for each flush.

The first thing I did was to identify what type of cistern I have and approximately how much water it uses per flush. Going by the Waterwise guide it looks like a 7.5 litre flush. This was confirmed by some writing inside the cistern: plumbers marking the water level on routine inspections and adding the date. So definitely a pre-2001 toilet and therefore probably a 7.5 litre.

The recommendation for this is to use a Save-A-Flush bag. Thames Water are currently giving these away for free . I ordered one and it arrived within a couple of weeks. It is essentially a small flat bag filled with crystals which expand in water. The bag is very simple to install: press it flat to expel air (so that it doesn’t float), flush the cistern to empty it of water and then put the bag inside. After about 6 hours it has swelled to hold one litre of water. The back of the Save-A-Flush bag tells me that by using it I will save about 2000 gallons of water per year (about 35,000 cups of tea). I haven’t noticed any decrease in the efficiency of the flush mechanism and it all seems to be running smoothly. So simple.


(  Why we need to conserve water and how to fix your flush )


Action for this week

Quick and easy
- Identify your cistern type and whether or not it is water efficient.
- If your toilet cistern is not water efficient, install a cistern displacement device such as a Save-A-Flush, Hippo, Freddie Frog or even just a bottle filled with water. Contact your local water company and ask if they have any free cistern displacement devices.
- A very basic way of using greywater to flush the toilet: leave the plug in when you shower and then fill a bucket with this collected water and tip it down the toilet to flush away the contents.

Longer term
- If you have a bigger budget available, invest in a water-saving flush device which can be installed in your existing toilet.
- When installing a new toilet buy the one that is most water efficient.

Future planning
- As technology improves with research, consider installing a greywater or rainwater system for flushing the toilet.

For some time now we have been asking our local council about providing us with a brown bin for the kerbside collection of garden waste. Each time we were told that no more bins were currently being given out. We were told that instead we could buy bags for the collection of green waste. Unfortunately these are flimsy, sold at few establishments, and cost nearly £1 each. However, we had persevered with these as it was the only way we could get rid of green waste. No provision is made by the local council for the collection of kitchen waste, and at no time did anyone suggest that we get a home composting bin as an alternative. So I was rather surprised to find out that Hertfordshire County Council has been offering discounted compost bins to residents for some time: just £8 for a compost bin that usually retails for around £30, £10 for a £40 bin and £20 for a £50 bin. And that includes delivery.

I enthusiastically phoned up to place my order, only to face the further surprise of being told that my area was not included in the offer. But I live in Hertfordshire! And the offer is for Hertfordshire residents! Why is my area not included in the offer? Apparently we weren't on the system. A glitch, a technical error. Call back in a couple of weeks - you'll be on the system then. But - I want my compost bin now!

At this point I was far from impressed. Firstly no one bothered to tell me about the compost offer, even when given ample opportunity. So the people I dealt with either didn't know or didn't care. Either way, not the best people to be promoting waste recycling. Secondly, on finding out about the offer, I was then unable to make use of it, even though I was theoretically eligible. My belief is that authorities need to make it as easy as possible for us to recycle, and to encourage any spark of interest in greener living. So this disorganisation and incompetence was really infuriating.

I did eventually call back (I am enthusiastic enough but I daresay that a good many other people wouldn't have bothered) and put in an order for a composter. And in a little under two weeks it arrived. I decided to go for the 330 litre composter. Made of black plastic and standing a metre tall it looks a little like the beginnings of a dalek. In fact on reading that swathing it in bubble-wrap would improve the compost-time I considered making a cover for it that would turn it into a dalek. Might actually do it if I find myself feeling creative with time on my hands...

Anyway. I have set it up in the back garden, in the alleyway which already contains our recycling bins. Since our back garden is entirely concreted (contrary to popular belief you can compost on concrete) I put a layer of earth down at the bottom of the composter to encourage worms (you'd be surprised how they get around) and other beneficial bugs. I then added some cardboard, as recommended in my compost book, to help soak up the liquid that would usually drain into the ground.

In the kitchen I have set up a lidded plastic container to collect appropriate waste. I have put a sign over the bin to remind myself not to throw away vegetable peelings etc. I'm quite surprised at how much I have collected in just one week and how it builds up inside the composter. So now all I can do is to keep filling and wait. With a little maintenance I should have wonderful compost in the not-too-distant future!

( The joy of compost )

Ironically, my local council have just re-vamped their website and now make mention of the Herts offer. They also say that they are now wheeling out brown bins for all residents who didn't get one first time around. Oh well. Better late than never.



Action for this week

Best
- Check out offers in your area and order yourself a composter. Alternatively, build your own. Or you might want to try out a worm bin. Get it set up in your garden. Get a lidded container to collect waste in your kitchen. Start composting!

Good
- How about sharing a compost bin with a neighbour (or two) if you don't have anywhere to put a bin yourself. You can collect waste in a lidded container in the kitchen and then empty it into the compost bin once or twice a week.

Better than doing nothing
- If you don't have a garden you should ask your local council about kerbside collections and community compost schemes. Some local authorities take only garden waste, some take kitchen waste too. The important thing is to badger them until they provide something!

On the eco-front several things have been happening this week but I wasn't sure which one would actually get completed for me to write about. One thing was requested but has not yet arrived; another thing arrived but has not yet been set up; and one thing is still the subject of detailed discussion. So, on to the one thing that I actually did!

This week is part of National Nest Box Week, which runs from the 14th to the 21st of February each year. Launched in 1997 by the British Trust for Ornithology, the aim of the week is to 'encourage people to put up nest boxes to help breeding birds and other wildlife'.

Our British bird population is diminishing, and one of the reasons for this is lack of breeding spaces. As trees disappear from our landscape, so do potential nest sites. As we fill up holes in the brickwork of our houses, fix loose roof tiles, tidy our gardens, we eliminate more potential nest sites. We can help redress this balance by putting up nest boxes.

I was given a nest box for my birthday last year but for one reason or another didn't get around to putting it up. Receiving an email about National Nest Box Week was the reminder that I needed to get the box out of the shed and fix it up. I have been feeding the birds here since I moved in and find it so worthwhile. I love watching them milling about (I have a great view from where I sit typing this) and they don't seem too bothered by me when I go outside. I even have a robin and a blackbird that like to hang about whilst I am gardening. I've actually nearly stepped on the robin a couple of times as he has swooped in for a closer look! The open-fronted nest box that I have says it is for robins, so I'm hopeful that this little chap will approve of it. My garden is of a fair size, with several shrubs and even a couple of small trees in it, but neither is tall enough to be a nest box site. Also in the garden is a rather large pole, a couple of metres high, attached (fairly firmly) to the wall. I'm not sure what its original purpose was but it does look to be an ideal site for the nest box. I borrow a ladder from a friend but am thwarted in my attempt to buy nails of a large enough size to hold the box up. Finally, a kindly neighbour offers to dig some out for me and I'm ready to go. I'll be updating my personal journal with any progress in terms of birds moving in, and I'll add a brief update here if I get any chicks.

The BTO is also promoting Nesting Spaces: encouraging people to think of a suitable public site for several nest boxes and then persuade a local business to sponsor them to be fixed up. I might try to get involved in this. I'll add an update if I do manage it.


( What you need to know about Nest Boxes )

In my profile I say that this journal is about me making a change in my life every week. However, I was asked by a friend if this week I would look into the issues surrounding the typical Valentine's Day gift of flowers. Now, I don't actually celebrate Valentine's Day - call me a cynic if you will - so I feel as though this is a bit of a cop-out. Having said that, I do believe that it is an issue worth exploring, so - seeing as it might be of interest to some people - I have decided to look into it.

( What are the issues with cut flowers? )


Action for this week

I’m not going to do a best/good/better than doing nothing this week, as I feel that there are no clear-cut answers here. I will make some suggestions, but I think this is something we need to weigh up individually, thinking carefully about each purchase.

I would suggest firstly, asking questions of the florist, supermarket or other supplier that you are planning to use.

Ask:
- Which country have the flowers (or plants) originally come from (not just where the supplier is based)?
- Were they grown organically, without the use of chemicals?
- Are they Fairtrade?
- If they are home-grown – are they seasonal?
- Is their wrapping recyclable or compostable?

I believe that it is important to ask these questions, even if you are already sure of the answers you will get. Suppliers should be concerned about their customer base. Asking questions and then rejecting a product based on the answers you get should make them think. Tell them your concerns and ask them to make a suggestion about what to buy. Send emails, call customer care lines or ask instore.

You could compromise on some of the issues. For example, you could buy seasonal UK grown flowers, accepting the fact that they are not organic, but asking the florist to only wrap them in paper rather than plastic. Or you could buy organic flowers that are air-freighted in. Or go for fairtrade flowers. In each case I believe that it is important to ensure that the supplier knows why you are making this decision, and what they could change to make you buy more products.

You could save cut flowers for really special occasions.

You could grow your own, or pot up bulbs in advance as gifts.

You could avoid cut flowers completely.

Let me know what you think.

For some time now I have been meaning to buy energy-efficient lightbulbs for the house. And every time I have gone shopping I've left them off the list or been in too much of a rush to walk the few extra yards to pick them up. Finally I have managed to buy them. And that's the great thing about this journal: it makes me focus on just one activity rather than getting bogged down with lots of things that I mean to do.

This week we replaced the bulbs in the living room, dining room, landing and three bedrooms with energy efficient bulbs. I have also ordered online an energy efficient bulb with a small screw fitting for the bathroom, and have claimed my free bulbs from my power supplier. These will be fitted in the hallway and at the bottom of the stairs when they arrive. The kitchen light fitting takes halogen bulbs (better than regular incandescent bulbs but not as good as CFLs) but since this is a rented house we can do nothing about this.

I had been rather prejudiced against energy-efficient bulbs but sufficient progress has been made with them in the last few years that after a few days of using them you'll forget you have them. This was definitely a change worth making, and far easier than I anticipated.


( What you need to know about energy saving lightbulbs )


Action for this week

Best
- Replace all the bulbs in your house with energy saving bulbs. Remember lamps, porch lights, security lights and cupboard lights as well as main rooms.
- Make sure that the bulbs you buy are CFL bulbs with an energy rating of 'A'.
- Always turn off the light when leaving a room. Eventually you won't have to even think about it.

Good
- Buy and fit energy efficient bulbs for the 3 rooms you use the most.
- Always turn off the light when leaving a room.

Better than doing nothing
- Buy and fit just one energy saving bulb
- Turn the light off when leaving a room.


I have quite a few people reading this now, but I'd like to get even more people joining in. I'd really appreciate it if you could promote this journal for me, on your own LJ or elsewhere, with a link and a few lines about it. If you already have, thank you.

If you have any suggestions for issues you'd like me to look into, then email me and I'll add it to my list.

Rather later than I intended posting this week. I have started to research a few issues for future actions. And I've been writing letters to my landlords, for permission for various eco house improvements. We also had a visit from the head of maintenance, who was following up problems that we reported months ago. We provided him with a list of issues, many of which are related to windows and insulation. We also made some suggestions for improvements, and he seemed open to investigating these. More on this later, when we receive feedback.

Consequently, this week's action is rather small and quick to do. If you're reading this on Monday, this is still something you can do right away, at work and at home.

Check that your computer power saving settings are switched on

( What you need to know about Power Management on your computer )


Action for this week

Best
- Don't use a screensaver
- Enable all power-save settings. Timings should be similar to these:
Turn off monitor after: 10 minutes
Turn off hard disks after: 20 minutes
System standby after: 30 minutes
Hibernate after: 1 hour
- If you know that you will be away from your computer for 20 minutes or more, switch the entire thing off. Remember to switch the monitor off too. If possible, turn it off at the plug socket.
- Keep additional hardware (printers, scanners, speakers etc) switched off until you need to use them.

Good
- Enable some of the power-save settings.
- Turn your computer and monitor off when you leave work or when you go to bed.

Better than doing nothing
- Manually turn your monitor off when you are away from your desk.
- Turn your computer and monitor off when you leave work or when you go to bed.


( Update on plastic carrier bags )

Well, the new year celebrations are over, the mad rush of sale shopping has diminished, and I've had a couple of weeks to consider which issues I will be tackling in my home, and what I will write here. I have tried to look around my house with fresh eyes, to see the things that I don't usually pay attention to, as well as the things that I think will be easy to change.

My first stop was the kitchen, and the cupboard under the sink. A lot of potentially challenging items lurk there. But the first thing that struck me, quite literally, was the box of plastic carrier bags which burst out all over me and across the floor. This, I decided, was something that needed urgent attention.

Why do I have so many carrier bags? Are they breeding? Where on earth are they all coming from?

Well, shops, obviously. But how?

About a year ago, Paul and I decided that we would try to cut our usage of plastic carrier bags. We bought two large jute shopping bags (from WWF) and two large cotton bags (from Amnesty). We have been taking these on our weekly supermarket shopping trips ever since and they are fantastic. More than one checkout assistant has remarked at the amount of stuff we can fit in them. Both types of bag are exceptionally strong, and are actually much easier and more comfortable to carry than plastic bags, especially when using public transport. The jute bags are especially good for bottles, jars, tins (they have a flat bottom), and the cotton bags protect softer items like fruit and veg rather well. The jute bags have a wipe/rinse clean inside, and the cotton ones go in the washing machine occasionally, with no ill effects.

For larger shopping trips we found that four bags weren't enough. So we have since added a tatty luggage bag that is way past its best, an old sports bag, a couple of smaller cotton bags bought as souvenirs, and a couple of fabric promotional bags that we were given. All of this has cost us very little and has prevented us using a great many carrier bags.

So why do I still have so many carrier bags hoarded?

The problem seems to be when we go out without intending to buy something and so have no choice but to take a new carrier bag. It's all very well to intend to refuse plastic bags, but when you have nothing else to put your shopping in, what do you do?

The trick here is to be prepared. Always have a bag with you. One of my smaller cotton bags will fold up and fit in a coat pocket or a handbag and I'll make sure that it stays there, just in case. The string 'Turtle' bag is also a popular choice, as it folds away to almost nothing but is extremely strong and stretchy. I might invest in one later on. Even carrying some plastic bags around with you and re-using them instead of accepting new ones is a start.

It also takes practice to refuse carrier bags. Most shop assistants reach for a bag and start to pack your purchases without asking if you need one. Several times I have been ignored when saying 'I don't need a bag' and have had to unpack it and hand it back to the bemused assistant. But polite persistence eventually pays off!

Amongst my mountain of bags I found a 'bag for life': the stronger type of plastic bag sold by some UK supermarkets, the idea being that it will last for about 10 shopping trips and then the store will replace it for free, recycling the old one. I didn't buy this and neither did Paul. Rob then. But he is obviously not re-using it in the way that he should be.

We take the bulk of the plastic bags for recycling, keeping the 'bag for life' and a few other strong ones, just in case. Later in the day Paul has a chat with Rob, explaining our bag problem. Rob agrees to keep some plastic bags with him and use them until they wear out. Time will tell if this works.



( What you need to know about plastic carrier bags )



Action for this week

Best
- Refuse all carrier bags.
- Replace them with cotton, string, jute or hemp bags, baskets, boxes, or anything else that you can fit shopping in.
- Remember to take them with you if you go anywhere near a shop!

Good
- Refuse all new carrier bags.
- Replace ordinary plastic carriers with a stronger 'bag for life' from your supermarket.
- Re-use it until it breaks and then get the store to replace it for free.

Better than doing nothing
- Refuse all new carrier bags in favour of old.
- Re-use your plastic bags until they break.
- Recycle your carrier bags when they break.