Top 5 green things you can do at home to help yourself and save the Planet

Here are 5 things you can do around the house to improve the quality of the planet and put some extra cha-ching in your pocket.

Reduce electricity usage
You’d be surprised how much energy is consumed when you leave your computer on overnight, your AC running at a chilling 70 degrees, and your porch or night lights on at all hours. Try shutting down the computer, setting your AC a couple degrees up or down and turning off unnecessary lights.

Invest in a small portable heater or fan/cooler
It is easier and cheaper to warm or cool the air around you than to try and change the temperature of your entire home. There are economical and efficient appliances that can provide you the temperature you need for you to be comfortable.

Recycle everything you can
With everything becoming electronic these days, mail is becoming the biggest source of clutter around the house. Make an effort to put a recycling bin near your mail inbox and recycle the unnecessary. Put another recycling bin near the trash can and you’ll be surprised how much recyclable material you can accumulate.

Go Organic
One of the best things you can do is incorporate Organic Food into your diet. This way you reduce the amount of pesticides, chemicals and additives to the planet and to your body. Make a choice today to visit your local grocer and purchase Organic Products.

Upgrade your home insulation
Often the biggest Energy drain in most households is the AC having to cool or heat the home. By fixing or upgrading your home insulation, you’ll make sure your home can maintain temperatures better despite what’s going on outside.

This post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject of Perfume deals. She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com

A Q&A session on Monday 10th Nov with GGG friend, the lovely Tracey Smith. Send her a question about rubbish!

Influenced by the talented dressmakers and crafters that I meet at our Nottingham Stitched Up Group and The Textile Workshop I’m about to embark on ‘proper’ clothes making and creating my own accessories.

I’ve dabbled here and there, making few things that I do actually use, including a couple of bags, a bit of jewellery and a summer top but now’s the time to get serious. Why? Well for two reasons really. The first being that I love the idea of creating exactly what I want, something that expresses how I feel and actually fits me. The second reason is because making things myself means I can decide where I source the materials, doing it as sustainably as I can.

The thought of trying to learn the many many techniques that go into transforming fabric, beads, threads, buttons, yarns and zips into something that I would be seen outdoors wearing is both daunting and thrilling. I’m excited by the idea of one day being able to picture an item of clothing and then make it a reality. I don’t know whether I’ll be any good at turning my hand to this skill but I will start as I mean to go on. I want to conserve energy, reduce waste, support ethical manufactuers, be more independent AND be inspired.

So here is my hand made statement.

I can’t pretend that this is my idea, actually I’ve shamelessly pilfered it from one of my favourite blogs, Crafting a Green World. The timing was so right when I read their ‘A Green Crafting Manifesto‘ post that I decided to apply it to my clothes making (and crafting) plans. So here goes:

• If I know how to make an item of clothing or accessory I will opt to do that before buying a similar brand new item.
• I will always aim to use vintage, second hand and recycled materials first. As an alternative or where these are not available I will seek organic or fair trade fabrics, yarns etc.
• Other than dowloading online patterns I will aim to use second hand paper patterns or books or loan these from the library or friends
• I will continue to learn new skills and techniques and share these new found skills with others.

OK, a teeny-tiny step in the self-sufficiency direction. Watch this space for updates on how it goes!

Nottinghamshire County Council publishes a great magazine called Living for Tomorrow. It’s all about Notts people putting sustainable solutions into practice. The latest edition included a very inspiring article about making workspaces greener in a building where I used to work.

The Green Group at the Nottingham Council for Voluntary Service (in the Voluntary Action Centre) formed to help NCVS plan and implement ways to green up their workplace. After discovering that 20% of their energy consumption happened overnight the horrified group members decided to call on the powers of the Green Fairy to help remind staff and volunteers about saving energy. The little virtual helper ‘visits’ desks anonymously and leaves green tips and advice. She even says “thank you” when her advice has been followed.

NCVS won an award for their green fairy innovation and spent the £500 on improving an outdoor space belonging to the building. The space is now filled with plants, herbs and vegetables and is used by staff as a meeting place, eating area and place to relax.

The Green Group’s latest addition is ‘Dr Green’ who takes suggestions and answers questions about eco issues. A couple of ideas put to Dr Green have helped save heating bills (and of course energy) and implement further recycling in the central office.

NCVS have a dedicated noticeboard for green and ethical updates. They sell fairtrade drinks and organic snacks in the building vending machine and every six months have a ‘chuck away day’ where offices clear out and recycle old stationery and equipment. On top of that all NVAC tennants have been given a CD full of tips, information and a model environmental policy to help them make their offices a brighter shade of green.

Some great ideas to consider for our own offices…

Our footprints are all over this planet…..but do we have to stomp so hard!?

My name is Laura Bergman, the creator of Bottled Up Designs. I have lived all my life in the beautiful Pennsylvania Amish Country, where as a child we would dig around old foundations pulling old treasures from the ground from a simpler time.

The love of old glass and bottle digging stayed with me, and have always been an avid bottle collector. One thing that has always bothered me, though, is how we take away the pretty whole pieces, but leave all the broken remains behind for the environment and wildlife do deal with.

When I walk through these pretty wooded habitats, the sun slants through the woods and lights these little pieces of history. The ruby glows in the sun, looking like it’s on fire, amber from old medicine, beer, and the countless broken Clorox bottles used and carelessly tossed there so long ago. Another common find is the pretty ice blue glass of broken Mason jars, and always envision them in someone’s pantry full of the summer’s work “put up” for the coming winter. I am always a little sad when I see the broken depression glass, wondering if during those lean times there was the money to replace the pretty dishware that had broken.

To me, this glass still has history and real beauty behind it, and out of love for the pretty glass and the environment, I now bring home the broken pieces and create my jewelry. Each piece is handmade from this reclaimed glass, and wanting to share the history with those that wear it, have created “The Story of the Glass” detailing for each piece what it was originally, and the approx. age of the glass.

Recently, while walking my dog through a peaceful part of the woods, I spotted a baby fawn and her mother laying in the dappled sunlight. Of course, they caught the scent of us and were up and away, and where the fawn was laying was the broken shards of a cobalt Noxzema bottle. Hoping that she was unhurt, I sighed and picked up the glass to bring it home, wondering once again how we ever thought we had the right to treat our environment so carelessly.

To see all of the pretty vintage colors and how they are wonderfully transformed into beautiful artisan jewelry, please visit www.bottledupdesigns.com.

Read GGG editor Henriette’s review of Bottled Up Designs and this beautiful necklace.

So I have had the privilege to review a necklace from Bottled Up Designs.

I would actually claim that the necklace already won my heart over by the packaging it came in, please see the enclosed picture.

You can see a larger picture here of the packaging

I have been wearing it for a couple of days and people thought it was really cool, especially when I told them the story of the glass and the idea behind the jewellery.

Bottled Up Designs is an idea of an avid bottle and glass collector called Laura Bergman from Pennsylvania, bothered by the fact that glass collectors take the “valuable” whole bottles of glass, but leave the broken glass on the ground. You can read more about her story on Bottled Up Designs.

I really encourage people to support stores that are making a difference by recycling stuff and actually make it into something MORE valuable than it were. It’s a turn-around of the whole concept of value - which is great.

We need to make value out of something that could be trash - I mean my great grandmother used to wash her plastic bags because she had lived through a couple of depressions and knew that you shouldn’t waste your money either! So this is a truly great initiative - putting value back into broken glass.

So go check their store out, they have a lot of great stories - and jewellery.

www.bottledupdesigns.com

See Laura Bergman from Bottled Up Designs Guest Editor article.

Book Review and Interview with Author Tracey Smith

As I took an over-ripe pepper and nearly full bag of mushrooms out of the fridge and set them aside for the compost bin I thought about the first few pages from Tracey Smith’s Book of Rubbish Ideas. I don’t feel good about wasting this food but at least I know it will decompose in a matter of weeks and will, in the form of home made compost, go towards growing my own next year.

But what about the other things I’ve thrown out today? A plastic bag from the celery, the coffee packet, a chocolate bar wrapper and how many other people in this country, in fact in the world, have thrown away similar waste today? I need to think more creatively around the products that come into my home and how I deal with the waste from them and this is exactly what this book is about.

How we got where we are today
Tracey starts by educating us about how waste was dealt with historically and why some methods of getting rid of our rubbish might, at first, seem sensible but is in fact wasteful in itself. She describes the steps which have led to to the dire situation we’re in today and addresses the serious issues around waste (energy consumption, landfill, pollution and climate change) whilst giving solutions at the same time.

Room-by-room waste
The bulk of the book takes you room by room (and outside) through the home and shows us how to deal with our waste in a very practical way. Its not all about recycling but thinking about how we can reduce waste in the first place. Tracey highlights that its not all down to the individual but that other parties such as manufacturers, sellers and local authorities have a great responsibility too. Throughout the book she provides excellent example letters to help us give supermarkets, local councils and other bodies a nudge in the right direction.

This environmental book is very different from others I’ve read recently which have focused on telling us which green alternative products to buy. This book questions why we have to consume in the first place and guides us in looking after the things we already have. And, in the current economic climate, that’s not only relevant for the environment but for our piggy banks too.

Full of practical ideas
With the ‘Project Box’ sections interspersed throughout Tracey provides creative tips which make you go “Oh that’s a good idea” and get exercising your crafting skills, which gets a big thumbs up from me! For further motivation the case studies give real life waste dilemmas which we all face and shows us how others have dealt with them. We also get insight into the habits and views of a few celebrities in the ‘Star Struck Celebrity Questions and Answers’ section.

GGG readers can buy the book at a discounted price from www.bookofrubbishideas.co.uk. Check out the website too for even more ideas, tips and reasons to cut the rubbish out of your life!

Interview with Tracey

Now I’m an extremely lucky GGG editor because I not only got a sneaky preview of the book but I also have an interview with the lady herself, Tracey Smith…

Q - Tracey, thank you for taking the time to talk to us. The first thing I wanted to ask you is about your inspiration. The book is absolutely jam-packed full of really useful, do-able ideas; Where do you get your inspiration and where did you learn all of these wonderful tips?
Hi Vicky - you’re welcome mate - thanks for asking me and I’m really pleased you’ve enjoyed the book! Moving onto your question, it’s 8.30pm here so I can safely say, my inspirations are all tucked up in their beds asleep! I dedicated the book to my kids and at the front of the book I say, ‘It’s for your children and your grandchildren; they are the leaders of the future’ and I meant every word. They are going to face so many sociological changes and perhaps even further climatic chaos in their lifetime. It’s our duty to help get them into the right, green groove long before they step into adulthood, so they are best prepared to lead themselves into ‘their’ future. The tips have been picked up from friends who know their onions and derived from some good old-fashioned common sense; it’s my mission to make it sexy and funky again and to get everyone leaning towards the green!

Q - Its surprising actually how much you can do to reduce, reuse and recycle in the home and really make a big difference. For those starting out, which 3 areas would you say they could focus on reducing waste first in order to have the most impact?
Well the most obvious room to pick on and have an immediate and positive effect on, would be the kitchen. Food waste still remains an enormous problem, despite the best efforts of organisations like the Love Food Hate Waste campaign. We are far too anal about sell by dates too - it’s ridiculous. The food isn’t going to explode if you go a day or two (or MORE) over that bloomin’ date! Cooking will kill anything dodgy, which is very unlikely to be residing on your newly expired food, so stop worrying about it and shove it in the oven! The BOGOFs are part of the problem though. We cannot resist a bargain and go all ‘hunter, gatherer’ and hog the other pack even if we have no intention of eating it. The best way to get over this is go shopping with a friend or neighbour, share the petrol, enjoy the experience a bit more and share those BOGOFs. You can also buy larger quantites of things and split them too, another great money saver. Of course, an extension of the Kitchen is the Garden and if you are able to make use of a composter/wormery or Bokashi, then do so! You’ll cut your bin down dramatically by doing so and you can also sling in loo roll holders, cereal boxes, hair from your brushes, cut up cotton tee shirts that are too knackered for the charity shop and much more besides. Then if you think about your cleaning materials that lurk under the sink you find another area where you can really make a difference. Ditch the chemical options and go for soda crystals, borax, bicarbonate of soda, lemons, salt, eco balls, soapnuts and essential oils, to name but a few. They are all multi purpose cleaners that will eradicate the need for the cornucopia of squirty guns that all bear the ‘X Caution Irritant’ sign on the back of the bottle…

Q - As well as giving individuals and families the tools and inspiration to reduce their rubbish you recognise the responsibilities of those in charge to make big changes too. If you could pass one law in relation to waste what would it be and why?
Oh, that’s a chunky monkey missus! I don’t know about a law, but I would like to change the constitution somewhat. I’d like to see sustainable living lessons be part (a fully integrated part) of the National Curriculum, from nursery age upwards! Kids should be learning how to cultivate and cook some delicious organic fruit and veg. They should understand and respect the importance of composting and recycling and on a scientific point, they should embrace sustainable forms of energy and be tackling the many other layers and levels to living in harmony with our volatile and beautiful planet. That would be a fantastic achievement.

Q - I really liked the celebrity ‘Q and A’ section because it gave us a little insight into how they deal with the less glamorous part of life, their rubbish. If you could ask any celebrity in the world any question about the environment who would it be and what would you ask them?
I don’t think they come under the remit of celebrities (in fact I’m quite sure they don’t) but I would like to see all our emminent politicians and leaders telling us what ‘they do’ to make a difference and they should also show us how they do it! More to the point, there should be a national telly, radio and written media campaign showing us what they and all the ’stars’ are doing. There’s no doubt about it, the world of the A lister has enormous influence on our more humble existence and it could effect a very positive and almost overnight change on our immediate, local and global environments too.

Q - The book itself is absolutely full of so much useful advice and there is the website too. What is the future for ‘The Book of Rubbish Ideas’ and all that goes with it?
Good question. Well I’ve just started making a few short films for the website and am enjoying doing them very much. I doubt there’s a BBC series on the horizon, but hey, never say never… There will certainly be a daily entry on the website to look forward to and I’m really enjoying doing a few talks and demonstrations extolling the virtues of a bit of simple, green living and rubbish reduction. It’s great when you meet people and you see that penny dropping for them - a whole new world of green opens up which is very exciting and I love being a part of ‘their’ transition.

Tracey, thank you for your detailed and energetic answers. I look forward to seeing your short films and more in the future!

Penney Poyzer gives a tour of her Nottingham eco-home

I’m reading a book at the moment called ‘Confessions of an Eco Sinner - Travels to find where my stuff comes from’ by Fred Pearce.

It goes into everything from wedding rings to jeans, computer parts to green beans, and it’s a really interesting read as you follow the author on his journey around the world finding the human stories behind our stuff.

One of the bits that particularly caught my attention though was the section on recycling. It feels so virtuous putting the paper in the recycling box rather than chucking it in the bin (I hesitate every time I put something in the bin these days - asking myself if there’s anything else I can do with the item dangling over the waste abyss… or whether the god of recycling is about to strike me down!) but the book reveals (in a measured and sensible tone, not with any sense of anti-green glee) a number of recycling fiascos that had me questioning exactly where my stuff goes…

So I decided to email Worthing Council to find out, thus:

“I would be grateful if you could tell me what happens to the recycling collected in Worthing. We put everything in the same box (card, cans etc.) and it all appears to go into the same hole in the recycling van.

I have been told that if this is the case, it would be too labour intensive to sort it at the other end and all the recycling will simply be crushed up and used for roads or dams, for example, but not to be turned back into usable items (i.e. a bottle becoming another bottle, paper recycled into more paper) – is this correct?”

The response arrived just 2 days later:

“Dear Katie,

Initially all the recycling is taken to a bulking station in Lancing where it is loaded onto bulk transport. It is then taken to a sorting plant in Crayford, South East London where it is separated into constituent parts. I have toured the plant myself and can assure you that all the materials streams are separated fully using a combination of hand and mechanical sorting.

The plant we are using is only a temporary arrangement, as a new West Sussex facility is currently being built at Ford near Littlehampton. When it is operational it will be geared up for public visits so I would encourage you to take a look for yourself at the appropriate time. You won’t be disappointed - I found my trip to Crayford to be extremely interesting (and a little mesmerising!).

In terms of final reprocessing the material streams are sent far and wide:

• Mixed paper is going to a plant in Essex where it is turned into packaging and insulation
• Glass is used in the road building industry to create anti-skid surfacing
• Plastic bottles are sent to China where they are used to manufacture clothing and toys
• Steel is sent to South Wales where it is fed in with other steel scrap and turned into cars, electricity pylons etc
• Aluminium is sent to Warrington where it is used to make new drink cans

I hope this reassures you that you are making a difference!”

I have to say it has reassured me - at least a little - although my concerns about the glass were correct which is disappointing when there are companies such as ‘Green Glass’ crying out to re-use glass bottles. The China trip isn’t ideal either but if that’s where they’re going to use them I guess that’s the way it has to be… for now anyway.

And I’ll have to make sure I take that trip to the new recycling plant once it’s up and running.

I’d be really interested to get your thoughts on this though - am I being naive in trusting them?! Do you work in the industry? Do you have more insider information? What should we do to get bottles recycled into new bottles? Recycle your responses here!

Take care,

Katie
Ethical Weddings

I got a bokashi bin for Christmas. Two actually.

And yes, I did ask for them!

When they finally arrived in January, I ripped open the package, full of excitement, to find two black bins, some bits of plastic and a large bag of bran. Somehow all this was supposed to turn our cooked kitchen scraps into something that would feed the garden.

The place we were renting wouldn’t allow a compost bin (short term rental and who wants someone else’s potato peelings when they move out?!!), so bokashi seemed the perfect solution.

In case you’re not familiar with bokashi composting, you basically get an indoor composting bin (the specially designed ones have a reservoir for draining of the liquid which you can use to clear blocked drains. I never knew last month’s porridge could do that! Scary thought) and the bran stuff.

The bran is a mixture of bran, molasses and these special micro-organisms called “ems”. “Bokashi” is allegedly Japanese for “fermented organic matter”.

The idea is that raw vegetables can go straight on the compost pile in your garden, but cooked food shouldn’t because it will attract rats and doesn’t degrade in the same way as the rest of your compost. By putting the cooked stuff in the bokashi bin and sprinkling a layer of bran on top each day, over the course of a month it becomes highly fertile composting material.

I have to say that, over the first few months, I was quite impressed. The food seemed to break down well, the bins were inoffensive in the corner of my kitchen, even after a month, and my drains were beautifully clean (according to the smell, I didn’t actually get in there and look). I had two buckets - the old “use one while the other ferments” idea. And then, one day, both bins were full.

What to do with the contents?

Chuck them under a convenient bush and fertilise away, I thought.

But no, it would appear it’s not quite so simple. On studying the instructions, I discovered that it either has to go in a compost bin, which I didn’t have and wasn’t allowed, or had to be buried in a long, shallow trench and then covered with a predetermined thickness of soil. Not an option either. Yet after all that effort (and expense), I certainly wasn’t going to send my mulched-down leftovers to landfill.

So what did I do? I took both bins with me the next time I visited my parents and donated them to their compost bin!

Now I’ve moved and am the proud owner of a shiny, new, huge compost bin, I don’t have any problems with what to do with my bokashi mix in 3 weeks’ time.

But I was wondering whether it’s all really worth the effort? The bran itself isn’t cheap and the start-up kit is up to £90, depending where you buy.

While I love the idea of all those friendly little micro-organisms munching away at my kitchen waste, it does seem a fairly extravagant way of doing it.

I would love to hear from any GGG visitors out there who have thoughts or opinions on the bokashi subject - and is there a cheaper way of recycling kitchen waste?

Clare x