buy nothing month: day eight

Hey, we have completed the first week or buy nothing month and all is going well. I expect the real challenges to come in a couple of weeks time. I am carefully rationing food items and it is making me more creative in the kitchen. We are going to a party tonight and I am planning what to take with me as a gift - will probably make some edible treats and maybe something from the garden, like a bunch of carrots, in place of flowers!

One pleasing aspect is the reduction in the amount of waste that we have created over the last week. So far we have accumulated half a carrier bag of rubbish in just over a week. I know that we have further to go on waste reduction so I am aiming to cut this as we progress. 

I haven't travelled further than we can cycle over the last week so have enjoyed more time spent with close neighbours and people in the local community, which has been another added benefit. Next week we have a couple of home ed trips planned and I haven't yet worked out how we are going to travel and pay for these, if we go. I am sure that there is some creative trading that could be possible. I'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, off to make something to rival a box of organic chocs... 

buy nothing month: day four - green pets

Hello - it's day four today of our month long period of abstinence from shopping and I have been getting a little panicky about food and whether we are going to be able to manage on a veg box a week alone. I made soup for lunch and carefully metered out the ingredients for the kids to make scones to go with the soup. My youngest said to me that I'm not very good at following my own advice in that the thoughts you focus on and give most time and energy to are the ones that are mostly likely to happen. I broke off a big piece of humble pie and marvelled how even when I think no-one is listening, it's all being absorbed.

We said goodbye to our adopted puppy yesterday and I felt really sad to see him go, although the house had started to acquire that warm, wet dog smell and he did try to eat one of our lady chooks. Jez rescued her in the nick of time. As he is a rescue dog he was in quite a bad way emotionally and health wise. We gave him Bach Flower Remedies to balance his emotional state and fed him on 'natural' dog food but it got me to thinking about other ways in which we can reduce the carbon pawprint and nurture our animals in as natural a way as possible.

Over 50% of us have pets at home and £3 billion pounds are spent annually on petcare products in the UK. So it is certainly worth making ethical choices in this area of our lives.

COME TO THE RESCUE - Find out about your local animal shelter and adopt a rescued animal if possible - there are thousands of mistreated or abandoned animals who need safe homes. Try the RSPCA, Battersea Dogs Home or Cats Protection.

ORGANIC FOOD - Look for organic or natural petfood at your local pet food store. Try and avoid plastic packaging as far as possible. The most healthy diet for cats and dogs is said to be raw meat, combined with cooked rice and vegetables. There are many books with recipes and further information about providing pets with a diet as close to their wild ancestors as possible - try the local library. Find out more about the nasties contained in conventional pet food and about how to give your pet a natural diet in Issue 23 of The Green Parent magazine.

NATURAL TOYS - Shun plastic in favour of homemade toys - what cat can resist a feather or a ball of string? Animal Pure and Ecoutlet have a great range of natural alternatives made from hemp and loofah.

SCOOP THE POOP - Bag and bin dog poo in a biodegradable Poop Scoop bag or use the Onya Dump It with biodegradable bags inside.

BANISH FLEAS - Add 2 crushed cloves of raw garlic to your pet's food at each mealtime as a natural flea repellent. Ask a herbalist about a herbal treatment, containing wormwood and tea tree for example, that can be added to your pet's collar. Find out more about pesticide-free flea treatments at Pesticide Action Network. 

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE - Animals respond well to many alternative therapies including homeopathy, Reiki and Bach flower essences. You might also be able to find a holistic veterinary surgeon near you - we have one at the end of the road! You can read more about natural therapies for pets in Issue 23 of The Green Parent magazine.

BIODEGRADABLE LITTER - If you use cat litter, for kittens or housebound pets, source natural cat litter, which is made from 100% paper and is completely biodegradable (although faeces has to be removed before composting).

ANIMAL WELFARE - Exotic animals are not suitable for pets but are still sold in some pet shops. These animals have usually been trafficked thousands of miles, often illegally, in cramped and inhumane conditions. Find out how you can help stop this at Traffic International. In this country some dog breeders are unscrupulous and puppies are kept in dark, cold, cramped conditions. Find out more at The Dogs Trust.

PROTECT WILDLIFE - Domestic cats are one of the main causes of declining bat numbers in the UK - fix a bell to your cat's collar and stop him from being so stealthy. RSPB reports show that bells reduce wildlife deaths by over a third.

Any other green tips for pets - do let me know!

buy nothing month: day three - the green office

Well, we haven't spent any money for three days although I did go a little crazy whilst playing shops earlier and spent a whole purse full of crystals on some pieces of wooden fruit. I also got a slight pang for lunch in a café, rather than having to make everything from scratch again (and wash up afterwards!) but that passed quite quickly. 

Our office is also part of the Buy Nothing Challenge as well so we will not be splurging on stationery items this month or indulging in edible treats to fuel the late nights that are often necessary when producing a magazine every two months. We don't really buy 'things' for work though so I thought I would come up with a few other ideas on how to create a really clean green office.

• SAVE PAPER - The average office worker uses 20,000 sheets of A4 paper a year, most of which gets thrown away. It is easy to reduce the amount of paper used though - print and photocopy on both sides, send emails rather than letters, reuse envelopes and turn scrap paper into notepads. Set up an office recycling scheme and be sure to source recycled paper.

• BUY TO LAST - Avoid disposable biros and choose refillable pens or pencils instead. A plastic pen in landfill will still be there in 50,000 years time. Globally 14 million biros are bought a day!

• SOURCE GREEN STATIONERY - Buy recycled stationery, eco staplers and more from the Green Stationery Company. If each of the UK's ten million office workers used one less staple a day, 120 tonnes of steel would be saved a year.

• FAIR TEA BREAK - Drink Fairtrade tea and coffee, bought from a local shop, if possible. Use a real mug, instead of a disposable cup. Rather than buying pastries and cakes to treat colleagues, bring in homemade goodies instead.

• PACK AN ECO LUNCH - Mrs Green recommends a zero waste approach to packed lunches over at the fab Little Green Blog, capitalising on nature's own perfect packaging.

• RECYCLE YOUR CARTRIDGES - Over 7.5 million toner cartridges and 12 million ink cartridges end up in landfill each year - and the sad thing is that about 90% of them could be recycled. Cartridge World says that 12 months of cartridge recycling in the UK could save up to 15 million litres of oil. Look for one of its 280 stores in high streets across the country where you can refill your cartridge instead of buying new. Alternatively check the manufacturers guidelines on the packet for the freepost address to send used cartridges to for recycling.

• RECYCLE FURNITURE - Unwanted furniture can be recycled by Green Works, a not-for-profit organisation that donates office furniture to schools and charities. This reduces landfill, supports projects in need and provides employment for disadvantaged and disabled people.

• SAVE ENERGY - Position desks to get the best natural light. Switch off lights and machines when not in use. Screensavers do not save energy - switch your machine to sleep mode or turn it off. 

• GET WATER EFFICIENT - The Environment Agency has produced a range of leaflets to encourage organisations to become more environmentally aware. You can download free guides on becoming more water efficient and other aspects of greening your business.

• LOOK FOR THE STAR - If you need to buy new equipment, look for the Energy Star - a system developed in the US that also applies to goods sold in the UK. Purchasing a printer, modem or monitor with the Energy Star, you know it will be one of the most efficient models and you will save around £25 a year in energy costs.

• READ CHANGE THE WORLD - For heaps of inspiring ideas and actions to take at work, check out We Are What We Do's book - Change the World 9-5.

• TRAVEL LIGHT - Work out your carbon footprint of travelling to and from work and how you can reduce it. Try a car pool and who knows you might find some new friends whilst saving the planet.

• GET A PLANT - House plants improve indoor air quality, they can reduce pollution by 87% in 24 hours. They look good and lift your spirits too.

• GO NEW AGE - I have a selection of crystals round my desk, specifically clear quartz, as it helps to soak up some of the ElectroMagnetic Radiation that leaches from electrical equipment.

Any more ideas? Do let me know ways that you have managed to make your work environment a greener, more lovely place to work! 

buy nothing month starts tomorrow

Tomorrow we begin our Buy Nothing Month (BNM), an extension of Buy Nothing Day, which takes place on 29th November. We will not spend any money for a whole month. We had a BNM last year and it was rather successful - a chance for us to explore our relationship with money and really assess our needs and wants. Last year we experienced more time together as a family and a greater sense of resourcefulness, especially in the kitchen. Given that my biggest financial indulgence is good quality organic food I am hoping to be able to take this resourcefulness a step further this year. So what are we going to do without?

• No food purchases apart from our standard family-sized box of vegetables and fruit that is delivered every week. We will use the last harvest from the veggie garden and clear our storecupboard items. I will get more creative with food that we have foraged for and will probably spend a good proportion of my time in the kitchen!

• No newspapers, books, magazines, or similar items. We will make our own family news for a month, concentrate on reading our accumulated library rather than buying more and spend time trusting innate knowledge rather than looking to books, etc for answers.

• No clothes purchases - easy one really since we only shop in charity shops and with ethical clothing brands periodically. However, I will make more of an effort this month to repair clothes rather than giving them away or textile recycling them. These will become last resort options.

• No trips out that cost money - this will be quite tricky as part of our home education schedule is a day out every couple of weeks or so, either up to London to the museums or to local historic sites. I expect to use the bikes to explore deeper into our local area instead.

• No gift purchases - there are a couple of friends' and family members' birthdays coming up in November. We will be making presents and cards for all the lucky gift recipients!

There are probably other areas too - I shall cover those as they come up during our month of freedom! Hope you enjoy reading about our experiences during the coming weeks... And if you fancy joining us, I'd be delighted to hear from you.

learn all about it

It is one of my missions to get up to Bucks to meet the folk at the Low Impact Living Initiative at some point in the near future. I have just received a course list for 2009 and the breadth of workshops on offer is quite incredible. Fancy trying your hand at straw bale building or making your own natural beauty products? How about unearthing the secrets of tree bogs? Or discovering how to make your own pedal powered generator. It makes me feel so good to know that there are such passionate people out there busily actioning powerful positive change. Here are some ideas from LILI about how we can make a difference: First of all, take a deep breath - there are so many things you could do, but you can't do them all at once. Doing things slowly, one at a time until you get used to them will probably increase your chance of success, and help you stay sane.
 Energy: make sure your home is well insulated, and that you have energy-efficient appliances, and low-energy light bulbs. Then you can think about installing solar hot water, photovoltaics or even a wind turbine; or you can switch to a renewable energy supplier.
 Transport: walk or cycle to work or school; use public transport; work from home; car share; use biodiesel.
 Housing: use eco-paints, lime, linseed oil putty and other environmentally friendly materials; if thinking of self-build, consider natural materials like straw-bales, wood, rammed earth or cob; join a community/housing co-op.
 Food: grow your own; keep chickens or bees; eat less meat; buy organic; use farmers’ markets, veg boxes and local suppliers (reduce food miles).
 Water: install water-saving facilities such as rainwater harvesting, greywater recycling, and a compost loo.
 Waste: start a compost heap; recycle; re-use or repair things instead of throwing them away.
 Consumerism: you have the ultimate power of deciding where or whether to spend your money. Don’t believe the hype. Research tends to show that populations with an average income of around $10,000 (eg Portugal) are happiest – basic needs are met, communities and traditions are intact, and there isn’t an emphasis on fulfilment through making more money and buying more consumer goods. 
 Local/small-scale: join a LETS scheme; use your local farmers’ market and credit union; reduce the distance that the things you buy travel, and keep money in the local economy; DIY is of course the most local of all!

car free day

Next Monday, 22nd September, it's World Car Free Day and motorists are encouraged to leave their cars at home in favour of bikes, trains, buses and feet. The event focuses on alternatives to car travel and the need for more and better public transport and pedestrianised areas. According to the ETA, 37% of British drivers feel that there is no practical alternative to driving whilst another 11% have already taken steps to reduce their mileage due to financial and environmental concerns. Other studies show that nearly two thirds of us find traffic in cities unbearable with suggestions ranging from increased public transport in city and suburban environments to a complete ban on car traffic in city centres on certain days of the week. Meanwhile the number of cars on the roads and the amount of urban traffic is steadily increasing, adversely affecting the wellbeing of city and town dwellers, with increase in noise, pollution and stress. However, on Monday we can make a positive change and choose an alternative method of transport. Over 4 million of us commute a distance of less than 3 miles by car every day. Let's get creative; pull out those bikes, dust off those walking boots or get on the bus for an altogether different experience! 

In Brighton on Sunday (always have to be a little bit different those Brighton folk eh?) people will be invited to take to the streets for dancing, music, activities and entertainment, organised by Transition Brighton and Hove. Visitors can hop on a rickshaw for a free ride, create artworks by cycling through paint, picnic in the street or go on a health walk through the city centre. Sound too cool to be true - it's not, and there's loads more stuff planned too.

Leytonstone have adopted the same approach and are planning a car-free extravaganza on Sunday with Geno Washington and Ram Jam band rocking the streets, along with a french market and a chance to try out all kinds of weird and wonderful two wheeled contraptions.

Fancy a free massage? Head to Camden tomorrow for Car Free Friday where you'll find green police on stilts, friendly folk giving away pedometers, the Bike Doctor on hand for cycling advice and maintenance and the chance of a free commuter massage.  

On Monday, you can bike for your breakfast at the BlendaVenda stall in Hounslow. Cyclists can use pedal power to create a free smoothie or flex their vocal cords as well as their leg muscles on a bike powered karaoke unit. Lots of free green transport guides and advice on hand too.

Meanwhile in Devon, prizes of £50 worth of vouchers are being offered for the most creative method of travelling to work. Last year, the prize was won by Mark Bailey who used a mini canoe, mini bicycle and the bus to commute to work.

In Harrogate, travellers on 24th Sept will be offered a free day's bus pass to encourage citizens to see how the service has improved recently. At 11am Toddle Through Town is for all those parents and toddlers who want to get involved. There will also be free rickshaw rides and a community bike ride through the town at 5pm.

Have fun!!

A greener London

According to a report in the Indy today, Boris Johnson has plans for a greener, cleaner London. He has launched a strategy to help the capital cope with climate change, which includes urban greening - more green spaces, tree planting and green roofs, addressing water loss by reducing pipe leakage and encouraging homes to become more water efficient and designing new buildings and adapting existing ones to reduce need for air conditioning. Johnson said that quality of life in the capital could be seriously threatened by climate change, especially extreme weather conditions bringing the increased risk of flooding. I recently read Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd, insightful and timely fiction for teens on how climate change might affect London. In the book the Thames barrier can't cope with the pressure of freak weather conditions and London floods leading to devastating circumstances. Despite this, it is an uplifting tale with a strong community thread running throughout the book. Worth a read even if your teenage years are but a distant memory.

week four challenge

This week it's all about compost. Composting is one of the simplest ways of reducing your household waste and improving your garden's output. What a serendipitous circle - you can throw less rubbish into landfill and grow fatter, juicier tomatoes into the bargain. So here are a few ideas to get started with:

1. Get a bucket (preferably one with a lid) and start throwing your veg peelings, tea bags, coffee grounds, egg shells and torn up junk mail inside. When full empty into a compost bin in the garden. You can make your own or buy one from a garden centre.

2. Find out whether your local council has any great offers on compost bins at the moment. Mine was half price (I think - it was actually a Christmas present from my beloved, deposited on the doorstep with him inside)

3. As a end-of-the-summer-holidays project try making a worm farm. These are easy to make and introduce the concept of composting in such a visual and captivating way.

4. Make a leaf litter bin ready for the autumn. Hammer five 4ft poles into the ground, wrap chicken wire round the outside and you have a bin to collect leaves in. After 1 to 2 years this will have decomposed into a good addition to your homemade compost.

5. Make a batch of homemade fertilizer with some nettles or comfrey. Put on some gloves and fill a bucket up to the brim with nettles or comfrey leaves. Cover with water and leave to infuse for a week or two, by which time it should be humming. Dilute one part fertilizer brew to 15 parts water and use to feed your tomatoes, sweetcorn, apple trees etc. A little treat for the plants, which might encourage the fruits to grow just a little bit juicier before harvest.

Hope you enjoy getting busy in the garden this week!

fridge news

So I pulled the note right out of the door with no trouble whatsoever. Yep, my energy efficient A rated fridge (with a little icebox at the top - my children are deprived of ice cream and burgers and all other frozen stuff) that I only bought several years ago is not so clean and green after all. I have emailed the manufacturers and the place I got it (Currys - whisper) to find out whether I need to replace the seals or they need to buck their ideas up. 

Apparently the coils have been recently dusted by the man of the house and I have yet to stuff the ice box with paper but will do so tomorrow to reduce energy needed to keep it cool in there. As for finding a cool spot for my fridge it already sits in the best (and only) possible space, temperature -wise. And I promise not to leave the fridge door open, staring at the contents, desperately hoping for a wisp of inspiration when 6 o clock rolls around. Anyone else up for this sorting-your-fridge-out mission? The first step in taking positive action to reduce your family's carbon emissions. It'll be fun, I promise!   

five things you can do

Here are five simple things to do that will help to reduce carbon emissions: 

They are not very glamourous but will probably save you money as well as reducing your impact on the environment.

• Try and keep your fridge and freezer full (but not overcrowded) as this will use less electricity - fill space in the freezer with scrunched up paper or bubble wrap to stop warm air creeping in when the door is opened.

• Place a fiver on the seal of your fridge door and shut the door. If you can remove the money the seals on your fridge need replacing - cool air can escape through the gap and energy is wasted.

• Check the condenser coil on the back of your fridge - dusty or dirty ones waste energy. Give the coils a little tlc and you'll make your fridge more efficient.

• Obvious one this - but we have all lingered in front of the fridge trying to work out what to make for tea - keep the door shut and only open for very brief periods.

• Keep your fridge somewhere cool - if possible locate it out of direct sunlight and not near an oven or boiler, where it will have to work twice as hard. 

So, I'm off to shut some money in the fridge, raid the craft box for bubble wrap to stuff in the freezer and dust off my coils.

Next week we'll take a look at transport and ways in which we can all cut carbon (and save a few pennies). 

100 months...

According to new research published recently by the New Economics Foundation we have just 100 months left before greenhouse gases reach tipping point. That's eight years and four months to solve the pressing problem of climate change. One hundred months is a dark count down calendar launched this week. At last count we have 2,950 days to go. The Green New Deal, a group, which includes Tony Juniper of Friends of the Earth and Colin Hines of Greenpeace have joined forces to tackle the nasty trident of accelerating climate change, the credit crunch and escalating fuel prices. They believe that action is necessary at local, national and global levels and have the following recommendations:

• huge investment in renewables

• creation of 'green collar' jobs

• building relationships between environmentalists, industry and agriculture.

That doesn't sound very accessible to me so I thought we could put together a short list of maybe five actions to take, to work towards a low carbon society. Then each week we'll post them up here and we can all get handwashing our dirty socks and making solar ovens together. Well, obviously not together but in our own little corners of the world and hopefully sharing with our families and friends until we are a majority of gorgeous greenies with slightly grubby socks and a penchant for sun-cooked food. If you have any blindingly good ideas or quite smart ones, let me know and I'll add them to next week's list. First list coming up soon...