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This may be my last post before Christmas, we are heading to sunny Cornwall with limited internet connection. I want to say Merry Christmas to all and thank you for your support in 2007 and lets together see if we can make our lives even more environmentally friendly and ethical in 2008! I hope you get want you want for Christmas!
Need a last minute Christmas present idea? I thoroughly recommend Janey Lee Grace's book Imperfectly Natural Woman. I have only just got it and I will do a full review in the New Year but I must say my first impressions are it is fab. I am not 100% sure whether it is targeted at women, it is full of ideas for both men and women. She also has a new book out Imperfectly Natural Baby & Toddler which I a haven't seen yet but I am sure it just as good. I will do a full review of the book in the New Year b
ut wanted to squeeze this in before Christmas in case you needed last minute present idea. It is easy to read and can dip in and out. Her website is great as well - again more in the New Year.
Give it a go here. I only got 5/8 I am sure you can beat that!
Hi, it is a busy time of year. How about taking 2 mins out for a pause for thought. What do you want from this Christmas time? What do you want from life? What do you want to achieve next year?
On a train admiring the view of the english countryside on a frosty morning whilst finalising a presentation for the meeting I am going to. Trains = a civilised mode of transport whilst being the most environmentally friendly way to travel long distances!
Now is the time to sell all your unwanted stuff on eBay...or get the bargains/unusual Christmas presents! I have just sold something, went like a hot cake on wheels with a jet engine, good price too. Go-one, if you haven't used it for 6 months think about selling it. If you haven't used it for 12 months, sell it without thinking about it! I firmly believe we generally have too much stuff that we really need or can really appreciate. My experience is de-clutter and you will feel a sense of freedom and enjoy what you have far more. If you haven't had a look at a look at The Story of Stuff.
Tips for a more environmentally friendly Christmas are here.
A thought occurred to me today, why have a wireless keyboard? Requires a battery. It stays on the desk.
My tip this week is buy rechargeable batteries. We have just got round to doing this, I think both the poor experience in the dim and distant past and the fairly hight initial cost has made me hesitate up to now. Having looked in to it we made the leap and bought a charger and some batteries. It did make us stop and think how many batteries do we actually need? Thankfully not many, perhaps a result of de-cluttering over the years.
It can be a bit daunting deciding what to go for, there are more options that I thought (you can even get 'Hybrio' batteries that come pre-charged and keep their charge for about a year!). Battery Logic have a good site explaining everything. I didn't realise that rechargeables can actually outperform disposables by 10-20 times in things like digital cameras (as longs as you buy the right ones!). As for makes, Uniross are seem to be the largest, a name I remember from the early days of rechargeables. We actually went for Ansmann, they cost slightly more (not much) but a number of places seems to recommend them over Uniross and they have won a lot of awards.
Choosing the make you want to go for is the first step, then you need to decide the power rating of the batteries you need and the type of charger (fast, slow, intelligent...). Basically get as powerful batteries as you can afford and the best charger you can afford as it will look after the batteries. Don't go for a super fast charger unless you really need it as the slower the charge the better for the battery in the long run. We spent £60 on a good charger and 12 batteries that will last 1000 charges each. That's 0.5p per battery if you had to buy the equivalent disposables!! As we use 100% green electricity (see Utilities) so it is even more environmentally friendly.
We got a mention on The Guardian's great green/ethical living blog. Thanks for all your support that keeps it going!
YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS!! The video is quite long (20mins), it is so well done, I couldn't stop watching. She makes the message so clear and accessible. I wanted to scream "YES, why can't everyone understand this" at the top of my voice!! You can watch each chapter at a time if you do not have 20 mins. How do we get more people to see this? It should be mandatory for all schools (using a local country version).
Greenpeace have a issued their latest report on how green the electronics companies are. Makes interesting reading. Will effect what you buy for Christmas?! Take a look here.
Low energy bulbs must be getting better. They used to be not as bright as their traditional equivalents. I used to buy higher rated low energy bulb to compensate (so replace a 60W traditional with a 100W equivalent low energy, that is actually 18W so still a massive saving). I did just that yesterday but the room is so much brighter than before I am going to have to go and get some 60W equivalents or take some out!! These were Wickes own on offer 99p each. Go grab yourself some!
Found this useful page when investigating rechargeable batteries. Just deciding which ones to buy now, looks like it is worth paying a bit extra for ones that will last and a charger that will look after them. Alos looks like the solar chargers are not really up to the job. Shame.
This weeks tip is to think about Christmas preparations. December is a time of preparation for Christmas so whilst opening your advent calender spend some time thinking about how you can be more environmentally friendly and ethical this Christmas. To get you started I have put some ideas down on a new Christmas page.
