GoodLiving Tips

Loft Insulation

We applied for loft insulation through a local grant scheme (ending up being free!), see The Energy Saving Trust for details of grants in your area.  Well 3 months later and we are still waiting.  I just shows it is time to act now for next winter - do not wait until the spring/summer, you will forget and before you know it, it will be winter again!  It is quick and painless and will save you lots of money -  just need to be patient and wait for work to be done but if you act now you won't mind waiting during spring.

Oxfam & M&S Clothes Exchange

Get vouchers for recycling old clothes for charity!!  Oxfam and M&S have teamed up and created a clothes exchange.  Take any clothes to Oxfam, as long as there is at least one item of M&S clothing you will get a £5 M&S voucher to be redeemed when you spend £35 or more at M&S (clothing, homeware or beauty products so not food).  Bargain.  Everyone's a winner!  More details here.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

We like a lot of people are meticulous at recycling.  I was putting a large envelope in the recycling the other day and it struck me that we could re-use it!  I think there has been such a push on recycling, re-using gets forgotten.  Are there things you recycle that you could actually re-use?!

Tip of the Week

How about taking a look at the cleaning products you use?  Could you find more environmentally friendly alternatives?  Most supermarkets now stuck eco friendly products such as Ecover.  For more ideas see the Cleaning section.

Funny, Inspiring and Challenging

Not on environmental living but about being holistic in education....
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/66

Don't drop it!

Dropped my crystal stick deodorant this morning.  Thankfully it didn't smash, just broke low down in the container so it still usable.  I think they are fab, just a bit fragile!  If you haven't read the contents or warning labels on your deodorant then I encourage you to do so!  Do you want all those chemicals in your body?

SPURS 5 ARSENAL 1

Sorry, couldn't resist it - any football fans would understand!!   

Tip of the Week

Apparently you are more likely to change your partner than your bank!  About 5 years ago we got so fed up with our bank we moved to Smile, the Cooperative's internet bank.  Awesome and ethical.  The Coop is the only ethical bank with current accounts.  Ask yourself what your bank does with all your money - what does it invest it in?   Switching couldn't be easier.  If you use Smile you don't have to do everything on-line you can ring up 24x7 and use The Coperative bank branches and post-offices.   So, new year, new ethical bank account?  Smile has won Your Money best internet bank for 6 years in a row.  For more details and info on ethical investments see the Bank section.

Amen to that

BBC article on a new book that says having stuff does not make us happy...

MPG

Dead chuffed - did a trip from London to Swindon yesterday and the average mpg was over 60! Got there 5 mins later than expected, not much of a trade-off.  Do you think about how you drive and the consequence on the mpg and environment?! 

Green Apple

Nice to see Apple are responding to the pressure from Greenpeace - their latest mac laptop is much greener with an aluminium case (instead of plastic) and lots of horrible chemicals inside removed.  Don't forget to check Gooshing and other guides before buying things.  See Shopping for more details.

Tip of the Week

One of my favourite tips and the most popular one searched for is homemade shaving oil.  This for both men and women.  I use it pretty much every day and it is fab.  If you have not used shaving oils before then I know it sounds a bit scary but I found it a much much smoother shave than using foam/gels.  I have a 5 o'clock shadow by midday so have to shave every day which I find most annoying.  For the simple and easy recipe and more tips around shaving see the bathroom section.

Life

Today we have the funeral of a dear friend, Jane, who died suddenly. One of the last things she told me was to get on and be the person God created me to be - it is taking me a while to work out who that is!  Over the last couple of years I have come to believe that perhaps God wants me to follow the desires of my heart, I just need to be listening to them.  Trying to turn the noise off in my head and life is the challenge but through a friend I have learnt the power of meditation that automatically leads into prayer for me.

I find following my bliss scary, it is out of my comfort zone, but I guess that is what it means to have faith in God/the universe (depending on your theology).  I am really excited about the journey I am on, the changes I have made to my life so far and I expect bigger ones to come.  So, are you following your bliss, being the person you think you are designed to be.  Do you have a 'purpose' that you are not listening to?   If you want help finding it, we have found Neil Crofts very helpful. 

Story of Stuff

Sorry, the Story of Stuff link on the bottom right of the page wasn't working, it is now.  Check it out, I promise you won't regret it.  If you do, tell me!  If you aren't, tell me!

Room Audit

I find it surprising how much we causally leave things turned on draining power.  Our portable radio/CD player drains as much as a 40W light bulb when turned off and still plugged in to the mains.  There is also things like the baby monitor.  We are getting much better at turning things off at the mains.  So, how about going around each of your rooms and seeing what is not being used but still plugged in to the mains.  You may be surprised.  The next thing is to get in to the habit of turning it off at the mains.

Electryfying

Don't get me wrong, I am not against progress and new technology, in fact I love gadgets but I guess over the years have become more discerning as to which gadgets are worth having and will be useful and those that I will be bored of after 5 mins (even though they still seem so appealing when you haven't got them!), it has struck me there far more & more things becoming 'electric' taking the worlds finite resources and some of them - for what benefit?  To make our lives 'easier' ?!   Tell that to the next generations!  We don't have a lawn but if we did I would love a push mower like my grandad had! 

What got me thinking about this was seeing an electric name badge for staff in Habitat - mini LED screens with their name scrolling across - why?!!!  So that got me thinking about other things that have become 'electric' that do we really need?:

• Habitat staff name badges!
• electric screwdriver (I can see the benefit of this if you are a builder and use it all the time...)
• fully body air dryers at the swimming pool (good grief, whatever next - am I sounding old?)
• electric picture frames (although I got given one for Christmas and it is quite fun on my desk!)
• electric toothbrush (although I think this cleans my teeth so much better than I did, others may disagree)
• the last manual, wet shaver I bought needed a battery (I think it did make a difference, although I haven't replaced it)

Can you think of any more?

Ethical Money

I notice M&S have a new ethical investment fund.  For more details on ethical banking see the banking section. 

Tip of the Week

New Year is a great time for a de-clutter.  Time to find a new home for presents you got and do not want (we did very well as most people know we like things like luxury food items we can enjoy!) and while you are at it go round the house and have a good de-clutter.   We find de-cluttering theraputic and having less means you enjoy what you have more.  We find when our house is free of so much 'stuff' it is a more peaceful and relaxing place to be.  So de-clutter and make use of freecycle,   ebay and charity shops. As a rule of thumbs we say if we haven't used it for 6 months why are we keeping it ("just in case" does not count!!).   For more details see the Recycle section. 

OK, so there may well be a clutter fairy but you will realise that the vast, vast majority of what you get rid of you never need and soon forget about and the benefits that brings far outweighs the annoyance of needing that one thing you did get rid of that is probably very cheap to get again or can easily borrow from someone else!! 

Don't be like my father-in-law who has a garage full of 'stuff' that 'will be of use one day'.  He even bought a new cordless drill as he saw one for only £4.99 'just in case' his current one breaks!!

Imperfectly Natural Woman

This is a fantastic book written by Janey Lee Grace from Radio 2.  Although it is really aimed at women, it is just as useful for men (except one or two bits!).   I have been reading it and when I mention something to Bevan she is very interested in it, takes the book and that it is it, I don't see it again!  Above all, what I like about the book is that it is real.  Janey has a hectic life with a number of jobs and four children. It is not a book making you feel guilty that you are not doing an hour of exercise a day and only eating organic, fairtrade, vegan seeds!  She had been aspiring to be living as a natural a life as possible for a number of years and it is a easy to read, friendly passing on of some of the lessons she has learnt and is jam packed of tips and ideas that anyone can do in their busy lives. 

It covers all areas of life from personal care, clothing, fitness, emotional wellbeing, medicine, organising the house, washing, de-cluttering, nutrition amongst others!  The only comment Bevan had (when I finally got it back) was that it was jam packed with great stuff but she thought the layout could be a bit easier to find things.  This didn't really strike me.  I guess it demonstrates how rich in good content it is!

Although I think I know quite a lot in this area I still learnt an awful lot (and am still doing so as I keep dipping in to it).  For example, did you know the crystal rock deodorant is good for spots and shaving cuts! We are very interested in finding more about the Zen machine and it has inspired Bevan to get the 'bouncer' she was thinking of getting before reading this.

It is scattered with 'case studies' of other imperfectly natural people that share a bit about their life and in what ways they try to be as natural as possible.  All of which I found and inspiring and has encouraged me to see where I can do more in my life.  One area is my diet, I still think I eat too much rubbish and she has inspired me to think more about what I eat. 

So, 245 pages of great stuff - although a few of pictures of Janey are quite cheesy!  Easy to read, easy to dip in and out of.  No guilt, just great ideas and inspiration. 

She has also written another book called Imperfectly Natural Baby & Toddler which I am looking forward to reading.

Out of all the books I have listed on the site (I only list books I have read and recommend) if you had to get one I can quite honestly say make it this one. 

Also check out Janey's website.

Paperless society?!

So the era of computers was supposed to bring us to a paperless society?!  Hmm, I think we now use more paper than ever with computers.  I hate having paper copies of things, much rather have them stored on a computer, easier to find and no clutter (of course need to make sure back up regularly!).  We get insurance documents that include massive booklets which are available on their websites anyway....We were storing so much paper one of my missions it to cut down on it.  Go to paperless billing where possible (thankfully most large companies now offer this), re-use/recycle as much as possible and not keep hold of it and scan as much as possible (can then re-use/recycle the original).   

How can you reduce the amount of paper you use (and receive).  Have you moved to paperless/email billing with your utilities?  Do you really want all those catalogues that keep arriving?