Notebook > Going Green
Over A Barrel - Oil Prices Continue to Rise - 23 Apr 08
Last summer, I mentioned on here how updating our central heating timer was saving us money and oil. We finally had to order home heating oil in September, having been expecting to need more oil any time from March onwards. I’m glad to be able to say that the trend has continued over the winter, when previously 900 litres of oil would have lasted us from November to March, our refill from September is only starting to run low now.
Going Green - One Year On - 10 Feb 08
On the eve of Mad Eejits hosting the Carnival of the Green for the first time, I thought it might be worthwhile to look back on our first year of trying to be more eco-friendly to see what we’ve achieved.
Toiletries With Less Packaging - 28 Nov 07
Back in our little six month review of ‘going green’, I stated that I’d like to switch to toiletries which come in returnable or refillable bottles/containers and avoid aerosols as much as possible. That was in July, but I’m glad to say that, this month, I’ve finally got round to doing something about it.
No Impact Year Ends - 21 Nov 07
I, like many others, have been following the adventures of ‘No Impact Man’ as he and his family tried to live for a full year with no net impact on the environment, which he explains as follows:
WANTED - Dinosaurs - Holywood area - 20 Nov 07
It was, of course, a request for toy dinosaurs, not the real thing and the missing ‘L’ tells you its Holywood, Northern Ireland, not Hollywood, Los Angeles. Still, it made me laugh when I read it.
Reusable Nappy Update - 14 Sep 07
Its nearly a month now since we made the switch to reusable nappies, for Ben, and really its a case of so far, so good.
Switching to Reusable Nappies - 15 Aug 07
Its been a while since the last post, but we haven’t been sitting idle. We’ve spent a lot of time discussing and debating a move away from disposable nappies to reusable nappies for Ben. As I mentioned before, the disposable nappies currently account for the greatest volume of any single item in our ‘landfill bin’, so its definitely an issue we wanted to address.
Saving Money and Oil - 24 Jul 07
We made one little change, at the end of last year, that has saved us more money and heating oil than I thought possible. That change was simply fitting a new digital central heating controller, which cost us less than £30, and has probably paid for itself several times over already.
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Going Green - 6 Month Review - 19 Jul 07
Its just over 6 months now since we brought this site to life and, as hoped, we do feel more accountable for our plans and intentions that have been posted online, than if we’d simply kept them to ourselves. So, it seems like a good time for a review of how we’re getting on with our plan to become more eco-friendly.
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Act On CO2 - 16 Jun 07
Chances are, if you live in the UK, you’ve seen the government sponsored Act On CO2 TV adverts, featuring little engines on wheels, driving around like cars. The purpose of the campaign is to provide advice on how to reduce the emissions from your car journeys through ‘smarter driving’ and making a more informed decision when buying a new car.
Change a Bulb, Change the Channel - 08 Jun 07
For some time now, we’ve been experiencing the intermittent phenomenon of our TV (or to be precise, our digital TV box) changing channels and adjusting the volume without anyone using, or even being near to, the remote controller. The problem occurs just once each evening and then disappears as quickly as it started. At first we figured that the digi-box must have been picking up signals from another remote controller somewhere, but then don’t remotes work using infra-red and require line of sight to the receiver?
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RecycleBank Dollars - 05 Jun 07
When I read about RecycleBank over on WorldChanging, I was struck by what a great idea it is for encouraging people to recycle. The basic idea is that the amount of waste that you recycle is measured and you are then rewarded with a related number of ‘RecycleBank Dollars’ which can be used at a good number of participating stores and websites
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Make Compost Not War - 28 May 07
Our subsidised compost bin has arrived at last!
In anticipation of its arrival, Sarah has been storing kitchen scraps in a bucket outside the back door, so we’re off to a flying start already. However, with only a small garden, the compost itself isn’t our main motivator, but rather the opportunity to further reduce what we put in the landfill bin each fortnight.
M&S to Trial Plastic Bag Charge - 23 May 07
Northern Ireland to be the Guinea Pig
British retail giant Marks & Spencer has announced that it will trial a 5p charge per plastic bag, in their Northern Ireland stores, to encourage shoppers to use fewer disposable bags. If successful, the initiative could be rolled out through the entire UK as part of the chain’s ‘Plan A’ environmental policy.
Carnival of the Green - 12 May 07
I have to admit that until a few days ago, when it popped up on the Times Online blog ‘Eco Worrier’, I’d never heard of the Carnival of the Green. Its a fairly simple idea though and one which appears to have worked well over the last couple of years.
TreeHugger Gets a Forum - 09 May 07
Popular environmental website TreeHugger has recently increased its range of features with the addition of a forum for the discussion of all things green and not-so green.
A Greener Apple - 03 May 07
With the appearance of an statement entitled ‘A Greener Apple’ on Apple’s website, Greenpeace is celebrating the apparent success of their I love my Apple, I just wish it came in Green campaign.
Fortnightly Bin Collections - 26 Apr 07
Who knew that something as simple as how often rubbish bins are collected could be blown up into such a large issue that the Daily Mail would start a campaign to save weekly rubbish collections and it’s being speculated that the issue could affect local council elections in England and Wales. The whole debate revolves around whether normal rubbish bins should be collected every week or if fortnightly collections would be sufficient.
Cheap Compost Bins for Belfast - 20 Apr 07
Proving that free papers are good for more than just being firelighters or recycle bin fillers, our local “Belfast News” this week included an advert about cheap compost bins.
Sainsbury's ban disposable bags - 19 Apr 07
Albeit for one day only
A BBC Report states that Sainsbury’s are scrapping disposable plastic bags, for one day, in favour of their recycled ‘Bags for Life’ in an attempt to encourage shoppers to reuse their bags rather than taking new ones on every shopping trip.
It's Not Easy Being Green - 18 Apr 07
We’re currently enjoying the second series of It’s Not Easy Being Green on the BBC. Whilst the first series followed the efforts of presenter Dick Strawbridge (best known for his exploits on Scrapheap Challenge) and his family to live as green a life as possible, the second follows Dick and son James as they travel the country helping other people with their own green projects.
Shutdown Survived - 26 Mar 07
Well we made it through Shutdown Day with the Computer, TV and our mobile phones switched off for the entire 24 period.
As we had planned, we went on a little family outing, taking a drive along the North Down coast and stopping wherever we fancied for shopping or sight-seeing. Things didn’t get off to a great start, when we realised that we’d neglected to bring either the buggy or carrier for Ben. However, after a quick spot of tag-team shop searching and baby sitting, a suitable carrier was found, which will now be stored in the car in case of similar emergencies in the future. With that brief panic over, the rest of the trip was an enjoyable day out.
Twas the Night Before Shutdown - 23 Mar 07
...and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even an optical, wireless mouse.
As previously reported, we’re planning to participate in Shutdown Day, a little experiment that involves switching off the computer for a day and doing something else instead.
Goodbye Standby - 13 Mar 07
Today, we heard that the UK’s Chancellor, Gordon Brown, would (amongst other things) like to see the Standby button removed from all electrical appliances, so that they are all either on or off with no energy consuming, grey areas in between.
Are We There Yet? - 06 Mar 07
I caught the first programme of the above titled series on BBC 2, this evening. It aims to explore the UK’s alternatives to using the car as our main form of transport.
Shutdown Day - 28 Feb 07
An interesting experiment that appears to be gathering momentum is Shutdown Day, which asks people to try turning off their computers for one day to see how they cope without them.
Making the Switch - 20 Feb 07
Here in Northern Ireland, we have the choice of a grand total of one electricity supplier. So much for healthy competition.
However, its not all bad. That one supplier, Northern Ireland Electricity, offers a “green” electricity option called Eco Energy, and according to their website:
MIT's Folding "City Car" - 19 Feb 07
Spotted on Tree Hugger, MIT researches are working on a prototype “City Car”, with electric motors, that actually “folds” to create a smaller storage footprint. The idea behind the vehicle is that small fleets of them would be available at train stations etc. and could be rented on an as-needed basis.
Changing the Car - 15 Feb 07
After nearly two years with us, our little green 4×4 is off to pastures new. So, given this opportunity to move to something more eco-friendly, what’s our new car going to be?
Uh… a bigger 4×4.
