Ecover

I have been using various Ecover products for over a year now, I started by using the Ecover washing powder, which is Ok for cleaning clothes, it gets the stains out but not really the smell to be honest. After persevering for a while now I have decided to go back to biological powder until I find another environmentally friendly washing powder.
On the plus side I use the Ecover washing up liquid and Ecover toilet cleaner which has been first class, absolutely no difference in cleaning ability between them and the chemical products I used to use.

If anyone knows of any environmentally friendly washing powder other than Ecover then please leave a comment as I would be very happy to try something new.

Using Grey Water

Grey Water was not really I term I knew much about, till I stumbled across it the other day. But it is basically re-using the waste water from sinks, baths and showers again.
Depending on what you were using the water for in the first place, grey water can contain a combination of soap and detergents, so they are really not suitable for watering any plants or crops you may eventually eat, so the herbs I am growing on the windowsill are out. But grey water is fine for watering house plants with.

If you have a garden, which I don’t then the best grey water to use is bath water rather than kitchen sink and washing machine water. This is because the shampoos and soap you have been using in your bath are very mild and very diluted in the large volume of water. This grey water can be made even safer by using products that are biodegradable like Ecover, washing products, rather than chemical based toiletries.

I have also been reading that one third of all water used in the house is wasted flushing the toilet. If you want to be really green you could use your bathwater and a pail to flush the toilet with. But it isn’t really a practical idea as you would need to leave stagnant water lying in your bath, and since it has been hot and cooled down it is the perfect environment for bacteria to grow. So the next best thing I could think of is to put a brick in the cistern, I guess the volume of a brick is at least 1 litre so if you multiply that by 2 (number of times I might flush the toilet a day if not more) and then by 365 (a year) this adds up too 730 litres or 193 gallons of water a year I am saving, quite a lot when you start thinking about it.

Charging your ipod from a clean green source of energy

I realise that every time I charge my ipod I am using electricity which is most likely coming from a coal burning power station.
So after doing a bit of research/surfing on the internet I discovered you can buy a Solio solar panel, http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search?search-alias=electronics&field-keywords=solio%20charger
which can not only charge your ipod but also your mobile phone. The only thing I don’t like about it is the cost at $100 £49.00 it’s a bit pricey. So what alternatives are there?

1. Don’t use my ipod?
2. Change my power supplier to a green energy supplier?
3. Try and find a cheaper solar panel?

Going through my options, well 1. Don’t Use my ipod - I seriously can’t live without my ipod now that I have one, so that’s not an option, but 2 and 3 sound good.

So though further investigation I discovered I can switch my energy supply to a renewable source of energy for free. I use powergen and they have something called green plan

“GreenPlan
At Powergen we recognise the importance of conserving our environment and electricity as a fundamental part of everyday life.
What is GreenPlan?
· GreenPlan is Powergen’s renewable electricity product.
· We guarantee to match every unit of electricity supplied to GreenPlan customers with one from a renewable source.
· What’s more, every unit of electricity you use is also matched by a contribution from Powergen to the GreenPlan fund.
· The GreenPlan fund is solely dedicated to supporting renewable energy generation projects with a strong community theme, such as solar panels for churches, ground source heat pumps for homes etc

So I have now changed to greenplan

I know this blog could be read by people living outside the United Kingdom, so It would be cool if people can leave comments that live outwith the Uk about renewable source of energy in your own country.

I have also been looking into cheaper solar panels and the cheapest USB solar panel I can find is ….

http://www.gadgethub.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?ProductGroupID=11848 taking into consideration this is only a 6v supply and I live in Glasgow (very little sun), how long will it take to fully charge an ipod?

Maplin sell a ‘scotty solar charger’ which can charge your mobile phone, mp3 player I quote from maplin
“The Scotty is an advanced, compact solar charger for you to collect and store FREE energy from sunshine or daylight. Scotty smart-charging technology then converts the collected energy to charge a huge range of portable appliances! Scotty uses a pair of Ni-Cd battery cells as a power reservoir and is the essential compact charger for people on the move@
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=1&criteria=solar&ModuleNo=48396&doy=11m4

I guess another thing I should take into consideration about solar power is how environmentally friendly is it to make a solar panel in the first place? The production of silicon crystals as far as I’m aware is very energy intensive, then you have to include shipping petrol/diesel to get the solar panel to you, and the production of the packaging it comes in.

So I guess a solar panel charger is more an item to make you feel like you are doing something good for the environment when you are probably not, and at the prices they charge for one how many times would you need to use it to get your moneys worth?

Certainly the biggest opportunity for an individual to reduce their environmental impact is through increased power efficiency and reduced power usage. So not leaving my ipod on the charging dock after it has finished charging is a start and changing to a green supplier of energy is another?

It would be great to hear from anyone that has had any similar experiences what have they done, I would be interested to know, why not leave a comment.

Growing organic herbs indoors

I love fresh herbs so this week I have decided to start growing fresh herbs on my kitchen windowsill. I have been meaning to do it for ages I as use herbs all the time when I’m cooking especially basil and coriander and I always end up buying it from the supermarket and paying over the odds for fresh herbs in a plastic container. And then I only use about half and have to throw the rest away which is a complete waste.

So I went out and bought some organic basil and coriander seeds, I have chosen some old plant pots that my friend had lying about, It is essential that the containers you are going to use have drainage holes in them as herbs don’t like to be sitting in water, and buy some peat free compost too. I have also put some stones in the bottom of the pot to increase drainage.

The great thing about herbs is they can be grown all year round if planted indoors, as long as they have a good source of natural light they will be fine.

I will keep you posted on how they are growing and put up some photos of them when they have grown

Changing my bank account to smile.co.uk

Something I have done recently is change my current account from the Bank I have been with for the last ten years to Smile.co.uk. Smile are part of the large Cooperative bank in the Uk who are one of the only banks as far as I am aware that have an Ethical Banking policy.

http://www.smile.co.uk/ethics.html?loc=l

This means that they don't invest any of your money in companies that deal with - gambling, tobacco, vivesection, animal testing, use of tropical wood, the list goes on.
And they invest in companies that have a postitve effect on society.

It isn't something I had ever considered before, till I was reading about it recently but it is something that is so important but overlooked for some reason.

If you are reading this and you know of any other Banks in the world that have an Ethical Investing Policy then please do leave a comment with a link to the Bank so that other people can read about it.

Why am I writing this blog?

I have been meaning to start writing this blog for ages now. I consider myself a fairly environmentally friendly person, I am vegetarian, I have been so for 5 years.
I don't own a car, I have a licence, but I live and work in a city so really there isn't any point in having one. And I try and recycle when I can, just recently the council have put a recycling point for paper and plastic outside my flat so that has made things much easier.

But I am sure there are so many more things I could change in my life that would make me a more environemental person. I do believe that what I do does have a global impact, and that if everyone changed a few things in their life this would have a huge impact on the world as a whole.

So thats why I am writing this blog-

1. To make people more aware of thing that they could be doing that don't cost anything, or are fairly cheap that are more environmentally friendly!
2. To get ideas from other people about things I could be doing as well!

So we will see how things go, but please do leave comments and suggestions if you can think of any.

Ross.