October 29th, 2009
Halloween is fast approaching, so why not keep it green and keep it cheap? Give the ghouls and ghosts an energy saving, healthy treat by:
Making your own sweets
Grape lollies – take a bunch of loose grapes, rinse them (dip them in sugar, if you must) and put them in the freezer for an hour or so.
Choc fruits – dip strawberries, raspberries and satsuma segments in melted chocolate and set in the fridge.
Ensuring you have no-waste pumpkins
Separate the flesh and seeds as you go and use the flesh to make a warming winter soup or pumpkin pie.
The pumpkin seeds can either be roasted or eaten raw as a light snack. -After Halloween, put your hollowed out pumpkin lanterns on the compost heap so they can be later used to fertilize your garden.
Creating your own costumes
Collect old rags, rip them up into strips, dye them black if desired and pin onto conventional clothes.
Make witches/wizards dresses and capes out of black bin liners
Make monster masks from papier-mâché.
Make scary ‘hands’ by padding out latex gloves.
Use old pillowcases to collect ‘treats’ – dye it with the rags or decorate with felt-tips.
Creating a Gloomy Glow
Switch off the lights and fill the house with candles.
Torches – when out and about use ones with rechargeable batteries or the wind-up versions.
Car Sharing
Share the fuel, hassle and expense by all bundling into one car on way to your trick or treat venue.
Recycling
Take a bin liner with you to collect up all the ‘treat’ wrappers. Recycle what you can on your return.
Closing Doors
When Trick or Treaters appear, close the front door behind you to conserve energy
Tags: energy saving, Green Halloween, Halloween, Recycling | Posted in Events, Recycling, Self sufficiency
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September 30th, 2009
Eco groups say they are ‘recycling’ empty buildings to save the planet. Welcome to the new face of recycling – squatting with a purpose.
This is a craze which is rapidly spreading all over the country, vacant buildings and unused land are being ‘rescued’ by squatters and turned into ecologically sustainable communities.
An example of this is The Spike in south London, an old Dept of Transport building; it was transformed by eco warriors and artists from a crack den into a community centre, with a well-being clinic and yoga classes. Another community have set up at Kew Bridge; it has 15 full-time residents who live on produce or food found on ‘skip-runs’; sound systems, drink and drugs are banned as they alienate people.
Although these groups attract the stereotypical squatter they are also joined by graduates, activists and young professionals. As a result they are well informed on their rights and manage to research their next locations via tip-offs on Google Earth. The groups are insistent that they only ever intend to make use of the property or land while it is vacant and not prevent any development projects.
Is this an acceptable way to beat the housing crisis and/or the credit crunch?
Tags: development, ecologically sustainable communities, housing crisis, Recycling, squatting | Posted in Life Change, Recycling, Self sufficiency
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August 27th, 2009
‘Changing the World One Gift at a Time’
This is the tag-line of an online organisation called Freecycle. It is their aim to keep as much of our reusable junk/throwaways out of landfill sites, items can include anything from old china to furniture, to electronic equipment.
It is an ingenious idea, you simply post on your local site the ‘gift’ you would like to offer or the ‘gift’ you would like to receive and the matching up is done for you. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns.
‘Everything posted must be free, legal and appropriate for all ages.’
The environmental benefits are numerous, so if you are interested check out freecycle.org for your local site.
Tags: freecycle, landfills, recycle, recyling, reuse | Posted in Life Change, Self sufficiency
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August 25th, 2009
Not only can Portland boast hosting the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sailing events, but also in September of this year work will commence to create an eco-friendly, low carbon community.
This new development will be sited at the former Royal Navy Air Station’s Osprey Quay. The 77 new homes promise to reduce carbon emissions by more than half compared with conventional properties.
Features will include wood pellet boilers, rainwater harvesting systems, solar water heating and solar panels to generate electricity. In addition to this residents will have the opportunity to pay for access to an electric smart car which will be kept on site.
The developers are expecting the work to take two years to complete. Let’s hope it is successful and the first of many!
Tags: 2012 Olympics, eco-friendly, electric cars, low carbon community, Paralympics, Portland, rainwater harvesting systems, sailing, solar panels, solar water heating, wood pellet boilers | Posted in 2012, Self sufficiency, Sustainable Energy
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