Confessions of a Single Mum » Being Green http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:58:51 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= The Green Issue Generations Before http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/the-green-issue-generations-before/ http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/the-green-issue-generations-before/#comments Fri, 12 Aug 2011 20:14:41 +0000 Confessions of a single mum http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/?p=2829 I had the following sent in an email and thought it was worth sharing as it makes you think.

In the line at the supermarket, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my day.”

The checkout responded, “That’s our problem today.  Your generation did not care enough to save our environment.”

He was right — our generation didn’t have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, pop bottles and beer bottles to the shop. The shop sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over.  So they really were recycled.

But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocers and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go half a mile.

But she was right. We didn’t have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby’s nappies because we didn’t have the throw-away kind.  We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts — wind and solar power really did dry the clothes.  Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right; we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the Wales .

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us.

When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power.  We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she’s right; we didn’t have the green thing back then.

We drank from a tap when we were thirsty instead of a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.

We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn’t have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service.

We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances.  And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the green thing back then?

 

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]]> http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/the-green-issue-generations-before/feed/ 0 And So Ends Another Resolution http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/and-so-ends-another-resolution/ http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/and-so-ends-another-resolution/#comments Thu, 31 Mar 2011 21:05:37 +0000 Confessions of a single mum http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/?p=2319 March has come to an end and with it my Green Resolution. I don’t know why but when I started the resolution I didn’t think I would enjoy it. I had visions of bags of recycling cluttering up my home till collection day. I also naively thought recycling would be easy as I thought everything could be recycled. Its all very well the supermarkets getting behind the recycling and putting labels on all the packaging to say what is recyclable but its a bit pointless when in small print it says ‘check with your local council’. For example most of the plastic packaging that is used by manufactures cannot at this time be recycled by my local council or by the recycle centre near me. The only things I can recycle in the plastic department are milk and drinks bottles. Once I got into the swing of things, recycling has very easily slotted into every day family life. I don’t, though, have any indication or clue if my efforts are actually doing anything. I do struggle to be enthusiastic about things unless I can see an improvement. Watching my recycling disappearing into the distance on the back of the recycling lorry doesn’t really do it for me. I knew that my efforts wouldn’t cause an overnight hysteria of success but come on give me a sign of some sort.  Both the children have got into to it to and instead of throwing everything away if there is something they are not sure if they will stand in the kitchen making recycling noises which they know puts a green motherly smile on my face.

I also learnt that it’s not just about recycling plastic, glass and paper each week. Things like light bulbs, appliances, products etc can all be tweaked to be greener if you just take 5 minutes to think what the better option is.

There is reusing things too. I have a small area in the garden that is a real sun trap but is ugly and uneven. The easiest option would have been to get a builder in to make it look pretty with some blocks and paving slabs. I don’t have the money for that sort of thing so instead I have done it myself. Not like the builder would have done but with some hefty stones found from the corners of my garden, soil and a lot of back breaking it has been transformed into a hard standing area that will now happily home the fruit and veg in pots. Didn’t cost me a penny and used up ‘rubbish’ from around the garden. I am more chuffed with it then I would have been if I got the builder in.

So with March at end the important question has to be asked, will I continue my green crusade?

In a way I will. I know single handily I am not going to save the world. I know that I don’t have to try to be green in every area of my life but just the bits I can do freely and easily. I have though installed the green seed into my children. If they now grow up more aware and recycle for the rest of their lives and pass that on to their children then maybe I have achieved something.

 

 

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]]> http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/and-so-ends-another-resolution/feed/ 0 Other Green Things I am Trying. http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/other-green-things-i-am-trying/ http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/other-green-things-i-am-trying/#comments Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:14:35 +0000 Confessions of a single mum http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/?p=2121 The more I have read about being green the more I realise that managing to recycle is actually only a small part of it all. I have looked at some of f the other things that I can be green at was surprised to know I am actually greener than I thought. I have though made two more steps on the green ladder by growing my own veg and walking to the supermarket. Not huge things, granted but both have an other reasons for my madness.

Growing veg is only a recent bug I have discovered I enjoy. Last year was my test to see if I lasted the year with some raised veg patches. I quickly learnt that though lettuce and more lettuce were nice, I wanted to grow more variety. This year the veg boxes have been moved and recycled into flower beds in the front garden. The back garden now looks like something out of the Good Life. I may not have enough room to self support the kids and I but least it will be more than just sodding lettuces.

Growing veg is ticking the green boxes.  I am not buying packaging with my veg like I would at the supermarket. I also hopefully saving pennies, keeping fit and the other good side is that it’s a good excuse to be outside in the sunshine.

I am also very lucky to live less than a mile from two supermarkets. They very inconsiderately are in opposite directions though. In the summer the local Asda is over run by holiday makers, so much so I proved with the help of my mother and her car that it is actually quicker to walk there and back than getting in the car. This is all very well and healthy but does lean to some organisation on my behalf. I have to remember that whatever I put in the basket I will actually be lugging back up the hill in my backpack due to both supermarkets are at the bottom of hills to. I have found I am buying less and loosing inches too, which has to be good. I am also saving on petrol as the car only gets used when it’s too far to walk.

Maybe it’s the change in weather that has brought about these two changes and only in autumn will I discover if I am a fair weather gardener and walker. I suspect I will be.

 

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]]> http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/other-green-things-i-am-trying/feed/ 0 You may be Greener than you thought http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/you-may-be-greener-than-you-thought/ http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/you-may-be-greener-than-you-thought/#comments Sat, 19 Mar 2011 14:08:24 +0000 Confessions of a single mum http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/?p=2045 Doing the green resolution is proving to be quiet challenging. I seem to be constantly reading labels and on bin monitor duty. But as I have been reading up on the whole green thing, I am realising that some of the things I do in everyday life are actually greener than I thought. I use to think you were either green or not green but I am learning that there are several shades of green and some of these shades I am already doing. Take washing the dishes, something that is some in every household every day and several times a day. Now the really green option would be serving up the food on huge leaves which is completely impractical, slightly mad and would confirm to my kids that I had lost the plot. At the other end of the scale is washing dishes by hand – yes washing dishes by hand can be the least green thing to do.

As with the washing the dishes I have looked at some of the other things I do on a daily bases and graded them into their green shades. Are you greener than you thought?


Washing the Dishes -Using leaves as plates or washing the dishes in cold filtered rainwater is not a sensible answer for a busy mum. Next best is using an AAA rated dishwasher, but only when it’s full. It may sound completely wrong to big up the dishwasher but when an AAA dishwasher is used full it can use at little as 15 litres of water per cycle. Over ten years that could save a household 100,000 litres of water. Beware of the half load setting though as these seldom use half the electric of half the water of a full cycle. Oh and have a read of the detergent you are using as they may contain chlorine and phosphates which are not green. Look out for eco friendly detergents.

Washing and Drying Clothes – not the best answer but to be the greenest answer is to not to wash clothes. Probably every teenagers dream but in reality not very practical. The next best thing is to wash clothes by hand using harvested rainwater and lots of elbow grease with drying the clothes on the line.

Lighting – Lighting only uses 3% of energy and 16% of electric of your household total which on its own going green in this department won’t save loads. But if everyone joined it and would have a positive effect. The greenest you can be with lighting is to sit in the dark. Being with one with nature and its cycles may be doable in summer but not practical or safe in winter. The next greenest option is probably the highest tec. Light Emitting Diodes or LEDS to you and me. These are good for two reasons. The lights use very little power, typically just 1 to 3 watts per bulb and they have a long life (50,000 hours). The out lay for LED’s may be higher than halogens but over 15 years 20 LED down lighters could cost around £600 compared to £4,500 for halogen equivalents

Washing the Dishes -Using that thing in the kitchen that has taps attached, yes the sink. Though you would only qualify for 2 green stars if you used a bowl of water for rinsing instead of running water, oh and you would have to use eco friendly detergent too. Lastly all the waste water would be used on the plants too.

Washing and Drying Clothes – sharing resources is always a good eco saving and never more so than with washing. A study showed that a laundry service for washable nappies that took away dealt with and returned used 32% less energy than home washing and 41% less water. If you can use a launderette and share a load it would be greener than owning a washing machine.

Lighting –. CFL ( compact fluorescent) bulbs are commonly the easy option for low energy lighting as they typically use a quarter of the energy than incandescent bulbs whilst producing the same amount of light and lasting 15 time longer. The manufacturing process uses 4 times the energy to make than normal light bulbs; this is more than cancelled out by the energy savings.

Washing the Dishes -Using a really old antique of a dishwasher. Surprisingly this old beast will use about 50 litres of water which is loads better than the no stars option. But did you know if you could save up and replace the old beast with an AAA rated dishwasher it would eventually pay for its self if you’re on a water meter.

Washing and Drying Clothes – A+ or AA rated appliances, used sparingly at low temperature, with minimal washing detergent and line drying is about the greenest the realistic busy family will get. Keep in mind though a 40 degree wash uses almost half the energy of 60 degree wash. The drying though should still be line dried as there is no such thing as a green tumble dryer.

Lighting – The common old light bulb. ( Incandescent) is not very green with its short life ( 1,000 hours) It also only uses 5% of the energy it uses for light whilst the filament glows away at 2,500c

Washing the Dishes -Washing dishes in the sink with the tap running to rinse the dishes could, if you’re on washing up duty after a big meal, use about 150 litres of water.

Washing and Drying Clothes – You don’t earn any green points if you’re frequently washing, using the tumble dryer and using non eco detergents. Those couple of washes a day at a 60 degree temperature would add up to 40,000 litres of water in a year. Dry cleaning is also a non star award.

Lighting – Halogen spotlight may look sparkly and not use more power than incandescent but the problem is we like to use a lot of them. A typical halogen light kitchen could be boasting 600w when CFL and LED lights are improving enough to achieve the same effect on 7w each. Lastly candles, the typical hippy green image are sadly the un-greenest lighting solution. They are inefficient at producing light as most of their energy goes into heat. They are also made from fossil-fuel-derived paraffin wax which chucks out pollutants directly into your home.

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]]> http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/you-may-be-greener-than-you-thought/feed/ 0 My Green is more a sludgy Grey now. http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/my-green-is-more-a-sludgy-grey-now/ http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/my-green-is-more-a-sludgy-grey-now/#comments Tue, 15 Mar 2011 12:16:42 +0000 Confessions of a single mum http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/?p=2037 Today I am proud to post the thoughts on Green things of a fellow single mum…..

Since becoming a single parent many things that I once held dear to my heart, or in actual fact was quietly smug about, have fallen by the wayside.  None more so than my “green” credentials, from once being a 3 box, compost bin and water butt kind of girl I am now a, err tescos man please can you take these carrier bags away because they are driving me up the wall kind of girl. No longer am I saving all my cardboard, sorting out the aluminium tins or saving my peelings and though I know I should feel some sort of guilt, I am ashamed to admit that there is none.

I am not a litterer, I often come home from the school run with pockets bulging with wrappers and the car looks like the inside of a wheelie bin, its just that I can’t seem to get my head round the fact that at some point going to the tip is now under my banner of jobs to do, along with everything else that is required in running a house single handedly.

Please some one convince me that all the effort of seperating my rubbish, and keeping everything neatly stacked in the garage to be taken to the tip once a week, with 2 energetic boys bouncing around in the back of the car is actually going to make a difference to global warming and greenhouse gas emmissions.

The thought of not only having to save, stack and then move weeks of rubbish just to take it to the “recycling centre” but to also having to do it with the boys fills me with dread.  I can imagine getting there, ordering them to stay put and the second my back was turned the 6 year old slipping his seatbelt off, untieing his baby brother and them making their escape to the world of “stig of the dump”. I’d lose them in one of those massive containers because they would be trying to re-inact the end of Toy Story 3. So no thank you, if dear council you are prepared to take it away without me having to sort it or if you are willing to reduce my council tax as a form of payment for the effort that needs to be put in, I will not be sorting out my rubbish for you untill the kids are driving and they can go play at the tip by themseleves, though should you decide to send Brad Pitt to ask me to do it, I may reconsider….

For more of my drivel find me at www.daytodaylivinginthenuthouse.blogspot.com

So ladies the gauntlet has been thrown. “Please some one convince me that all the effort of seperating my rubbish, and keeping everything neatly stacked in the garage to be taken to the tip once a week, with 2 energetic boys bouncing around in the back of the car is actually going to make a difference to global warming and greenhouse gas emmissions. ” All you very green people, convince us both please.

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]]> http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/my-green-is-more-a-sludgy-grey-now/feed/ 0 March Resolution One Week In http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/march-resolution-one-week-in/ http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/march-resolution-one-week-in/#comments Wed, 09 Mar 2011 14:22:37 +0000 Confessions of a single mum http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/?p=2019 A week into being greener and it was rubbish day in my street yesterday. Last week I put out two black household rubbish and one piddly recycle bag that was very lonely. I am happier with my recycling efforts this week and managed two recycle bags though still had two black bags this week.

The past week I have become a recycle fiend, looking at every bit of rubbish and pouncing on the children when they go near the rubbish bin to inspect what they are throwing away. The compost bin is getting ‘fed’ regularly with veg peelings so I feel happier with that. I am though rather angry with plastic. What I didn’t know and fast learning is that I can’t put all my plastic from all the packaging into the recycle bin. If I could do that I think I would be down to one black bag a week easily.

It depends on your local council and what they can accept so check that out first. Paper, cans, glass and aerosol cans can be put out for collection in those nifty little recycle bags they give you. Plastic though is a bit more hard work. They happily take plastic bottles but things like bags, ready-meal food trays, yogurt pots, margarine pots etc are not allowed as they are made of different kinds of plastic. So the council won’t take them as they don’t have the resources to sort them once they have picked them all up. Couldn’t we adopt a system like New Zealand has where all plastics have a number and recycle bins have numbers too so it’s easier to work out what can be recycled where?

Although I am rather peeved that I can’t recycle more of the plastic stuff, I am slowly getting to grips with what goes in which recycle bag so at least I am making progress.

I am quite proud to report that I saved a tree. No mouth to mouth resuscitation or anything like that was needed. Clearing out under the bed and a cupboard I managed to accumulate a stack of magazines almost a meter high. After digging further into the unknown world of the back of the cupboard, one Argos book and an old yellow pages got the magazine stack to a metre high. According to the green boffins, recycling a metre high of paper saves a tree.

So baby steps with the recycling, giant steps with the compost bin and great delight that early seedlings have started to sprout. I am yet to convince the children that being greener is fun.

 

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]]> http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/march-resolution-one-week-in/feed/ 0 For March I am Going Green http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/for-march-i-am-going-green/ http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/for-march-i-am-going-green/#comments Thu, 03 Mar 2011 11:41:09 +0000 Confessions of a single mum http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/?p=1972 It’s the beginning of March and time for a new resolution. Throughout March I am going to tackle ‘Being Green’. I know single handily I won’t change the world but I am ashamed to say I am absolutely crap at recycling. For my last rubbish collection, for example, I put out two black bags of normal rubbish and one piddly recycle bag that two glass jars in it. Pitiful really and the only thing in my defence was that there wasn’t any more glass jars in the rubbish bags so yey to me for only using two glass jars. But I hadn’t sorted my paper, plastic etc. If my 80+ year old neighbours can get to grips with recycling then I am sure I can improve my ways.

I also think that our children, grandchildren etc would rather like a planet to grow up on. Any normal child is unlikely to sit down and think ‘wow we really need to learn how to look after the planet’. They like most of us probably think of the now and not future generations. But if I can get my two to recycle and think a bit greener as natural part of their life and they go on to teach the same with their children then at least I have helped. So I have told my two rather unenthusiastic children that they will be doing my resolution too.  I asked the teenager to go on my computer (the Holy Grail in my house) and search the internet about recycling. I didn’t interfere with how she searched or what she searched as I wanted it to be natural but her findings left her even less enthusiastic. So I will have to figure out how to make this interesting.

Did you know recycling a one meter stack of newspaper saves one tree.

I want to find ways to incorporate recycling and being green into normal family life. To find ways that aren’t time consuming or costly and hopefully save pennies along the way.

Did you know we use 8 billion plastic bags each year. That’s about 300 for every household.

The thing that started me off on my planet saving quest was my 80+ neighbour. The previously mentioned recycling whizz has also decided to start growing veg again after my efforts last year. I am a newbie veg gardener so was forever pestering the poor chap on how to do this, how to do that and how’s my veg doing, knowing he use to be a very keen veg grower. With his help I did manage small crops of leeks, carrots and tomatoes, two peas and more lettuce than I needed. Hardly gets Alan Titchmarsh quaking in his wellies but I am rather bitten by the bug. The comment across the fence, from the recycling veg whizz, that I need some good home grown compost is what in a roundabout way started me on my green resolution. For my veg to grow I need compost which I can make for free and recycle along the way.

Did you know that 60% of the average dustbin’s content could be turned into compost.

My planet saving quest has started, another very kind neighbour has given me a compost bin. Like a kid with a new toy, I’ve dragged it home yesterday, cleaned it (no I don’t know why either) and put it in my garden after I read up on its best positioning. The green life has begun.

As usual for my month resolutions I will be tackling this for the whole month. At the end of the month I will decide how easy it is to carry on. This obviously excludes the veg growing as even I or the neighbour have a magic wand to make seeds grow that quick.

Last one to get you thinking – In the UK we produce enough rubbish everyday to fill Trafalgar Square to the top of Nelsons column and enough to fill the Albert Hall every hour.

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]]> http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/for-march-i-am-going-green/feed/ 0 Eco Terms A to Z http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/eco-terms-a-to-z/ http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/eco-terms-a-to-z/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 08:21:08 +0000 Confessions of a single mum http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/?page_id=993 I have pulled together a quick A to Z of eco terms as found myself confused and lost on the terms they use.

A is for alternative living – alternative living is the eco thinking way of living: by means of choosing to live in a green a way possible. It can the whole lot like only eating the food they have grown, making their own clothes and only using renewable sources of energy. Or it can be introducing elements of alternative living and becoming more eco-conscious about everything you do.

B is for biodegradable – Plastic bags, synthetics, plastic bottles, tin cans and computer hardware may make our lives easier but when they have been thrown away they do not break down naturally as they are not biodegradable. This means the landfill sites fill up and as the air, moisture, climate ands soil can not break them down naturally they cannot be dissolved within the surrounding land. Biodegradable products are made from nature and can be broken down again.

B is also for bio-fuels – A bio-fuel is a fuel that has derived from biomass. Like recently living organisms or their metabolic by-products like manure from cows. Bio-fuels are a renewable energy source so are as green as can be. They also have the advantage of being ‘carbon neutral’ as although burning them releases carbon into the atmosphere they aren’t damaging like fossil fuels. There are three categories of bio-fuels: solid, liquid and gas. The two most common liquid fuels are bio-diesel made from oil seeds and ethanol made from corn, sugar or grain and can be used a s replacement for petrol.Â

C is for carbon footprint – Basically your carbon footprint is how much carbon is emitted from your lifestyle – your own personal impact on the environment. Your footprint has two parts, direct footprint and indirect footprint. Your direct footprint is things like using your car. Your indirect footprint is the things like buying biodegradable and buying local produce.

C is also for climate change – this the effect human behaviour has on the global climate due to emissions of greenhouse gases.

C is also for CO2 emissions – if you weren’t paying attention in chemistry at school, CO2 is the chemical symbol for carbon dioxide. It’s quoted alongside environmental issues because the CO2 emissions have become the most common of the greenhouse gases to contribute towards global warning.

D is for doing what you can – every bit by every person helps. If your not as green as your neighbours its nothing to get stressed about as long as you are doing what you can.

E is for eco-warrior – it may pleasantly surprise you that an eco-warrior doesn’t have to have hairy armpits, have unwashed hair and only live in trees. They can be smartly dressed business men and women to the little old lady down the road. They are though taking direct action to halt, suspend or otherwise stop an activity that adversely impacts the environment.

E is also for energy saving – these are the bits like turning up the heat instead of putting on a jumper or driving in the car when the journey is short enough and practical enough to walk it instead.

E is also for ethical – this is when you buy produce or clothing that haven’t been sewn or made by a child/person working long hours, poorly paid in terrible conditions. Also knowing your money hasn’t inadvertently gone towards chopping down rainforests or buying weapons but is doing something good and decent for the environment.

F is for fair-trade – fair-trade mark is an independent consumer label which appears on products as a guarantee that disadvantaged producers/farmers in the devolving world are getting a better deal. For a product to display this mark it must meet international standards set by the international certification board.

F is also for food miles- simply the distance a food travels from field to plate. Food now accounts for nearly a third of all goods transported across the world by road and by air and this travel adds to the carbon dioxide emissions that contribute towards climate change.

G is for global warming – the steady and documented rise in the earths surface temperature over the last century. Climate change is in turn linked to global warming.

G is also for GM food – GM stands for genetically modified foods, which are foods that have been artificially changed by scientists. Like tomatoes to be redder. Research shows that they could damage our health.

G is also for greenhouse gases – these are the gases that trap the sun’s heat in the atmosphere, leading to a rise in global temperatures that then can cause unpredictable climate change. The gases caused by a variety of human behaviour such as the burning of fossil fuels, air travel and car use are carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane.

H is for housework – doing housework the eco friendly way goes along way towards doing your bit for the environment. By buying or making your own eco friendly eco products not only ensure less pollution going down the drain and into the sewer but also a home with clean air. Also a less toxic environment will in turn improve sleep and concentration.

J is for junk mail – more than 100 million trees of junk mail is delivered in America every year. To produce that amount of paper, the pulp processing requires 114 billion litres of water. To make matters even worse most of the junk mail goes straight in the bin and not even recycled.

K is for Kyoto – Kyoto protocol is an international agreement based on stopping climate change reached in Kyoto in 1997. It established specific targets and timetables for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to be achieved y all signatories. Eighty four other countries have now signed the Protocol.

L is for litter – as well as smelly and not nice to see it is also harmful to the environment as most of it isn’t biodegradable.

M is for mobile phones – although they can be recycled, few people do. The main wastage is on recharging the phones as ninety-five per cent of the energy used when a charger is plugged in is wasted energy. Only five per cent of the energy is actually used to charge the phone, the rest is when the charger is left plugged in aft wards. That’s over 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions that could be avoided if we just unplugged the charges after charging the phones.

N is for nappies – 95 per cent of parents use deposable nappies with at least 90 per cent of these nappies ending up on landfill sites. Although there is the full blown washable route there is also the option for versions that use fewer or no super-absorbents or reusable types.

O is for organic – organic food is frown with out the use of fertilisers and pesticides and all the animals are reared with out the use of antibiotics. Organic also provides higher levels of vitamins and minerals and no controversial additives such as aspartame and hydrogenated fast and no GM ingredients.

P is for parabens – parabens is the most commonly used preservatives in cosmetic, personal care and toiletry products. It was thought that it could link to a number of illnesses due to parabens mimicking the female hormone oestrogen. However the studies are small and not proven.

P is also for pollution – air pollution usually comes from the fumes released from burning fuel. Water pollution is all the dirty water and fluids from our houses and factories. What you pour down the sink and flush away as is ends up in the rivers and oceans eventually.

R is for recycling – recycling isn’t just about the win bottles and newspapers. In reality nearly everything can be recycled or reused. It just takes a bit of effort to think before you bin.

R is for renewable energy – As fossil fuels run out, everyone’s looking for a better source of energy that quickly replenishes itself and can be used again and again. There is wind power-harnessing the power of the wind, solar power-converting sunlight into electricity, hydro power-which has already been used for over 100 years and geothermal power-which comes from hot rocks deep under ground.

S is for seasonal foods – by buying seasonal food you are buying food that has probably travelled fewer miles and had less effect on the environment.

T is for toxins – toxins are agents capable of causing our bodies harm. External toxins come from external sources like car fumes, smoking, pollution etc. If you want to reduce the toxins in you body, you need to think about everything from your lifestyle choices to the way you live your life.

V is for VOCs – VOCs are volatile organic compounds and are known irritants. Sources include solvents, floor adhesives, paint and cleaning products. The problem with VOCs is the associated health effects like headaches, dizziness, and asthma and skin irritations. To reduce the risks make sure there is plenty of fresh air when using these products and throw away unused containers safely.

W is for waste- waste is everything we throw away and considering just about everything we do produces waste then the problem is that we are throwing away in such quantities that we are putting pressure on the environments ability to cope. We all need to cut our waste by buying and throwing away less.

W is also for water – we all waste water all the time. Dripping taps, leaving taps on as we brush our teeth, taking baths instead of showers.

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]]> http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/being-green/eco-terms-a-to-z/feed/ 0 Being Slightly Green Saves the Pennies Too. http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/single-mum-and-money/being-slightly-green-saves-the-pennies-too/ http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/single-mum-and-money/being-slightly-green-saves-the-pennies-too/#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:58:27 +0000 Confessions of a single mum http://www.confessionsofasinglemum.co.uk/?p=986 Being a single mum means one of favourite words is save. Save as in electric, water, petrol, food …I try and save anything that will mean more for my money. But it’s starting to dawn on me that some of this saving is actually turning me a bit green. Now I don’t claim to be a full blown eco warrior of the sandals and hippy kind, but if I am saving money and doing a small bit for the planet then it must be good. I don’t recommend suddenly turning green unless you have plenty of energy and can answer all their questions plus the children might revolt at the idea of sudden change.

The effects on saving on electricity are not only green but saves money too but if you’re on water meter, wasted water is not just wasted water but money down the drain too.

So here I have pulled together some of being a bit greener and saving money along the way.

Change your light bulbs – Only 10 percent of the input power in a traditional light bulb is converted into light. The rest is lost in heat. Lighting a LED bulb is more efficient as I can convert 50 per cent of input energy into light.

Use a clothes line – Reduce tumble dryer use with an indoor drying rack or an outside clothes line. Natural drying is better for your clothes, cheaper and doesn’t waste energy.

Take your shoes off – leaving your shoes at the door will cut levels of lead dust in your home by 60per cent. This is due to almost all the lead dust inside our homes comes from contaminated outdoor soil.

Consider CFL Light bulbs – those funny swirly looking light bulbs may cost more in the first place but they use a quarter of the electricity and last for years. But remember to recycle as they contain small amounts of mercury.

Reuse containers – instead of paying for kitchen storage boxes, reuse old packaging like ice cream containers and such like. Also try and reuse plastic bags as 3 billion kilograms of the stuff enter the waste stream each year.

Don’t replace, use it up – Its greener to use up what you have first then replacing everything and throwing goods away even if they aren’t eco-friendly.

Use less paper – we go through 900 million trees a year to keep us in paper. Use both sides of the paper. Don’t print out emails unless vital and try to recycle as much paper products and packaging as possible.

Use a microwave to cook – a microwave is faster and more efficient and will reduce your energy usage by about 75 per cent.

Dim the lights. Dimming your lights by 25 or 50 per cent with a dimmer switch will save about the same amount in energy.

Put your heating on a timer – No one needs the heat on at night. Set a timer to switch the heating off at bedtime and on again in the morning. It would also save 25 per cent of your heating costs and even more in terms of energy.

Don’t buy bottles of water – instead buy a water filter instead of all those plastic bottles.

Get a home energy audit – Most utility providers will do one for free. You will then know how green you are or aren’t.

Recycle all your drink cans – the energy saved by recycling one can could run a television for three hours.

Don’t charge your mobile phone overnight- most phones only take an hour to charge. So charging it all night is drawing wasted energy.

Switch your DVD off standby- Eighty-five per cent of energy used by a DVD player is wasted when it’s on standby.

Use rechargeable batteries – Six hundred million batteries are used in the UK alone every year – most end up as toxic components of landfill.

Reuse plastic bags – we use over 500 billion plastic bags every year (that’s a million a minute) It will take over a millennium for these to degrade.

Open your windows – by airing your house when it’s chilly outside you will get rid of some of those VOC’s. Turning off the air conditioning will not only save energy but money too.

Only use your washing machine when it is full. With 90 per cent of households having a washing machine and using 50 – 120 litres a cycle it’s a lot of water used. You can save water by only switch it on when you have a full load. By using a 30 degree wash setting it will save energy but will also get your clothes just as a clean as a 40 degree wash. When your machine does give up the ghost then replace it with an energy saving model that allows you to run shorter cycles. There is always the washboard and mangle but I wouldn’t expect any mum to resort to that.

When you’re brushing your teeth turn the tap off. It doesn’t need to run the whole time and your literally throwing away 8,100 litres a year.

Showers are famously quicker and use less water than baths. Showers use 35 litres where as a bath uses 80 litres. Power showers though use about 80 litres.Â

Flush less often. Obviously flush what needs to be flushed but the average house flushes 50 litres of water down the toilet every day. Next time you only blow your nose then flush the tissue down the toilet, think before you flush it.

Collect rainwater. We get enough of it that if you only used the collected water for plants and the garden at least you have saved some. You only need a water butt in your garden to collect water from the down pipe.

Think before tip. The half filled glasses of water you tip down the sink every day could be saved in the fridge for later or used for watering the plants.

If you regularly run the tap to get cold water for drinks, fill a jug and put it in the fridge.

Turn your thermostat down on your hot water. Does it really have to be that hot? Turning the thermostat down will save energy and if you don’t spend so long in a hot steamy shower you have saved water too.

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If like me, some of the eco terms go way over your head, I have done a quick A to Z of eco terms.

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