Counting On … – Page 38

Counting on … day 109

17th May 2024

When setting out to live a green lifestyle, energy features large – particularly energy with a large carbon footprint. When we had a lump sum on my husband’s retirement, we invested in solar panels, double glazing and cavity wall insulation which have all been worthwhile. Having solar panels encourages us to do the laundry when the sun is shining so that the power we generate directly powers the washing machine.

We also invested in two clean-burn woodburning stoves for winter warmth. These used wood we collected locally – pallets from skips and trees that have been cut down locally by a friendly tree surgeon (cutting them into short manageable sections). We have a shed where the wood can be dried and stored. One stove on its own can warm much of the living space in the house. However we are now reluctant to use them as current research suggests that the harmful particulates produced are significant.

We tend to keep the thermostat low (gas boiler) around 16-18C, and instead to wear extra layers, and use a small fan heater to heat one room rather than the house. We are currently planning to replace the boiler with an air to air heat pump. By cutting back on showers and using the kettle for washing water, we obviate the need to use the boiler for heating water – instead running the emersion for a weekly shower.

Further readings – https://greentau.org/2022/06/22/eco-tips-living-sustainably-with-electricity/

Counting On … day 108

16th May 2024

With dry summers and water shortages, we have cut back on our use of water. We boil water for dish washing – one kettle is sufficient per wash – as this saves drawing several kettle’s worth of water from the hot water cylinder to get to the hot water. We boil water likewise for a daily body wash and then only need to heat the hot water cylinder when we shower which we typically do once a week. Showering once a week doesn’t leave us smelly or dirty! Realising this, also makes us less likely to put clothes in the laundry basket after one or two uses (although my running shirt does need regular washing). Laundering less often again reduces water – and energy – consumption.

We collect dish washing water for use on the garden when the ground is dry. Hand washing water we collect and use to quickly flush the loo – using the cistern flush as necessary.

Rain water is collected for watering the garden and for keeping the pond topped up.

Although our water is metered we have yet to have a bill based on how much we use as opposed to an estimate!

Counting on … day 107

15th May 2024

Maintenance is linked to repair. Good maintenance reduces the need for emergency repairs.

The things we maintain most – now that we no longer have a car – are our bicycles. Cleaning, checking tyres and brakes, and twice a year a thorough service at the local cycle shop.

Waterproof coats and trousers, walking boots and shoes, all benefit from regular cleaning and rewaterproofing.

Counting on … day 106

14th May 2024

Repairing and mending things is another way in which we reduce the need to recycle and replace things. I darn socks and jumpers, patch worn pants and trousers, restitch seems and hems, cut worn sheets and resew them edges to the middle, patch old towels or reform them as hand towels, etc. One of the local repair cafes was able to repair a broken electric kettle, whilst glue, and self hardening putty have been used to mend broken China, worn recharging cables, pan lid handles etc.

Shoes get reheeled or resoled at the cobblers. We mend bike punctures, replace brake blocks etc.

Counting on … day 105

13th May 2024

We buy many things second hand – clothes, books and jigsaws – via our local charity shops. Buying second hand/ pre-loved is a good way of making best use of limited resources and cuts out recycling costs. (I could put my unwanted books in the paper recycling and buy new books printed on recycled paper but the better option is to use the loop offered by the charity shops to swop books with others. The same can be true for clothes etc). Charity/ second hand shops have also turned up surprises. When needing a new pan, one the exact right size turned up in Oxfam!

We also use second hand sources such as Music Magpie, eBay etc to buy mobile phones, a coffee kettle etc. Second hand/ pre-loved is a good way of making better use of valuable resources without damaging the environment.

Counting on … day 104

10th May 2024

Having said that we try to minimise waste, should what we recycle be seen as recycled waste? Flour and oats both come in large paper sacks. The sacks are single use which arguable might seem wasteful but they can be recycled. They are good for collecting all the other paper that goes out for recycling. Margerine comes in plastic tubs – again single use but recyclable.

One reason that our dustbin fills slowly is because we can recycle much of the ‘waste’ that comes into the house. We recycle paper and card, aluminium foil, tins, glass and standard plastics via the Council’s kerb side collection. We take soft plastics to the Coop for recycling, toothpaste tubes to Boots, medical blister packs to Superdrug. There is a recycling bin for small electrical goods at the library and for batteries at Robert Dyas.

Recycling is good and worth doing but it comes with its own consumption of resources and production of emissions. And we know that in reality many things that are labelled as recyclable are not recycled – often because they are not put into the appropriate recycling bin. Greater thought needs to be given by designers and producers to reduce what needs to be recycled and how often.

The aim becomes not consuming more than you need to consume, buying less and ensuring the best and most efficient use of what we do consume.

Counting on … day 103

9th May 2024

One of the main ways we minimise waste is through using refill services. Our milk, including oat milk, is delivered to the door in refilled glass bottles. Apple and Bees – a local health food shop – has a refill service for laundry and washing up liquids – whilst from The Source store in Richmond we buy most of our groceries – sugar, dried fruit, grains, yeast flakes, salt and spices, as well as items such as nut butters (ground/ processed direct into your jar) olive oil, tahini and tamari – all into the refillable jars/ bottles and bags that we bring from home. And our local cafe and coffee roastery has a refill service for coffee beans. This means that there is very little that we need to buy that comes with additional packaging – typically items such as vegan butter and margerine, tin tomatoes, tofu, miso and yeast extract.

Counting on … day 102

8th May 2024

Waste free and plastic free are closely linked as waste free includes plastic free but goes a step further exploring how we can reduce the unnecessary use – ie waste – of resources. Why do sandwiches/ cakes etc come in both a paper bag and a paper carrier bag? Why do toothpaste tubes comes in a cardboard box? Why do we reuse glass milk bottles but not glass wine bottles?

Looking for waste free options is another way in which we go about shopping and we can see the outcome in the frequency with which we put out our dustbin – maybe once or twice a year.

Counting on … day 101

7th May 2024

Plastic is such an invasive pollutant. A few years ago we kept a tally over a week of how much plastic was coming into the house and then worked out whether there were ways of avoiding such plastic in the future. Sometimes the solution was simple – not putting fruit in a plastic bag at the supermarket. Sometimes it needed a little more research – finding a toilet paper that didn’t come wrapped in plastic (we now buy recycled paper toilet roll from Naked Sprout, a B Corp, which comes in a cardboard box).

More importantly the solution was a change in attitude – don’t buy it if it’s wrapped in plastic whether it’s a cake in the cafe or a pen in the stationers. And of habit – taking a keep cup or refillable water bottle when out and about.

We’re not plastic totally free – my husband enjoys sliced supermarket bread and even vegan butter and margarine come in plastic packaging. During the Big Plastic Count we totalled 6 pieces of plastic.

Counting on … day 100

6th May 2024

We are lucky enough to have a good sized garden. Not being successful growers of vegetables, we have chosen to make the garden more of a wildlife haven. We don’t use pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers – other than home made compost. Nor do we use peat. This approach also means we aren’t buying things that come in plastic bottles, bags or containers.

Over the years we have planted a number of fruit trees – apple, plum, pear, cherry, fig – as well as having raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb, currant and gooseberry bushes and a grape vine. In between the fruit grows a mix of herbs, self seeding salads and green leaf crops, bulbs, and wild flowers. Other flower beds are a mix of roses, herbs, and perennial plants, whilst the lawns remain uncut for most of the year. I have tried to transform these into meadows by transplanting into the grass suitable plants such as buttercups, plantain, ox eye daisies and sorrel etc. The garden also has a pond with flags, buttercups and pond weed, and is home to small pond creatures including dragon fly larvae. Usually there is frogspawn but none this year, which is disappointing.

We replenish a number of bird feeders daily and have a bee hotel and a dead hedge all to encourage more wildlife.