How to help your bank balance your waistline and the planet!

I can safely say that I do most of those things Arlene ,the exception is that since my chickens died we haven't yet replaced them , mainly because we need to get somebody in to look after them when we go away ..
I make my own cough medicine , but not beer ... I make Sloe Gin , does that count .....

Thanks for making people think about it ... it all helps :o)))

` yes Amy that counts!Well done you!

Brilliant Arlene....sounds like you have thought of everything, but no more than we should all be doing.....I wonder though how many people would think of this when dragging their laden christmas trolley around Tesco's or Asda.......

That's another thing , why do we have to have all that packaging ? we compost as much as we can .. we have even bought a log maker to recycle our newspapers , it works well , only problem is drying the logs at this time of the year , we need to make more in the summer !

Great great great blog, Arlene!!
I do a fair few of them, but I leave the chickens to my dad, he has loads of them! I love to find new uses for things!
I dont make my own booze (apart from vanilla-ing my vodka) because I no longer have the room, but I do make my own jewellery,soft furnishings jam, sweets, chocolates & cards, using old ones as tags or toppers for cards! I also prefer old furniture, so most of mine is donated or from junk shops! Half of my clothes too!
Is that any good?

I agree Amy! Packaging is a real bugbear! I hate plastic wrappings & loads of boxes! (I make boxes & reuse old ones for pressies, jewellery etc.)

~ packaging is the only thing I throw out and there is far too much of it~apart from anything else it costs extra to provide it so we are paying for something we don't want or need!We should be lobbying the govt to sort that one!
My daughter has a fantastic tin crusher which saves lots of room if you have dog/cat tins!

~ yes Marie you are definitely singing from the same hymn sheet~ on the subject of clothes ~ buy one better quality item than two cheap as god knows what sweat shop some where the cheaper ones were made and they will look tatty sooner~ secondhand is true recycling!

Nope - we get Henry's food in a HUGE bag - and even that gets recycled!

I wish there was some way to reduce plastic packaging, though. That makes up the major part of our one black binbag each week.

~ same with our dog food Barbara~ use the sacks as well!

i drive the check out people mad as all my veg apart from sprout are not bagged. The number of times i have to say 'no i dont want them in a bag' is now countless. you have to be careful they get all the carrots as one missed costs more than it would if all weighed together.

also how about going to bed earlier and sharing body heat under the duvet :o)))
mind this may lead to population increase ooooh er!

i do most of these and would love chooks but neighbours objected when their other neighbour got some. the local council upheld their complaint :o(

house thermostat is set at 16, daughter turns it up to 18 and i turn it down. she has taken the hint and now wears a cardi/jumper.

Ooohh - I'm not coming to stay with you, Sbg! I have very poor circulation, and I'd be frozen in 16 degrees - even with extra clothes on - cos I do that anyway!

I do most things on your list Arlene, I would love chickens - maybe one day in the future. I think taking regular exercise is good too - I know you do alot of that by walking the dogs Arlene.
We have a good kerb side recycling service from our council - we have red boxes for glass and cans and most importantly plastic - bottles and packaging, yoghurt pots and all that.

~Good on you SBG~
I have been reminded that thicker winter curtains can also keep the heat in as well as closing doors and that a stack of tinned soup.beans tinned tomatoes for a quick snack doesn't cost to store and has a good shelf life!

~ Brilliant Dawn~ we have to take our plastic down to the tip and we take everything in one go~cardboard etc~wish our council collected it!

That IS good! I have to get a bus to our nearest recycling spot, tho they do provide a garden waste bin & one for paper! Some parts of town (the posher ends) have plastic recycling facilities, but not where I live!

when we get special friends i turn the heating up and light the coal fire. so you would be as warm as toast spritz.

I've got thermal linings in my curtains Arlene, they do a great job. John put lots and lots of loft insulation in all the roof space a couple of years ago and its surprising how the house retains the heat. One of the best things we've bought is our energy monitor. You can easily identify if something has been left on, sapping electric.

tuck the curtains behind the radiator so all the heat goes into the room not into the window space behind the curtain also helps too.

~ my hubby put lots of extra insulation in the spaces in the loft before putting in the floor and timbering the sides and roof and with the cavity wall insulation it is definitely a lot warmer~

~ remember not to leave your plants behind the curtains though~ especially on very cold nights!

only did that once never again!

Great Arlene .. yes make my own booze then forget all the other points..

Lol! Trust you, Ray! :~))

Good reminder about plants on windowsills, Arlene. Am reading this, warm in bed, heating was only on 3-7pm for the kids, I don't watch TV, all bulbs are low-energy, buy all veg loose (and usually late at night when reduced (saves me money and stops it being thrown out), make several meals at once, and freeze. Make a huge pot of soup (16-18 servings) at one time and freeze. Always select fruit and veg loose, and refuse bagging at checkout. I shop on way home from work because I pass 3 all-night supermarkets, so don't have to make separate trips (although my conscience tells me I should be more supportive of small independent stores). Any plastic packaging trays I have to get are used at home or given to the school as seed trays (at least they get one re-use then). Here, we have Council- provided bins for paper and cardboard, and one for garden waste (although they provide large compost bins for only £6, delivered). All the supermarkets I visit have recycling points in the car parks for paper/cardboard, glass, plastic bottles, clothing, so I can dispose of these, too, on my shopping/work trips. Am trying, (very trying, the kids might say). :-))

i make my own jam and that recycles jars too.

~Well done David and SBG on refusing the packging~will be trying that out at Sainsbury's next time!
I get black bamboo socks from TKMaxx every time I see them and they wear really well in my boots and wellies~washing much better than cotton. ~ and if you are cold it's amazing how much warmer you will feel if you put on a pair of socks on top of tights or in bed!

Oh Arlene ..getting warmer just thinking about that ..lol

~ cold feet BB?

Possibly Arlene .. after all I hardly know you ..x

Tights? I'm not Superman, but ,hey, Good Thinking, Batman!!! LOL, Bb! :-))

That's true BB! ~' night all ~ work tomorrow!

Night Arlene ..x

great blog arlene, i do alot of recycling, with household waste, its hard with plastic cause council only accept milk bottles and pop bottles,cans to and jars, but all those silly cartons for fruit and veg they dont take, or meat trays, or other containers, so what we surpose to do with them, i think all factories should be made to use the same plastic then it could all be recycled, simples, but they dont, it could be made alot easier by doing this, i would love chucks to but not sure if we can,, is there any laws on keeping them, not sure, but i dont have carrier bags i have my own shopping bags, try not to have heat on to long or to high, and have energy bulbs where possible,

Plant a tree; in addition to soaking up carbon, the exercise of clearing up the leaves will help waistlines and contribute to the amount of free compost.

Yes, David, you're trying!!
BB, behave! Lol! (pretty funny!)
Good point, Shakespeare! I did plant a few trees, but as theyre all about 3inches high, it'll be a while before they provide much exercise!!

Sanbaz, unless the deeds of your house include a covenant about poultry there is nothing to stop you keeping chickens. Most complaints that are upheld by local ouncils are because people keep a cockerel as well. Unless you want to breed, chickens are happier without a cockerel around.

Reduce the number of newspapers bought; save trees, exercise walking to the library and read a free copy. There is also teletext and the internet. I do buy a weekly local paper and a national paper occasionally. I think I might have to cut down on that too as there is so much interesting stuff to read on GOY.

Great tips Arlene.
We are going to live out the winter in the stumpery. A pair of stigs of the dump. Just imagine the photo opportunities!!!! Not sure if I can cope with the damp though.Or, we could turn the stumpery into Santas grotto and become his Christmas elves- Now, what a great idea!!
On a serious note we are trying to do our best to be as 'green' as possible and save and recycle the earths resources.

I reuse as much as possible I have three bins I can put most of the plastic in apart from marg tubs, the meat trays reuse as pet food dishes or plant saucers.I use all energy bulbs and switch off the lights also I didnt put my heating on till december and its only on for two hours if needed.

Great blog do alot of recycling as i have my own compost, dont have heating on if warm enough with out it, also saves on bills, all energy bulbs infact quite a few of the things you mentioned i do, no chickens as no room in my garden, even if i did i could not look after them etc and then kill and eat them, could eat their eggs only.