Greener Offers blog

It Ain't Easy Being Green

2007-08-10T11:25:00.000+01:00

There. I did it. I unplugged my mobile phone charger. Added to the fact that I do the wash at 30 degrees, (mostly) recycle, and don’t have a car I’m feeling quite pleased with myself. So why then do I still have this nagging feeling that it’s not enough?

One word.

Guilt.

I see the commercials. I read the adverts. I (over)hear the conversations in the street. We’re all doomed.

And it’s my fault.

If only I had switched to energy saving light bulbs sooner, or composted, or reused that shopping bag back in ‘’91, we might not be in this mess. But is it really that dire? The scaremongers would have you believe we’ve only got 10 years until… well, until something really bad happens. On the other end of the spectrum there are those who say that there’s not a problem at all – (Global Warming???? – don’t be ridiculous!).

So who’s right? Well, I’m no expert but I’d venture a guess that the reality is somewhere in the middle. Isn’t it always? Things that seem too good to be true generally are (think sugar free chocolate). And problems that seem like the end of the world usually aren’t (killer bees anyone???).

Sooooooo. Does this mean I’m giving up on being green? Nope. But I’m also not going to become an eco-warrior bent on smiting the modern day “Carbon Yeti” either. I’ll just keep doing my small bit and hope that in 10 years I can take credit for saving the planet. Or at least be forgiven for not unplugging my computer.

When the six-pack and the beach just aren't compatible

2007-08-09T12:45:00.000+01:00

Those who know me personally will laugh when I say that I am abandoning the six pack. "But surely you gave up the quest for the perfect rectus abdominis some time ago?" I hear some say. "Did you ever start?" say other, braver souls. But I'm not bothered what they say, because I'm not referring to the ideal bikini body, a la Denise Lewis. No, I'm talking about drinks cans.

You see, it has just come to my attention that six-pack rings last for an incredible 450 years. Which might have earned them points for durability, if they had any use once you've removed them from the cans in question. The problem is that they don't, so people discard them and, one way and another, they find their way into our seas and oceans. Whereupon they float around, never to decompose, forever posing a threat to sea life. It's easy to see how fish and aquatic mammals such as seals and dolphins can choke on them and become entangled in them. Clearly this has to stop.

So what can we, the consumers, do about it? Well two things really: either stop buying them and actively opt for different forms of packaging; or if that's not possible, at least cut them up into pieces before we throw them away. And should you ever see one on a beach or river bank - remember its deadly half-life and do the right thing. You'll feel terribly good about yourself if you do.

In fact, let's drink to the demise of the six-pack!

When a woolly pully’s just not enough

2007-07-19T15:40:00.000+01:00

I come from Scotland, where it’s cold. My friend comes originally from The North (chilly), but now resides in New Zealand, where it’s warmer apparently. She’s back on a visit and came over for supper recently. As the clouds had finally parted - and I’m a little chippy from hearing about their house on the beach/never need a coat/only wear flipflops/ outdoor lifestyle – I thought we would sit outside. Just to make it look like we do. To be honest, we hadn’t sat out at night since last year. So when it got cold she started moaning. I was cold too, but I wasn’t going to let on. MOH gallantly sprang into action and turned on the patio heater which spluttered and died.

I know. So when MOH said he’d go the next day and get another one I put my foot down. It’s one thing using a weapon of mass carbonisation that you already have. It’s quite another to go out and buy another, when you already know it’s wrong. His counter-proposal was a garden brazier which burns homemade bricks fashioned from recycled newspapers, of which we have a secure supply. My view was that it’s still burning so it’s still producing carbon; he saw it more as recycling and anyway, newspapers aren’t fossil fuels. As the family’s Head of Green Lifestyle, I was despatched to seek clarification.

So I went off to the Energy Saving Trust’s website (www.energysavingtrust.org.uk) to seek the truth. They couldn’t help, but pointed me in the direction of the Energy Efficiency Advice Centre (dial 0800 512 012 to then get the number of your local EEAC; no one said it would be easy being green) who noted my query then called me back. Disappointingly, they couldn’t be definitive in their answer. Their basic advice for those cold in the garden is: put on a pully. But I got the impression that these people are pragmatists, as they finally conceded that, in terms of emissions, the newspaper brick brazier contraption is probably only half as bad as the demon patio heater. If anyone knows better, please let me know.

Whiter than white?

2007-07-11T15:27:00.000+01:00

My plan was to change one thing per week. A kind of 52-step programme for carbonoholics. And being an addict, I have to admit that I picked a soft challenge for week 1: no tumble dryer. I mean, how hard can that be? Especially now that global warming, whilst wholly undesirable, gives us great summers, right? Well as you know, dear reader, we’ve been living through the landlubbers version of “The Perfect Storm” this week, without the compensatory presence of George Clooney (well not in my life anyway).

Results so far have been mixed – and that’s not just the colours. We’ve certainly used less laundry power overall, but that’s been largely due to that fact that the au pair went back home (by air; her choice, not mine) for a job interview. Not really a lifestyle change. But we did manage to get some washing done – at 30 degrees. After one particularly vexed episode, as we huddled indoors for warmth whilst watching the Quink clouds hover and finally dump their payload, I moved too late and got soaked as I brought in the two re-rinsed washes. I of course had to change, so the washing languished in its Ikea bag whilst I did. But it wasn’t long before I squeezed it into the airing cupboard, there to be forgotten.

I don’t think it would be so bad if the colour run had been limited to the clothes I’d washed that day. It’s really quite cruel that nearly half of the cupboard’s contents were similarly bruised. And of course I was forced to wash the lot with an effective, but no doubt thoroughly unpleasant, potion. I suppose I should have invested in an airer, but is that the real lesson? Or is the moral of the story actually to wear only white clothes?

Getting started

2007-07-04T10:30:00.000+01:00

One housewife’s struggle to be a bit greener
One suburban house, two adults, two children, one au pair, one dog, three cars… it’s fair to say that our collective carbon footprint is fairly large. We can trot out all the old excuses. The fact is that we both work, so we often have to choose convenience over the planet. We commute by car, we go for the labour-saving, the disposable, the cheapest goods which always seem to have travelled the furthest. It would be easy to keep going just as we are, but in common with many fellow Brits, we feel that it’s time to do something to help the poor old planet. In short, it’s time to “do our bit”.

I should make it clear that I am not about to become an eco warrior. I’m not that kind of person and I can’t see the role of a compost loo in our house, or even at the bottom of the garden. What I am trying to do is make greener choices, where possible. So using less power. Minimising my food miles. Having a shower rather than a bath. Not selling the cars, but using them less. Embracing public transport a bit more. ( I have inserted the previous sentence to see if My Other Half is reading). But seriously, if there are practical things I can do to be a bit greener, so long as that does not jeopardise my already tenuous sanity, then that’s what I’m going to do.