GreenFinder Blog

Our My Alter-Eco this month has to be one of our favourites and I defy any of you out there not to say aaah when you see Holly the hedgehog in her little eco home.

The Chucklebunnies website sells eco friendly products for pets.Nothing unusual about that we hear you cry but how many companies provide eco friendly homes for hedgehogs?

At Chucklebunnies they make hand made cuddle pockets and tunnels from recycled materials. Pets catered for include mice, hamsters, rats, guinea pigs, ferrets, dwarf rabbits and of course hedgehogs. Pictured is Holly the hedgehog in her cuddle pocket…..aaaah

Check out our new Green Pet Products category

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Janine Ford, energy saving consultant from Green Planet Insulation has kindly provided us with some interesting facts and figures about saving energy in our homes this winter.

Our homes are directly responsible for about a third of the nation’s CO2 (carbon) emissions. This is through using energy (gas, electricity, oil, coal ) for hot water, lighting, appliances and cooking. Of the energy used in our home about 60% is for heating the spaces we live in.

From all sources, an average person in the UK is responsible for releasing 9.3 tonnes of CO2 every year – roughly five well filled hot air balloons. The challenge is for each of us to lose 3 of these in the next 20 years AND save lots of money year on year by doing it! The following energy saving measures show how much money you can save on your bills as well as how much CO2 you can prevent being emitted.

Cavity Wall Insulation £130-£160 p/a and one tonne (1000kg) of carbon.

Loft Insulation (270-300 mm) £97 p/a and 723 kg

Draught-proofing windows and doors £20-£22 p/a and 140kg

Fill gaps (floors and skirting) £10-£20pa/ 130 kg

More facts and figures here

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Green Garden Tips (helping the environment without leaving home)

1.Create a wildlife area. Perhaps the easiest of the 5 tips this month, choose a patch in your garden and do nothing-just let it grow. If you are feeling a bit more proactive you can place old logs or bricks on the patch to encourage minibeasts.

2. Feed the birds Another simple tip, buy nuts and seeds from your local pet shop or garden centre and enjoy watching your new visitors, an upturned dustbin lid can also be used as a bird bath. In this years R.S.P.B’s Big Garden Birdwatch, results showed there were less recordings of song thrushes and wrens so it’s worth remembering we can help declining species even in our own back yards.

3. Start composting A fab way to recycle your kitchen scraps into something useful for the garden

4. Love your lawn Not only is your lawn great for garden birds and insects, research has shown that in London the area of 22 times the size of Hyde park has been paved over increasing the impact of flash flooding and contributing to climate change. See Natural England’s wildlife gardening manifesto for more info.

5. Grow Your own Veggies More time consuming than the other tips but well worth the effort when it comes to the eating. Veggies have had a rough ride this summer with all the wet weather but kale, leeks cabbage and lettuce can still be planted in July and August ready for the autumn.

Related Links

Organic gardening and green gardening services

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Summer Holiday Eco Tips

Although it doesn’t feel very summery at the moment we have included some holiday eco tips for you, they come courtesy of responsibletravel.com

Before your journey

1, Plan your route to minimise carbon emissions - travel by train and public transport where possible, and minimise internal flights.

2, Ask to see your tour operator’s policy for responsible tourism

During your trip

3, Buy local produce in preference to imported goods

4, Use public transport, hire a bike or walk when convenient – it’s a great way to meet local people on their terms and reduce pollution and carbon emissions

After your trip

5, Write to your tour operator or hotel with any comments or feedback about your holiday, and especially include any suggestions on reducing environmental impacts and increasing benefits to local communities.

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This month we have decided to focus on the theme of energy saving. These eco tips come courtesy of the owl which is a new device designed for the home. It reveals how much energy a household is using and how much this electricity usage is costing in pence per minute. The Owl hopes to encourage people to lower their household carbon emission [and as a result their monthly electricity bills] in order to create a greener more eco-friendly home.

1. Fill washing machines and dish washers to maximum for each cycle.

2. Wash clothes on cooler temperatures – 40 degrees or less.

3. When changing appliances ensure that you purchase the best Energy Rating. Look for the AA rating.

4. Put all outside lights on ‘proximity switches’.

5. Switch off electronic goods such as TV’s, videos and games consoles at wall sockets when not in use.

6. When boiling food on the hob, keep the lid on pots and pans. This will cook food quicker and save energy.

7. Use tumble dryers less and if possible dry using a washing line.

For more information on energy saving you can visit the Energy Saving Trust

Related Links

Green Home Improvements 

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Back To School Eco Tips
Oh dear it’s that time again when shop windows are emblazoned with the slogan ‘Back to school’ It doesn’t seem like 5 minutes since the little darlings were breaking up

1.Walk to school According to the Walktoschool website ‘Driving an average journey to school (2.4km to primary school) produces enough CO2 to fill 70 UEFA footballs. Walking is great excersise and means children arrive at school awake and alert. All schools are required to have travel plans by the year 2010 (2009 in London) which set out ways to encourage children to travel to school by sustainable modes. Contact your child’s school or your local authority for more details.

2. Packed Lunches Think about reusable packaging for packed lunches. Clingfilm and paper towels can’t be recyled so it’s better to put sandwiches in washable plastic tubs.Fruit juice and squash cartons are also difficult to recycle so using reusable plastic bottles or flasks for their drinks is much less wasteful.

3. Stationery and books Choose recycled paper items and refillable pens and pencils where you can. Children can also make their own little notebooks from the backs of old envelopes and left over pages from exercise books. Try to source text books second hand either from local charity shops Green Metropolis or your local freecycle network.

4.Buy Less Last but not least think about the items you will be purchasing, does your child really need that brand new sparkly school bag or that extra set of shiny exercise books or glitter pens. More tips and info can be found here

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We have compiled a few ideas for some green new year resolutions. If you already do these things well done, if not what are you waiting for…..

1. Switch your bank account to an ethical one.

2. Switch to a green electricity provider

3. Buy less stuff (check out the story of stuff)

4. Order a local vegetable box scheme (check out our organic food listings for details of schemes local to you).

5. If you do need something then try to buy second hand instead of new.

6. Join a local environmental group and get involved with campaigning, events, fundraising or volunteering (check out our local groups and projects to find a group near you).

Happy New Year!

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This months My Alter-Eco not only has a Christmas theme but is one of the wackiest stories we have featured this year. The lights on a christmas tree in a Japanese aquarium are being powered by an altogether unusual source. An electric eel has been placed in a tank which contains a copper wire connected to a nearby Christmas tree. When the eel touches the copper wire its body’s electricity automatically lights up the Christmas tree.

The eel has now become a widely visited attraction in the Aqua Toto Gifu aquarium in Kakamigahara where inventor Kazuhiko Minawa spent a month investigating how he could harness eel power.

Watch the video and read the full story on the link below

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Booking the hall with just 3 weeks to plan the event meant a mad scurry of activity recruiting stall holders, publicising the event and organising the logistics of it all. Luckily we had over 20 stallholders on the day selling all manner of green gifts, eco goodies and fair trade pressies. We also had a good contingent of local environmental groups and organisations showcasing their work in and around the Warwickshire area.We had over 250 visitors turn up that afternoon as well as a green santa.

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For our second event of 2008 we were invited to the little village of Whittington in Staffordshire. I was really looking forward to the event especially as they had managed to get Penney Poyzener and Mark Lynas at their open evening on the Thurday to lauch their low carbon village initiative.

When we arrived at 10.15 on the Saturday morning there was already a buzz in the village hall with over 20 stalls and lots of people milling about. The event was opened by the town crier and an ice sculpture of a polar bear was unveiled…..

From that point onwards it was non stop, people streamed through the doors and at most events there are always lulls there was no such thing here. People travelled from Birmingham, Walsall, Tamworth and Lichfield to the event. Throughout the afternoon there was a constant throng of people at the stall and by the end of the afternoon my voice was hoarse from talking to so many people. For a tiny village location it managed to be one of the busiest events we have ever been to and the best part of it was that all the visitors were genuinely interested in making changes to their lifestyle to help fight climate change.

The event committee did a fantastic job of getting so many interested people through the door and what a friendly bunch they were too.

Thanks WFEG

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