St.Bridget's Eco – Congregation Green Sheet No.11
Avoid waste by saying no to mobile phone upgrades. If you need to recycle
an old phone, many supermarkets, charity shops and mobile phone retailers offer
recycling services. Alternatively try charity schemes such as; http://www.recyclingappeal.com/scope/,
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_you_can_do/recycle/phones.htm
or http://www.actionaidrecycling.org.uk/mobilephones.htm
Put an
end to unwanted junk text messages.
They can
cost as much as £1.28, plus VAT, each. Call 0845 070 0707, or visit http://www.tpsonline.org.uk to put your
mobile on the Telephone Preference Service.
Carry out
a financial health check: could your money be doing better financially and
ethically? You could be banking with an ethical institution and getting a deal
that's as good, if not better. See www.eiris.org.uk for details.
Add a
water hippo to older toilet cisterns to save 3 litres every flush - this has a
payback period of 8-12 weeks and could save you £20 a year on metered bills.
They're available from most DIY stores - for more info, see http://www.hippo-the-watersaver.co.uk/
and http://waterwise.fortune-cookie.com/hippo-hotline/
A water-filled 2 litre plastic bottle could also be added to your cistern - but
will need to be checked regularly to ensure it is not interfering with your
flush lever. (Don't use a brick - they crumble and the dust can clog up working
parts of your cistern). New dual or low-flush loos are 2-4 times as efficient
at saving water, and are available from approx £180. Save money on household
bills.
The
Freecycle Network is an international movement of people who are giving (and
getting) stuff for free in their own towns. By 'recycling' unwanted items, less
will end up in landfill. One person's rubbish can be another's treasure - the
ideal way to save cash and save the planet! To find your nearest group, visit http://www.freecycle.org/ This is how it
works: When you want to find a new home for something - whether it's a chair, a
fax machine, piano, or an old door - you simply send an e-mail offering it to
members of your local Freecycle group. Or, maybe you're looking to acquire
something yourself. Simply respond to a member's offer, and you just might get
what you want!
Don't
throw away your old stuff - you can sell (and buy) everything from CDs and
clothes, to crockery and couches, with online auction sites like Ebay - visit http://www.ebay.co.uk
BioRegional
Charcoal Company and Butterfly Conservation are working together to boost
butterfly numbers by selling locally produced BBQ Charcoal. Local charcoal also
helps stop illegal logging in tropical forests, provides jobs in British
Forestry and helps to reduce global warming. BioRegional Local Charcoal is
available in most B&Q stores http://www.diy.com
as "B&Q Locally Produced Lumpwood Charcoal" and is certified by
the Forest Stewardship Council http://www.fsc-uk.org/
Recycling
aluminium cans is far better in terms of resource and energy consumption than
creating new cans. But did you know you can make money from collecting them?
Find out how at http://www.thinkcans.com/
Buy
recycled.
Help
create a demand for the stuff you recycle by buying products made with recycled
materials. Visit http://www.recycledproducts.org.uk/
for more details including suppliers, many of which are high street names.
There's over 3,000 products listed, from office stationery and wine glasses, to
garden furniture, clothes and CD racks - and plenty more!
Join in a
nationwide effort to create space for wildlife and find ideas to suit your
particular space wherever you live - http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/wildbritain/breathingspace
*
Information courtesy of Friends of the Earth tip of the day site ,
www.foe.co.uk/living/
If you have information to contribute to
our green sheets, please phone: Sally
Cashen on 625 2659