Feeling credit crunched? You can’t turn on the radio or open a paper without reading or hearing the latest gloomy report or an exhortation not to cancel Christmas because you’re down to your last £10. Being an optimistic soul and the child of a thrifty mother who could conjure up something for nothing I can find ways to give a home a quick green pre-Christmas fix without busting the budget ………..and you’ll still have time to commune with your domestic goddess and start on the homemade Christmas gifts. Here’s how to do it.
- Start making your own compost. It’s easy, cheap and a great way to boost the fertility of your soil. Like modern day alchemy once you’ve started you are hooked. Compost bins can be knocked together from old pallets or bits of chicken wire, picked up on Freecycle or subsidised by the council. The truly style-conscious might want to invest in a made to measure wooden bin in a host of beautiful shapes. Cooked food waste can be composted with the aid of a Bokashi composter (try googling Bokashi!) and wormeries can turn kitchen waste into the most amazing compost and liquid feed. These too range from homespun (as seen on Gardener’s World fashioned from an old barrow, a load of leafmould covered with a black sack and some worms from the fishing tackle shop or state of the art.
- Save water by fitting a water butt to your gutter’s downpipes. This will provide you with enough to water the garden and wash the car (if you do wash the car, unlike me!)
- Fit energy saving light bulbs. There is simply no excuse as they’re distributed free by all sorts of worthy organisations at fairs and festivals. We have a stock to power our home for the next 300 years- so if you need some, email.
- Peg out the washing whenever possible and reduce the dependance on your tumble drier. I find it quite therapeutic.
- Hang good quality curtains that fit snugly to the windows and draw them at dusk. Believe it or not this can reduce your heat loss by up to a third. And whilst you’re at it, make sure your letter box has one of those charming little brushes fitted too.
- Start growing your own veg. It couldn’t be simpler. Sprout some seeds on your kitchen window sill, move onto a window box of cut and come again salad leaves and soon you’ll be digging up the lawn. No garden? Virtually anything can be grown in a container on a patio. Still on the allotment list after three years? Have a look at Hugh Fernley Whittingstall’s Landshare initiative (at www.rivercottage.net) or beg a patch from a friend or neighbour. There are even companies which will supply you with plug plants to make it really easy. One of my favourites is Rocket Gardens, who incidentally supplied my children’s school gardening club with a free winter veg garden.
- Start buying eco friendly products available in Bradford at Christine Giles ethical supermarket ‘Who Cares’ , over the internet or delivered with some veg box schemes.
- Hire or buy a wireless power meter for a few days. This will show you all too graphically how much power all your appliances devour and will be a real motivator for change.
So, there you have it. All in a weekend’s work and nothing prohibitively expensive.
Good luck.
