Striking the balance between DFW and conscience 15 July 2006 at 7:43AM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Debt-Free Wannabe 49 replies 8.6K views

Queen.Bess

Well done on getting DFW thread of the week!! :T

I too think quite a bit about how to save money and the planet and sometimes it's quite hard, but farm shops are cheap at the moment, esp. new potatoes and PYO - I've discovered tayberries - they're delicious!

Anyway, I digress!

If looking for wormeries, water butts and lots of ways of helping in the garden, try wigglywigglers.co.uk. A lovely website with lots of good ideas, some quite cheap too - a water butt kit (with rain divertor and stand included) is only £35.

A great thread, I hope people keep adding to it with more great ideas!!

beanielou

I tried my local council who dident seem to know what a water butt was!! and also Scottish water but no luck.
Off to look at wrigglyworms- thanks Queen.Bess

Ali-OK

Congrats JD on being in Martin's email - brilliant!

I'm chuffed to add I won the water butt/stand/safety lid on eBay for £12.50 and am collecting it tomorrow eve. :j

Just got to get a connector kit to downpipe and fingers crossed, maybe up and running in time for some well overdue rain.

beanielou

Great news Ali

JAMIEDODGER

thanks martin for your support!!!! its nice to know more people will read this thread and perhaps take a little step to reduce their ecological footprint.

caroline1973lefty

i think most water boards sell subsidised water butts for under a tenner, maybe even free in some areas.

there is a book called 'save cash and save the planet' which is quite good.

browse it in the bookshop if you've got time to kill, or ask the library to get it!

For me, re-joining the library saves me a fortune and saves plenty of trees. I browse in the bookshop and write down the books i want to read, then check the library - usually they will order stuff for you if they don't have it, possibly for a small fee.

vickymyers

A note of caution - I purchased eco-balls approximately a year ago. They are great, environmentally friendly and cheap per wash but they won't get white collars clean. I use them for my dark washes, bedding etc... but use a detergent for whites.
A friend of mine has just started collecting her grey water for watering the garden, as her water butt does not meet the demands of her garden in weather like this. She even collects the washing machine water. I would have no qualms about watering the garden with grey water which has environmentally friendly products in, although I'm not sure I'm quite as keen on water saving as she is! Vicky

Ali-OK

If anyone gets a water butt, here's some instructions for fitting the water diverter from downpipe, plus tips about sealing around the fitting in the butt and also the tap.

http://articles.tips.net/Fitting_a_water_butt_and_rain_diverter.shtml

Hope it helps someone.

matildarosepink

I'm a single parent on benefits, passionate about ecological issues so of course I'm committed to saving money and doing my bit for the planet. During the last 6 months I've made lots of small changes (bearing in mind I've had the time and energy to do so):

- I own a car but plan journeys so that I waste as little fuel as possible
- I've contacted my MP about a few environmental issues that seem to be ignored in UK (the main one being that there isn't a minimum fuel economy standard in rented properties)
- I've returned junk mail to sender, marked 'please return and recycle'
- I've changed the way I shop, gradually changing over from disposable to reusable items, such as dishcloths, a mooncup, degradable black sacks, bars of soap instead of liquid soap in a plastic bottle, avoiding ready meals, using string bags instead of plastic carrier bags, shopping at the local deli and butcher instead of the supermarket to avoid so much hard plastic packaging, buying milk in glass or plastic bottles instead of waxed cartons, going to the bakery to buy paper-wrapped bread instead of plastic bags, the list goes on!! It's made me cook from scratch more too (tons better health-wise, economical, supports local business and I only buy what I need!)
-Old-fashioned housekeeping tips have been great (eg bicarb, lemons, vinegar, essential oils, etc are a great replacement for most cleaning products - I can particularly recommend microfibre cloths for bathroom cleaning, completely removes the need for chemical cleaners)
-Emailed where possible instead of using snail mail
- Used freecycle
-Bought secondhand things wherever possible
-Taught my daughter to recycle where possible (requires patience but worth it, naturally she's not perfect but at least aware and trying)

I can also thoroughly recommend the Janey Lee Grace book 'Imperfectly Natural Woman', which has been brilliant in suggesting loads of small ways to improve the way we live.

I'm not for one moment implying I'm perfect - I'm not yet brave enough to lob out the 40 quid for washing balls - but I've really been trying and I finally feel like it's paying off. What a great thread this is..