Looking for Eco Friendly products

Tea_Hee_23

Hi,

My New Years resolution will be to live more sustainably in terms how wasteful I am and the impact I, and the products I buy and use have on the environment. With this I mean literally any aspect of my life, from the food I eat, the the clothes and gifts I buy, the transport I use... literally everything.

So, I'm looking for a bit of help in pointing to the right shops and online stores that can help me live in a more eco conscious manner. Where I can purchase the right 'earth kind' products from and sources of information and tips that will help me along the way.

Any help would be appreciated.

little_busy_bee

Hi,

a few suggestions...

i use the ethical superstore for a lot of products, delivery is usually free for orders over £40 or £50 so i order ecover washing up liquid 25l, washing powder, etc. fair trade teabags in bags of 1100 as they keep for ages, cases of ubuntu cola, etc. that usually lasts me ages and just before i run out i place another order. they have just started their january sales!

i have a veg patch for fruit and veg, growing what we those we like/are expensive to buy/we use a lot of. i use the market for fresh fruit and veg. even if you only have a small window area i would suggest trying to grow some - tastes much better and plenty of advice available on the forums for free.

i would also suggest looking at lakeland plastics washer dolly balls and dryer balls as they have really reduced the amount of washing powder i use and the time taken to dry products.

i think at this time of year buying and getting presents always comes to mind...so i make it point to buy fair trade/environmentally friendly/long lasting/practical presents...again ethical superstore, but also createdgifts and of course books as these are always passed on. it is hard to do so start planning now, my default is a hamper of fair trade products - tea, coffee, honey, chocolates, etc...or get them to agree to sign up to Martin's no christmas present pact

bill_on_line

Hi little busy bee

The following website gives its rating of power usage of electrical appliances
And here it shows some of the best and worst electrical appliances used in the home for power consumption
www.sust-it.net/green_home_savings.php

Tea_Hee_23

little_busy_bee wrote: »

Hi,

a few suggestions...

i use the ethical superstore for a lot of products, delivery is usually free for orders over £40 or £50 so i order ecover washing up liquid 25l, washing powder, etc. fair trade teabags in bags of 1100 as they keep for ages, cases of ubuntu cola, etc. that usually lasts me ages and just before i run out i place another order. they have just started their january sales!

i have a veg patch for fruit and veg, growing what we those we like/are expensive to buy/we use a lot of. i use the market for fresh fruit and veg. even if you only have a small window area i would suggest trying to grow some - tastes much better and plenty of advice available on the forums for free.

i would also suggest looking at lakeland plastics washer dolly balls and dryer balls as they have really reduced the amount of washing powder i use and the time taken to dry products.

i think at this time of year buying and getting presents always comes to mind...so i make it point to buy fair trade/environmentally friendly/long lasting/practical presents...again ethical superstore, but also createdgifts and of course books as these are always passed on. it is hard to do so start planning now, my default is a hamper of fair trade products - tea, coffee, honey, chocolates, etc...or get them to agree to sign up to Martin's no christmas present pact

Thanks for your help. I was doing a bit of research last night and found a few good online ethical retailers. Nigels Eco Store is very big and diverse, but on a smaller scale Arte Ideas also had some lovely Eco Friendly gifts.

It's going to be tough, I am selling my car and diverting to public transport and cycling from January. 80 - 90% of the things I buy and use regularly will be changing so its a lot to get used to, especially early on.

Tea_Hee_23

bill_on_line wrote: »

Hi little busy bee

The following website gives its rating of power usage of electrical appliances
And here it shows some of the best and worst electrical appliances used in the home for power consumption
www.sust-it.net/green_home_savings.php

This is a very handy tool, thanks for sharing.

grahamc2003

Switching to an economy seven electricity tariff is probably the most environmentally beneficially thing the average bod can do.

Tea_Hee_23

grahamc2003 wrote: »

Switching to an economy seven electricity tariff is probably the most environmentally beneficially thing the average bod can do.

Not even considered this yet Graham.

Do you have any examples/good providers for this?

larkim

grahamc2003 wrote: »

Switching to an economy seven electricity tariff is probably the most environmentally beneficially thing the average bod can do.

Can you explain this? I thought the point about economy 7 was that you used MORE electricity (e.g. to power heating etc) rather than less, the trade off being that it was priced lower due to lower demand at night.

A consumer's fridge, freezer, TV, PC, lights etc will all be on the same amount, drawing the same amount of electricity.

You could argue that by using the "surplus" power generated at night you are using generation capacity that would otherwise be wasted, I suppose. Are you saying that in theory using electricity to power and store heat at night you use less carbon than using gas during normal hours?

Matt

Bella56

Making your own could work well for cleaners, laundry liquid, etc. as you wouldn't be purchasing loads of plastic bottles:

http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/cleaning-recipes.html#laundry

grahamc2003

larkim wrote: »

Can you explain this? I thought the point about economy 7 was that you used MORE electricity (e.g. to power heating etc) rather than less, the trade off being that it was priced lower due to lower demand at night.

A consumer's fridge, freezer, TV, PC, lights etc will all be on the same amount, drawing the same amount of electricity.

You could argue that by using the "surplus" power generated at night you are using generation capacity that would otherwise be wasted, I suppose. Are you saying that in theory using electricity to power and store heat at night you use less carbon than using gas during normal hours?

Matt

The idea of economy seven is to use cheaply generated electricity. The lower the demand, the cheaper the generation, the higher the more expensive (both in £s and emissions).

So shifting the demand from periods of high demand (and more specifically, the single period of peak demand, being about 17:00 to 18:00 on a winter's evening) has massive benefits. You may see it termed as 'flattening the demand curve', but really is reducing the peak demand. It has massive implications - drop the demand in that single period and you can save buildind a new powerstation or two - the reverse is also true.

The scale is such that, imo, economy seven nightime prices should be set to zero - would be self financing by reducing very high cost/emission generation and the saved cost of new generating capacity.

Think of the many billions overall being spent on smart meters which ultimately do exactly the same thing - shift demand from peaks to troughs.

As a practical suggestion to be 'green' it's not really a goer since the industry no longer encourages E7 for the overall benefits, the motivation from the industry being purely profit these days.

SailorSam

Instead of washing powder, start to use soap nuts.
What Are Soap Nuts?