Direction 4: green living

After these many steps, I was bound to look at the bigger picture, which is about how to minimise our negative impact on the environment, so green living, or at least greener living.

I have found the following books helpful to raise my awareness beyond insulation and recycling:

• Saving the Planet without Costing the Earth by D McCarthy, excellent

Saving the Planet Without Costing the Earth: 500 Simple Steps to a Greener Lifestyle

• Save Cash & Save the Planet by Andrea Smith and Nicola Baird, excellent

• The Book of Rubbish Ideas by Tracey Smith, fun

• Green Living by Sarah Callard &amp Diane Millis, a little stern 

• Shades of Green by Paul Waddington, really useful to rate various options, good food for thought

• The Lilypad List, 7 steps to the simple life by Marian Van Eyk McCain: I came across this one completely by chance through a book swap, inspiring

• Ms Harris's Book of Green Household Management by Caroline Harris (a take on Mrs Beeton's classic, several useful tips)

• Green Living for Dummies by Michael Grosvenor and Liz Barclay

• Where does rubbish go? (Usbourne) for the children

So what's happened in the past few months?

Well, it was good to acknowledge what we already do:

• we recycle paper and cardboard, plastic bottles, glass, cans and tins, and garden waste,
• we own energy-efficient appliances (fridge, freezers, dishwasher, washing machine), all Bosch, so hopefully more durable,
• we insulated the attic years ago, had double glazing fitted in 2005 (PVC unfortunately), had a super efficient condensing boiler fitted a few years ago (also Bosch!) and got the cavity wall insulation done last year,
• we have a dual-flush toilet upstairs and a water-saving device in the cistern downstairs,
• I've breastfed both our children,
• we eat organic eggs and local honey,
• we use Halos and Horns shower gels for the children as they do not contain any SLS nor parabens.
• I use a horn comb (yes, I know, it seems odd, but it's not plastic so it's worth noting), and my other half uses an electric razor,
• we only have one duvet cover with plastic buttons (again, odd, but I have noticed this criterion during my reading and it stuck).

I've also re-ignited good habits:

• using the washable nappies,
• composting,
• baking bread,
• drinking filtered water,
• borrowing books from the library,
• watering the house plants. 

I am trying to kick bad habits, such as drinking Volvic mineral water, a habit I started with breastfeeding. It's very difficult as Volvic tastes sooooo nice, but it's been worth it as it's considerably reduced the amount of plastic bottles we put out for recycling.

As for new good habits:

• as detailed before, I have been dabbling in making our own cleaning products, beauty products and remedies.
• We've started using recycled toilet paper (and kitchen towel) and switched to Green People toothpaste. Dear husband is testing an eco-friendly toothbrush. I use an ear wax remover instead of cotton buds (another one of Raffa's suggestions). The cotton buds that we do use are now made with organic cotton and the stem is paper, not plastic, so fully compostable. I switched to H2O baby wipes and Natracare sanitary protection. I am teaching my older son not to waste water.
• I am learning new recipes so I can cook from scratch every day. We sprout seeds. We buy more organic and/or fairtrade products, and concentrated fruit juice. Cooked food scraps that can't go in the compost bin go in the green bin with the garden waste. I got hold of cellulose-based sponges, scourers made from recycled plastic and fairtrade rubber gloves. We now recycle plastic bottle lids through Lush.
• I unplug my phone charger.
• I monitor my driving so I don't go over 2500rpm.
• We question our buying habits more. I buy second-hand books now as far as possible, and only if I've not been able to get them from the library. The same applies to kids' clothing and toys. I avoid packaging and try and buy loose and/or in bulk.
• We sent electronic greeting cards this Christmas.

One-offs for the better:

• I bought 2 beautiful house plants: a peace lily and a mother-in-law's tongue. I will try and not kill them! No more cut flowers unless they come from our garden, e.g. hydrangea.
• We've signed up with the Mail Preference Service and Royal Mail's Opt-out. I have put a 'no junk mail' sticker to our front door.
• We fitted an Ecoflap on the front door's letter box. It works!
• I have lowered the hot water temperature.
• I have recycled my old spectacles.

More good habits in the making will be detailed in my next post.