Hi,

I've just started a blog about green living to get people exchanging simple tips about how to lead a more eco-friendly and ethical lifestyle.

I'm trying to collect tips from MNetters for future installments.

I've also just done my first post about cooking. Here's the link . Do you have any cooking tips you would like to share? I would love to hear what they are.

Oops. Here's the correct link .

Steam in a bamboo steamer aboe boiling vegetables.

Compost everything you can.

Now that we do this,and recycle paper,glass,tin and plastic,I reckon it would take about 2 weeks for the 4 of us to fill a black binliner.

microfibre cloths instead of lots of cleansers

cfl bulbs

soapnuts in the washing machine

recycle everything!

Message withdrawn

Are you okay, pruni?

Hey, I'm learning already. Do you put soapnuts in the drum or the detergent drawer? Can you use them with cloth nappies?

Where do you buy soda crystals?

Hello Mellow! Will chat to you when I next see you! And the blog entry was very interesting. I use eco balls and hang all washing up - no tumble drying for me! Also of course give up the car and walk or in my case never bother to get involved with cars in the first place!

LOL - Pruni, surely you can allow yourself a hot water bottle now and again

soda crystals are normally found around the washing powder aisle or stain remover.

I switch off absolutely anything that doesn't need to be on - eg when I'm not using the washing machine, tv etc it's all switched off at the plug (which drives dh mad!).

When washing, I've found using the half-load option still gets clothes just as clean than using a full load so saving water (I think anyway!).

Recycle anything & everything! Use freecycle for things that are still in good nick rather than throwing them away at the dump! Chances are somebody else can use or fix what you don't want anymore.

hth

Switch the computer off at the wall when it's off. I heard somewhere the other day that a computer still uses heaps of energy when it's off (but still on at the plug).
And obviously switch as many other things off properly too. Phone chargers are another thing that still use more energy than you would imagine when they are plugged in without a phone on them.
Have to confess though that I never put the tv/sky/dvd/video off at the wall as it would take lots of faffing to get it on again every time.

Recycle as much as you can. I even take the plastic windows out of envelopes so the envelope can go in the recycling bin.

oh and get a compost bin. Most councils (I think, well ours does anyway) offer them very cheap.

soapnuts are put in the drum of the machine and work really well, you reuse them and there's no need for softner so they save you a ton of money too.

a mobile phone plugged into the wall when not in use uses 20% of the energy it would use to charge

We've got a water butt in our garden, it collects rainwater free of charge. We then use to it water the plants!

Mellow etc, Hate to hi-jack this thread but if you get time please write to your MPs about the proposed Heathrow expansions. According to The times, the Government will give the third runway the go-ahead next week meaning an extra 500 flights a day over London, the flight path will be over Acton, Chiswich and Fulham. These extra flights will certainly cancel out any individual changes we make in our lives. And to think the PM made such a heart felt plea about climate change only last week!

how about NOT decorating your entire house with as many electrical light & sound based Christmas decorations!!!

good thread Mellow, I'm ordering some soap nuts coz my eco balls didn't really make the grade for me.

Thanks for that PC. I was about to ask about people's experience of eco-balls.

paddle - i too have my doubts about eco balls so might give soapnuts a go or use them both!

DH (who is better at cooking than me) just told me recently that when you steam something, you don't have to leave it boiling the entire time. You can just bring it to the boil and then turn it down to simmer. It'll cook just as well in the same time. I don't know if it's right or where he got the info from but if it is right, it saves energy.

ps: i meant external house displays in a completely over the top sort of way.

the eco balls seemed to work good for a while but eventually everything got a bit sad and grey and looked dirty!

so i went back to my Fairy i am afraid. but i do think they had some bearing on (touch wood) dd's not developing excema.

re: steaming, i think your dh is right.

i use a griddle pan (no oil required) for meat and fish. not only is it healthier you can also get it to very hot and then turn off and allow the cooking to continue as the pan cools.

Yup, that's something I really believe in: using the residual heat in the pan to continue cooking the food once the heat's turned off. Hence the blog entry on cooking. I save more than 50% energy with my cooking this way.

Ecover washing powder and dishwasher tablets.
Recycling as much as possible.
Washable nappies or eco-friendly ones.
Driving as little as possible.
Burning wood more than oil.
Always using the same bags when shopping.
Showers instead of baths.
Our next step is to switch to a wind turbine electricity provider. My dream would be to install solar panels but that's not about to happen.

chop dishwasher tablets in half.

Who supply wind turbine electricity? Do they supply to London?

B & Q sell turbines

we buy green electricity from EDF - may not be wind power but it is green. not sure where edf covers but it used to be london electicity.