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Original poster

anyone interested in a 'green' thread

58 replies

Cappucino · 27/03/2006 10:57

I was just wondering if anyone would be interested in a 'green' thread - I am quite new here so probably have no right etc etc but I have noticed a few times that there are quite a few eco-unfriendly ideas kicking about mumsnet and wondered if there were any likeminded souls - I'm not a woolly hippy by any means but I do like my home to be as chemical-free as possible and I don't like to throw things away if I can think of something better to do with them - would be nice to share ideas - anyone feel the same?

OP posts:

babyonboard · 27/03/2006 12:02

\link{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?rn=57382&topicid=1374&threadid=159008&redir=57382\looky looky}

plase sign my petition..for or against a brand new discussion topic on these issues...

JanH · 27/03/2006 12:02

Just email them with a link to this thread

babyonboard · 27/03/2006 12:53

bumpety bumpety bump..
signety signety \link{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?rn=57382&topicid=1374&threadid=159008&redir=57382\sign} ...........

Original poster

Cappucino · 27/03/2006 13:37

wow! I didn't expect to get this many replies so quick! And babyonboard, aren't you the woman of action!

re what non-green topics - well really it was just a predominance of women going on about how they couldn't abide the odd germ (I watched in horror the other day as a friend used the strongest kitchen cleaner to wipe down placemats after her daughter had eaten A SANDWICH - and opinions like this seemed quite prevalent) and chucked things away if they got dirty/ bloody/ pooey - then there were various people last week who weighed in about how disgusting it was that some people used reusable sanpro...

I do a lot of recycling, not only bottles and cans etc, but I try not to throw anything away if I can find a use for it; also I was wanting to find out more about eco-friendly cleaning.

I'm off to sign your petitiony thing now....

OP posts:

2ManyPimms · 27/03/2006 13:51

Have you come across the "Freecycle" movement? It is a messageboard system which allows you to post usable items you no longer want/need and others respond to take them away for you! It is sorted out by location (there are loads of Freecycle towns and cities in the UK!) and it is completely free to join!

So far I found a workable cassette player for DS, a new kettle for myself and gave away a new carseat and 3-wheeled pushchair.

Some of the stuff on the messageboards is incredible!

It is def. worth looking into! It appealed to me as I have no time to sell stuff on ebay or via the local paper. Besides, it gives me a sort of "goodwill towards the planet" feeling! That can't be bad!

Original poster

Cappucino · 27/03/2006 13:54

yes 2manypimms we have a local email swop shop where I live and I very much enjoyed the bottle of wine I received in exchange for my tatty maternity clothes...

OP posts:

poppy101 · 27/03/2006 13:58

Have bookmarked the two energy suppliers and will look at these later with dh. I like to recycle as much as we can, council picks up most things, and we try and compost all our garden waste.

I tend to order my organic veg etc and shopping to save on petrol and always use real nappies in the day for my lo. We are also trying to conserve out water and are trying to find out ideas from the water company.

babyonboard · 27/03/2006 14:02

yes..love frecycle..we've given a baby bath/changing stand that was just huge and unnecesary, loads of half falling apart furniture and tons of clothes

also recieved a turntable (dp uncovered old recortds and we neeeeded to play them!), a dvd box set of the yet unaired series of 24 (someone worked on the production and didnt want it)
and a nw pedal for my sewing machine

love it

but some pople on there are horrid..you get the same guy posting 'wanted.dvd player' 'wanted mobile phone' 'wanted laptop' etc etc
obviously just looking to make money, grrr

PandaG · 27/03/2006 14:07

Would definitely be interested - thanks for bringing this up Cappucino. We try to recycle as much as possible, buy locally/organically/fair trade etc, but any ideas to do more (that we can afford) would be brilliant.

2ManyPimms · 27/03/2006 14:11

Ohhhh...yeah! I hate when people take the piss on Freecycle! Get a sinking feeling that some just take and then bung on ebay. Not really in the spirit at all, is it?

quanglewangle · 27/03/2006 14:11

Yes please to the new green thread.
Especially if it attracts a few knowledeable people to discuss issues and put different angles on things that have been bugging me.
e.g. water metres - they may save water but aren't going to encourage reusable nappies or washing out glass for recycling, which may be an unintended consequence.
Every issue just seems to be considered in a vacuum.

CaptainDippy · 27/03/2006 14:20

Haven't a chance to read whole thread now, but would love to join a "Green" thread - DH and I are recycling crazy and use cloth nappies and use eco-balls to do our washing and ecover washing up liquid etc - Bit obssessed!! I'll come back and read through later!!

moondog · 27/03/2006 14:24

Just joined freecycle,so thanks for the reminder.

Here it is for anyone else interested.....

\link{www.freecycle.org\Freecycle}

babyonboard · 27/03/2006 14:32

again again again...

\link{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?rn=85541&topicid=1374&threadid=159008&redir=85541\postety postety post....}

m.n 'mafia' do read and respond to these threads sometimes...

and for my amusement..please state 'aye ' or 'rhubarb rhubarb' ( rhubarb strangely meaning ..'no' to the green stuff thread)

zebrabra · 27/03/2006 14:36

I keep wishing there was such a thing as an Eco-parents email list (I can't find one on Yahoo). Don't think I should start it, but maybe someone else could?

DH is looking into a roof-mounted wind turbine, btw! David Cameron is getting one, too, apparently...

I have a spin dryer I tried to offload on Freecycle, but no interest... anyone in North Norfolk want it? :)

sharklet · 27/03/2006 15:30

Sounds terrific, I'm in!

We're as green as we can be practically. but I'm afraid we do have some non green foibles!

Real nappies saved us a fortune too!
We have just invested in a wormery for all our kitchen waste. DD loves feeding the worms!
We compost as much as possible and are really lucky to have our own vegetable garden and orchard at the bottom of our garden - so we grow lots of our own fruit and veg. Its been loads of hard work digging up tree stumps and the like but its so worht it - we grew tons of squash and the like last year!

I recycle as much as possible but am gutted to find that our local council has no intention of collecting card and plastics from outlying villages. The only places you can leave them at recycling centres is 35 miles away from us here, if we go into the one in Swindon (which is what we do at thte moment (8 miles away) they are going to be asking for proof of residency soon so I'm fed up about that.

Anyway sounds like a great plan!

babyonboard · 27/03/2006 17:33

green bump

expatinscotland · 27/03/2006 17:37

our local council doesn't do recycling collection from tenements, even though 70% of the housing stock here is flats.

luckily, we live walking distance from a recycling centre, so you'll see me or DH out every couple of days w/the recycling dangling from the buggy handles.

for a great way to keep your drains clear w/o resorting to commerical solutions, try this Kim and Aggie fav:

2 oz. borax
2 oz. salt
2 oz. white vinegar

Put this down the drain, followed by a kettle full of boiling water every so often.

twocatsonthebed · 27/03/2006 18:18

count me in too!

My real bugbear is local food, and not going to supermarkets, which I will rant about for hours and which I have about an 80% success rate with. This is mainly down to our utterly wonderful vegebox people \link{http://www.riverford.co.uk/\Riverford} who also deliver milk and eggs, and the local farmers markets.

Am not so good at the chemical free bit yet (can anyone make Ecover toilet cleaner actually clean their toilet?!) so would love some tips.

Tatties · 27/03/2006 22:44

You're right Twocats, Ecover toilet cleaner is rubbish isn't it?

JanH · 27/03/2006 22:46

Maybe it depends on how hard your water is? Ours is soft and Ecover cleans our loo OK.

shrub · 27/03/2006 22:59

great thread cappucino
twocatsonthebed - we are very lucky as we live close to riverford farm, they also provide all the lunches at my ds1's school.
the ecover loo cleaner is rubbish and smells so awful. i found a new one recently at a place called 'greenlife' which is a supermarket in totnes in devon (think they do mailorder) called 'eco lino'. it smells like fresh linen/laundry see \link{http://www.ecolino.be\ecolino website} if interested.

babyonboard · 28/03/2006 09:27

hooray..mumsnet h.q have responded to our petition..

hope we get the thread!

Bramshott · 28/03/2006 11:39

We have hard water and Ecover toilet cleaner seems to do the job, but you have to scrub with a loo brush too (which I never had to do with bleach).

I would love some more tips on eco cleaning products that work. We have really hard water and the amount of limescale that builds up is terrifying, so although I have the Squirteco stuff and microfibre cloths which I use for day to day cleaning, about every three weeks I get frustrated and throw a load of bleach at it, then spend the next three weeks feeling guilty. We also have a septic tank so I know I really shouldn't be bleaching!

So please, any tips for eco stuff (or homemade stuff) which really works and can get me out of my scum-bleach-guilt cycle?!?

Bramshott · 28/03/2006 11:40

ps - thanks purpleturtle for tip re Ecotricty - I will keep an eye.

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