the green gal

Message in a bottle

When I started writing about Belu bottled water I was heading in one direction but on further research I've done a u-turn. I was going to write that bottled water can never be good – why ship water cross-country or in from overseas when you can turn on the tap, the manufacture of plastic bottles uses barrels of oil plus they can't biodegrade so stay on the planet forever. But the odd thing about Belu is that they tell you to drink tap water, that tap water should be everyone's first choice. True, but curious coming from a company selling water (the Dragons would be horrified if confronted with that pitch).

Their view is that sometimes you're not near a tap, or you don't like the taste, and so you are going to buy a bottle of water. And if you're going to buy a bottle of water, make it theirs. (That's sounding more like a commercial business.) But, there's another but, Belu water does, as far as I can find out, appear to be a more eco-friendly choice than other bottled waters. 

The facts:

• the water come from within the UK, Shropshire to be exact
• the bottles are made either from glass or corn and the caps are recyclable
• the corn, or bio, bottle is compostable although commercial composters will break it down more easily than home composters. The bottle can also be thrown in with the rest of your recycling and recycled into other products.
• Belu gives their profits (the amount will be disclosed in a few months, says their website) to Water Aid to fund clean water projects in the UK and abroad
• the company is carbon neutral, sourcing clean energy where possible and offsetting any remaining carbon emissions
• they're working on a tap water filtration system to use in hotels and restaurants – yes they're making money but they're still encouraging tap rather than bottle use

Belu water is sold in some Tesco and Waitrose stores across the country so widely available if you're near one of two supermarkets. A pack of six bottles costs £2.69. Although I will still be trying to refill bottles I already have from the tap, if I am in desperate need of hydration away from home, I will endeavour to choose Belu over a less green brand.

Look up once in a while

Look what you can see when you take the time to glance up once in a while! I took this photo while driving (I wasn't actually driving) north on the M6 motorway. It's the best 'cloud that looks like something' I've ever seen! Just goes to show, stopping to smell the roses, or in this case, looking out the window at the scenery, has its rewards...

10 ways to take chemicals out of your home

1. Ditch the bottle of limescale remover and use white wine vinegar instead. Use it neat on tough stains or mix an equal amount of vinegar and water in a spray bottle. The vinegar smell disappears once dry but you can add a squeeze of lemon juice to disguise the smell as you clean. 

2. Instead of using kitchen and bathroom cleaner, try baking soda (also knows as bicarbonate of soda or sodium bicarbonate). Sprinkle it on the surface or on the cloth, whichever is easiest for you, and wipe as usual. 

3. Try pouring vinegar neat into the toilet and swill around the bowl instead of toilet bleach and scrub away.

4. Don't spend your money on fabric softener, simply add a splash of vinegar to the rinse cycle instead. This is particularly good for people with sensitive skin. 

5. If your dishwasher is getting clogged up, rather than buy a bottle of dishwasher cleaning chemicals, put a cup of baking soda into the machine and run it on a rinse cycle.

6. If you're the house-proud type who likes their wooden furniture to shine, it's really easy to make your own furniture polish. Mix one cup of olive oil and half a cup of lemon juice in a spray bottle. Spray a small amount on a cloth, you don't need much, and polish. Use another cloth to polish the surface dry. 

7. Keep your shoes smelling sweet with a baking soda bag. Fill the toe of an old sock (check for holes!) and tie up. Sit the bag in the shoe overnight and it will absorb the smell.

8. To descale a kettle, pour in a mug of water, a mug of vinegar and three tablespoons of salt. Boil the kettle and leave overnight. Rinse out several times before using it to make your morning cup of tea.

9. For super shiny stainless steel, rub on a teeny amount of olive oil.

10. Shake and vac the easy way by sprinkling baking soda on your carpet. Leave for a couple of hours and then vacuum.

Hemp – don ’ t smoke it, wear it

Hemp, you may be pleased or not to hear, belongs to the cannabis family but doesn't share its better-known cousin's uses. It can be grown in the European union (France is the biggest producer) but the United States Government won't differentiate between industrial hemp and marijuana and so refuses to allow the plant to be grown in US soil. However, the USA imports more hemp than any other country. 

Industrial hemp is an environmentally-friendly plant – it grows fast and, according to Defra, less energy is used to grow and process hemp than cotton, and it needs fewer pesticide sprays. Plus it has a wide range of uses:

• Its fibres can be used to make fabric, paper and rope, or strengthen concrete
• As a culinary tool – its seeds are rammed with essential fatty acids, its leaves can be eaten in salad and its oil tastes nutty
• Hemp seed oil can also be used to make beauty products

So, if they should choose to, a person could put hemp on their skin, wear it, write on it, eat it and be in a building made with it!

Hemp products are becoming more common although they're easier to find on the internet than the high street. I have a fab pair of green hemp trainers (they look a bit like Converse) from www.naturalcollection.com, my husband has a multi-tasking bag from www.sativabags.com and his flip-flops (shame the weather isn't co-operating) are from www.ethicalwares.com. I've yet to find hemp clothing which fits my taste and wallet but when I find them I'll let you know!

Everyone can be an energy geek

An OWL Wireless Energy Monitor promises to reduce your home energy expenditure by up to 25%. What it doesn't tell you is that it will also turn you into an energy geek. For instance, turn on a light using an ordinary lightbulb and the monitor will tell you that the lit room is costing you 

2 pence per hour. Replace that bulb with an energy-efficient one and the little screen will reveal you are now spending only 0.5 pence per hour! We're told that energy-saving lightbulbs use less electricity and so save money and produce fewer CO2 emissions. But seeing the numbers change on an energy monitor make it so much more real. Repeat the turning things on and off scenario all over your home and before you know it, you're an energy geek!

How it works

Basically one part of the kit is a transmitter which clips onto the main electricity meter cable, and the other part is a portable monitor. (There's really more to it but you can read about it on the company's website www.theowl.com. You can do it yourself, though, no need for an electrician.) You tell the monitor how much your electricity company charges, for Good Energy customers I can tell you it's 13.2 pence per kwh. The gadget monitors how much electricity is being used in your home and calculates what that means in hard cash. Watch the numbers shoot up when the kettle is switched on and you'll quickly choose to only boil the amount of water you need. The monitor also measures the temperature and humidity in your home, should you want to know that. 

Painful adventures in gardening

Having recently moved to a house with a garden I spend as much time as I can pottering around, admiring the wonders of nature in my own back yard. I haven't, however, become a master gardener overnight. I know to deadhead the roses and attack any traces of bindweed I spy but I haven't even identified most of the plants yet. One spiky bush, with small red leaves and red berries, has become known as 'the evil red spiky thing' after the bush and I had a falling out. I was trying to do it a favour and free it from the bindweed winding itself round every branch. But the ungrateful wretch pricked and scratched me and now I have a lumpy red rash on my forearms to show for my trouble! I've tried dabbing on a solution of witch hazel, lavender oil and peppermint oil but it's not doing the trick yet. Any ideas on what the evil bush is (pictured right), or herbal remedies for my lumpy arms, are gladly received. 

Magic milk remedy

However, when it comes to nettle stings I have a marvellous remedy to recommend. My mother told me that when she went on childhood picnics and had a roll in a stinging nettle patch, she would be told to dab milk onto the inflamed skin. She couldn't remember if it worked and actually thought it was suggested because nothing else was to hand. Well, having brushed a bare ankle by a stinging nettle recently, I gave it a try. And it worked! Within a few minutes of rubbing milk on to the sting the pain subsided. Within an hour the little bumps had disappeared. Magic!

Make your own lip balm

You wouldn't think it but the simple lip balm contains all kinds of chemicals. For instance, a common ingredient is petrolatum, which, you guessed it, comes from the same source as the fuel you run your car on. Do you really want that on your mouth? Some lip balms, like a lot of beauty products can contain parabens. These are synthetic preservatives which some reports have suggested could alter hormones and even be linked to cancer. 

Whether you believe that or whether you could just do with saving some cash, it's super easy to make your own lip balm. Plus you know what's in it. And it really impresses people.

To make homemade lip balm:

- Have a few empty clean lip balm pots handy.

- Melt equal measures of castor oil (chemist), coconut oil (supermarket or health food store) and grated beeswax (grate a pure beeswax candle). One teaspoon of each makes 10ml of lip balm but it's just as easy to make several pots in one go.

- Easiest way to do this is to put the ingredients in a bowl sat in a pan of hot water. 

- Pour the melted liquid into the lip balm pot and it will set as it cools. If you want to flavour your lip balm add a couple drops of essential oil (peppermint or lemon are good).

Ta da! You'll never buy lip balm again.

Green in the broadest sense

I use the word green to cover all manner of things which I think are included in the general ethos of greenness - the idea of treating the planet, people and creatures the way you'd like to be treated. So, my list of websites and books don't just cover topics to do with climate change but also things like getting back to nature, the fairtrade ethic, even making your own natural beauty products!

Happy Campers

One book that doesn't live on the climate change shelf but is just fab for life in general is Happy Campers. From advice on what to take camping to get the home from home feeling and campfire recipes, to a guide to identifying clouds and knitting instructions, it's a must-have for anyone who wants to look up once in a while and smell the roses. I took it when we went teepee camping in Cornwall and it was invaluable. The book link takes you to Amazon or you can log on to the Happy Campers own website. Be happy camping, or otherwise!

Venture into green cyberspace

As the first entry in my first blog, I'll take this opportunity to state why I'm writing a blog in the first place. In the marvellous world of the wide web there are countless websites and blogs giving loads of information on all things eco. Then there are the books and products to add to the overload of enviro-info. As I try to go through life leaving, hopefully reducing, footprints, I find all things green fascinating, if at times bewildering. 

So, here I will endeavour to write about what greenish things I do and the people, places, books, blogs, websites and experiences along the way that someone out there in cyberland might find useful. Here goes...