I found this tutorial and it instantly appealed as it adhere to our ethos of mending things instead of throwing out/recycling and buying a replacement product. I’ve various friends who’ve dropped their mobile phones in toilets, glasses of beer, washing up water and I’m sure this will appeal to them…
Salihan Crafts shows readers some great ways to reuse a bath puff: creating a yarn sleeve & pot scrubber
pic from here
Curtains have many benefits in keeping out heat and sunlight. Ask around your relatives, most people seem to have a spare pair of the rubber backed insulated curtains stashed in a cupboard somewhere.
Alternatively you might like to pick up a pair cheaply at a charity shop or ebay or even make your own. Make some ties whilst you are there, you’ll want them open in the mornings. Here’s a great easy tutorial, making curtains is pretty much just about sewing straight lines which get easier with practice!
Project 1. Reduce drafts in your house
pic from here
While a cool breeze is lovely in summer, i’s more common to notice the hot wind blow under the door or rattling the windows. It’s unpleasant, and if you choose to use cooling, it reduces its efficiency
Further, in winter, draughts can account for up to 25% of heat losses. Reducing these draughts can be a cheap and cost effective way of reducing heating and cooling costs.
Draughts can be further reduced by:
One easy transportable method to reduce door draughts is to make your own door snakes (or dogs as the tutorial linked provides!).
For the sides of doors and windows adhesive backed foam is a good resource Hardware stores sell it in various widths and thicknesses, and the tape is self-adhesive and easy to install. Simply cut the tape to the length you need with scissors, peel away the backing from the tape and stick it in place. The size and flexibility of tape make it well suited for blocking irregular-sized cracks.
I’ve seen those little bottles of hand sanitizer on every desk or front counter of most offices where I work.
I’m a bit reluctant to use them as I always was lead to believe a few germs help boost your immunity and that normal soap and water hand washing
pic from here
as needed would suffice. Further I haven’t seen any that state the were not tested on animals.
Planet Green has a couple of recipes for making your own sanitizer which I thought I’d share:
I’m a big fan of Gardening Australia. I love learning about plants I’ve never even seen before, let alone attempted to grow. Jerry provides great insight into how to create a workable organic garden (I know we were doing ok up until the snail infestation!). I also like the step by step projects suitable even for the blackest thumb, all presented in a factual interesting format without the condescension of some television presenters.
The ABC Gardening Expo is a great chance to learn and enjoy all things gardening. Lots of things to buy, people to talk to and information to gather.
I really like the idea of the Ask It, Solve It Stage – An informal, intimate Q&A panel format featuring ABC TV’s Gardening Australia presenters as well as other industry experts talking on specific plant care and answering all gardening related questions.
As as far as workshops go, we’d be particularly interested in attending Sally Wise’s workshops on making your own jams and preserves from garden produce.
When: October 2-4, 2009
Where: Caulfield Racecourse
Time: 10:00am – 4:30pm daily
I’m really excited to hear that “No Impact Man” film is opening in the US.
The doco is about Colin Beavan who decides to completely eliminate his personal impact on the environment for the next year.
It means eating vegetarian, buying only local food, and turning off the refrigerator. It also means no elevators, no television, no cars, buses, or airplanes, no toxic cleaning products, no electricity, no material consumption, and no garbage.
No problem – at least for Colin – but he and his family live in Manhattan. So when his espresso-guzzling, retail-worshipping wife Michelle and their two-year-old daughter are dragged into the fray, the No Impact Project has an unforeseen impact of its own.
Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein’s film provides an intriguing inside look into the experiment that became a national fascination and media sensation, while examining the familial strains and strengthened bonds that result from Colin and Michelle’s struggle with their radical lifestyle change.
Want to find out more? You can check out the No Impact Blog and even try the challenge yourself!
