Between the economic meltdown and the push for green buildings, saving energy, water and money in your home is more popular than ever. Fortunately, greening your home doesn’t have to be time consuming or expensive. We caught up with Eric Corey Freed, principal of Organic Architect, and author of the new book, Green$ense for the Home. Here’s his list of nine simple things anyone—renters and homeowners alike—can do in their homes today. 1. Change your light bulbs already! How many environmentalists does it take to change a light bulb? There are several answers to this joke (none of them that… Read More »

Precycling is trying to reduce waste by “pre-thinking” our purchases. While recycling is, of course, a positive thing, it still requires energy to transport the materials, melt them down and then re-manufacture items. Precycling tries to avoid the amount of stuff that gets chucked into landfills AND the recycling bin to begin with. Here are some tips: Buy in bulk, avoid individually wrapped items. Buy items that come in recyclable packaging instead of non-recyclable. Avoid junk mail. Use a computer instead of reading “real” magazines and newspapers. Bring your own utensils with you instead of using plastic ones. Use cloth… Read More »

Making plarn, or plastic yarn, couldn’t be simpler. it’s perfect for kids, and would be great for school projects to use up plastic bags. (I’ve written more about it here, and what you can make from it.) The only tool you need is a scissors, plus of course a pile of plastic bags. And it takes just a few minutes. All you need is a scissors. Simply fold the bags and cut into strips. And that’s it! Here is a 2-minute simple YouTube tutorial that shows you how Once you’ve made a sufficient length of plarn, you can knit, crochet… Read More »

There is no better place to help students go green than at school. By letting students know what is going on in their local environment helps give them real reasons to adapt their lifestyle.  Below are some simple steps to going green at school which can be implemented by the school, students or parents.  Computer conscious Computers are being used more and more in classrooms.  So how can you increase your childs IT skills while being environmentally aware. • Switch off. Computers left on overnight or over lunch waste energy. Label computers to remind people to switch off. If they can’t… Read More »

Bunged up head colds, snotty nosed children, sneezing season …. this time of year sees a serious rise in the amount of tissues we use. Unfortunately, more often than not these tissues end up in landfill! So how do we avoid it.  Well the absolute best solution is to invest in some old fashioned hankies!!   Cath Kidston do a a really pretty range of hankies for the girls which you can buy on line or get in their new Dublinstore.  Marks and Spencers also carry a great variety if you want to go a little bit more low key! Failing that,… Read More »