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We’re now only about a month off moving home. We currently live in a two bedroom flat with no outdoor space and a local council that seem to have forgotten about us on the recycling score, no multi-coloured bins around here. I’m ashamed to admit that we recycyle nothing except plastic carrier bags. We buy small packages, often. Purchase all our produce from the local supermarket and produce nothing ourselves. Nothing except waste that is.

Our only saving grace is that we don’t gorge on buying new products, we use what we have until it breaks, and we sell or donate anything that is no longer needed.

Our new home comprises a front and back garden, more storage space, and no less than three bins in black, brown and blue. The move will signal a change for us on many levels, but recently my attentions have been turned to green issues, self sufficiency and the byproduct of saving money. The multi-coloued bins will mean that recycling will not be a choice but mandatory, which is great news.

I also have plans for a vegetable patch which will provide us with salad leaves, onions and some other vegetables. An apple tree and strawberry basket are also likely to be on the agenda. One of my first tasks though will be to pot some herbage. Herbs are expensive in the supermarket and come with unnecessary packaging, I love using herbs in most dishes but dislike paying 70p/$1.40 for each serving. I will try and keep the vegetable patch organic by using homemade composts and no pesticides. In fact, today I invested in a book (I mean invested, it cost £17/$34!) called A Slice of Organic Life which has given me many ideas like producing homemade flavoured olive oils, vinegars and bath products all of which would save money, the environment, and take us a small step forward to becoming more self-sufficient.

The book covers all areas of life and includes practical ideas, step by steps and recipes. I think it’s the most I’ve ever paid for a book but is well worth it. It’s split into three sections. The things you can do with no outdoor space ie growing herbs, cutting energy usage etc.. Slightly more advance suggestions if you have outdoor space, like building a raised bed to act as a vegetable patch, making your own barbecue and creating your own compost. The final section is advanced and requires a garden, allotment or field, the suggestions include raising a couple of pigs, using renewable energy and planting a vine.

It is my intention to start at the beginning of the book and work my way through, trying and testing as many of the ideas as I can, and seeing which ones stick, which save money and which make a real difference to our lives and the environment.

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Photo by flickr user ttfnrob