Green Considerations, Self Sufficiency & Saving Money
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
Congratulations on the house move. That’s splendid news. I’m so pleased for you. How lovely to have a garden and so much more space. We’d like to do the same some day.
Great idea about roadtesting ideas in the book. Guess you might wait till you’re settled in before getting the couple of pigs!!!
Rubbish arrangements in Edinburgh are a nightmare! We don’t recycle much either, and believe me, it’s not for lack of trying. I’ve phone and emailed the council about getting the bins but they don’t seem interested.
Thank you for this great post, directing readers to a wonderful resource for making changes in our own backyards. I’m slowly making changes in my own families living habits to better the environment. I know there is so much more I ought to be doing and it’s just taking me a little while to make the mental shift to turn thoughts into action.
It’s frustrating that some changes should feel so hard – like extra chores. I know once I’ve got them in place and they become truly ingrained in our lives we will wonder why we didn’t do it all years ago.
Good on you for making the change and good luck with your efforts. At least you are trying, whereas so many aren’t even ‘thinking’.
MaL – Perhaps I should go for the milking cow??!
Sarah Lee – There are definitely a few ideas that I have already seen that I think could become second nature. Recycling, composting, growing vegetables, making more homemade foods etc… I’ll definitely be updating with our progress.
Raised beds get my vote for growing your own food! you can tailor the composition of each bed for what you are growing (so your herb garden can have more sand in it to make sure it’s well drained etc) and they are much easier to maintain. if you hve space make a leaf bin too, just go out gathering heaps of leaves (not of major roads though) and dump them in a bin with no bottom in a corner of your garden. This time next year you will have about half a bin full of the most wonderful mulch to tuck round your plants to overwinter them, totally free and adds a good crumbly fertile layer back into your garden.
We love our garden, here’s hoping you get the same enjoyment out of yours!
Looks like I might be coming to you for more tips in the future T-Bird
think I put some pics of this year’s dismal efforts on my crafty blog
( http://tbirdscraftyblog.wordpress.com/ ) we didn’t do so well this year as we usually do but were still over-run with runner beans! I think gardening should be part of the nat. Curriculum to be honest – it’s useful, good for you and very therapeutic!
The milking cow sounds like an excellent plan and would certainly make for a half dozen postings at least, I imagine. Wondering now if we could fit one onto our balcony…. hmmm, tempting to try. Talk about keeping up with the eco mummies who say it’s 100% organic for their children – this would stop them in their tracks.
I would think twice before keeping a pig in the back garden!!lol. there is bound to be some local authority law that says you can’t!!! However with even the smallest space, a window box, a balcony, many things can be grown in pots. A largish pot with a ‘Wigwam’ of bamboo and a few scarlet runner beans planted at the base of the sticks can produce a wonderful display of red or yellow flowers, followed by long lusious beans with a flavour no super market can match! cherry tomatos grow well in pots too,as does all salad ‘stuff’ all they need is regular watering and a bit of T L C. Go on! give it a go!
If you have a big garden, you have to decorate it!
Nice article,thanks for share.