We have appreciated seeing in Organic Life magazine a letter from a subscriber who proclaimed their allegiance to the cause but complained of having limited funds to convert to a completely sustainable or organic life. She requested that the magazine do an article that stated the most important and practical areas that one can concentrate on for those on a restricted budget. Here are some ideas that we have:

1 - Cooking Fresh

Make time in your schedule to cook meals using fresh ingredients. You will quickly find that the extra cost of Organic produce no longer outweighs the shopping bills when buying prepared meals.

2 - Changing to an Ethical Bank

Banks invest your money in companies they believe will give their shareholders the best return (including oil and arms trades), but you have the power to choose who you bank with . Only Co-operative and Triodos Banks have an ethical policy regarding who they will invest in. The online branch of the Co-operative bank are called Smile, and they offer everything that you would normally expect from a bank as well as interest rates for credit balances on your current account that you would normally expect from a savings account (around 4%). We use them and their customer service is streets ahead of anything we received from one of the big banks.

3: Local Box Schemes

Staple goods such as milk, bread, sugar, eggs, rice, pasta, vegetables and fruit are easy to get hold of from a supermarket, but the first thing to look into is whether there are any "box scheme" providers in your area who can supply much of this to your door at great value and convenience, with produce from trusted organic local suppliers wherever possible. By avoiding the supermarkets you put power in the hands of the producer and start to pay the proper price for the food that you eat.

4: Change Electricity Supplier

An area of much debate, mainly due to the major supplies all adding a "green" tariff to their portfolio. It also depends on whether you believe wind/wave/solar/hydro/biomass to be viable and ethical means of energy production. There are companies out there specialising in green energy production, the best known of these are Ecotricity and Good Energy. Instead of gestures towards green energy production such as carbon offsetting offered by British Gas or RSPB contributions by Scottish & Southern Energy, Ecotricity invest all of their proceeds into the development of renewable energy and Good Energy offer 100% renewable electricity supply. To see the percentage of renewable energy provided by suppliers click here.

5: Roadside Recovery & Carbon Offset

The ETA are the "only motoring organisation to campaign for a sustainable transport system" and offer very competitive and comparable packages to the RAC or the AA. You can offset your travelling through their projects to "distribute energy saving bulbs to small communities in the developing world, and/or provide funding for renewable energy". They are the first climate-neutral motoring organisation, they produce a Car Buyers Guide annually for people who want greener vehicles and also offer Cycle Rescue, Home, Motor and Travel Insurance.

6: Insulating Your House

This solution is a triple win situation, as it saves you money, makes your house warmer and saves electricity usage. There are simple improvements that can be made such as pipe lagging and roof insulation (using an environmentally friendly product such as Warmcell), filling in cracks in your window frames and doors using draught exluders (or even stuffing strips of foam). You could go as far as putting in double glazing if you haven't already got it, but this is expensive and will not pay itself off as an economical decision for 20-30 years. It will still make your house much warmer, but the environmental benefits of electricity savings are reduced by the nature of the PVC plastic windows themselves. In the winter you could seal up windows with thin transparent plastic (not the most ethical method, but quite effective in heat retention and cost) or install an additional pane in the window frame. It is possible to get double glazed wooden window frame replacements but they are much more expensive. Cavity Wall Insulation will be a great help in newer homes that have empty cavities. Older houses have solid walls and would need to be insulated with a suitable boarding inside, which unfortunately will take off interior room space and can be complicated going around window frames.

7: Saving water

Water is a precious and costly resource, yet we waste litres every day through our bathing , cooking, washing and toilet habits. Some larger toilet cisterns can continue to work effectively with a smaller flush, so a water displacement device can be inserted to reduce the amount of water released each time you flush. Apply for a "Freddie Frog" water displacement device (in the Anglian Water area) here.

A normal shower for 5 minutes uses around half the water of a bath (a power shower uses MORE!). Wait until there is a full load for the washing machine (or press the half load button if you have one), and if you are buying a new machine check its water efficiency. Fill a jug of water and put it in the fridge for drinking instead of running the tap till it is cold. Turn taps off when brushing teeth. Think about getting a water butt for gardening, they can normally be purchased with discounts through your council. Watering cans are far more efficient and directional than sprinklers or hosepipes. A sprinker can use as much water in an hour as a family of four over 48 hours. Watering at dusk will also be more effective as the hot sun won't just evaporate it away!

 

8: Saving Electricity

A Plug-In Mains Power & Energy Monitor can be purchased from many good hardware stores and enables you to see what your equipment is costing you. After using one ourselves it has changed the way we think about our living environment. There are elements that may not cost us much over a year (like keeping the TV on standby), but if the whole of Leighton Buzzard does the same then the effect on the national grid is dramatic. Other no-brainers are low energy light bulbs. When you convert the wattage of conventional bulbs into kWh's of electricity and cost it truly is shocking and the low energy variety have been hugely improved for brightness and speed to switch on. As with Insulation and Water usage, when we really think about the electricity we use the results are a double winner on our pockets and for the environment. We could even think about generating our own electricity using solar or wind power and get a survey done to see how effective they would be in the homes location (not all places are ideal). These are still not terribly economical but take the strain from needing more power stations and do pay themselves off over time.