Making the best use out of what you've got ....

I'm in the middle of fiddling about in the kitchen .... there's a chimney breast in there with floor-based cupboards that are mostly, but not entirely fake. The cupboards are entirely empty of shelves, because there's a gap of only 7.5" before the chimney breast starts. But the insides of the cupboards have those little holes for pegs at a couple of points, so I've bought the little pegs (£1.49 on ebay!) and banged them gently into the holes. Now all I need to do is saw some shelving wood I have, glue some readymade cork strips I have onto the back edges to stop stuff falling off the other end, and hey presto, lots more storage - well, the equivalent of one big cupboard, anyway - but *much* more accessible than one big cupboard.

I'm really pleased with this - I want quality in my kitchen, in my whole house, I really want to get over "make do and mend" - but this is a setup thats irresistible. The holes are already there, the pegs are purpose made, I already had the cork strips (a couple of them were used as a minimalist notice board), I have some pva glue thats to be used as plasticiser for mortaring work, the shelving wood was in the loft and brought down when my own insulation was added to what's already up there - it just feels like using what I've got to the max :)

The first political flyer I've received in the new house

Well, the heading says it all. Or most of it, anyway. Its from the Conservatives, telling us of their triumphs of course, though there's nothing directly related to a green renovator.

Two items are of some interest tho:

- in Burgess Hill, some new allotments have been released.

- in Haywards Heath, councillors are "looking at plans for tree planting schemes ... following the lead of London Mayor Boris Johnson. Cllr Margaret Baker says: 'Street trees are a low cost way of improving our environment, reducing pollution and making our town more attractive'. "

I have mixed feelings about the tree planting - obviously trees are good! But they can also be seen as window dressing, pure and simple. And on the other (third?) hand, Haywards Heath is fairly rich as towns go, so why not?

The National Home Improvement Show

This was on at Earl's Court on the 1st - 3rd of this month, and it had a huge emphasis on being green. Some of the free seminars, for example, were titled:

- Greenfurbish Your Home - by Charlie Luxton - I'd not seen any of his work before, and I really liked his approach, practical, down to earth, and willing to literally put his money where his mouth is, in creating a retrofitted house full of best practice.

- An Introduction To Renewable Energy Technologies - I didn't see this one, but it certainly sounds good....

- Rainwater Harvesting Techniques - again, I didn't see this one, I think it clashed (with lunch ... I was pretty tired by then :) ) but I must follow up on that firm at some stage.

- The Clean Energy Cashback Scheme - I have to say, the number of firms offering to give me quotes made it feel like a 1970s double glazing convention.... I was hunting manufacturers, having my own agenda, so it wasn't too bad, but really, without that I'd have been completely lost.

- How To Reduce The Energy In Buildings - I only saw about 60% of this talk, by Mike Hillard, I believe - a real enthusiast, but seemed to be very sweeping and very detailed in his condemnations of various accepted practices without showing very much of the scientific backup - while I was there, anyway. However, I completely support his main point, that implementation of the basics first is what can make most difference: insulation, insulation, insulation, in other words. I like it!

- Period Home to Low Carbon Home. Since my new house was built in 1939 (and I have the date scratched in the mortar of the chimneys in the loft!) I didn't attend this, but I'm putting it here just to show that such a concept exists :)

- Using Technology - to reduce your bills and manage your carbon footprint. I did manage to attend this one, and I'm staggered that they couldn't find a snazzier title than this! Some really good concepts.

I'll transcribe my notes of the best seminars, and the best firms and technologies, at another time, but I have to say, it was well worth going - I might be a little prejudiced, as I got a free ticket and was on the lookout for specific technologies, but I enjoyed it, I met some really enthusiastic people, and I really had a ball.

The other thing that occurs to me about time saving is layers of paint. Sounds odd, I know. But the kitchen I now have has deep dark red over every wall, and its appalling, frankly - when I switch the light on at night, it doesn't make any difference really :(

My sister gave me some kitchen paint - excellent! Brilliant white too, so thats fine. But it needs a minimum of 3 coats, and could actually do with a fourth. And in contrast, a friend came round and swore that the One Coat paint would cover even this dismal crimson in one coat, as long as I did it with a roller. Is she exaggerating? Whats in it that it will give such coverage? I know that oil based paints are not only bad for the environment they make me feel sick for at least two days afterwards.... is One Coat paint as bad? And is *any* kitchen paint bad - why is it more stain resistant, why is it wipeable?

And another green issue in all of this - this kitchen paint, I've been given it. Is it more green to throw it away unused because its not green, or at least use it now that I have it, use the resources that have been taken out of the earth and give them meaning, rather than discarding them uselessly?

Using our time

I've been thinking about this quite a lot recently, both before and after the move. And I'm convinced that good use of our time is extremely green - deep, dark luscious green, actually :)

Of course, permaculture theory said it first, with zones in the garden according to how often you visit each one, and planting to go with ease and accessibility - herbs by the kitchen door, wildlife area furthest away from it, and so on. And they have taken it into the house as well.

But its more than that, its across everything - like the old time management studies, but in a green way - the less energy goes into doing something, the more energy is conserved - either to do other things, or to be left where it is. In relation to time, that means that either we can fit something in (like, going into town and visiting half a dozen shops or banks or charities or whatever) or have the time free (to sit in our green gardens and admire the flowers, or read a book).

The point is liberation!

Getting back on track

Last weekend, I went to one of the eco house Open House events, run by The Sustainable Energy Academy, which is a charity with the following aims:

"finding new SuperHomes, assessing their carbon savings and coordinating Open House events. We also feed into reports on energy efficient refurbishment and offer advice to organisations promoting energy efficiency and renewable technologies."

Sounds good to me. This is the one I went to visit:

http://www.sustainable-energyacademy.org.uk/get-inspired/superhome-locator

It was beautiful. And energy efficient. And light, airy, easy to clean, All Good Things.

I've had lots more paid work than usual this week, so working on my own house has been difficult, but I did combine the visit to the Superhome with a trip to Burgess Hill, to the Wilkinsons there - a very different level of quality, but still, not bad. A steel shower curtain rail, a brushed steel curtain pole for the front door and the associated windows, plus bogstandard, very cheap lampshades to take the glare of some of the bulbs here .... about £37, not bad at all.

And I was working hard on the garden - I'm getting the buddleias back into shape, so they don't fall against the spiffy new fence over the winter. I'm keeping and shaping the beautiful hazel tree, which is home to lots of birds and squirrels. I'm definitely getting rid of most of the rhodendrons - most! in a garden this size, fifty feet long, they're ridiculous, as well as no good for native wildlife.

I plan to widen the southern facing border to plant things that I love - more of that later - and some foodcrops too - but that will have to wait till we've found the drains so the second toilet can be installed, and till the fence is weatherproofed, and we've finished tramping all over the border.

Its a juggling act.

Isn't life strange

Well, was I ever unprepared to move! I thought I'd prepared so carefully - been decluttering, because this move was a downsize - this included selling stuff on Amazon and Ebay, giving to charity shops and via freecycle, and dumping things at the recycling tip, as well as the landfill bin being stuffed to the gills every week. Contacted builders beforehand about the work I wanted done. Printed out Building Control forms from the new District Authority. I even used up food I didn't want to take with me, and used T shirts and whatnot to pack some electrical goods I don't use very much. I thought I was *so* ready....

Turns out I wasn't. And one thing I crucially didn't take care of properly was my telecoms: I told Virgin Phone people I was moving, but I didn't tell Virgin Broadband. The result was that I waited almost 3 weeks longer than I should have to get my phone and broadband connected up - which was wasteful financially, if not in resources.

And because I didn't do enough planning and preparation beforehand, a lot of things that could have been recycled, weren't. They went to landfill. And it turns out I *didn't* use one of the removals firms that use green materials or collect the boxes back or anything like that, because there wasn't time to contact them - there was only two weeks between exchange and completion.

Its been a chastening experience.