Confessions of an eco shopper by Kate Lock

Are muddy carrots worth the hassle?

Can a natural deodorant survive a salsa class?

Will clothes swapping ever beat clothes shopping?

Two years ago, shopaholic and supermarket addict Kate Lock set herself a series of eco-challenges, from kicking her tesco habit to composting her kitchen waste.

Combining the practical with the inspirational and packed with great tips, Kate’s honest and humorous account of her triumphs and failures is not only a green guide to the weekly shop but an attempt to balance sustainable living with domestic harmony.

This book was recommended to me, It is about a Women’s journey to becoming green.  I thought It was appropriate for me. So I plan and following her journey and hopefully be able to write about some of my own whilst following hers.

Over the last few months I have to admit I have slipped back in to my old ways, this is down to being alone doing this and not having a lot of back up by family,  So I’m now back on top of things and i have to eliminate any chance of my family slipping as well.  Plastic bags are a big deal because my husband does not think twice about taking a bag out with him so i do have a mountain of them again. This does defeat a person who is trying to change.  I do need to get back to what  motivated me when I first set up this site. I have not been 100% green so I couldn’t come and write about issues and products when I wasn’t fully following what I talk about. So I bought myself a book to try and get back to the way I want to live.

Elvis always seemed a little sad when we got him, he him behind the sofa from us and didn’t really like spending alot of time wiht us.  I decided that he needed a friend to keep him company. I found a 2 year old lion head cross who is adorable, she has been great for Elvis. Apart from a couple of fights to work out who would take on the domant one in there relationship they have never been aprt since.  They cuddle up all the time and hop about together. So there ends are family no more additions now i think a family of 7 is quiet enough for me to look after now but i love having them all.

Read it swap it

I have recently found this website which i have been using for about two weeks, i think it is great.  Recently taking my book list to the library i could not get hold of a lot  of the books i wanted to read. I usually only read books once then i send them of to the charity shop.  This site allows you to swap the books of your choice with people, you post to them they post to you then you have another book to read at a only the cost to post your book.  I really am impressed with it and so far it is working out great.

Regarding posting them I have been recycling the postage bags that I have received my books in, but recently I have found the jiffy green bags which are a great idea – I also noticed that my local post office sell bio-degradable bubble wrap.  Also Ive found  Eco paper tape which is fully recyclable

The Cotton Store

Since I started up this website I was then told a year later that my mother and father -in -law were opening a franchise of Gossypium. Organic and fair trade shopping at it’s best.   i was so pleased about there shop that i couldn’t wait for it to open, there shop is in Hayes, Bromley.  It is a lovely shop which sells clothes, bed linen, and towels , face cloths and alot more.  There are even sets for you to make your own clothes and material which you can make whatever you fancy.  I personally love the yoga pants and tops which being a stay at home mom there great for lounging around the house, i also wear them for belly dancing. As a family we all love the pyjamas and everyone of us has a pair which are really soft and comfy.  They do sell baby clothes so i have got a few things for my youngest who is now 14 months old.  If your looking for presents then there are lots of items to look at. Wallets, bags, magnets, necklaces, candles, oil burners, wind chimes  and the list go’s on.

Click the link above and take a look at there website, the shop also offers yoga, salsa, and belly dancing classes.

Holistic massage is also available from there daughter Sam my sister – in – Law, she has her own website so take a look at the lovly treatments that she can give you. Forget -Me-Knot

It is a lovely family fun business so if you are in the area pop in and say hello, have a look around.

Me and my husband and my boys have been renting our house for the past 4 years and our landlord wants to move in so out we go.  At first the shock of having to find somewhere so close to Christmas was awful.    After a week of searching we found one that was relatively ok, so in two weeks we move in.

I am exited that we are moving house because i can now go through all my junk right before christmas and get rid of it. which is  what i have been wanting to do since i first started my journey,  I must admit though i think i am the only one who is exited about the move. I am going to start 2010 as a fully organised mum which will allow us as a family to complete our eco lifstyle. I am really exited that my home  will be junk free.

All the stuff i have will be great for the charity shop before christmas, like they say one mans junk is another mans treasure.

I am always interested in new websites and this one was given to me on my comments. It is  lovley website called eco mum and baby. There are lots of brands that i have used like bio-D  cleaners, earth friendly kids (my boys like the smell of these).  take a look i think you will like it.

Some one in my are decided that they would set fire to our electricity plant which resulted in a very large area of the south east with out electricity some homes for almost a week, for us it was only a few days but we did have 3 hours of power and then 6 hours of no power so whatever needed to be done was done in the 3  hour gap. with a new baby it was difficult (but not impossible),

It got me thinking on how much we rely on electicity. My boys thought it was exiting up until they realised that they needed electicity for the telly, charging up things. Thank goodness for our pump up tourch and the candles).

I do feel that if we did not have electricity we would struggle with day to day living, it is supprising how much we take it for granted. I didn’t miss the tv or drinking tea.

Our two local town centres were clossed due to not having any electricity for work there tills. My local pet shop said that they wanted to use the old swipe cards and paper but they were told that they were no longer valid (which to me is a strange thing because what if there is a power cut for a longer period of time no one could buy anything) with the tills being electical they couldn’t be opened.

I did get more sleep when it got to dark to see propally even with candles it was time to go to sleep. It did remind me alot of my grandma and how she used to live, she had many a tail about what it was like when she was younger. she always said that she seemed to get alot more done.

To add more work to my life i have now adopted a 1yr old lop dwarf rabbit, he is adorable but this now means the search of an eco friendly way to keep a rabbit.

Elvis lives inside so he has full run of the house, he is littler trained so there is very little mess from him. I use care-fresh bedding which is biodegradable and soaks up water really well, it also soaks up the smell.

He is in an indoor cage at night but eventually (especially when we find him a little friend) they will sleep in a dog pen.

A run has been made out of off cuts of wood (waste not want not) and chicken wire. he is not so keen on the outside but is taken out  because its good for him.

All his toys are made from wikka and his bowls ceramic. (uk made)

He isn’t a cuddly bunny but he loves being stroked and follows me about everywere (not including the stairs).

The rescure centre i got him from is in greenich and is full of lovley bunnies needing a home so if you are looking to buy a bunny try and rescure one.  Baby bunnys are cute but you have no idea what there behaviour is going to be like if you get one which is over a year what you see is what you get.