As i still have things to use up before i can trial these i am really looking forward to seeing if they work. These are just cleaning cloths. There are no chemicals needed at all which is high on my list for a new eco life. The clothes are washable and they have different clothes for the kitchen, bathroom and even the floor. even the car.

My first to try will be

the washing up set which consists of

1 x Washing Up Pad (11 x 16cm)
1 x General Purpose Cloth (green)(32 x 32cm)
1 x Tea Towel (40 x 70cm)

Washing-up Pad – To be used for general washing-up. It cuts through grease and grime, with a slightly more abrasive side for those harder, stuck-on stains.

General Purpose Cloth – The General Purpose Cloth cleans and shines the sink area for the perfect finish. Great on stainless steel.

Tea Towel – The absorbent tea towel leaves glass and crockery smear free and dry in seconds.

A full E cloth range

This is something that i have really concentrated on over the past couple of months and i think i am doing pretty good.

I will always praise up bexley council for its recycling, so much that my green bin (landfil) is at its lowest. We now have fortnightly bin collection . I am proad to say that at the moment my bin is never put out more than half full. I’m sure i could do better if James was to stop buying stuff. When i go shopping i really look into what i buy and the packaging it comes in.

How i do it is.

• Meat from a specialised meat shop does not involve the use of plastic trays.
• I don’t buy cartons of juice because i don’t know were i can recycle them.
• Crisps i don’t buy, there not good for you anyway.
• My sweets and treat come in foil and paper so i can recycle them.
• My yogurt pots get recycled at the local school for junk modeling.(cutting down on these a lot).
• I don’t buy things in packets, homemade is better.
• i have started looking at the packaging of toys cardboard is better without any plastics involved.

I love the challenge of this it motivates me on cooking healthy food and to do more cooking with my boys. Its a really big challenge to minimise all that goes into it, I’m hoping one day i will be aloud a smaller bin from the council because i will not need a family bin. I think i will wait until feb for that a month after our baby is due.

These are some things that me and my family do to save energy, it has become second nature now.

• Turn of lights as soon as you leave the room.
• If the sun is shinning then there is no need for lights
• Switch off and unplug when items are not in use.
• Turn off boiler when not needed.
• Do not put heating on until everyone is wearing a jumper, socks and slippers and they are still cold.
• Avoid electical goods if there not essential.

My husband bought me home an article from the London lite paper explaining that there is to be a eco-cinema. It is to open in London on the 9th October ‘08.

Ms Sally Wilton 53 Is to open The Lexi Cinema in Kensal Rise, it will seat 80 and show arthouse, retrospective and mainstream films. The Josh on the Rocks bar will serve fair-trade wine and Organic ice cream.

Ms Wilton said “The Lexi will be housed in Pinkham Hall and retain its Edwardian features.”

All the profits will go to the Sustainability institute, which supporst the Lynedoch Ecovillage being built in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

http://www.pinkhamlighthouse.co.uk/

I tried mine out for the first time today and i really enjoyed going to all the loose veg, They were great really strong and easy to cleen, so i could wash the one i used for pototoes, they are great,nobody said anything at the till about them so they were open minded. I think they are a great investment and i will be using them every time i need my fruit and veg from town. There were so many prepacked tomatoes that i was glad of the one vine option they did do which were loose, i may need another pouch of them though i was only able to get 5 different things.

I got mine from:-

http://www.soorganic.com/product.php?productid=1471&cat=0&page=1#extra_images

I found these in Robert Dayas a few months ago and thought they were great. You just put one capsule into the bottle add water and watch it dissolve. Then its ready to use.

They do one for the kitchen, glass and bathroom.

When it runs out you just buy new capsules there is no need to buy any more bottles, it does say up to 20 usages but i will try and get as much out of the bottle as possible.

My only issue is that there is no were to recycle the plastic surrounding the refills. However this is smaller than bottles and lids on refills.

I am from a hard water area and i am not so keen on my water so i invested in a water filter kettle, I was going to stop using it until i descoverd that there are recycling bins for our filters i have thrown away about 12 of these filters into landfil and couldn’t justify doing so anymore.

Click on the link and find out were you can recycle your brita filter cartrage.

http://www.brita.net/uk/stockist_finder.html?cat=&scat=&L=1&promotion=yes1&recycling=1

I do plan to wrap the filter back in to its orginal packaging before posting it in the recycle bin.

I did find out today that my local Robert Dyas has a collection point.

I was getting slightly obsessed about the baby stuff i was going to get but things have spiraled so i have set them aside until October. I really need to concentrate on my home and how eco friendly i can get it before Christmas.

My home is no eco paradise at the moment so my concentrations lye there until i am to big to move, then when all is sorted out then i can slowly start looking into baby options. At least then all the unsafe things will be out of my home before Christmas.

My council is pretty amazing when it comes to recycling compost, in my brown bin goes uncooked food (anything) cooked food (scrape your plate) and then all your basics. I have been thinking about all my biodegradable plastics and how there better off in my garden than they are in landfill. So my next step is to order a special compost bin from our council and start making my own compost. I will put some veg peelings grass and the plastics in it, i hope it will be ready for when me and my boys start growing owe vegatables which they are really exited about.

There are so many medicines available for one thing or another that it becomes all to convenient now a days. Its only with being pregnant that i have really thought about it, I can’t take anything for my cold so its a good time to find alternatives to medicine.

I didn’t know this but it is better to cover one nostril at a time when blowing you nose.

We are going to try Organic Honey and Lemon to drink because its supposed to cut through nasal congestion (lemons and honey are from Able and Cole)

We also have vapor rub to clear up the boys.

I am now on a hunt for the best alternatives for different illnesses.