Dec
22 Welcome

Hi and welcome to my blog. My name is Toni and I'm from England and like to blog about the environment. It's something that I feel very deeply about because there have been a number of floodings where I live and I feel that a lot of it is down to climate change. I don't care that people say there has been climate change in the past and that it has nothing to do with humans.

This may well have been the case in the past. But just because there was climate change caused by nature, doesn't mean you can't get climate change caused by humans. It seems too much of a coincidence that the climate is going nuts just as we're pumping more and more crap out into the atmosphere.

However I do worry about the lengths that government go to meet targets. There's no point in producing biodiesel if we're going to end up cutting down the rainforests and cause food shortages. I do worry that we're so eager to find a way of allowing us to continue living a western lifestyle withought causing harm to the environment, that we end up wearing rose-tinted glasses when it comes to the downsides.

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Dec
22 So Glad For Insulation

I never really thought much about insulation before. I supposed it's not really one of the most glamourus of things in life. But I really wanted to try and do my bit for the planet. I've also been worried the costs of my heating bills. I mean, the bills are find in the summer when there's no heating on. But in the winter I have always really worried. I don't like sitting in a cold house but at the same time I've felt really guilty.

One day when I was on the internet I came across one of these photos where it shows the amount of heat loss you are experiencing from your house. It was just amazing. All that money being spent on heating and it's just going out through the roof and the windows.

Well, that was it I guess. I talked to my dad about what I needed to do about insulation and also read up on the internet about it. There was a special deal on rolls of insulation at a local DIY store so we filled the car up with as many rolls as we could and my dad fitted it in the roof. There was already insulation there but it was pretty old and not very good. We bought the best insulation we could and so far it's amazing the difference to the house.

The heating is no longer on at full because it's not escaping the way that it was. Also, we spent a lot of time find those pesky drafts. There were a number of them such as under the doors. We still had a couple of really old windows at the back of the house so I got them replaced too with double glazing.

I really recommend that anyone who is thinking about insulating there home do so. Oh, another thing was that there were many pipes for the central heating system that ran under the floor that didn't have any lagging on it. So we bought some of that grey-coloured foam stuff and wrapped it round them. It really didn't cost a lot of money at all.

Now I kinda look forward to receiving my gas bill because I'm sure it's going to be much cheaper than last year. Actually, I think I'll go and do a reading myself of the gas meter and fill that online form thing.

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Jan
14 Luxury Dog Friendly Holiday Cottage Lake District

Over the weekend I was staying at a gorgeous luxury dog friendly B&B in Cumbria and have to say that it was one of the best places I've ever stayed at. It was in the little village of Maulds Meaburn which is about as picturesque as you can get. Basically it was like walking onto a film set for a period drama; fully of quaint old stone-built cottages, rolling hills and a little river called the River Lyvennet.

It was of course covered in snow when I was there because of the cold snap that has affected the whole of the UK. I don't think I could've asked for anything more gorgeous. We went for a little walk along the river and then headed into Appleby to have a look around the shops.

Annie who runs the B&B is simply amazing and provided the most fantastic breakfast anyone could wish for - bacon, sausages, eggs, freshly baked bread, fruit salad and more. In 2004 Annie won landlady of the year which apparently is a really prestigious award and you're only allowed to win it the once. Much of the food is sourced locally or even produced themselves. I think that these days locally produced food is really important because it helps the local economy and also the environment because it's not having to be transported a great distance.

We only stayed the one night B&B however there's also a self-catering cottage which is available too. I don't have a dog anymore but if you have one then you can take it along for an extra fee. Annie and Brian have two dogs of their own called Jack and Tam along with a cat called Rhythm

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Jan
14 Cleaning My Home

I was just doing a clean of my house when I noticed some mold on some wood and decided to do some research on how to clean mold off wood. I ended up using bleach but that doesn't impress me much. I mean, I'm trying to be environmental and I'm using all sorts of awful detergents that are harmful to the environment.

One thing that it did was make me take a closer look at what I'm doing to clean my home in general. So I thought I would do a bit of investigating in terms of changes that I can make.

Vinegar - I love vinegar on my chips but never really thought about cleaning things in my home with it. I've known some time about the benefits of veingar but never used it. So I went out and bought a big bottle of cheap vinegar and set about cleaning my bathroom with it. It's certainly not got the smell I'm used to but I'm sure I'll get used to it. One thing is for sure - it's really cheap to buy so that will help with the grocery bills for sure!

Steam Cleaner - My mum has a steam cleaner but I don't yet. It's really great because it gets rid of lots of grease and such like from all sorts of surfaces like kitchen surfaces and floors. I know that the other year I got down on my hands and knees to clean the kitchen laminate floor with a scrubing brush and detergent and it really made my muscles sore the next day. With the steam cleaner you just put out jets of steam which loosen off the dirt and then use the cloth to wipe it over.

Bicarbonate of Soda - I heard that if you add some of this in with shampoo it's really good at cleaning greasy hair. So I tried it and it really does work great. I haven't felt my hair so clean in as long as I can remember!

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