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Saturday, 30 April 2011

The Green Chain: a Blog for Charity

PriceMinister have launched a fab campaign - The Green Chain- for bloggers to raise money for charity. If you take part in their eco interview, they will donate £10 to one of three great environmental charities - Surfers Against Sewage, Trees for Cities and the Young People's Trust for the Environment


If you tweet or join the Green Chain Facebook page as well as blogging, PriceMinister will donate an extra £1 for each. 


You can read all about The Green Chain and how to take part here


And now for my interview... read to the end to see if I've tagged you!
Turning the heating down by just one degree in your house saves 240kg of CO2 a year. It would take eight trees to soak up this amount of CO2! Are you currently doing anything to make your home eco-friendly?


Our house is a new build so it is already quite eco-friendly.  However after visiting the Ideal Home Show and interviewing George Clarke, we are looking into the possibility of having solar panels installed.  We buy appliances that are more energy efficient.  We have double glazing, good insulation and we only use our heating very minimally...that's what Slankets are for!!


Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface, now they only cover 2%. How are you reducing your use of paper?


Non-paper billing makes so much sense in the internet enabled virtual world!  As does reading magazine and newspaper articles online.  I am notorious for re-using gift bags for birthdays and Christmas presents...it's a bit of a standing joke amongst my friends and family.  I've opted out of postal junk mail where possible and we recycle any paper waste that is created.


At PriceMinister we believe that trading second hand items online is a great way to extend the life span of products. Have you ever thought of buying or selling second hand items on or off line?


I have dallied with Ebay and car boot sales as both a buyer and seller.  I wholeheartedly agree with trading in second hand items.  One man's rubbish is another man's treasure.  This reminds me...I have a garage full of Freddy's outgrown baby things...I must get onto selling them soon!


One of the biggest environmental challenges we face is Freshwater Shortages. Are you taking measures to reduce your water consumption?


With a new house we have the toilets with the half flush option.  The two little ones share a bath together which they love.  I have been known to go for the dry shampoo or over sink fringe wash instead of the full works!  We have reduced our laundry usage by simply wearing clothing twice if it's still fresh and clean.  We never use a hose pipe in our garden.  Ian washes the car when it rains so it gets rinsed off by nature for free!


How do you choose the produce that goes into your shopping basket? 


Being a family of vegetarians we already have a diet that is generally more environmentally friendly.  We try to buy local, if not British, produce where possible.  We recycle all our waste cans, glass jars and cardboard packaging, and try to avoid the excessively plastic packed products.  I only ever buy Free Range Eggs.  This year I'm trying to do a bit of "growing my own" in pots in the garden...you can't get more local than that!


What is your favourite green space near home? 


Ellesmere is a beautiful area of North Shropshire where we love to go walking.  There is a central lake or mere surrounded by woodland.  Hundreds of birds flock to the mere and it is a fabulous haven for wildlife.




Which charity will you support and why?


I would like to support the Young People's Trust for the Environment. Educating young people about environmental issues will hopefully raise awareness in the next generation to take steps towards protecting our planet.




Please give us the url of a fellow blogger (or bloggers) you would like us to contact to raise an extra £10.




Bloggomy
SAHM Loving it
Mummy From the Heart
Little Green Blog

*When your post is online contact oliver.moss@priceminister.com to confirm your participation and we will donate £10 to the charity of your choice!*