Be Nice To Bees – A Plea From Friends of the Earth

British bees do a huge amount for wildlife, our food supply and the economy. And last week thousands of you did a huge amount for bees. 10,000 packets of bee-friendly seeds were snapped up in just 24 hours, creating many new habitats for bees across Britain. Even if you missed out on the free seeds you [...]

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Fruit Flavoured Vinegars For Delicious Sauces

Fruit vinegars are usually made from soft fruits such as blackberries or raspberries, bilberries and currants. To each kilo of ripe fruit add one litre of best distilled malt vinegar. Place in a porcelain bowl, cover with a cloth and leave to stand for 3-5 days, stirring occasionally. Strain and add 1k of sugar to [...]

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Everyone Should Have A Water Butt!

Get a water butt to collect rainwater. Using rain water is more planet-friendly than tap water, which has to go through energy-intensive purification. Plants prefer it too – so save it for watering house plants all year round, and in the garden when the weather warms up. It’s fine for jobs like washing the car too. [...]

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Now is a Good Time to Recycle Your Christmas Tree!

If you are taking your Christmas tree down over the next day or so, why not shred it and recycle it in your own garden.  Take a look here for the range of Electric Shredders and Log Splitters available from Recycleworks.      …And if you don’t have a garden, contact your local authority for advice [...]

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Big Can Be Better – Buy Larger Containers

In the UK, we will use an estimated 750 million extra bottles and glass containers, and 500 million extra drink cans, over Christmas. To reduce waste, and possibly save cash too, buy drinks in large containers, rather than lots of small ones, and buy soft drinks in concentrate form to dilute. And finally, don’t forget [...]

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Planet Friendly Farming

Top UK restaurants are backing the Sustainable Livestock Bill for planet-friendly farming being debated in Parliament this week. The 6 restaurants are in t he Top 10 of The Food Guide 2011 and they all support a new law that would help prevent UK meat and dairy production from destroying rainforests and leading to massive climate-changing emissions. [...]

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Cut Your Bills – Draw The Curtains!

Curtains Cut Bills! As promised, we said we’d share another wonderful tip with you, kindly supplied by the ever wonderful Friends of the Earth! Now the nights are drawing in, draw your curtains. Close them when it gets dark and consider curtain lining to further reduce heat loss through windows – or get a second pair of [...]

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Save Money – Check Your Radiators!

Friends of the Earth suggest we check our radiators – With the arrival of autumn, it’s a good idea to make sure your central heating is working efficiently. Air pockets can build up in radiators, which means they won’t be as warm on the top as they are at the bottom. You can easily sort [...]

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Recycle Your Cooking Oil

Believe it or not, used cooking oil can now be turned in to electricity! Certain councils throughout the UK are offering trial collections of cooking oil so it can be turned into a biofuel to produce green electricity. Every year, tens of thousands of litres of used cooking oil are poured down the drain costing [...]

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Cook Your Own – Storing Dried Herbs

Suggested are parsley, mint, sage, thyme, marjoram chopped rosemary, basil and winter savoury. Gather when the young plants are about to flower and if possible when they are dry and not exposed to strong sunshine. Wash, tie in bundles and protect from dust with a piece of muslin then hang up to dry in a [...]

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