Out There Blog

Recycling has finally taken off in Britain. The amount of household goods we reprocess has increased threefold since 2004 and an amazing array of recycled goods, from tin cans to floors, and solar-panelled iPod chargers are now appearing in the shops. But it is recycling really the answer to our environmental woes?

Think about all the energy consumed in collecting, sorting and reprocessing a glass bottle - recycling is hardly guilt-free. And, but sanctifying the rapid purchase, use and disposal of products, it could be argued that recycling actually encourages our unsustainable habits, masking our throwaway culture in a pious green glow. Or the mantra: 'reduce, reuse and recycle,' recycling really is the last option.

A consumer guide
By considering the different life-cycle stages of our weekly shop, we can assess a product's environmental impact and sustainability. In California, this process is make much easier as you can enter a product's barcode into your Blackberry and access Greenscanner, a public database of consumer opinions about environmental accountability of more than 600,000 products.

Although in England we can get a BRE (Building Research Establishment) rating for the environmental impact of a building, the DTI is still in discussions about creating a sustainability labelling system for everyday goods.

Raw materials
Ask yourself where these have come from. Have they come from a sustainable source, or is their extraction reducing the earth's finite supply of resources or damaging the local environment?

Sustainable materials are best, such as timber with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) approval, organic wool and hemp,  but recycled materials are better than unsustainable materials, such as foamed plastic.

Manufacturing
How much energy has been used in the product's creation, and is there a less energy-intensive alternative, or one that relies on renewable energy sources? A handknitted jumper, for example, will have used far less energy in its creation than a machine produced cotton t-shirt.

Packaging
In 2001 alone, UK households produced the equivalent weight of 245 jumbo jets per week in packaging waste. Try to buy products that use no packaging or are wrapped in recyclable material, such as cardboard.

Origin
Buy British at every opportunity. 'The level of caarbon emissions caused by the transportation of goods is ridiculous,' says Guy Robinson of eco-friendly design consultancy Sprout Design. 'Buying British is a small step that can make a big difference.'

Energy efficiency
Ask yourself how much energy the product will consume during daily use and whether the habits it encourages are sustainable. A coffee machine's greatest impact, for example, is caused by its use of water, energy and filters rather than during its manufacture. When buying electrical appliances look out for the energy-saving logo wich indicates the most energy-efficient products which are also cheaper to run.

Lifespan
A key facet of sustainability is extending the lifespan of existing products. The product should be hard-wearing and designed to last a lifetime - not just a few years.

Reuse
There is a big difference between recycling and reuse. Reuse delivers tguaranteed materials and energy conservation. This can be a s simple as reusing an old t-shirt as a cleaning rag, or as cool as the recycled bottles that Tord Boonje has turned into vases.

Repair
When something breaks down, it's often easier and cheaper to buy a new one rather than repair the old. This accelerates the product cycle in which we produce more and, ultimately, waste more.

Buy less
It's as simple as it sounds. As Health points out, 'There is a basic hierarchy opf environmental goodness - reduce, reuse, recycle. It's better to use less in the first place than to consume at all, and it's better to re-use than to recycle. It may sound incredibly simplistic, but its the best way to think environmentally. 

Read our previous Eco News stories. 

Inside Out magazine has a regular Eco News feature. This story apeared in the December edition.

Do you have any ideas about recyling? Please share your tips and ideas below. 

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Wood is the original sustainable material. But where should you buy it and how should you use it?

on the up...wood
Timber is the only renewable, natural building material. Not only is it recyclable and easy to reuse, but it can counteract CO2 emissions. Trees act as carbon sinks, extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and converting it into carbohydrate for the tree;s growth. And the by-product of that process is oxygen.

Wood-processing industries are also far less energy-intensive that those for other common matierials.

Strength for strength, concrete uses five times more energy to produce than timber, for every cubic metre of wood used instead of other building maternials, CO2 is saved from the atmosphere. That means that if all houses in the UK built since 1945 had been timber framed, more than 300 million to0nnes of CO2 would have been saved. Duncan Baker-Brown of BBM Sustainable Design.

People often shy away from wood because they think of deforestation, but timber is one of the most sustainable materials. We should be encouraging people to use wood, as long as it's grown and sourced responsibility.

Why buy local?
As well as cutting down on transport pollution, sourcing wood locally sustains both the local economy and identity. Duncan Baker-Brown says, 'It encourages architects to work within a local architectural language.'

There are roughly 6.77 million acres of woodland in the UK (12% of the land area), and by 2020 timber production is forecast to increase to more than 39.5 million acres.

British-grown larch and Doublas fir can be used for structural frames, as well as for cladding, floors and finishes. Even red cedar, usually imported from Canada (which has a flourishing, sustainable forestry industry), can be sourced from the Duchy Estate. 

Green sources

Repair, restore or adapt something you already have. Each year, up to 420,000 tonnes of wood waste is produced by UK households. Search for local recyclers.

Buy second-hand, recycled or reclaimed timber. Search for reclaimation centres, or try the architectural salvage and antiques yeard Salvo.

Buy local, certificated timber. The two main certification systems in the UK are the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). Look out for their logos.

If you have to buy from abroad, make it sustainable. Both PEFC and FSC operate globally, and other Defra-approved schemes include the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) and the Sustainable Forrestry Initiative (SFI). Check the wood is from a sustainable source on the Friends of the Earth Good Wood Guide.

 
This article appeared in the December edition of Inside Out magazine. 

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And there's more: recent figures* showed that house prices have tripled in 10 years in a quarter of the 62 cities across the UK that were included in the survey, you'll get less for your money.

London house prices top the table at £330 per sq ft, with Oxford house prices second at £252, and St Albans house prices third at £250. And whilst the average house in  the UK has an area of 1,108 sq ft, in London that would cost more than £370,000 - not an easy amount to raise for the majority of people living alone. So, short of moving to Armagh (the cheapest city at £93 per sq ft), the answer is maximise the effectiveness of the space you have.

Style to scale
The key to adding value and style? Richard Connor, a partner at Piercy Connor architects recommends that you squeeze the service elements, that is the kitchen and bathroom into the smallest space possible, leaving the bulk of your square footage dedicated to living.

Sir Terence Conran says in his book How to Live in Small Spaces:

Size need not inhibit personal expression: you can make a small place just as much your own as you can a larger one. At their best, small spaces can be both inclusive and flexible, which is perfectly in tune with the relaxed and informal way we want to live now and will no doubt continue to want to live in the future.

Small space, big drama

• Look to create extra opportunities wherever you can. Build into alcoves and the space above doorways; as well as the triangle of space under the stairs. Now you can install drawers in the actual stair treads.

• If blessed with a really high ceiling, create a mezzanine.

• Build a raised platform for sleeping or dining and use the space underneath for storage.

• Generally keep colours light and light-attracting to maximise area, but don't shy away from adding drama with a large-scale paper feature on the wall.

• A wall of mirrors will create an illusion of openness. Big up your windows as they draw the eye yo the world outside. A tiny bedroom with floor-to-ceiling windows will automatically feel larger as your focus is pulled beyond its four walls.

Stealth Storage

Being able to stash belongings in an orderly organised way will not only expand the space, but will also enhance its ease of use. The constraints of the small space will be minimised if it works in a ruthlessly efficient way. Build in plenty of sneaky storage for clothing, accessories, paperwork, laundry, books and other everyday detritus, otherwise creeping mess will start eating into valuable square footage.

Even though built-in storage may seem an extravagant use of space and money, in the long term it will be a more effective way to live.

Dual-Purpose Furniture
As with everything else in a tiny space, even the furniture has to work for its keep. From top-of-the-range beds which house TVs in their footboards and sofas incorporating speakers to Linge Roset's coffee table that converts into a dining table - even a basic sofa bed, getting something that performs two tasks is ultimately going to save on space while ultimately going to save on space while paying dividends in style. 

Seamless Bathrooms
Bathroom manufacturer Ideal Standard reckons the average bathroom is the size of a king-size bed and has launched the SMALL+ range. Alternatively, forgo a bath in favour of a shower room, or a wet room that will make more luxurious use of space.

Neat Kitchens
The micro-pad is unlikely to be a place for throwing lavish dinner parties, so it makes sense to keep the kitchen as small as you can, possibly integrated into the main living space. Again, enough storage to keep everything without crowding the space is key. Think about shelves on the wall instead of units which close-in a space. 

*Halifax

This article is courtesy of InsideOut magazine. 

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When choosing a young plant to pot, bare rooted roses are a better bet than container-grown ones: they are cheaper and will establish more readily. Pop a patio rose (a dwarf variety) in a pot between now and late winter and you will be regarded with scented blooms to sink your nose into next summer.

Get Growing
STEP 1
Fill your container with good-quality compost - try to incorporate some well-rotted manure, too. Make sure the pot is large enough to take the full spread of the roots.

STEP 2
Look for the bulge on the stem above the root stock and plant it 5cm below the soil surface. Mulch with compost.

STEP 3
Feed with rose fertiliser from spring onwards.

Good in Pots
Rosa 'Sweet Dream' (pictured above): lacks perfume but has masses of double apricot-shaded flowers. You can buy them from David Austin Roses for £6.99.

Rosa 'Marie Pavie': clusters of fragrant white flowers with a faint blush of pink. Available from David Austin Roses for £6.95

Rosa 'Queen Mother': succession of rounded, double, pink flowers from summer to autumn. They are available from Peter Beales Roses for £8.55.

This story appeared in November's issue of Inside Out magazine. 

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Too many people assume that the garden closes down at this time of year, but late autumn is when a whole different aspect begins to come to life. Shrubs and climbers that look insignificant in summer offer winter displays of flowers, fruit and bark and are frequently set off by a fragrance that is emphasised by the winter sun.

In milder months, try Camellia Sasanqua ‘Narumigata’ with its white, pink-tinted cup flowers. Enjoy the fragrance but check your soil type before planting. Wintersweet (Chimonanthus Praecox) offers scented yellow flowers on willowy stems and resembles the later flowering Forsythia that will follow it in the early spring. Witch Hazel (choose Hamamelis Mollis Pallida), shows a similar display of scented flowers on bare branches, and has further splendour in autumn when the leaves turn a bright yellow.

By December, winter Honeysuckle (Lonicera Fragrantissima) will fill your room with its scent if you plant it beneath a window and Jasmine Nudiflorum will offer pretty and heavily scented flowers through the winter planted against the wall of your house.

Winter-flowering trees must feature in the larger gardens. Plant Winter Cherry (Prunus Subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’). On a sunny day it can display delicate white flowers against the background of a blue sky, and Japanese Apricot, Prunus Mume ‘Beni-Shidori’, where you can enjoy the shocking pink and scented flowers that cluster along the bare branches; but remember it is very disappointing in the summer.

Many trees have spectacular bark and this is shown to tremendous advantage in the winter when there is much less in the way of floral pyrotechnics to distract the eye. The shrubby dogwoods are great performers; Cornus Alba with crimson stems, Cornus Sibirica with coral pink ones, and Cornus Aurea with bright green stems all offer splendid displays in the winter sun and are very vigorous. But for the best effect they need to be cut down every other year, require feeding and appreciate a damp soil.

And last but not least, a small tree, Crataegus Persimilis ‘Prunifolia’, carries a profusion of large dark red fruit that should, with luck, last until Christmas.

Posted by Bronwyn at 02:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Alison Cork

Waxing lyrical
When you’re thinking of festive accessories, don’t forget Price’s Patent Candle Factory. It is still based on the site of the original candle factory in SW11 and sells surplus stock and ends of lines at up to 30 per cent off the normal price.

You’ll find an eclectic collection of church candles, floating, outdoor and fragranced candles, plus accessories such as holders and lanterns, and the store is open seven days a week.

Visit the factory at 100 York Road, Battersea, SW11.

Missing link
If you want to introduce some sparkle into the autumn gloom, or have a chandelier that needs a bit of renovation.

Established in 1989, Crystal Corner have a large selection of antique chandeliers, lamps, wall lights and some decorative pieces for childrens bedroom. Most of their chandeliers are sourced from France or Italy and can be reworked to include rewiring.

They also offer a full chandelier service ranging from total restoration to simply replacing individual drops, drip trays and beads, either in new or antique glass. 

Seating solutions
Full of clever and good looking furniture at sensible prices, Room Collection has come up with another ingenious little idea which caught my eye.

The Galla Dining Table actually starts out life as a console and sits at just 40cm wide against the wall. But pull out the legs and flip open the top, and it becomes a six person dining table. Very smart and also affordable at £275.

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