Live Lagom a year on…

As the new #LiveLagom Ambassadors start their journey I thought it was a good opportunity to look back on mine and a chance to look to the future.

Little did I know when I signed up for the project just where it would take me…and still is taking me.

Famous for 5 minutes

As the project started to come to an end last year for me I was photographed, filmed, interviewed for a magazine and questioned about my experience on the Live Lagom project and what had changed. What fun it has been. I now feature in the new Live Lagom brochure, a You Tube video and am off for a press launch tomorrow in London. For me the project was the start I needed to change how we were living as a family…the lightbulb moment to stop buying ‘stuff’ and take stock. I’ve had and am still having such a blast.

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/ideas/live-lagom-living-lagom-with-juliette-1364335845435/

I am far more aware of what we are buying and think more before any purchase…do we really need it…can we make do with using something else we already have…can we declutter/change the room round and do without…or can we upcycle/ make something from other ‘stuff’ we have knocking about?

Upcycle/ Recycle – A good example of this philosophy is recently we bought a new bed (the other one was knackered after 15 years and 4 house moves) this gave us chance to have a reshuffle, declutter and revamp of our bedroom without buying anything new to achieve this. We have two recesses either side of a (filled in) chimney breast that were ideal for making into hanging space for clothes. Luckily for me hubbie is really good at DIY and if I come up with a design he will do his best to build it for me 🙂 A quick check in our garage and we found panels left over from when we fitted the kitchen, MDF from a warehouse clear out and sheer curtains from one of the house moves. All we needed to buy was a hanging rail…Bargain! It looks fab and fits in well.

Learning Saturday…

A new wardrobe in 3 easy steps!

GYO – I am still growing salad leaves using the Hydroponics kit I was given as part of the project. I have grown seeds into plants, bought ‘Living Salads’ and planted them in the kit to grow on and kitchen scraps from spring onions to leeks to pak choi; they have all flourished and grown well. There is no stopping the Hydroponics and its uses. Brilliant

#Hydroponics

Pak Choi Hydroponics

Here is the Pak Choi I am growing on in the hydroponics kit.

I used the leaves for a stir fry and then ‘planted’ the root in the hydroponics basket and popped it into the hydroponics kit. Hey presto it grew. Fabulous.

I have also been experimenting with growing an avocado stone to see whether I can get any fruit to grow. It is a slow process but so far so good I have a couple of plants growing so may be in the summer I will have some growing.

Avocado Tree

Avocado Stone & Roots

 

I think the main message I will take away from this project is that last year was just the start of the journey and now is the real test. My attitude and outlook has definitely changed and I am trying to live a more ‘just enough’ life.

Future

I pass on all I have learnt to my learners and anyone else that will listen and am always promoting the benefits of living a Lagom lifestyle even if it falls on deaf ears with my teens! When I go out walking now I come back with arms full of wood for the wood burner, pine cones to cover in the left overs from candles, for firelighters or foraged food (or rubbish to recycle in my bins).

I will carry on growing on my kitchen scraps, composting my food waste/ cardboard and egg boxes and using it to grow my own veggies.

Why we should all be Composting…

 

My kitchen window is full of ‘growing on’ kitchen scraps – celery, chives, spring onions and salad leaves

 

I try and buy food out of plastic containers and have been buying from my local greengrocer and butcher something I didn’t really do before; this means no plastic bags as I can pop fruit and veg straight into a hessian bag and meat into a glass bowl.

I am trying not to buy anything new this year but to shop in charity shops; if this fails and I need to replace something then I will buy new but only after I have decided whether I REALLY need it!

Thank you Hubbub and Ikea for all the help, inspiration, workshops, advice and opportunities I’ve had a ball 🙂

Jx

One finger, one thumb…keep moving!

In my job, no two days are the same and last week they definitely weren’t!

Who knew that learning about diabetes (type 2) prevention could be so much fun! If anyone mentioned diabetes or prevention of diabetes to me I would automatically think diet & exercise and not necessarily about my sedentary behaviour – more on that later.

Here we all are:(L to R) Me, Deirdre, Fiona, Karuna, Benita, Jacqui, Mark and JJ

 

I attended a two-day PRE-STARt training workshop @ Leicester Diabetes Centre on the General Hospital site; to learn about the programme and be able to deliver the prevention training to families in the future. The aim of the PRE-STARt programme is to promote healthier lifestyles and try to change behaviours.

PRE-STARt stands for PREvention STrategies for Adolescents at Risk of diabetes.

‘Type 2 diabetes is a serious condition that leads to both micro- and macro-vascular complications…over the last few decades, the traditional profile has dramatically altered. There has been a sharp, tenfold increase seen in younger age groups, exacerbated by increasing levels of obesity and sedentary lifestyles’

When you arrive at a new place and everyone is very welcoming you know you are in for a great time and I wasn’t disappointed.

I found the room where the training was taking place and met the other trainers who had also delivered some of the projects around Diabetes. We instantly hit it off and were laughing and joking before the session had even begun. In total there were five of us having the training with a variety of trainers and speakers coming in over the two days. They managed us very well and were very laid back whilst keeping us on task!

Jacqui (dietician specialising in diabetes and our trainer) and JJ started the session off and we all had to find out about and introduce our neighbour. Mark used to be a teacher at secondary school but now ran his own gardening business, Fiona used to be a nurse and now works as an ‘end of life’ practitioner at the General Hospital,  Bouncing Benita runs her own fitness classes and last but not least Karuna is trained in dietetics and sees clients privately. They had all delivered the Desmond diabetes programme. I was the only newby 😀

Deirdre (Lecturer in Physical Activty, Sedentary Behavioir & Health at the University of Leicester) came in to give us an overview of the programme and had been involved from the start. I first met Deidre when she came to one of my Family Learning classes in Coalville to trial a questionnaire on my parents, last year.

Deirdre explained that this study was being funded by the EU and had been developed in collaboration with four other countries across the EU including Germany, Spain (Basques country), Greece, Portugal and United Kingdom of which Leicestershire is the only area in the UK taking part.  All the countries have the same issues around diabetes and are trying to intervene and prevent it occurring in young people. The big plus with this intervention programme is it is delivered to parents and children aged 12-14 years at the same time. A whole family approach.

The aim of the PRE-STARt intervention is to promote a healthier lifestyle whilst changing behaviours to increase physical activity, reducing sitting time and improve dietary habits.

The Intervention: includes 8 sessions lasting 90 minutes with some theory and a 10 minute activity at the end.

1. Being Healthy
2. Moving More
3. Getting the Balance Right
4. Sitting Less
5. Building a Better Breakfast
6. Choosing Healthy Snacks and Drinks
7. Treats and Healthier Snacks
8. Making a Family Plan

Next in to come and give us some more information was Charlotte who is the Senior Lecturer in Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Health. Charlotte spent a lot of time talking about sedentary behaviour or sitting on our bums to you and me.

We, as a race, spend far too much time on our bottoms. Sitting at a computer desk, sitting in meetings, sitting watching the T.V, sitting…sitting…sitting and that is not good for a healthy lifestyle. If we could just move around more we would be far better off – health, weight and illness prevention wise. The recommendation is to get up and have a walk round of at least 250+ steps every hour.

The families on this prevention programme will be issued with an activity monitor/watch to try and encourage them to move around more. It will monitor steps, miles, calories, sleep and remind the wearer to get up and move about every hour. Should be interesting to see the results.

I have a fitness tracker and love using it to challenge myself and others to see who can walk the furthest over the week, I am now monitoring how much time I spend sitting whilst trying to get up every hour to do a walk about. It is harder than you think!

My activity stats – BOOM!

Day 2 was all fun! fun! fun!

On arriving at the room for day two, all the activities for the programme were laid out on tables…what a bright and welcome sight. We were in for some more fun!

We started to go through the Facilitator Manual and act out the lesson plans. as you can see the Snakes and Ladders mat was used for other things!

All of the resources are bright and colourful and fun looking to engage both parents and teens.We spent the next few hours working our way through the weeks, having a go at the activities, discussing how we would deliver a specific topic and generally having a lovely time.

Each session is made up of 90 minutes which is broken down into:

• Getting Started: 15 minutes – refresh from previous week, look at goals set and achieved and discuss any challenges people have found during the week.
• Get Going: 55 minutes – the learning part with some discussion around healthy eating or exercise or ways to move more, building a healthier breakfast, looking at snacks, fast food, treats and drinks. This section has between one and five different activities to be looked at engaged with.
• Let’s Go: 20 minutes – setting a goal for the coming week and 10 minutes ‘Time to be Active’ run around session doing an activity as a group.

PRE-STARt activities

We then had a few group photos taken and the obligatory selfies so we could all remember each other and use them for promoting the study.

 

What did I learn?

• That being sedentary is causing us all serious health problems
• We all need to be more active and stand up and walk around every hour
• Have stand up meetings

Well I can’t wait for the families to get on board now so we can start the study and see if the intervention has any impact.

Want to find out more or sign your family up for the study contact Deirdre on dh204@le.ac.uk

or call her on 0116 258 8630

http://www.pre-start.org

 

#diabetes #prevention #teens #families #teenagers #training #PRE-STARt #study

Is it the end…or just the beginning? #LiveLAGOM

Dear #Live LAGOM project

Let me start by saying thank you for selecting me and my family to be part of this project, I can honestly say I have loved every minute of it. The family less so!

Gosh has it really been six months since the project started…I feel we are only just scratching the surface.

When I filled in the questionnaire for Ikea at the beginning of the project, these are the responses I gave to the following two questions.

11. What is the main reason that you have made or want to make changes to live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle?

To stop wasting food, resources, energy and money

12. And what would you say is the main reason why it’s difficult to make changes?

Habit

Teenagers who want ‘stuff’

‘Throw-away society’

Lets see if we have achieved these as a result of trying to live a more sustainable life for the past 6 months.

Final Results and Savings

 

Saving money was high on our agenda…

#Saving Number 1: We have just had correspondence from e-on (who we have dual-fuel with) and they are reducing our direct debit from £118/month to £76/month. Ok the warmer weather has kicked in and we would expect to see a drop in our payments but this is some decrease! Time will tell over the year whether we have achieved our goal and by how much…

The complete change over to LED light bulbs around the house, adding blankets and throws to beds & sofas for warmth, rugs to floors, double curtains, sealing all windows with draught excluder and using the wood burner (hubbie collects FREE pallets to chop up and burn) instead of heating the whole house has all added to this result. Plus not having to change the light bulbs every month has saved loads of dosh!

Selection of LED Bulbs

#Saving Number 2: I have managed to get our monthly food bill down by £40-£50.

Planning meals and portion sizes, using left overs up, using things up out the freezer, only shopping once a week and buying things we need rather than what ‘we want’. It does mean we have had times when the girls have said ‘but there is NOTHING to eat’ followed by the big roll of the eyes…meaning there is nothing we can snack on that is quick and out of a packet. We/they have never starved though 🙂 The other area that has really helped reduce the amount of wastage is starting a compost bin. Looking at the raw food mounting up in the kitchen collection bin is a real ‘in your face’ eye opener!

Carrot tops, celery, onions and leeks

#Saving Number 3: I am consciously trying to re-use, upcycle, repurpose anything we have in the house or garage before we buy new. This includes wood for a new decking area, a new shelving/ wardrobe unit in our bedroom which was becoming an eye sore with the amount of clutter it was attracting. Using decoupage as a technique for updating an old tired set of drawers and making my own chalk paint for distressing furniture.

#Saving Number 4: I have adopted principle ‘Make do and Mend’ before buying any new clothes or bags. I have set up the sewing machine (we had already) in my workshop to mend or alter clothes. I look in charity shops first to pick up quality clothes at a fraction of the cost and then dye them, change the buttons or change them in some form. This has been great fun!

#Saving Number 5; I have started to make my own natural cleaning products using vinegar, lemon and rosemary. I am currently delivering a course for the local housing association and as part of this I had all the learners making their own products. They all came back and raved about how good and effective it is at getting grease off so I thought I had better try it…works a treat 🙂

#Saving Number 6: Is a little unexpected but we have managed to reduce the amount we are putting in the recycling bins and the garden waste we put in the green bin.

Recycling reduction is due to the fact I am keeping a lot of it in my workshop to either use for myself or as part of my classes. We have been reusing tins as planters after covering them with left over wallpaper, using large yogurt pots as bug hotels and glass jars for storing food, beans, lentils, buttons, beads etc…etc… Plastic bottles are being used as cloches in the garden for my lettuce plants.

Garden Waste reduction is as a result of doing my Master Composting course (our local council are now charging for green bin collection so I am hoping to cancel the collection completely next year saving £50). We now compost everything or if they are large pieces…save it to burn in our wood burner. Alternatively it is used for bug hotels.

Reflections and Learning

• I think the biggest learning throughout this project was that small changes can make a big difference and it doesn’t have to be about buying things (although it certainly helped initially).
• Buying quality is better than buying quantity
• We, as a society, waste so much without a thought to the consequences, resources and alternatives.
• Plastic is used for everything and really hard to get away from.
• A little change to some bad habits can result in a difference mind set.
• It doesn’t take long to make savings
• Having the support and Facebook network has been invaluable to keep the momentum and enthusiasm going.
• Taking photos, keeping a diary/ blog helps to keep the focus and put you back on track.
• Having the family involved really helps
• Anything is possible…daughter tidying her drawers without being told, hubbie looking at what we have to use rather than what we need to buy

What was your favourite part? What could be better?

This is really hard for me to answer because I have honestly loved everything about the project. I have decided to pick a Top Five favourite parts instead…

Coming in at Number 5: Meeting the other #Live LAGOM people at the first meeting

Number 4: Selecting the goods with the help of the lovely Kerry in Nottingham

Number 3: Exploring other sustainability areas such as composting, visiting a recycling site and MBT facility

Number 2: Seeing savings in a relatively short space of time

Coming in as the Number 1 favourite part is the Hydroponics prototype I received…I absolutely loved the whole growing experience, warts and all. Even though I have only mastered growing in the nursery kit so far 😉

NOTE: A late addition to the best bits but a Bertie bonus was my daughter decluttering her drawers over the weekend…little steps…

A tidy drawer 🙂

 

Which products worked best and which didn’t?

I think most of the products we selected worked well for our needs but it was the middle of winter so saving money & keeping warm were high on the agenda where as now we might have selected differently.

Before and after ADAM high pile rug

IKEA PS 2014 Star Wars inspired

Selection of LED Bulbs

VAXER series

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SENSUELL series and FORTROLIG storage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Top 5 products are as follows:

Number 5: Adam High Pile rug, lovely colour and has made a big difference to the warmth in the lounge. Even next doors dog loves it!

Number 4: IKEA PS 2014 Star Wars inspired light has the real wow factor and works really well in our lounge. The fact you can make it bright/dull makes a difference to the whole ambiance in the room. Love it.

Number 3: Changing over all the bulbs to LED ones has been a major saver all round. Less energy used and wasted and not having to change any light bulbs for the past six months has been fab! Never buying anything but LED now.

Number 2: A bit of a cheat I know as technically I didn’t buy it but I would buy it again is the nursery hydroponics kit. This has totally transformed my thinking about growing in the winter months and being able to eat salad leaves all year round. Magic!

Number 1: Drum roll…the best bit of kit and the ones we use the most are the cooking ones. I bought two medium and one large SENSUELL pans with the STABIL steamer insert. Absolutely amazing: can now cook lots of pasta (normal and gluten free) in the same pan or cook the carrots then add the broccoli to cook in the same water 5 minutes later in the steamer. Brilliant!

What will I do next?

• Carry on…
• I plan to keep the momentum going and trying to introduce the principles with everything I do and we do as a family, as well as passing on the message with the courses I write and deliver for Leicestershire County Council.
• I will continue to write a blog on my experiences.
• Carry on decluttering, upcycling, reusing and repurposing items we have already.
• I am currently studying ‘Our hungry planet’ a free course via futurelearn.com and would love to study a course on Sustainability or similar.
• Look for some funding within the local area/district council to run a course for local people in areas of deprivation or in a school in a similar area.
• I would love to carry on the project in some form or another…so count me in!

Who would I recommend the project too?

• Everyone…
• Family, friends, work colleagues
• Anyone I teach
• Schools/ Children’s Centres/ Community Houses/ Housing Associations
• Teenagers – now there is a challenge!
• Anyone…

All that is left to say is thank you for the opportunity and wishing you all the success for the future. #Live LAGOM

Yours sincerely

The Smart Family

#Hydroponics

Well I am the first to admit, I had never heard of hydroponics let alone grown anything using the method.

I love growing things, both indoor and outdoor, though I am a bit of a traditionalist using soil or compost. However that is where the traditionalist leaves as I like to grow salad leaves in recycled tins, potatoes in buckets and kitchen scraps in upcycled Costa coffee cups. This was a whole new ball game: Commence Operation #Hydroponics.

I received a message from Melissa, the project leader for the Live LAGOM project…

‘…you have been randomly selected to try one of our new secret products, we’d love to send it to you!‘

Well I didn’t need asking twice…how exciting…what could it be…

The next day a large box arrived with what I thought was an indoor greenhouse…wrong. I was now the proud owner of a prototype hydroponics kit KRYDDA/VAXER. Ikea were bringing hydroponics to the masses and I was one of the first people to trial it. The kit looked like it should be in a science lab (which is what it had been used for commercially)and I should be wearing a white coat, goggles and mask working in a sterile unit not my home 🙂

The term Hydroponics comes from the ancient Greek ‘hydros’ meaning water and ‘ponos’ meaning work. Plants are grown without the use of soil but in water with nutrients dissolved in it and depending on the hydroponic system: roots are suspended in, flooded in or misted with nutrient solution so the plant can gain all it needs for growth.

Back to my parcel…I unpacked the box, read and digested the information and got to work creating my hydroponics lab! In my dining room which does have a conservatory style glass roof.

The KRYDDA/VAXER growing kit (currently on sale in Ikea shops at £58) consists of a nursery and sprout box with clear lid, a metal cultivation unit, LED cultivation light, cultivation insert, growing media (mineral wool and pumice stone) and fertiliser. I also had a selection of seeds specially designed for hydroponics – Lemon Basil, Purple Basil, Endive, Chicory, Rocket and Coriander.  Luckily all the salad leaves I eat.

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/categories/departments/indoor_gardening/

I soaked the mineral wool growing media in water before putting them into the individual plastic inserts.

I put a couple of seeds onto each of the mineral wool plugs and labelled the row ends so I knew what was growing where and how long they took to sprout. Each set of seeds has a different germinating time like any soil based seeds.

Next step was to fill the base to the max line, with water. A word of caution here: Make sure you set up your kit in the location it is staying in as it becomes very heavy and difficult to move once the base is full of water! (My first mistake was to have to move it to a different location after it had been set up!)

After I had decided where it was going to live I put the clear plastic lid on top and left it to it. Although I had been provided with an LED cultivating light I decided not to use it for the nursery growing stage. The seeds had been placed in an area with lots of natural light and was warm and snug with its plastic lid on.

The next week was a mass of activity from both the seeds and me! Seeds were germinating and sprouting upwards, I was taking pictures daily to post on Facebook & Instagram and I spent a lot of time just watching…they really are fascinating to look at.

After 3 days I had my first seedlings, Rocket was the first one to sprout with the two types of Basil being the last. The root system that eventually grows hanging down from the wool pods, looks like something out of Alien.

 

After a week the Rocket was ready to move to the next stage and grow on using pumice. This was where I made my second mistake. In my haste to move the seedlings on and because I had a prototype all the instructions were in Swedish so I made up/guessed the quantity of fertiliser needed to be added to the water in the cultivation unit base. It was wrong! I had added 1 lid full to a litre of water (it was actually 1 lid full to 6 litres of water I found out later) Disaster…I killed all 8 of the seedlings I had moved! I couldn’t believe how upset I was…after all their hard work converting the suns energy I had managed to kill them in less than a day.

A quick message to Melissa to translate and I found out all I needed to know to try again. The good thing about the nursery unit is that you grow 50 seedlings so plenty more for me to transfer and have a go at growing on!

I decided that I would move a selection of seedlings this time as more had grown on and even the one pod that hadn’t shown any interest in growing, decided to suddenly sprout. Result!

I have to say I still haven’t perfected this stage and the seedlings that are still growing in the nursery are doing far better than the ones I have moved.

As you can see from the picture right I have more salad leaves growing on the mineral wool pods (nursery) than I do in the cultivating stage.

What I have learnt from this experience?

• The seedlings do not like to be handled too much, once transferred leave them alone!
• Make sure you set everything up in the location before adding the water to either of the bases. Very heavy and unstable when you need to move it and they hold A LOT of water!
• Check the water content daily in both bases it can disappear quickly on a warm day
• Have a mixture of fertiliser ready to top up the levels with. I used an old squash bottle 🙂
• Grow a selection of seeds as they all sprout at different times, it means you have a constant supply of new seedlings or leaves to cut.
• Don’t give up of get disheartened if it goes wrong.
• The WOW! factor when anyone comes round is a real winner. Everyone wants to know more…be prepared to chat about it for A-G-E-S 😉

To date I am still yet to taste the salad leaves but it wont be long as the nursery ones are coming along nicely. The cultivating stage ones may take a bit longer but I am determined to crack it!

I never thought I would be a convert from the traditional soil based growing method but I loved the whole experience and the thought of being able to grow salad leaves in the middle of winter using this system really appeals. However I will still be using the tried and tested leaves in a tin with soil as they look good too.

Thank you IKEA for giving me the chance to have a go at hydroponics…I look forward to a winter of eating salad leaves

 

When rubbish isn’t rubbish at all..

Well if like me you thought that all kerbside collected rubbish ended up in the landfill, you would be wrong. Local authorities are under increasing pressure to reduce the amount going to landfill and associated costs; finding alternative and innovative ways to reduce the amount being sent is critical.

In Leicestershire all of the collected kerbside rubbish goes off to a Mechanical Biological Treatment plant (MBT) in Cotesbach as a ‘last chance cafe’ to recycle any valuable resources before it heads off to the landfill and I was lucky enough to go and have a tour.

‘The principle aims of New Earth’s technology is to extract recyclable materials where they exist….diverting waste away from landfill and reducing exposure to landfill tax.’

I passed the first test by reversing into a car parking space and that set the tone for the tour, Health and Safety is very important to the company and they manage it with an obsession. We were duly given the Health and Safety briefing and kitted out with a high-viz jacket, hard hat, goggles, mask and gloves.

All kitted out

Our first stop was to see the Delivery area where all the waste is deposited first. Any oversized items are removed and bags are split and waste spread out. The size of space was amazing with the set up sorting through a tonne of rubbish every couple of hours. The waste is then lifted onto a vibrating plate and Sorting takes place.

The vibrating plate…vibrates, funnily enough, and sorts the waste by size. The smaller bio-mass rich particles go into the Bio-Stabilisation Halls and the other materials travel on into the another sorting area for more separation.

Rubbish bags are split

Vibrating plate sorts smaller items

Looking into the casm of rubbish

Chris gives a sense of scale to the rubbish

 

The recyclable metal and plastic materials are separated from the rest of the waste using various methods including a drum separator and magnets, again on a massive scale.

Once all the ‘recyclabubble ‘ material has been removed the remaining waste still doesn’t go off to landfill: it is suitable for use as fuel. Not any old fuel though.

‘Currently the fuel is transported to Europe for use in high efficiency Combined Heat and Power Plants’

‘New Earth is looking at building its own energy recovery plant in Avonmouth, Bristol’

Karen standing next to the ‘ma-hou-sive’ accelerator machines 

As previously mentioned in the Sorting stage, all the bio-mass rich particles are sent to the Bio–Stabilisation Halls to be ‘composted’ down.

 

The Bio-rich particles or ‘fines’ as they are known are stored in long heaps in ‘ma-hou-sive’ enclosed halls allowing the compost to reach its optimal condition. They are kept in here for about 6 weeks and the heaps are turned regularly to help the compost decompose equally.

‘Ma-hou-sive’ turning machines are used daily to turn all the heaps over.

This compostable material cannot be used anywhere other than as a soil conditioner on brownfield sites, once it has been screened and reaches all the legal requirements.

‘Animal By-Product Regulations’ –  In order to meet ABPR requirements the material must reach a temperature of at least 60 degrees C for a minimum of 16 days while being turned every 48 hours. This is monitored by electronic probes inserted along the length of the heaps, sending data back to the automated control system’

This is the end result of the composting stage, looks like normal compost to me!

My Learning Outcomes:

• Who knew so much went on behind the scenes once my kerbside rubbish has been collected
• The whole set up at New Earth was clean, tidy and didn’t smell. Not what I was expecting at all.
• The company tries to maintain the status quo within the location in terms of smells, environment and pests.
• I didn’t see any rats whilst I was there (a bonus!)
• Flies and maggots are sprayed frequently to keep them down
• A fascinating visit that lasted over 2 hours and could have gone on longer
• All this takes place to recycle and reuse as much material as possible before the final drudge is sent to landfill.

#waste #wastemanagement #recycle #newearthsolutions #biomass #biostabilisation #MBT #reduce #reuse #landfill

http://www.newearthsolutions.co.uk/facilities-projects/microsites/cotesbach/cotesbach/

#LiveLagom The Story So Far…

Lets start on the positive, what has changed as a result on engaging in this project…

Source: #LiveLagom The Story So Far…

#LiveLagom The Story So Far…

Doesn’t time fly when you are having fun!

Well we are half way through the project but it many ways it seems like only yesterday it started. So much has happened in a short space of time but we still have a long way to go to make big changes and of course it doesn’t end when the project ends. Sustainability is a way of life.

What has changed?

Lets start on the positive, what has changed as a result of engaging in the project…My first New Years Resolution was to REDUCE WASTE and had bought a lot of IKEA products to do this.

#REDUCE WASTE

LED light bulbs were top of the list and after a good couple of hours, an electrician and lots of cups of tea later we were the proud owners of new lights.  Although too early to see what impact it has on costs, all the indicators and research suggest it will and I am loving all my new lights and bulbs though.

A lot of LED Light Bulbs!

My eldest daughter has always wanted lights around a mirror a bit like actors have in their dressing room: enter MUSIK and 5 x LEDARE LED bulbs stage left. It has made a massive difference to a very dark corner of the bedroom where she can now work, do make-up, homework and see! The only down side was my other daughter decided she liked it so much that she wanted one too! (Cost me more money Ikea!) The end results though are amazing and I would like one in our bedroom when we get round to sorting that out.

 

Star Wars has landed

 

We also bought a new LED light IKEA PS2014 to replace an LED light which had succumbed to a leak (long story!) in the lounge. I chose the ‘Star Wars’ inspired one, this is by far the most ‘Show Stopping’ light that everyone comments on. It looks fantastic whether in daylight or night, on or off 🙂

 

Old v new bulbs and lights

 

It is amazing how much heat the old lights gave off and the LED ones don’t, this is really noticeable in the kitchen which has six bulbs and stretches across the ceiling. Previously you could feel the heat on your head but now you can’t.

The four pronged silver light (middle row, left in the picture), which we bought from Ikea years ago was a real bulb eater and we were having to replace a bulb every 5 or 6 weeks and we have two of them, since replacing them with LED bulbs I haven’t had to change any lights bulbs. It will be interesting to see how long the LED bulbs last.

FOOD WASTAGE was a big area I wanted to concentrate on and this has been a big success both in time and money!  See my blog on reducing food waste!

Why we should all be Composting…

 

Well I have had a dirty weekend away getting down and grubby with compost and worms (…and Karen!) What a fascinating weekend 🙂

Karen and I arrive at Garden Organic

When I signed up to become a ‘Master Composter’ I wasn’t sure what to expect and how they were going to fill two solid days of training  talking about compost, was beyond me. I can honestly say I enjoyed every minute.

There were about twenty of us willing volunteers being trained from all walks of life and three different councils, with a variety of reasons for being there but with a common aim: to pass the composting message on.

Kate, Alex and David, our knowledgeable & enthusiastic trainers for the weekend all work for Garden Organic and what they don’t know about composting and wormeries isn’t worth knowing.

 

Bed time reading!

Manuals, books and information sheets were handed out to all the volunteers to read, digest (excuse the pun) and refer to once we are let loose on the public.

The session started with Kate asking us to get to know our neighbour and find out an interesting fact about them. We then had to introduce our buddy and share the information with the rest of the group. Some amazing and very interesting facts came out including some one who had lived in the woods for a year, another had slept in a snow hole and someone had shared a hot tub with a famous boxer! Next up an ‘Introduction to Garden Organic and the Master Composter Scheme’ then we looked at ‘Why Compost?’ which concluded with a well earned tea break.

 

Why Compost?

Good question…it isn’t all about allotments and growing things or about ‘The Good Life’ it is about WASTE, WASTE DISPOSAL and reducing the amount of rubbish going to LANDFILL.

Local councils are targeted to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and increase the amount of recycling by households (both of which costs money to the tax payer) as well as composting, re-using or upcycling. Landfill sites are becoming full so if we all started to compost it would reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

The average household can divert up to 150kg of waste from landfill as a result of home composting. This in turn reduces the amount of methane gas produced which helps reduce global warming.

Note: When waste is sent to landfill it does not break down as air cannot get to it to help it break down and more and more waste is piled on top which results in the production of methane gas.

Did you know councils pay on the tonnage they send to landfill it currently costs Leicestershire County Council £120/tonne of waste they send. Sending recycling to a plant also has a cost but it is a lot less than waste disposal and better for the environment. A lot of the ‘reuse initiatives’ mean that many items don’t end up in landfill, especially bulky items, so don’t incur a cost.

Composting is an inexpensive, natural process that transforms kitchen and garden waste into valuable and nutrient rich food for your garden, pots and tubs. It is easy to make and use. Check out this site for inspiration.

http://www.recyclenow.com

What is Compost?

Compost is the breakdown of organic material by oxygen. There are three stages to the composting process; degradation, conversion and maturation. Each stage uses hundreds of different organisms including bacteria, fungi, insects and worms to leave you with a rich earthy substance full of valuable nutrients that plants and soil need.

Top left: a compost bin cut in half, top right: real compost in a Johanna, Bottom left: Leaf Mould, Bottom right: real compost on a New Zealand bin

What can you Compost?

Back to the training – We played a game where cards were distributed: we had to put them into piles of YES, NO or CAUTION to see what we already knew about composting and more importantly what we didn’t! The was lots of debate about whether it was Yes or No happened in our team!

The YES‘s can be further split into GREENS and BROWNS and an equal mix of both is needed as GREENS are the ‘wet’ materials which add moisture, nitrogen and rot quickly. The BROWNS provide carbon, fibre, allow air pockets to form and rot slowly.

GREENS include but not exclusive – vegetable peelings, tea bags, grass cuttings, cut flowers, nettles, comfrey leaves, rhubarb leaves and poisonous plants.

BROWNS include but not exclusive – cardboard, egg boxes, egg shells, wood ash, cotton wool and woollen jumpers (who knew).

The NO’s include cooked food, fat, coal ash, plastics, meat and fish scrapings, dairy products and dog faeces.

Those in the CAUTION pile include perennial weeds, Christmas trees, diseased plants and evergreen prunings (which you can compost but they need a bit more attention).

For a more comprehensive list go to http://www.recyclenow.com or http://www.homecomposting.org.uk which is the Garden Organic site.

What type of Compost bin should I get?

A whole array of different compost bins are available

 

The Double New Zealand

 

Beehive Bin

 

 

Who knew there were so many different compost bins available!

There is something for almost every garden and every pocket depending on your need. Whether you want a ”hot’ or ‘cold’ composter, a digester, a tumbler, a leaf mould, a wormery, one with a base, one without, natural wood looking one, cheap or expensive plastic one, instant or build one etc etc: the list is endless.

As groups we had to design our ideal compost bin…which ended up being my favourite made from upcycling pallets. I would like to have a go at making this design and putting it in my garden if I can ever get my hands on some pallets (before hubbie chops them up and burns them in the wood burner!)

Our intrepid leaders – John for Leicestershire County Council and David and Kate from Garden Organic

 

Our group and my, IDEAL compost bin

Not enough space for a compost bin or live in a flat without outside space…no problem, a wormery could be the answer.

 

What is a Wormery?

Yes it is in the title, a wormery contains WORMS! and lots of them.

The guys giving us the low down on using a wormery

Wormeries are small scale units so they are suitable for people with no room for a standard compost bin or for use with children who love getting down with nature. They can be kept inside or in warmer months, outside. The worms digest kitchen waste to produce both compost and a liquid fertiliser (or drain cleaner as one of the trainers, Alex told us).

Whilst you can buy wormeries, again in different sizes and costs, they are quite simple to make according to Alex who had made her own. She had bought three small black plastic boxes from Ikea one with a lid, drilled holes in the top two boxes to allow the worms to move about and liquid to drain down to the bottom box, bought some fishing worms and started to feed them with kitchen waste: nice and compact and very portable and more importantly cheap to make. You can see it in the picture above.

Compost! Compost! Compost!

Hopefully I have opened your eyes to the possibility of introducing composting into your life, garden, neighbourhood. I am now a ‘Master Composter’ and as part of the scheme I have signed up to dedicate thirty hours to promote, present and push composting.

If you would like more information, have some questions or just a chat (about composting!) then get in touch and I will be happy to help r point you in the right direction.

Right I am off to Ikea to look for black boxes and the fishing shop for worms  🙂

Fellow Master Composters

 

 

 

This week it’s all about the food!

#COMPOSTING

As I have mentioned before I hate waste of any kind so over the past few weeks I have been looking at ways to reduce food wastage.

A chance conversation with my very good friend Pippa and I am the proud owner of a ‘compost bin’ and I am as happy as a pig in mud 🙂

We were having coffee discussing the #LiveLagom project and I said I was looking at our food waste as part of the Love Food Hate Waste (LFHW) project and needed to reduce the amount of food I was throwing away as well as get a compost bin. Pippa said ‘I have a spare one, never been used; you are very welcome to it’. Well she didn’t need to ask me twice, the next day she was walking down the road with it under her arm (so to speak)

#Problem 1

Where to put the composter in the garden, that was accessible but out the way. After lots of reading up on the subject of COMPOSTING on the local council site  www.lesswaste.org.uk I decided to put it in between a tree trunk and a stone step that had a bit of dead space between it.

Compost bin in situ

 

In this position it will receive sun during the summer months as well as shade from the tree but more importantly it is in view of the back door so no excuse for not using it!

#Problem 2

The next step was to find something to collect the peelings, tea bags and other food material into whilst it was being collected in the kitchen. An old plastic mushroom box was just the job: it isn’t too large but holds enough very LiveLagom.

An old mushroom pot makes an excellent food collector

 

#Problem 3

Getting the combination right: I need to ensure I have a good mix of ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ material going into the compost bin or ‘greens’ and ‘browns’ to ensure the right texture is achieved. I didn’t know there was such a science to it!

Green waste provides plenty of bacteria and nitrogen to the compost and brown waste contains carbon. Too much green and I will end up with a sloppy mess, too much brown and I will house ants and woodlice. YUK! The other thing I need to consider is rats and mice especially as we live next to open fields. Double YUK!

Well I have made a start so watch this space to see how successful (or not) I am as I now need to keep filling the composter and wait then for about 6 months for the finished product!

So no pressure Pip but I’ve made a start, so can you and we can compare compost then! 🙂

I now need to go on a visit to the Leicester Botanical Gardens at the University to see their composting demonstration site and talk t the experts to pick up some top tips. http://www.carryoncomposting.com who knows I may become a ‘Master Composter’ yet 🙂

 

#FOOD WASTE

The Food Waste diary

 

 

If there is one thing that makes me mad, it is seeing food being wasted and going in the bin. Food is expensive to buy and produce and with all the talk of supermarkets, farmers and food wastage I knew we had a part to play too.

About 5 years ago I wrote the Love Food Hate Waste training programme for Leicestershire County Council so I knew about ‘sell by/ use by dates’ what to freeze as well as making other meals out of left overs. I have always written a list before shopping and I had an idea of what we would be eating for the week. I taught the programme so there was nothing I could learn right?…wrong!

#Problem 1

I kept a diary of all our family food wastage (before I started using the composter) for one week and was amazed at what we were throwing away. Bread (ends, toast and pulled off bits), bagels (gone mouldy), pasta (cooked too much),  bananas (I had frozen to use at a later date but my daughter had decided to use as a cold compress in the middle of the night!) cereals (too much poured out and ran out of time to eat it) juice that hadn’t been drunk etc etc… In total I estimated we were throwing out the equivalent to about £8 a week or £32 – £40 a month. Criminal.

#Problem 2

I deduced the problem was the family 😉 but I couldn’t change them!

Hubbie is gluten-free so cannot have the same wheat-based foods as the rest of the family and where in the past he would finish off bread/pasta/bagels etc this wasn’t happening. I tend not to eat bread and pasta but the teens love it.

Pasta cooking in the Ikea pans

The next issue was time…time to eat. Breakfast is a bit chaotic with everyone helping themselves and rushing out the door to get to school/work on time. The final issue appeared to be portion control, too much being cooked for the people eating. The teens were and are the biggest wasters of food in the family and I think part of the problem is that they don’t buy it with their own money so it doesn’t cost them.

 

#Solution 1

Get the teens up earlier! Obvious but not going to happen. I can save bread/toast/bagels in the freezer to use in a bread and butter pudding for when guests come over or use it in one of my cookery classes when I have collected enough or just limit the amount of bread I buy.

#Solution 2

I have a spaghetti pasta measurer from the LFHW project and need to find a measuring cup for other types of pasta and ensure the teens use it to control the amount of pasta they cook.

So lets see how much difference it makes over the next few weeks. I think the biggest thing I learnt was to make sure I revisit #foodwastage at least once a year to see what bad habits we have picked up!

 

#GYO

A lemon pip shoot

Carrot tops, celery, onions and leeks

Red cabbage starting to sprout

Growing your own doesn’t have to be about gardening and working outside…a window sill works just as well. I have started growing carrot tops, onions, leeks, cabbage and I have even managed to get a lemon pip to start to grow 🙂 No soil needed!

A lemon pip shoot

Carrot tops, celery, onions and leeks

Cabbage sprouting

Learning Saturday…

 

#Upcycling

Everyone busy at the workshop

Today I have been on a ‘Furniture Recycling’ workshop run by local charity  Work Link Project, funded by Leicestershire County Council Waste Management. What a fun four hours which went far too quickly.

Before pic

 

 

The leaflet said you could take something from home to upcycle or choose something there; I took along an old Ikea stool which had definitely seen better days. It is a frequently used stool as it is so handy to move around but it had paint splodges over it.

There were seven other people there when Karen and I arrived, of which most had brought our own thing. The range of furniture to upcycle was vast – a selection of tables, bar stool, bathroom cabinet and shelf unit.

Deb the tutor introduced the session and gave a brief over view of what the Work Link Project is about before introducing some of the furniture that had been upcycled by the volunteers who work on the project. Luke was also introduced as he works as a volunteer and was here to help today (he was brill). Colours, paint and finishes were discussed in some detail with everyone having a clear idea of their required end result.

Recipe for Chalk Paint – 2/3rds Emulsion Paint to 1/3rd Calcium Carbonate/Plaster of Paris

Next was the paint mixing  (not for the faint hearted when Luke brought the drill mixer out!)

Sieving the Calcium Carbonate

 

Creams, greens, pinks and blues were all measured, mixed and remixed until the right colour was achieved. Luke was very careful whilst he was mixing, the same cannot be said about Deb who managed to spray me with magnolia paint! LOL

The couple behind me were attempting to upcycle a couple of tables they had picked up from a car boot but had to move out of my way as I was sanding down my stool. Dust was going everywhere!

Karen had bought a pine bathroom cabinet from a charity shop which she wanted to upcycle with a nautical theme to match her (soon to be) freshly painted bathroom.

Karen choose blue paint to go with her theme

 

Everyone was busy rubbing down, painting, drying off with a hair dryer or planning their next move. I chose to do my stool in two colours – baby blue and cream which meant taping off sections of the stool which I wanted in the different colour. A quick tea break whilst the first coat dried and then back to it.

Taped off

Time just ran away and before I knew it people around me were packing up and ready to leave, I was still drying mine with the hairdryer. Karen very kindly came and gave me a helping hand as I find patches where the cream had gone over the blue and vis versa.

 

There were some fabulous finished products that had been distressed and waxed within the four hours, mine still needs a final rub down and a wax before it is complete. Can’t wait to have another go…watch out wooden items I’m on your case. Jx

http://www.worklinkproject.co.uk/

 

Products to use

From pine to trendy

Decopage table

Wax

Nearly finished