'Green' Money Saving: Our Tips in the Sunday Post

The Sunday Post has some great home features and we were thrilled when they asked Green Uses For Waste for some tips on how to spruce up your home by re-using and recycling what you already have!

Here's what we wrote...

Clean Up Your Act

There are great ways to save money - and benefit the environment

• Takeaway containers, margarine and ice-cream tubs are great for freezing leftovers or for re-suing as lunch boxes. Small plastic fruit juice bottles can be handy for holidays to fill up with shampoo, shower gel, washing-up liquid etc.
• Plastic bottles can be used as mini greenhouses, while youhurt pots are idea for seedlings.
• When the fabric on sofas and chairs gets shabby, the frame is often still OK. Simply re-upholster them yourself or use a professional. This could be cheaper than buying a new suite.
• Learn some basic DIY and save money by repairing things yourself. If it's not fixable, ask yourself if it can be reused in some other way or recycled.
• Save water by fitting a Hippo or other save-a-flush to your toilet - it can save up to 2000 gallons of water a year.
• Before you throw something away, clothing included, think about if there's any way you can do it up, modernise it or otherwise revamp it.
• Why not make start making your own compost? A cheap composting bin can be purchased from your local council.
• Gathering rainwater outside in a water butt is an efficient way to water flowers and plants. Water butts are also often available at a discounted price from your council.
• Reducing the central heating temperature by a degree or two makes a surprising difference to how much energy you consume.

Make Your Own Household Cleaners:

Soda water - is an excellent stain remover. Pour over fresh spills and dab. It will also improve ground in stains.
White vinegar - is probably the cheapest all-purpose cleaner you’ll find. Once it dries it won’t smell of vinegar either; the smell evaporates to nothing. White vinegar can be used as a basic cleaner for kitchens and bathrooms etc when it’s diluted half and half with water. This mixture will also neutralise any unpleasant smells in the home.
Baking soda - costs next to no money and is ideal for unclogging drains. Pour a quarter of a cup of baking soda down the drains weekly and follow with hot water.
Olive oil - mixed with lemon juice is great for polishing wood. Use a quarter of a cup of lemon with half a cup of olive oil.
Coca cola - cleans loos! Pour leftover Coke down the loo and leave overnight. Stains should be gone in the morning.
Lemons - cut through grease and also smell really fresh and clean. Add lemon to a dishcloth and it’s as good as washing-up liquid. Lemons are also great for getting rid of smells and cleaning microwaves and fridges.