One month in to living at the new house and we have taken a few green steps. All the lights are now low energy, and we have Eco Balls-

They’re each about the size of a tennis ball and filled with little pellets that make a pleasant rattling sound when shaken. Clare claims to have seen them fizzing in the wash but I have to say I’ve never looked that closely. Our clothes now smell of nothing, which is nice, and are just as clean as ever. They should last anything up to a thousand washes and save us hundreds of pounds. Find out more at www.ecozone.co.uk.

The house doesn’t have recycling bins. There are bottle banks quite close by, but I’m lazy and want to be able to just walk out of the house and throw the bottles into one of the skinny bins like other people on the street can. I’ve called and asked to have some supplied, but none have turned up and it’s possible they won’t supply them to blocks of flats, which is annoying. There’s a great pile of paper waiting to be shredded and thrown in a bin should one ever arrive.

On the keeping things local front there are four butchers and a fish mongers within walking distance and they all supply quality stuff with the minimum of packaging. There’s also a whole food shop in Withington and a number of small grocers. Hopefully we can cut supermarket purchases to a minimum if not stopping them altogether.

We’re going to work out another set of targets for this month and announce them as soon as they’re decided. Stay tuned.

Technorati tag: Going Green, Casa Spinneyhead