Reap the benefits of Nancy’s experience by adopting habits that are good for the planet as well as your pocket.
1Cook with a full oven. When I have my oven on, I ensure it’s packed full, which makes a huge difference to my energy bills. What many people don’t realise is how much you can cook in the oven: mashed potato, rice, pasta, hardboiled eggs. Cook lots of dishes together, store them in the fridge or freezer, then heat them up in the microwave when you need them. You can put the oven on twice a week but cook enough for seven days.
2Ditch the chlorine bleach. My home-made Pure Magic does a much better job and is much healthier. Switching to Pure Magic requires a bit of effort initially, but if you label the bottle with the ingredients it’s very easy to make up more when you need it. Mix together 200g citric acid, 150ml boiling water, 10ml eco-friendly washing-up liquid and a few drops of essential oil for scent. Pure Magic works for so many things: you can use it for whitening whites and for dissolving stains or even rust. Squirt it on to soiled fabric, rub it in and pop into the washer at 20°C. This is a beast of a cleaner, although it should be noted that it’s not suitable for all surfaces and does have to be rinsed off or it goes sticky.
3Use beeswax wraps and cereal-packet liners to store food. You can buy ready-made beeswax wraps but they tend to be made with thick fabric; if you make them yourself instead, you can use the thinnest cotton material. The best I ever used was a muslin cloth, which was so pliable – great for wrapping sandwiches and cheese. Cereal-packet liners are free, and made of food-grade plastic. Also, use plastic boxes to store food in the fridge. Cutting out clingfilm is all about thinking differently.
4Switch to cold washing to reduce your laundry energy costs by more than 60%. It’s called a cold wash, but really it’s a cool wash and cleans just as well, especially if you pre-soak and use a long cycle. Ninety per cent of the energy used to po
