Sat, 18 Apr 2026 10:51:38 +0100 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/ Lussumo Vanilla 1.0.3 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=464 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=464 Wed, 11 Jul 2007 21:28:11 +0100 a.bijl
I am stuck on the question of a suitable green treatment for moth-proofing the fleeces. Anybody got some experience or ideas about what and how to do this?]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8306 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8306 Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:43:54 +0000 RobinB https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=14224 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=14224 Sat, 30 Apr 2016 22:03:38 +0100 gyrogear
if so, please consider whispering me a response...

cheers,

gg]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=12441 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=12441 Tue, 12 Aug 2014 20:27:38 +0100 jamesingram "In the short term we should be reducing energy usage (but no one has every taken me up on my 48 kWh/day challenge, ever) as it is a fast and effective way to reduce CO2e, improve air quality, reduce dependency etc, but it is not a cheap option, and probably never will be. "

Would you like to expand on this,
does it include all aspect of life ?
cheers]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7592 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7592 Sun, 17 Jul 2011 18:46:12 +0100 JT101
Why bother?

Save yourself hundreds of pounds, learn a new self sufficiency skill and keep a heck of a lot of plastic out of landfill!

-Straight ("Cut throat") Razor: Because it's a skill, an artform you can be proud of. It costs virtually nothing once setup, it provides the closest shave of all, takes no more time than any other type of shaving (if you factor in the cost & time factors of shopping and earning the money to buy the stuff)

-Disposable razors: Obviously are terrible. All that plastic going to landfill and slowly leaching pollutants into our water supply.

-Replaceable head multiblade razors: The common ones most people have with replaceable heads are becoming ever more specialised to increase company profit. Whilst this may be good for choice, it invariably means razor heads are no longer interchangeable, leading to more waste and more cost!
"Recycline" do recycled razors with replaceable heads but it still ends up in landfill

-Electric shavers: Not a very close shave, always need electricity, expensive blade head replacement & cleaning equipment

-Safety razor: Remember those ones that used the very thin double sided wilkinsons sword blades. However, you're still dependent on buying stuff



Waste:
It might not seem like much to throw away one blade a week, but that's 52 blades a year, and that's just one person. Multiply that by say 30million, and you're talking 1.5 billion blades discarded each year. Could be more than that if you now include women

Things you'll need:
Straight ("Cut Throat") Razor
Leather or Man made Strop ("Sharpening belt")
Hone ("Sharpening stone") - Not the same one used for knives which is coarser
Paste & oil for leather strop

Cost
To save money buy it all secondhand on Ebay. However, you'll see loads of cheap ones on there to be avoided. They're made of inferior quality steel and are notoriously difficult to sharpen. You should look for certain brands made in places such as Sheffield, UK; USA; and Solingen, Germany e.g.: http://straightrazorplace.com/razors/28869-top-10-straight-brands-look.html
Most of the secondhand ones floating around are 50-120 years old. A real piece of history and often as good as the day they were made.
A leather strop needs to be worn in like a good pair of shoes, so a secondhand one saves you all the hard work. It shouldn't be too worn in though! Alternative is something like a Tony Miller Vegan strop which are reportedly pretty good.
The sharpening stone could be bought new, but second hand ones are generally much cheaper. Ones made from Welsh slate are a good find.
The paste, and oils etc can be bought new.

Expect to pay second hand: Razor £10 - £100, Strop £10, Hone £10. Compared with £1-2 per cartridge for a standard replaceable head razor which is £50-£100 per year, year on year, that's quite a saving for an initial investment.

If you want everything new, but "Shave Ready" i.e. sharpened, etc: http://www.theinvisibleedge.co.uk has good quality kits for around £100 upwards. Still a worthwhile investment in my opinion


Maintenance and Shaving
-Occasionally you need to hone (sharpen) the blade on a good quality sharpening stone of 4000 - 12000 grit which is finer than that for a knife.
-Before each use a razor needs to be stropped on a flexible strip of leather backed with canvas or a man made equivalent. Unlike honing a blade, in which a whetstone removes metal bent out of alignment from the blade's edge, stropping the blade re-aligns the indentations without removing any material. The strop may be a hanging strip or a hand-held paddle.
-Preparation as above is as important as the shave itself, but the art of shaving is a skill to be mastered

http://straightrazorplace.com is a great forum on the subject
www.youtube.com is great for videos

It can all get a bit in depth, so try to keep it simple and don't get too bogged down with the technicalities discussed in the forums. Just follow the advice and practise

WELL DONE! You're just saved yourself hundreds of pounds, learned a new self sufficiency skill and kept a heck of a lot of plastic out of landfill.]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7359 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7359 Mon, 09 May 2011 19:45:44 +0100 fibee https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7231 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7231 Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:58:01 +0100 AndyP1 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1125 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1125 Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:13:16 +0000 StuartB
What renewable technology would you use to provide all your heating and power needs for a 4 bed house? If it can't be done for less than £15k how much do you think it would cost?]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6700 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6700 Fri, 17 Dec 2010 11:34:22 +0000 Ldriver I'm new to this forum, long time peeper though. I'm building at the moment and am considering rainwater harvesting to be collected in an underground tank and then pumped back upstairs to a tank serving cisterns and washing machine. Could some form of small hydroelect generator be connected inline as underground tank fills and it's output sent to the smartmeter to offset the cost of pumping it upstairs?]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6032 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6032 Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:29:36 +0100 mike7 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1977 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1977 Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:43:04 +0100 tony
What speed should we drive at?

Should there be a lower speed limit on motorways?

Could we change the world by all driving a bit slower?]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1211 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1211 Tue, 05 Feb 2008 03:14:24 +0000 impresivus https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1118 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1118 Wed, 16 Jan 2008 20:50:56 +0000 tony
BUT WHAT IF I was prepared to use my washing machine only on windy days? or to adapt my usage depending on availability?

It is possible for us now to buy green electricity from a meter that allows heavier use on windy days or times. The so called green companies need to get to grips with this idea and start marketing smart meters and appliances.

Additionally they could also sell band rated supplies, i.e. lower rates on windy days and graduated rates on other days/times linked to supply.
The technology is available so why isnt it being used?

It could even be that it would pay me to store some of the cheapest ( or free? ) electricity for my own use when the rate is higher?

Is there a willingness anywhere to change the way we buy or sell electricity, or to make lifestyle changes?]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4432 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4432 Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:15:45 +0100 betterroof
http://www.homedesignfind.com/appliances/green-fridge-invention-uses-almost-no-electricity/

why we can't buy at this level I don't know - it would be interesting to see if there are any food storage safety implications...]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1814 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1814 Wed, 28 May 2008 20:13:24 +0100 ThriftyYorkshirelass https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=3008 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=3008 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:46:13 +0000 Shepherd
What I'd really like to do as well, and can't see how to do it, is to have a system where when it rains
1. The greenhouse is watered.
2. Then the butt fills and surplus goes to the pond.

Will be growing tomatoes so don't want to over-water them, so need to ration the water. So what I need is a system that:

1. When it rains the water goes first into the pipes of the ground level root irrigation system.
2. When more than a pre-set volume of water per day has gone into the irrigation system, there is some sort of diverter/valve/switch that sends the water now into the butt.

Ideally all done mechanically - maybe float/tank/syphon sort of arrangement with a count on the number of times the syphon runs per day. (Bit like the way a dishwasher fills.)

Any ideas? :bigsmile:]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1995 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1995 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:52:03 +0100 greenman
I had idly wondered if I could rig up something water powered (bearing in mind that the only water in the ditch is what runs off my roof about 30m away, and therefore not likely to generate much power) - perhaps a screw thread in an angled pipe to feed a small header tank at the right height for the butts.

Anyone know of a design that might do the job please?]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1858 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1858 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:40:40 +0100 SimonG
I am looking at micro generation for a number of reasons -

1) Cost savings
2) Potential to go "off grid" for electricity
3) Environmental benefits
4) Energy security
5) Understanding the viability of technologies

After some research it appears that wind power is really not a credible option. We currently consume around 17kwh per day and live in the grim East Midlands.

I read in another post that Keith estimated the cost of PV at around £6,000. I am in a fortunate position that I can get hold of a leading suppliers panels at reseller cost prices so in theory the payback could be low if I did the work myself, although I would need a kind person to design it for me.

The main issue is that I dont know the size of system I would need. Could I manage to get 17kwh per day out of a PV?

My house is 10 years old, south facing with a roof width of 8 metres. The south facing pitch is around 3.5 metres high.

The panels I am looking at has the following performance.

Open Circuit Voltage (Voc)* 36.3 V
Maximum Power Voltage (Vpm)* 28.71 V
Short Circuit Current (Isc) 8.35 A
Maximum Power Current (Ipm) 7.53 A
Rated Power (Pmax)* 216 W (+10% / -5%)
Module Efficiency Maximum Power (hm) 13.3%
Maximum System Voltage 600 VDC
Series Fuse Rating 15 A
Type of Output Terminal Lead Wire with MC Connector

I really don't know how to work viability out and would really appreciate your assistance.]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1461 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1461 Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:31:22 +0000 GBP-Keith
People deliver post to my door every day
The internet is just there whenever I switch on my computer
I can order anything I like and have it delivered to my door for next to no cost in next to no time

My wife grows a lot of our 'greens' but we still buy the staples like flour, rice and potatoes out of season
OK, our energy is supplied almost 100% on-farm but this doesn't fuel the postman's van
We drink water pumped up from under our feet but I still buy-in organic beer

Of course I always choose the 'greener' things but it is still consumerism.

Consumer goods (electronics etc) get ever cheaper even in a recession?

Apparently the Polish workforce is returning home and there is a lot of talk about who will build our buildings for us. Are our children not interested.

Zero carbon households - in my opinion there are none.]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=609 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=609 Wed, 29 Aug 2007 10:32:02 +0100 fostertom www.greeninsurancecompany.co.uk
That's OK then - carte blanche to use the car. Is this credible?

"Our initial project is a new forest being planted at Helmburn farm in Ettrickbridge, Scottish Borders. Over 6,500 new trees will be planted there. Our money has enabled the project to go ahead and gives us exclusive rights to use the forest for offsetting CO2 emissions. Although a voluntary project the scheme will be subject to rigid audit to ensure that it delivers on its contractual commitments and that the new forest is being properly managed. We have teamed up with Forest Carbon www.forest-carbon.co.uk to oversee this. The forest will have full access rights and anyone is free to visit it. You may even hug the trees if you so wish."]]>