Hi, and welcome my name is Mike and I look after the ecofamily blog.

Here at Ecofamily we have a very simple goal, in our own small way we hope to educate and empower individuals and families to enable better choices to be made in the way we live our lives. We offer ideas, products and lifestyle changes that can both save money and help sustain our planet. We like to call this Economical Ecology, and the best place to start this is at home with family, friends and neighbours.

Regards

       We try to review products which fit with the EcoFamily goals as often as possible. We hope this will give you plenty of information to make informed choices when choosing a product or a lifestyle change.

We also rank our products and ideas based upon the content which appears in our REVIEWS category and also upon the comments and replies we receive following the review.

 Our Top 10 ranking can be seen on our RATINGS page.

    Test your knowledge of Energy Saving with a simple quiz, you may be suprised by the answers!

   Considering 100s of litres of water are being wasted every day, per person, the idea of recycling some of that water wasted down the drain for toilet flushing makes perfect sense.

Ecoplay water recycling systems are unique water management systems which collect and clean bath and shower water so it can be reused for flushing the toilet. Using the Ecoplay system means that the toilet is no longer flushed using solely mains water but uses cleaned bath and shower water instead. This means that a saving of up to 30% in mains water consumption can be achieved.

The Ecoplay system is easy to install in newly built houses and renovation projects. The space it occupies is minimal and it will fit in any space in which a standard toilet can be installed. It also requires very little adaptation to the piping.

The Ecoplay water recycling system consists of three key parts, which are:

* The Cleaning Tank - Where the water is collected and cleaned.

* The Storage Tank - Where the water is stored post-cleaning. The total capacity amounts to approximately 100 litres

* The Control Unit - An advanced built-in computer system that monitors water quality, detects householder activity (how often water is drained and how often the the toilet is flushed) and monitors how long water is stored. It automatically drains water before storing it for too long to prevent it becoming stale.

Ecoplay water recycling always ensures that there is enough water for flushing the toilet. If there is not enough bath and shower water available, then the system intelligently tops up the storage tank with mains water. The system is a great solution and is approved for both domestic and commercial / trade uses.

If the Ecoplay system is used along with another water recycling device such as the Eco Vat rainwater harvester, the house will be able to conserve even more water resources and will then be even more environmentally friendly.

        Now there’s a bright idea, Tescos are promoting energy saving by selling energy saving light bulbs, both bayonet and screw fixing types for 1p each, yes 1p. Hurry to get them though because it is first come first served and when their gone their gone. They are available on-line and in store.

The renewable energy centre has produced a good little guide to saving energy around the house, including options for renewables and also links to other sources of information. The guide can be found here.

Channel 4 TV have a video diary running for families who are trying to save energy you can watch the first installment here.

Well its as sexy as green transport gets

      We have become wedded to our cars and the government knows it. This budget has, as usual, increased the cost of motoring but only by an amount that will not stop us buying fuel and hence swelling the governments tax stream. This would be OK if we could be sure that the revenues were used to improve transport efficiency and reduce pollution, but we cant as the tax take disappears into the black hole of government spending.
The soaring cost of living brought widespread calls for the fuel duty rise to be postponed, while threats of new taxes for larger cars had been made.
But was the Budget 2008 good or bad for motorists?

Fuel duty rises postponed

 April’s 2p-a-litre rise in fuel duty has been posponed until October but with a real term increase of 0.5p a lt from 2010
 

Showroom tax increased

Changes to the road tax regime will mean support for lower emission cars but higher charges for larger family vehicles, 4×4s and executive cars. From 2009 there will be new tax bands for the most polluting cars.

From 2010, the lowest emission cars will pay no tax in the first year, while the most polluting will face a higher first year rate not yet revealed.
Road pricing

Unpopular moves to introduce road pricing throughout the UK took a step forwards, with the announcement of new funding for exploring local congestion schemes and charging for car travel.
EcoFamily advice is think green if you can, pollution these days does not pay ( literally ) if you think green the options available will usually be the most cost effective.

You might also want to watch this video about the current green car show at the impressive Eden centre.

    Wool has warming properties and has long been a natural choice for keeping us warm.  So, why not our homes too?  Thermafleece is a completely sustainable, natural and safe insulation product produced from the blended wool of British hill sheep and is suitable for insulation of roof, wall and floor space as well as sound-proofing.

Thermafleece has a thermal conductivity (k value) of 0.039 which is comparable with synthetic alternatives (see table below for full thermal resistance figure

Thermafleece has a thermal conductivity (k value) of 0.039 which is comparable with synthetic alternatives (see table below for full thermal resistance figures), is fireproof and insect proof due to the addition of naturally derived agents, is recyclable and has a life expectancy of over 50 years.

What are the advantages of Thermafleece over synthetic insulation materials?

• Thermafleece is produced using 1/7th of the embodied energy required for glass fibre insulation production
• It contains no permethrin, pyrethroids, pesticides or formaldehydes
• Thermafleece is not irritating to the skin, eyes or respiratory tract and can therefore be installed without protective gloves and clothing
• Warm in the winter, cool in the summer.  Due to its hygroscopic properties, Thermafleece absorbs water in the winter which provides warmth (by up to 4ºC) and releases water vapour in the summer which lowers the building temperature (by as much as 7ºC compared to synthetic insulation)
• Thermafleece maintains fibre stability and retains it shape to give consistent thermal performance

We like this product it is not the cheapest but balancing its environmental benefits against the extra cost we think its worth it. Take a look at   Thermafleece for more details.

(1 votes, average: 3 out of 5)

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      Did you know that If you currently have no loft insulation and you install the recommended 270mm depth you could save around £110 a year on your heating bills and nearly 1 tonne of CO2 per year. Thats great news for you and great news for the atmosphere.Unlike many energy saving initiatives such as solar panels and wind turbines which typically have a payback period of many years the cost of loft insulation can be re-couped in as little as 2 years.
Did you also know that If everyone in the UK topped up their loft insulation to 270mm, £380m would be saved each year. That’s enough money to pay the annual fuel bills of over 400,000 families.

Loft insulation is easy to install and should be the first priority if you are serious about saving money and reducing CO2

Take a look at our review of thermafleece loft insulation.    Thermafleece

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