Electronic Devices Prevent Proper Sleep

Sorry for the time lapse since my last post, it's been a busy two weeks getting ready for another operation this Friday. I've also been setting up a new business and that's taken off quicker than I ever imagined so it's been all go on that front too!

Things might be a little hit and miss for a few weeks while I'm recovering or I could be posting daily from boredom - we'll wait and see! But either way bear with me, I've got lots of exciting things to share with you over the coming months. :)

For now I wanted to share this article with you:

Light From Electronic Devices Prevents Proper Night's Sleep

The results of the study are really interesting and I've experienced first hand the difference having no devices can make. I have to put my hand up and say I've been sleeping with either a lamp or fairy lights on pretty much my entire life. When I was old enough to go without a night light I was sleeping in the attic room with a ladder, so I had a small light to stop me falling in the night and I never really grew out of that habit.

Since reading the above report I thought I'd experiment a little, first banning our mobiles from the bedroom (I'm a 4am facebook surfer) and then turning the fairy lights off too. I found my quality of sleep improved instantly - just 3 nights in and I'm falling asleep much faster, being less restless and waking up naturally before my alarm rather than groaning and hitting snooze. Mid-night bathroom visits have become a bit riskier and we need to find a solution to the loud ticking of our new alarm clock, but overall I'm very happy with the results. :)

And of course I have to mention the eco benefit of not having the light on all night - a habit I was reluctant to break but am glad I did!

What do you think? Are you tempted to have a technology ban in the bedroom to see the results? Let me know in the comments below. :)

News and Promises

Hi all!

Has it really been 5 months since I last posted? The time really goes fast!

This time I have a legitimate excuse and hopefully my promise to blog more regularly can be kept from now on. I've had all manner of health problems since April and all my energy has been put into keeping up work and having something that resembles a social life! After months of doctors looking at me with a puzzled expression, I was finally taken into hospital 2 weeks ago and all was revealed.

I've been suffering from severe endometriosis (information can be found here) which has led to a lot of pain, tiredness and general grumpiness over the months. I was in hospital for a week, had a minor op to find the problem and fix it, and my health has been improving dramatically ever since! I'm immensely grateful for all the doctors and nurses I came into contact with, they are all incredible people and the care I received was second to none. So thank you to all the staff at Southmead Hospital Cotswald Ward for your help. :)

So there's the news, now for my promise!

I'm completely changing my life, from the inside out. I've already got more energy and that's only increasing each day, so it's time to do something with it. :) I'm going to be tackling our finances harder than ever before (3 weeks off work isn't cheap!), overhauling my diet to get my health back up to scratch and getting crafty again as I find things to do during my recovery. All of this means I'll have plenty to blog about, so that's what I'll be doing!

I won't be promising a daily update, as that was very difficult to keep up even in peak health. But I can promise 2-3 posts a week and possibly some featured posts or guest posts to supplement my own. :)

And that's all I have for you today! I'm off to be inspired by recipes, project ideas and frugal blogs. ;)

Fascinating Facts

We all want to be more Green but without knowing the effect we're having it's hard to keep up motivation. So as promised I've put together a few interesting facts about recycling and the actual impact it has on the environment so we can keep the momentum going. :)

Laptops use 80% less energy than a desktop.
They're portable, last hours without being plugged in and can connect us to the internet on the go so we already love our laptops. Now you can also be smug that you're helping the environment at the same time!

If everyone re-used 2ft of wrapping ribbon just once it would save 38,000 miles worth.
That's enough to tie a bow around the earth!

A tumble drier uses 3x more energy than the washing machine.
So if you wash and dry your clothes with machines it's the equivalent of washing them 4 times over. An airer is more environmentally friendly and can be hidden out of sight if necessary. :)

85,000 litres of rain fall on your roof every year.
A water butt will allow you to use this water for your plants and washing your car instead of fresh water from the tap.

It takes 80% less energy to recycle an aluminium or steel can than make a new one.
To make it even more impressive; cans can be recycled endlessly so if everyone started recycling we'd never need to make another can again! (Unrealistic I know, but I'm a dreamer...)

A car club takes approx. 20 privately owned cars off the road.
If you're very car-reliant it may not be for you, but if you can rely on public transport a lot of the time and only need a car now and then car clubs can be extremely useful.

Glass milk bottles are reused approx. 13 times before they're recycled.
That's 13 times more than a plastic bottle! Plus the milkman delivers using an electric car so you can be smug when you don't have to go buy fresh milk instead of feeling lazy!

80% of the energy a washing machine uses is to heat the water.
Turn down the temperature and you turn down your electricity bill!

An urban cycler reaches speeds of approx. 15-22km/hour.
An urban driver reaches speeds of approx. 22-35km/hour in traffic. Add in time for searching for spaces and parking, then walking the 2 miles to work because you couldn't get closer... it could be quicker to just cycle!

You can save approx. 5000 litres of water a year if you have an old toilet.
Fill a 1L bottle with water (or 2 500ml bottles) and put them in your cistern. This will save 1L of water every time you flush, which accumulates to approx. 5000 litres of water over the year! (This only works if you have a normal flush - push buttons use a different mechanism.)

Insulating your roof will save approx. 25% more energy each year.
For the full details on insulating your loft check out this post.

Filling in draughts around the house - especially doors and windows - can save up to 10% on your energy bill.
More information is also in the link above - it's well worth getting draught excluders, lining thin curtains and keeping doors shut wherever possible!

Cotton production takes up 2.6% of our water usage.
Fixing up old clothes, donating those you don't want and buying from charity shops will all reduce the amount of new clothing that needs to be made and will cut down our water usage.

In the UK appliances left on stand-by use 2 power stations worth of electricity a year.
Some of the appliances can use up to 90% of their normal power use even on stand-by, so it really is worth turning them off at the plug. Some of the worst culprits are TVs, stereos and games consoles!

In 2010 hydropower accounted for approx. 16% of global electricity production!
Add to that solar energy, wind energy etc. and we can see that our efforts are making a global impact. :)

Cut your bills to pay for your luxuries!

At the moment we're cutting back on the luxuries so we can afford our bills. Now it's time to cut back on our bills to afford our luxuries!

My easter present from mum was a little unusual this year, but I love it. She got me Ideal Home magazine, which is full of really expensive design ideas that I will be copying for half the price, and interesting articles that led me to todays blog.

They have a wonderful article on Oliver Heath - a TV presenter who completely remodeled his house to be as eco friendly as possible. I'm not suggesting you go to quite the effort he has, spending £440,00 to buy the house and a further £130,000 in refubishment (!) but there are steps you can take that don't empty your bank account. Oliver estimates that it will take just 10 years to make back the refurbishment money with the savings he will make, which is incredible. If he can make back £130,000 in 10 years then we're all capable of making some pretty hefty savings ourselves with the right steps.


You need to start with the most obvious thing: changing your habits. Being green is a lifetime goal, not an instant save. Think of each habit you change as saving you 5p every time you remember. Add in just 1 habit a day and you'll only save £18.25 a year, but add 3 habits a day and you've saved £54.75!

Do you leave the door open when you take the bin out? Or leave lights on in various rooms even when no one is in them? How about leaving the shower running for 5 minutes to 'warm up' while you're getting ready? I'm not suggesting you lock yourself out of the house, sit in the dark and take a cold shower in the morning. That would be my worst nightmare! But pull the door almost closed, flick the light off when you'll be out for more than a few minutes and only leave your shower running the 30 seconds it needs to warm up before getting in.

Other ideas include keeping the doors in your house closed, only boil the water you need, switch things off instead of standby, don't leave things plugged in if you're not using them. All of these suggestions don't sound like they add up to much, but over the course of a year you'd be surprised.

Next you move on to simple solutions; conserve your heat and save water. A quick run down shows what you can do and how much you will save per year:

Seal drafts around doors, windows and loft hatches: £55
Insulate your hot water cylinder with a 75mm jacket: £40
Switch an old boiler to an A-rated condensing boiler: £100-£300
Fit a low-flow shower head: £90 (based on water-meter bills for a household of 4)

Swap incandescent lightbulbs to fluorescents: £55+ over the bulbs' life.
Swap a 70W halogen bulb with a 6W LED light: £70 over its' life.
It doesn't sound like much, less than £5/year saved on a lightbulb. But think of the bigger picture; most people will have 10-20 bulbs in their house as a conservative figure. That's £50-£100/year!

Insulate your loft to 270mm thick insulation and you can save £175/year. Add cavity wall insulation into the equation and you'll add a further £135/year. (based on a 3-bed semi detached house)

The final and biggest step is to start generating your own energy. This is where it gets a little complicated, so I'll be devoting another blog to that one!

So there you have it, some quick and painless steps to make your house more energy efficient. What habits will you be changing? Write them in comments below and we'll all try them together!

Post Sixteen: The Importance of a Green Business

The modern customer is looking for more than just great service these days, they're looking to see if your company has a conscience and isn't just profiteering. Fairtrade has taken huge steps in recent years to ensure better conditions for third world farmers and without consumer motivation it wouldn't have been possible. This is proof that today you need to think of more than just how your shop looks and whether your front of house is smiling.

One of the ways to show you care is to make sure you are up to date on your Green policies. Recycle, Reduce, Re-use is one of the best philosophies you can stick to when trying to improve your business. It can be practiced in any type of industry but I'll be focusing on the Hospitality Industry since that's the one I currently work in.

The Hospitality Industry sends a huge amount of food to landfill each year by overestimating their needs, using inefficient equipment and not doing all they can to minimise waste. I work in a coffee shop so I know we're limited by health & safety standards left right and centre, but that doesn't mean we can't take some big steps towards making the industry more environmentally friendly.

Our industry relies on the planet more so than others; our products come directly from the earth and without it we're out of business. If we don't keep the rainforests alive, we lose packaging. If plants soak up chemicals we are endangering our customers. The animals in turn eat these toxic plants and then our meat because contaminated. It's a vicious cycle that ultimately ends with us being closed.

Looking at it from a reverse view there's a much more positive image we can create. Support the Rainforest Association and there will always be trees for your packaging. Use organic products and organically raised animals and no one will be exposed to chemicals. Reducing your carbon footprint actually cuts your costs and raises your profile to customers. That's why more companies are turning to these policies to give their businesses a makeover.

From recycleable packaging to vegetable based inks, reusable containers, energy saving appliances, the resources are all there to make things as easy as possible for you. In this day and age there is no excuse to sit back ignoring the issues that people are crying out to be acknowledged. If your company can take even the smallest step you'll be changing the planet for the better. To give you an idea of what you can do here are some small examples I've already implemented here at The Witches Brew.

Fairtrade products and locally produced foods wherever possible.
Cut down your carbon footprint by reducing the distance your products have to travel. All of our coffee and hot chocolate is Fairtrade and our cakes and crisps are from local suppliers.

Only order what you need.
Buying in bulk only saves you money if you're going to use all of it, so companies who buy in by the hundreds and end up with a lot of wastage are actually just throwing money into landfills. We have fresh cakes ordered each week and usually stick to minimum orders of everything else we stock.

Use compostable cutlery.
Or napkins, takeaway cups, there are a whole host of compostable products out there you can use. Check out Vegware products for loads of ideas. We're introducing new compostable products as we run out of their throwaway counterparts.

Re-purpose everything you can.
Keep waste out of landfills by seeing if there's another use for it first. Our used coffee grounds are used to keep bugs off plants, down the drains as a de-odoriser, a tint for fixing wood furniture.. Check out some more ideas here. Old tins/pots become plant pots or pen pots. Empty handwash bottles become vases - Neal's Yard bottles are especially pretty for this idea.

Have your own compost heap.
There are loads of products these days that stop pests being an issue with a compost heap, so why not create your own? Throw all your food wastage onto the heap then find a local company or gardening group that will be happy to use it for you. We don't do this particular idea, but it's something I've looked into and would be viable in a business bigger than ours.


Is your business or the company you work for taking these steps? Are there any other steps you can think of that I haven't mentioned here? Get in touch, I'd love to hear from you. :)