The Austerity Opportunity
Anyone remotely interested in the environment has known for some time that the disposable society and our general way of living is pretty much unsustainable for much longer. However as much as eco warriors and the various ‘Green parties’ across the world shouted the more people didn’t want to listen.
One of the main problems was that we were all too well off, sure we all worried about the environment a little. But surely it didn’t matter if we just treated ourselves to that new laptop, latest Iphone, foreign holiday etc, etc. The problem of course was that all our economies were based on throwing away and consuming – endlessly and relentlessly replacing perfectly good items because a shiny new model had come into existence.
I’ve been told that not so long ago you could pick up a top of the range LCD TV from a rubbish tip in Tokyo with ease – purely because the model was 12 months old. It’s not surprising that our economic model has collapsed – it was quite clearly unsustainable in the long run.
So now to the title of this post – the Austerity Opportunity and it comes from a discussion I had with a cobbler the other week. Now we all of course know what a cobbler is but I wonder how many use their services regularly – there used to be loads in my home town – now I can think of only one.
Are they All Broken?
Do people repair shoes anymore or merely dispose and replace? The cobbler was fairly certain that very few people did repair shoes compared with 30 years ago. He told me about recently he had bought a special machine which was able to repair running and training shoes perfectly. But after 12 months of virtual none-use he sent the machine back. Nobody repaired trainers or sports shoes – they just bought new ones.
But this is where there will be an opportunity – to make business that repair, recycle and reuse rather than just throwing on the landfill sites. When cash is short people will want to spend a few pennies repairing their trainers rather simply to save money. They’ll make do, and reuse and recycle things increasingly. Any businesses that tap into this austerity market and embrace the concepts could end up doing very well.
I wonder how many cobblers are looking at these sport shoe repairing machines again, or how many eco friendly business opportunities the world financial crisis will actually end up bringing. It’s certainly a good opportunity to start any sort of business which will enable people to genuinely save money and help them to reduce, reuse and recycle.
Categories: Energy Saving Tags:
Bissell Steam Mop – Eco Friendly and Affordable
Click Here for the Best Price on the Bissell Steam Mop Hard-Floor Cleaner
If anyone every told me it would be fun to clean floors I would laugh but honestly the Bissell Steam Mop is fun to use and most importantly it is eco friendly. Floor steam cleaners like the Bissell Steam Cleaners work with water pressure. Instead of using harsh chemicals that can irritate your skin and sinuses they use the high pressure power of water. This is not only healthier if you have small children and pets around but it is great for adults also!
The Bissell Steam Mop uses washable microfiber pads. Disposable cloth pads like a Swiffer cleaner are expensive and they fill the landfills. And steam works beautifully to truly clean the floor not just move dirt around like other cleaners do. Because of the lightweight size and shape it is easy to move. It has a 360 degree swivel head so it can get dirt from hard to reach area.
The best way to use the Bissell Steam Cleaners is to sweep or vacuum the floor first to remove all the loose dirt. Then run the cleaner over the area. Using the lightweight stick you can easily move the head to steam clean the deepest nooks and crannies like under kitchen cabinets and around the tub and toilet.
Bissell Hard Floor Steam Cleaner
One of the great things about the device is there are no chemicals to inhale – no fumes to expose your body to. I can recall cleaning with a lemon disinfectant some years ago. Lemon smells good, so I took a quick whiff of the cleaner. Almost instantly, I felt like my nose was on fire. This was a concentrated solution so that was part of the problem. But even with thinning these products the chemicals are still there. Bad for the environment and for you and me.
Thinking of all those disposable cleaning pads in our landfills is pretty sad also. Especially when it is so avoidable. The Bissell Steam Mop also does a much better cleaning job. If you have been using disposable cloths or a mop you will be amazed how much more dirt this steamer picks up and it is definitely so much better for the environment.
The Bissell Cleaners are also very affordable. I picked up the least expensive, the Bissell Steam Mop Hard-Floor Cleaner, Green Tea, 1867-7
and found it does the job perfectly. By the time you add up the price of a swiffer, chemical cleaning solution, disposable pads etc. versus the one time cost of the Bissell Steam Cleaner with washable microfiber mop pads you will find you save a lot of money.
It also has a small footprint making it easy to store.
Saving the environment and saving money with a Bissell Steam Mop is an easy choice!
Click Here for the Best Price on the Bissell Steam Mop Hard-Floor Cleaner
Categories: Energy Saving, Green Home Tags:
Kill-A-Watt…A What?
I recently heard about these nifty little gadgets that you can use to see exactly how much energy each of your household appliances are using. Made by a company called p3international, you simply have to plug them into any outlet in your home and then plug any appliance into the receptacle on the Kill-A-Watt and it will tell you exactly how much electricity any item in your home is using.
Categories: Energy Saving Tags: kill-a-watt, kill-a-watt meter, killawatt, watt hour meters
Simple Steps to Eco Friendly Living
There are many easy tips you can incorporate for a more eco friendly living way of life. Here are a few important steps you can start taking today to save dollars and live a greener lifestyle.
1. Dial back the knob on your heater thermostats. Just by turning down the heat in the winter and turning your air conditioning thermostats up in the summer time, you can save a ton of energy. Just one or two degrees makes a huge difference.
2. Clean your clothes in cold water. It works great and will save on electricity. Hang them out to dry instead of using a dryer. This is another great way to save our planet and air dried clothes smell so fresh!
3. Walk instead of driving a car. The less emissions and gas used the better for our planet.
4. Use energy saving light bulbs. This is a great way to help the earth.
5. Consume and use less. We have so much stuff but we only use a small amount of it. We tend to use the same things over and over. So who needs so much stuff?
6. Recycle. Not using something? Give it to someone who can. Why hang onto things that can help someone else. Donating your clothes and books can make a huge difference in someone else’s life. And you are not using them so why not?
Just make a start to eco friendly living and you will be on your way to helping yourself and the planet.
Categories: Energy Saving Tags: eco friendly living
Honeywell Programmable Thermostat Helps Save Energy
With energy costs on the rise, and excess money clearly on the decline...almost everyone I know is looking for a way to save some extra cash. My never-ending desire to save money is the main reason I'm using a Honeywell Programmable Thermostat. There are lots of great ways to save energy at home and I try to do as many of them as I can. However, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to realize that two of the things that use the most energy in any home come from heating and cooling.