Water conservation and solar charger

Back in April, we focused on reducing water usage. You might remember that there was little I felt I could do for that as well. We are not on a meter, so I had no way of knowing if we used less or not. Hubby has a penchant for leaving the water running when brushing his teeth and flushing the toilet every time he has a pee.

Anyway, we have repaired two water butts AND bought our fourth! I'm really pleased and this week, they all filled well from the rain we had. So now I have four full rain barrels and I feel very abundant!

While we were buying our barrel (a 200 litre recycled barbecue sauce container no less!) we priced up some large water tanks. We are toying with the idea of making our own 'grey water' system for the downstairs toilet.

We have a flat roof, which would be ideal for strengthening (it needs repairing anyway, so we could combine jobs). Then we could put a big tank on the roof and gravity feed the cistern. Hubby used to be a water treatment engineer, so I'm in good hands and trust him to figure it out.

I was horrified to realise, that unless I have a bath or use the washing machine, my biggest use of water is flushing the toilet. That just seems wrong when people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water.

In addition, we had a really dry time here during April and the beginning of May. All the barrels were empty and we had planted all our seeds. So we made use of our local stream! It was a great exercise for our daughter; having to go out first thing to gather a big bucket of water. She enjoyed it, and it was a great way to introduce her to the idea that not all people are as fortunate as us.

My other piece of news is that I WON the reuse competition! My idea of using an old coffee pot, piercing a hole in the lid and using it to store string without it getting tangled won me a Freeloader Solar charger for the car. We can use it for the mobile phone and Tom Tom, which is great and means I don't have to charge these items up from mains electricity in the house. Invariably the chargers get left on once the item is charged up and apparently this can waste quite a lot of electricity.

I'm just familiarising myself with the Freeloader, so I'll write a full review when I've had chance to test everything out.

May - Reduce carbon emissions by car sharing

Goodness, I'm late! It's nearly the end of the month already, so it's time to report on May's focus for Carbon Watchers.

This month it was entitled "Don't drive one in five" with the reminder that if everyone found another way to travel to work or school just one day a week, there would be 20% less traffic on the roads.

Makes perfect sense to me.

Unfortunately, there was little I could do for this challenge.

First, we don't do a school or work run. When we did a school run, it was impossible to get anyone to car share with us and it was very frustrating. Four families from our village drove to a school in the next village - we all HAD to drive, it was a main road and notorious for speeding lorries. All the parents wanted to take their own kids to school every day. Sometimes we would even be on the road in a convoy and it used to infuriate me!

Second, we try and give our neighbours a lift if we are going anywhere. We have a family across the road without a car and with lots of children, so we help out if we can. Our neighbour on the other side is an elderly lady who never learned to drive, so we take her to the shops too, if she wants us to.

Third, I am unable to use public transport, use a bike or walk far because I have anxiety attacks. Basically, having my car provides a 'quick getaway' if I feel threatened.

I have to accept that this is the way things are for us right now.

However, our yearly mileage is below average. We do between 6 and 7,000 miles per year. I think the average is 12,000.

I would like to walk or cycle more and it's something I'm building up to, but it's very difficult right now. So we do what we can - only go out when necessary, combine errands, take our neighbours with us, and have traded our thirsty 4x4 for a car which gives us between 45 and 60 miles to the gallon.

There are various car share schemes which links drivers and passengers to share regular or occasional journey. These are great for those who can take advantage of them and ideal in an office situation where everyone starts and ends their day at the same time.

In Gloucestershire, we have Car Share Gloucestershire Across the UK there are various schemes, such as Car Share , National car share and Lift Share.