Review: Ms Harris’s Book of Green Household Management

It’s not often I get pitched decent things to review on the blog, in fact, thinking about it, this is the first time. It’s usually giant Christmas Trees or mushy baby food or an invitation to get Kai to do creative things with porridge… But THIS one? This one was bang on the money.

Last week I was sent a copy of Ms Harris’s Book of Green Household Management ‘The Essential Thrift Bible’ by Caroline Harris.

Described as “A Mrs Beeton for the 21st century”, Caroline’s Harris takes the view that living a more sustainable life is easy AND can save you money and has packed her book full of helpful tips and information to help you change your lifestyle habits.

Now, I have a confession to make… eco-living has always been important to me but since Kai was born I have slipped into some baaaad habits. Mostly it was just laziness, understandable as I was knackered all the time and the easiest option became the most attractive. Plus we were broke. My cleaning cloths began to get usurped by paper towels and wipes; we’d buy cheap convenience foods over ‘proper food’, the slightly more expensive eco/organic/fair-trade brands got replaced by budget alternatives. Fair enough – I don’t claim to be perfect when it comes to responsible living and understandably our minds were on other things (like why, for the love of god, will this child not SLEEP!). But for a while now, the little green chimpanzee that is my conscience has started nagging me again and I decided that I need to make some changes.

So Caroline’s book has landed in my lap at the most perfect time and I have absolutely devoured the contents in the hopes that it might be just what I need to help me make some much needed tweaks to my daily life.

First of all, let me get some things straight. I am no Stepford Wife. In fact, I am a TERRIBLE housewife. My cleaning skills (and frequency) leave much to be desired and I show about the exact polar opposite amount of creativity and imagination in the kitchen that I do in this blog. Secondly, I am no martyr to the environmental cause. If being ‘green’ means I have to dedicate all my free time to to very labour-intensive strategies that cost me a lot of money, I’m probably not going to bother. So what I was NOT looking for was some sanctimonious, preachy woman to make me feel guilty or suggest unrealistic and unsustainable changes to my lifestyle.

Thankfully, this book is none of these things. A mother herself, Caroline is all for making life easier and the tone of the book is friendly, practical, and pragmatic.Caroline herself admits to not following all her own tips all of the time (with a penchant for her power shower) and stresses that, “You don’t have to be perfect (or an austerity fiend) to be a green householder, but simply try to do what you can”. That’s my kind of message!

Divided into easy chapters, it’s perfect for dipping in and out of (helpful given my attention span of a goldfish) and covers the whole range of ‘home’ living and green household management, from the expected topics of energy efficiency and waste management, to more traditional household skills that have the added bonus of being environmentally kind, such as sewing, growing your own veg, home cooking and a cultivating a thrifty attitude. There’s also a chapter on green issues to think about when having children.

Advice is usually based on Caroline’s personal experience and extensive research and told in a style that is easy to read. Website addresses give opportunities for further reading on subjects that interest you and helpful lists and summaries mean you can refer back easily when needed.

Reading Ms Harris’s Book of Green Household Management has been just the kick up the bum I needed. Caroline recommends making small changes, gradually over time rather than trying to do too much all at once so that’s what I’m planning to do.

We’re already pretty good with our waste management and ‘making do’, so I’ve decided to start with two new areas for me: eco-cleaning and laundry. Kai’s eczema has flared up and I suspect our washing powder is partly to blame so I’ve got an added incentive to try and reduce the number of chemicals in our home. I like the Ecover brand and will be switching back to some of their cleaning and laundry products, but reading the book I’ve also been inspired to try out some more ‘traditional’ cleaning methods. Caroline points out that most products are simply not necessary and that most cleaning jobs can be done just as easily and efficiently with more minimalist options: namely baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice or just plain water on a cloth.

To this end I’m starting a little experiment: we’ve run out of some of our usual cleaning products so today, rather than opt for my usual brands, I went out and bought the following:

The whole lot cost me less than a fiver. Bargain! For the next week or so I’m going to try doing my normal cleaning jobs with these ingredients, following the suggestions in the book. If it’s too much work or isn’t that effective I shall probably abandon it and opt for buying eco-versions of conventional products, but considering how cheap these ingredients are I think it’s definitely worth a try. I shall be reporting back so watch this space…

Caroline Harris’s book ‘Ms Harris’s Book of Green Household Management’ is published by John Murray in paperback and costs £12.99. It is available in all good books shops and to buy online at Amazon. If you’re interested in making some simple changes to help make your lifestyle that little bit greener I would highly recommend it and would love to hear back from you if you too decide to adopt some of her ideas.

In the meantime, if any of you have any ‘green tips’ to share to help me in my new project I’d love to hear them!!

Treasures from Icklebabe

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a competition with Cafe Bebe for a goody box from Icklebabe.com, run by the very lovely Helen who makes all kinds of personalised and beautiful baby gifts and treasures. Helen put together a fabulous gift box for Kai including a custom-made canvas and t-shirt with some organic treats thrown in. I’ve been so delighted with them that I wanted to share some photos with you so you can all see how talented she is and rush off to buy lots of her gorgeous things in time for Christmas.

First of all his extremely cool Retro t-shirt…

I love it.

However, it was the canvas that was especially special. I had happened to win the competition just as we were planning to move Kai into his own room (in the vague hope he might sleep better in there – he hasn’t, but still… it’s no worse so that’s something!) and had been busy emptying it of laundry and all the other random bits of clutter that had accumulated there to try and make it a bit more of a special space just for Kai. Helen offered to create a custom design for Kai’s room to match his jungle theme so I gave her details of colours and favourite animals and just look what she came up with:

Just fabulous, we’re so pleased with it. The colours match perfectly and are so bold and vibrant – thank you SO much Icklebabe. Now please all go and visit her website and overload her with orders…

P.S. Can you spot the hidden crocodile? How fab is that??!

It’s a blanket… WITH SLEEVES!!

**WARNING** This post contains images of extreme sleep deprivation and bad bed head. You have been warned (it was a looong night last night!)

Right. Here’s the deal.

You’re going to read my review. The Sleep Deprivation Carnival should be up by Monday afternoon and on Tuesday I will announce the winner of the Slanket competition, all disappointed parties can go and buy one here, and then that’s it.

We’re moving on.

It’s time.

But first, you want to know don’t you? You want to know whether the fleece is really as soft as the mythical Angel Unicorn Sheep of deepest Tibet, whether those sleeves really do envelop your arms in the warmth of a thousand kittens gentle breath. Whether wearing one really does feel like returning to the womb in a transformative and healing regressive experience? Whether it’s REALLY everything we’ve been imagining?

Right??

Well the answer is…emm… no. Come on people – it’s a giant blanket with sleeves. Let’s not get silly.

But it is pretty good I have to admit. In fact it, it’s better than pretty good. Being completely serious I actually think it’s rather brilliant.

Imagine if you will a dressing gown four sizes too big and ten times too long which you put on backwards. It has extra length above the neck to create an extra snuggly cowl effect giving the impression that you are in fact some kind of arctic monk.

Now let me get this absolutely, irrefutably clear. Whilst wearing your Slanket you are going to look very, very stupid. No not even ironically cool, not even kitsch cool. Just stupid. But you will be so warm and cosy that you will simply not care.

It is THE perfect slobbing on the sofa attire, but unlike a vastly inferior regular blanket, leaves your hands free for reading, laptop tapping and wine sipping. It is soft, it is cuddly, it is machine washable for the inevitable jam spillage and chocolate smear (I imagine I’ll be testing this feature pretty soon – I fear there was some definite crumbage last night during a marathon biscuit eating sesh).

We also discovered that it makes the most brilliant Halloween costume (as pictured) – I was channelling ‘Death Eater’ in this one. And I must have been channelling more than I had attended as we noticed a mysteriously ghostly orb on this photo after we’d taken it. Quick! Call Derek Acorah!!

I do however, have the following reservations:

1. It causes unbelievably amounts of static electricity and crackles like a mo-fo when you take it off. Ok not a HUGE problem but it does leave you feeling a bit like a giant lightening conductor and for safety’s sake I would recommend you clear the vicinity of pets and small children before removing your Slanket in case they get set on fire or something. However the bonus static mad-hair points are worth considering.

2. You cannot walk in a Slanket. Don’t try it. Seriously. I have a bruise to prove this.

3. You have to put up with looks from your significant other that very clearly demonstrate that your sexy points have just dropped several leagues. In fact that look hints that they may never touch you again. This worries me.

But I love it. OF COURSE I love it. It’s not supposed to be cool. One look at the Slanket website will tell you that they don’t take themselves or their product  too seriously (check out the ‘latest news’!) And that makeS me love it all the more.

Because I love my new best friends at Slanket I would like to offer up the following ideas for future Slanket spin-offs:

1. The Sweetheart Slanket – double width with FOUR arm holes for Slanket snuggling with your loved one (hopefully rekindling some of the romance lost caused by your partner seeing you Slanketing solo).

2. The Breastfeeding Slanket – with handy velcro flaps for nursing.

3. The Party Slanket – take idea one and just add widths and extra sleeves – enough for you and all your mates. Perhaps with the option of joining both ends for a kind of ’round-the-camp-fire’ option.

Right that’s it. See you tomorrow for the Sleep Deprivation Carnival and keep your ear to the ground on Tuesday for the competition winner. I’m off to do an awful lot of typing and try to erase the word Slanket from my mind.

In any case – I’ve already been tipped off about Sleep is for the Weak’s next big obsession. I’m thinking of a whole snooze-wear feature. PRs? Anyone??