bemoreeco

Taken from the Onion New Network

The team at BeMoreEco love twitter so as part of our Eco Holiday Series we have carried out an eco holiday search on Twitter and came up with these great Twitters.

• Eco Hotels of The World - @ehotw
• TIES - The International Ecotourism Society @ecotravel
• EcoEscape - @ecoescape
• Traveling the Green Way- @travelinggreen
• Eco Travel Guide - @EcoTravelTV
• Marriott Green - @marriottgreen
• Green Travel News - @greentravel
• Green Travel Blog - @greentravel1
• Eco Costa Rica - @EcoRica
• Eco Green Hotels - @EcoGreenHotel
• EcoArts Tours - @traveltree
• Environmentally Friendly Hotels - @GreenHotels

Twitter Search Terms

• Searched Twitter for eco holidays
• Searched Twitter for ecotravel

Click Here to check out the BeMoreEco Summer Eco Holiday Travel & Buying Guide.

Taking a few simple steps to increase water efficiency around the home will not only save more of this precious resource, but it will significantly reduce household energy bills and save all the CO2 emissions associated with them.

Below we have put together 10 top free and simple water saving tips for around the home over the summer months.

1. Don’t leave the tap running while brushing your teeth, shaving or washing your face.
2. Take a short shower rather than a bath.
3. Only use the dishwasher or washing machine when full.  A half full machine wastes water and energy.
4. Fill a saucepan of water for washing vegetables rather than leaving the tap running.
5. Once it has cooled down, use left-over water from cooking to water plants around the home and garden.
6. Check the toilet for leaks by putting a little food colouring in the toilet tank.  If colour appears in the bowl within 30 mins and following no flushes, there is a leak which should be fixed.
7. If you are on a water meter, use it to check for leaks.  Take a meter reading, avoid using water for 2 hours and if after checking the meter again there is a difference, you have a leak.
8. Use a bucket of water and sponge for car washing rather than a hose.
9. Water outdoor plants and gardens in the early morning as this helps reduce evaporation and is also a good defence against slugs and garden pests.
10. Place a layer of mulch around trees and plants which will slow evaporation of moisture and reduce the need to water them.

Over the last few weeks the team at BeMoreEco have been blogging about great place to go this summer for your eco holiday. Also, in co-operation, EcoTrendSpotter have also reviewed what essential eco items you made need to take with you on you eco summer holiday. Below we have detailed all the post that have been submitted.

Travel Guides by BeMoreEco

• Eco holidays for Singles
• Eco holidays for Couples
• Eco holidays for Families

Buying Guides by EcoTrendSpotter

• Essential Holiday Gadgets
• Essential items fro you Eco Washbag
• Items for your Eco Beach Trip
• Eco Health Care

Other Travel BeMoreEco Articles

According to online travel agent responsibletravel.com, holidaymakers’ confidence has improved over the last three months as almost a fifth (19%) of its total customers have gone ‘late’ and spontaneously enquired and departed within a four week period. Furthermore, over a third (37%) of customers have travelled within eight weeks of first enquiring about their holiday.

These four week late booking figures reflect a rise of almost a third (31%) compared to the same period last year and almost a fifth (20%) for eight week late bookings.

The increase comes at a time when tour operators and airlines have already reduced capacity for the upcoming season and across the year in general. The late availability holiday deals that are on offer are being snapped up fast and according to Justin Francis, managing director of responsibletravel.com, it marks a pronounced increase in consumer confidence:

“There is no doubt that times were tough over the winter and consumer confidence was severely affected as a result. However, these figures are a sign that holidaymakers’ confidence is definitely improving. While it’s far too early to call an end to what might be a long recession it’s clear that in recent weeks more people are coming into the summer market looking to book and depart at short notice. Some will be disappointed that they cannot get their first or even second choice holidays as airline capacity has been reduced.”

Those countries topping the list for late bookings are: England; Italy; Morocco; Spain; France; Turkey; Wales and Greece.

responsibletravel.com work with over 300 tour operators across the globe, from small specialist operators to some of the larger, more mainstream travel providers.

Earn 200 Moreeco points with each succesfull booking.

Today is the last day for people to complete their recycle week pledges. For the team at BeMoreEco WRAP Recycle Week has been a fun and very informative. We have have received loads recycling tips and will make sure that we keep on following them in the week, months and years to come.  I hope that the readers of BeMoreEco have enjoyed our Recycle Week Daily Blog, which formed part of the Recycle Now campaign. For a summary of our daily blog click here.

Please remember the team at MoreEco have been supporting the BeMoreEco recycle week campaign. Also as bonus if you sign up to MoreEco during June and July they will give you an extra 100 joining points, in addition to the 500 you receive when joining. Use offer code ‘recyclenow’.

Lunch (Recycle Week Pledge)

This is my last recycled left overs lunch. Last night we had a BBQ with some friends, so today I made some wraps with lefts over salad, new potatoes, and BBQ chicken breast. It was very good indeed.

Recycle Week Video

Expanded Polystrene foam recycling machine. Just listed to the video. ARHHHH!

Two more days to end till the end of recycle week. It has been great weather today and I have been outside all day.

Recycle Week Reading

The two recycling week article which took my interest today were;-

Green think tank for kids held at recycling plant - In the first-ever green think tank for children in the UK, manufacturers and retailers have been urged to do away with unnecessary packaging on games and toys. The message came the youngsters attending the summit sponsored by British Gas, called Our Planet, Our Say. The event saw the launch of a new schoolchildren’s eco-group that represents more than 9,500 schools. (click here for full article).

Party goers can go environ-mental at this year’s festivals - Festival goers at Glastonbury festival, which falls on Recycle week, will be offered the chance to recycle their old electrical items as the organisers are encouraging revellers to be more environmentally friendly.

Workers at the event, as well as festival-goers, are being asked to recycle their old items at special collection points being set up in conjunction with waste management company and Recycle Week. All materials collected will be transported to a recycling plant after the festival and processed according to Environment Agency requirements.

Lunch (Recycle Week Pledge)

After being taken out for lunch yesterday I thought that today I should try and make something special with the left overs in my fridge and recycle them in to something interesting. So, I decided to make a home made organic pizza. With some tomatoes, chicken, spinach, sweetcorn, mushrooms and cheese i managed to use most of the left overs in my fridge and provide a healthy and wholesome meal for my kids.

Recycle week picture of the day

I came across the picture below from a site called  ’Eco Pic Of The Day‘. Titled Field Art - The Street Mike Skinner’s Crop Circles, I thought Mike Skinner’s Crop Circle could be classified as recyclable art because it can be recycled in to a normal  normal field again.

This may seems a bit week fro a recycle week news item, but it is a cool picture which i want to share with you all.

The crop circle image of The Streets musician Mike Skinner was created in a field in Somerset near the Glastonbury Festival site. Skinner, who is playing on the Jazz World stage at the event on Friday night, said he made the huge work of art because he wants his face “to be seen from space”

Recycle Week Daily Video

Following on the recycled art theme, i found this video which shows you how to make a plastic flower out of recycled plastic bottles.

In the first-ever green think tank for children in the UK, manufacturers and retailers have been urged to do away with unnecessary packaging on games and toys.

The message came the youngsters attending the summit sponsored by British Gas, called Our Planet, Our Say. The event saw the launch of a new schoolchildren’s eco-group that represents more than 9,500 schools.

The think tank, made up of 20 of the schoolchildren chosen as the “greenest”, spent a day at Closed Loop Recycling plant in East London. Members discussed recycling issues and the part recycling plays in climate change and energy usage.

By the time the group concluded its discussions, it identified three policies to tackle energy wastage that it felt should be supported by the UK government.

All of the children involved agreed that new games and toys should be sold either with no packaging materials or have packaging significantly reduced. In addition, they urged soft drink companies to begin using only clear plastic bottles, which would reduce the energy required in bottle manufacturing and recycling.

The government was also advised to introduce more recycling bins and facilities in city centre, parks and other public spaces.

For more information on this article please visit www.clickgreen.org.uk.

Well for all those at Glastonbury the weather has not held out but the show must go on. It is day 4 of Recycle Week and the team at BeMoreEco and MoreEco are really getting in to the swing of things. Today we took delivery of two new recycling bins for the office. One for plastic and the other for metal. For a great selection of recycle bins for your office check out this great post at EcoTrendSpotter <click here>.

Recycle Week Reading

Two articles have taken my interest today. They are;

Virtual food hall goes green to mark Recycle Week -VISION (Virtual Interactive Shopping Information Online) is a web-based interactive food toolkit to help consumers make more informed choices about the food they eat. The centrepiece of the site is an interactive food hall to explore and the ‘Are You Balanced?’ challenge based on the Food Standards Agency eatwell plate.

Working in conjunction with Gloucestershire county council’s Waste Management Unit, VISION can now demonstrate how easy it is to recycle everyday items from food and drink cans to cardboard cereal boxes. The site also points you in the right direction should you need more information.

Biodegradable plastic bags carry more ecological harm than good - The European Plastics Recyclers Association warned that they “have the potential to do more harm to the environment than good.” Technically what we are talking about here is “oxo-degradable” plastics. These are plastics made to degrade in the presence of oxygen and sunlight, thanks to the addition of tiny amounts of metals like cobalt, iron or manganese. Click here for full article by My Zero Waste.

Lunch (Recycle Week Pledge)

Today I did not do well. I received a phone call this morning from an old business colleague, who invited me out for lunch. I must admit it was great having a nice big lunch, but I did feel guilty. So I have decide that  tonight I am going to make something with the left overs in the fridge.  I need to make something with some vegetarian chili, bread, cucumber, roast chicken, peas, and 3/4 bottle red wine!!. I may tell you tomorrow what I did, but if you have suggestion please send us a comment!

Recycle Week daily Video

Miniature models of Manhattan, New York City by baybong38  at YouTube - “It’s a matter of two decades now to build the model of the entire city of Manhattan made of recycle pens,cigarette lighter,lego’s and anything small made of plastic. I collect them and paint,put some details so it adds a better look.But since then,i realized that vinyl eraser are more easier to design and more cheaper than lego.So enjoy the video and i’ll throw another clip on when the whole set is finish.”

In the UK we throw out an estimated 6.7 million tonnes of household food waste every year which accounts for around a third of all the food we buy.

Approximately half of this domestic food waste is edible food which translates into a financial cost of £250 to £400 a year for every British household. In addition to the economical impact, food wastage has an enormously detrimental effect on the environment impacting on landfill and contributing to the production of greenhouse gases.

By adapting a number of simple measures such as planning when to shop for food and only making necessary purchases consumers can considerably reduce their food waste. Food storage is also an important factor and proper storage eliminates premature ageing of fruit and vegetables which in turn reduces the amount of wasted food.

The Eco Cooler is an innovative new hand made terracotta fruit bowl and root vegetable store with natural cooling properties. Water poured in the bottom plate is absorbed by the terracotta. As the water evaporates it cools, helping to create the ideal cool, damp, dark environment to store potatoes, onions, garlic, swede and other root vegetables inside. Root vegetables last longer if stored 3-4 degrees below room temperature and in an environment a little warmer than a fridge. Fruit likes to be slightly chilled, but stored in the open air and light, so Eco Cooler also has a bowl on top which cools fruit just a couple of degrees.

Another nifty gadget which can help food last longer is the Ethylene Gas Guardian (RRP £3.99) This ingenious little egg shaped device can save households money by absorbing the ethylene gas fruits and vegetables give off in the fridge thus keeping them fresher for longer.

Many fruits and vegetables, especially if they have been damaged, give off ethylene gas as they ripen. Although harmless to people, much of the fresh produce in fridges is sensitive to the presence of even very low levels of ethylene gas and the refrigerator acts as a trap allowing the ethylene to build up to damaging levels.

The easiest way to combat this and save the costs of prematurely aged produce is to declare the refrigerator an ethylene gas free zone. By keeping the ethylene gas guardian on duty in the refrigerator, a very low presence of ethylene is assured regardless of what produce is stored there and users can continue to enjoy fresh produce for longer whilst saving money at the same time.

Both the Eco Cooler(RRP £69) and the Ethylene Gas Guardian can be bought online at Ecoutlet.