Vegetables, light bulbs and needing a WEEE

Chris Haslam's weekly eco friendly round up

Allotment success

It's taken a while, and there have been a few casualties along the way but last weekend we were finally able to have a complete meal (or except the roast pork) all from the allotment. We finished off the last of our spuds which roasted beautifully alongside some courgettes, green beans, a couple of early corn on the cob and enough apples and damsons to treat ourselves to the first crumble of the year.

It's not been plain sailing though – the slugs have destroyed all the cabbages and we forgot about the broccoli until it was too late – but managing one good meal has been really rewarding. We're no way near being self-sufficient, but it's a start, and we've learned plenty already. Lets just hope the pigeons keep away from our caulis!

Energy saving light bulbs

I was sent details recently of a new range of halogen light bulbs from OSRAM that should help bridge the gap between energy hungry halogen spotlights and energy saving bulbs. The Energy Saver range uses 30% less power than a standard halogen without any loss of brightness (which is a problem with some CFL energy saving spotlights). This is great news for anyone who has a kitchen full of halogen bulbs and finds themselves overheating under the glare, and paying the price at the end of the month when the bills come in.

The Energy Saving range of bulbs cost from £1.49 each. Log onto OSRAM to find your nearest retailer.

In-store recycling

And finally Currys has become the first to set up an in-store recycling scheme to help make sure the electrical items they sell are disposed of properly. This scheme will work in accordance with the Waste Electrical and Electronics Equipment (WEEE) directive that came into effect in July 2007, which requires manufacturers to collect and recycle their old items. Customers will be able to return products (regardless of where they were purchased) directly to any one of 500 Currys stores, or if they are having something delivered, they can arrange to have the old product they're replacing collected, and what's more the service is free!

For more details visit the onto Currys website.

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