Hoovermatic- I'm with you all the time when it comes to recycling. It pisses me off when I see people put stuff that can go in recycling straight into the dustbin, or even worse just on the street will throw their rubbish on the floor. Fortunately Lincoln has a good town council and you often see a lot of rubbish pickers on the street, however you wouldn't really need them if people were all just responsible and did their bit. However the ludicrous thing is that our local council (we're just outside of Lincoln so are served by NK District council) only collects dustbins and recycling bins, get this, EVERY TWO WEEKS. Now if you recycle everything the bin fills up in a week and stuff does overflow into the black bin, which hardly gets full at all. And being a busy working family we don't always have the time to take the recycling to a recyling centre (supermarket trips are rushed as they are, both Asda and Tesco are hellholes here). We've complained several times to the council, and have also wrote in to the local Look North regional news programme and have had it mentioned when they were running a story on it (with lots of complaints to the council), but still 6 months later we've heard nothing from NKDC, the only option they're offering us being that we can pay £100 for a larger bin!!!
I also don't drive at the moment, and see no point at the moment as I have local buses which run into town - so I try and take public transport as often as possible. And when I do eventually drive, I'll still commit myself to trying to use the car only when necessary. Cars emit more carbon dioxide emissions then washing machines, and me doing my bit in terms of transport both saves more than switching to 30*C ever would, plus allows me to do washes at 60 or even 95*C sometimes without a guilty conscience. As I mentioned before I wash all my 40*C laundry now at 30*C, but I won't reduce the temperature below 60 for towels/whites or sheets just as a personal & hygiene preference.
In terms of problems with no hot washes in machines - I have seen (as I have mentioned before) a lot of machines with mould problems, and they are always usually with people who have the cycle selector permanently set on 40*C... we've always used high temperatures (60*C) at least once or twice a week and never have problems with mould or smells building up in the washer. And I don't really think my beliefs are misguided, seeming as it is all trial and error on my part and that I have found what works best for me. In terms of detergent - I have the habit of using the water hardness dosages below the one I am - we have hard water here, so I use medium water doses and get good results. I did buy some water softening tablets today actually to use in the washing machine, so I will try reducing the detergent dosage to soft water to see if that helps though in my opinion limescale tablets probably add just as much chemicals to the water as the normal dose of detergent would so it might just equal out. (If that makes sense lol). Fabric softener I've never used a full dose on, and I only use it on clothes and jeans to reduce static cling, and to break away the "brittle" feeling jeans have if you don't use it. I've actually noticed that sheets and towels come out the dryer soft and fluffy anyway so there isn't need to use fabric softener on them. I've also been using eco-friendly fabric softener (currently using a bottle of Ecover fabric softener, and bought Tesco's own brand one earlier on today to try out afterwards) - and also only use half a cap even for a 6 kilo load. I personally hate it when clothes are "too soft" like they are if you use the full doses. Have tried Ecover washing powder too but won't be trying that again - there's no wonder it's environmentally friendly seeming as it doesn't clean very well at all! So I will remain with Persil, Bold or Ariel (in that order) for the time being.
BTW - I have an A+ rated washing machine, which uses less electricity on a 60*C wash than older washers do even when washing at just 40*C.
In laundry terms, I also try to limit my dryer usage even in winter. I try to only dry towels, sheets and underwear in the tumble dryer and everything else goes on the clothes horse. Not only is this more environmentally friendly, but it's also kinder on the clothes too and (especially with our stupidly small dryers here) creases aren't set in too easily either.
Lightbulbs - I have standard R63 spotlights in my bedroom, which are normal bulbs. However I hardly use the "big lights", and usually just use my desk lamp and my bedside table lamp for lighting - not only does it save energy over using the big light but also makes for a more relaxing atmosphere to wind down to in the evening too.
I must admit I am a slave to the stand-by button to turn the TV off overnight. I will watch TV in bed and hit stand by as it's all too easy when I want to go to sleep, and also in the morning it's good because you don't have to get out of bed to put GMTV or BBC Breakfast on, but it's always switched off when I have gotten up and am done with the TV.
Interesting to hear about the dehumidifers, it's worth thinking about. I feel the cold an awful lot and my radiator is always cranked on full blast in winter - even if I wear thick jumpers.
Curiously, what washing machine do you own?
Jon
P.S. I also think the reintroduction of Ultra washing powders would be a huge help in the laundry industry when it comes to being more environmentally friendly.
)... just never thought to Canadians and even less to Britannics...
