This relates to food, drink, clothing, furniture, cars, in fact everything we do from when we enter this life till we leave it. That sounds a bit profound doesn't it? However, we are responsible for what we leave behind, for our children, and theirs, even when we're pushing up the daisies.

Do we need lots of pre-packaged ready meals, or can we buy the raw ingredients, fruit, vegetables, meat and create something we will enjoy?
Don't buy bags unless you need to, re-use bags you got on a previous visit to the shop, saves you the 27c government tax above anything else, but if there is a choice of recycle or re-use, then re-use is the obvious choice. Keep some in the car, and (girls) a fold-up one in your handbag.

Do we need a new outfit to go out in, just because there's a new fashion out this week? And 25 pairs of shoes in the wardrobe, gathering dust? Not really - buy 'classic' designs that will last - preferably shoes manufactured from leather rather than plastic, and made as locally as possible (Irish manufacturers please confirm that you do indeed exist).
If you have a printer, print on both sides of the paper. Refill your ink cartridges as many times as you can at Cartridge Green before disposal. Buy things that will last, and refillable (e.g. propelling pencils and pens you can buy refills for). There's a new gadget to replace the stapler, known affectionately as the staple-free stapler - it does something clever with the pieces of paper to be stapled together, and doesn't use any metal thingies to extract before shredding or cut your fingers on!

You can buy second hand stuff, furniture, appliances, cars. Similarly, offering your 'out-of-date' or surplus to requirement 'stuff' for sale to others (in newspapers, websites, charity shops).

There are places in Ireland where you can take your computer equipment so it can be refurbished and given a new lease of life with new software and donated (or sold at minimal cost) to a charity or school.

Hand down clothing to younger siblings and friends' families.

School books can be donated to next year's pupils if they are in good condition

Invest in rechargeable batteries - you can even get solar-powered chargers now to take on holiday with you. This reduces the huge amount of toxic waste we produce, in the form of discarded batteries, not always separated before disposal, and they end up in landfill sites. Saves money in the long run too.

When you get your post, reuse the envelopes as scrap paper, shopping lists, before you recycle them.
Be imaginative!

Take your magazines to doctors or dentist surgery, and old toys to children's hospital wards and children's homes.

Waxed inner liners from cereal packets can be used to wrap sandwiches.

When you go to the farm shop, take empty egg boxes and food cartons you got there previously, so they can reuse them.

Many cities, and increasingly rural areas, are getting kerbside collections of recycled as well as standard waste. Use these as much as possible to encourage councils to provide this service to everyone.

Civic amenity sites will take your old appliances and furniture, batteries, fluorescent tubes, CFLs and waste oil.

In order to make recycling a more cost-effective operation, there must be a market for its products - so when shopping look out for recycled goods. For example, dustbin sacks, kitchen towel, toilet rolls, printer paper.

Go to charity and second hand shops for individual items to furnish your home.

Compost - yes, there's another option! Using a small space in your garden, you can place a plastic compost bin (normally made from recycled plastic) , or you could make your own out of old wood. After a few months you'll have some very usable compost to treat your flowers and vegetables to. You reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, and save devastation of more peat bogs into the bargain. Here's a list of what you can add to your compost heap/bin:-

•    Fruit and vegetable scraps, including banana and onion skins, potato peelings and apple cores
•    Eggshells
•    Tea bags
•    Coffee grounds
•    Old flowers
•    Any plant remains - nettle leaves are rich in nitrogen so encourage bacteria to break down woody content
•    Gerbil, hamster and rabbit bedding or faeces
•    Wood ash or sawdust
•    Cardboard
•    Paper towels and bags
•    Cardboard tubes
•    Egg boxes
•    Hair (yours or your pets')
•    Old spices and herbs
•    Pine needles
•    Matches
•    Birdcage cleanings
•    Stale bread
•    Old pasta
•    Milk
•    Melted ice cream
•    Stale crisps
•    Tobacco wastes (but not cigarette filters)
•    Nutshells
•    Mouldy cheese
•    Razor trimmings
•    Outdated yogurt
•    Nail clippings
•    Shrimp, crab or lobster shells
•    Bread and pie crusts
•    Cooked rice
•    Bad wine
•    Toothpicks
•    Pencil shavings
•    Woollen socks
•    Burnt toast
•    Feathers
•    Vacuum cleaner bag contents
•    Dead bees and flies

and what you can't:-
•    Meat
•    Fish
•    Cooked food
•    Coal and coke ash
•    Cat litter and dog faeces
•    Disposable nappies
•    Glossy magazines

In the future, there will be doorstep collections of kitchen and garden waste, separate from other waste, that will be composted in regional mechanical composters, and create compost that will be available for sale (watch this space). So, even if you don't have a garden you can still reduce your quota of landfill-destined waste.

Wormery - an extension of the composting idea, but as well as raw waste, you can put your cooked scraps, and meat offcuts in here. You can get them from fishing tackle shops now - they breed the same worms for bait! The compost from this source is more concentrated, so can be watered down and applied as a fertiliser.

By the way, if you weren't already aware, you can claim tax relief against waste disposal service costs - set it up online or phone your local tax office.

When disposing of large household items such as lounge suites, mattresses and washing machines, make sure you do so responsibly. Your local council will probably have a collection service. If not, then get a friendly neighbour with a suitable vehicle to help take it to your civic amenity site.

If you're a smoker, then put your cigarette ends either in an ashtray or a litter bin - don't just throw them out of your car window or onto the footpath. Apart from looking unsightly, they can be dangerous. With increasingly long dry spells (remember them!) there is a greater likelihood of fires starting, leading to large-scale forest fires - look at Northern Ireland earlier this year.

Burning your waste is not the answer - it releases harmful toxins into the atmosphere, increases greenhouse gases, and more often than not it can be disposed of safely elswewhere (compost heap, recycled, council amenity site). There are laws now to prevent burning rubbish in your garden, to avoid public health problems including respiratory complaints.

Incineration is being introduced in ireland, but with significant restrictions, and maybe even a tax to ensure that everything that can be recycled actually is. The heat produced as a by-product will be piped to local communities, so reducing the requirement for more fossil-fuel burning.

Waste water is causing issues in and around Irish waterways. Overnutrification is causing algal blooms and excesses of seaweed on beaches and in estuaries. We can help a little by buying organic Irish produce where possible, as this hasn't been sprayed with fertilisers. We can also reduce the amount of detergents, bleaches and chemical waste that goes down the sink. Try some of the 'eco' products for laundry, dishwashing. Use vinegar and newspaper for window-cleaning, lemon juice for worktops, tea tree oil for disinfecting your toilet. Note that septic tanks don't work as effectively with tough chemicals.

Alternatives that are available now include solar energy, wind power, geothermal and biofuels. You can incorporate these solutions into new or existing homes, and run ready-to-use or converted vehicles.
Under research now are wave and tidal power. As Ireland has a substantial coastline this seems to be a sensible use of it.
Grants are available (Phase 2 of the Greener Homes Scheme started 1st October 2007) for some of these options, and businesses can choose where they prefer their electricity to come from. Figures announced 5th July 2007 state that 8.5% of Ireland's electricity was generated from renewable sources in 2006 (mostly from wind power), up from 6.8% the previous year.

We have to consider negative consequences of renewable sources we may be about to promote :-

•    For instance, growing acres and acres of biofuel crops may displace food crops, leading to inflated food prices. This is happening already in the USA, where edible corn - the staple food of many poor communities in Mexico - is now being replaced by industrial corn which is processed into ethanol to fuel transport in USA. A third of all maize crops grown in 2006 in the USA were sold for the production of ethanol (source, United Nations). The price of the food crop has increased by 400% in 3 months, and consequently Mexicans are going hungry and their government has had to cap the price of edible corn to try to stabilise the 'tortilla wars' developing.  Italians will be paying as much as 20% more for their pasta by Autumn 2007, as durum wheat (regarded as the best for making pasta) is mostly imported from Canada and Syria. Syria have banned grain export (not sure why) and Canada is increasingly using its durum wheat as ethanol, and has stopped export of durum wheat until November 2007. Italy imports 40% of its durum wheat. It used to be less, but with the increasing temperatures and water shortages in the Mediterranean, their yields have substantially reduced.                               
                       
•    Monocultures may develop once again, reducing the variety of habitats and thus diversity of species.

•    On a positive note, farmers can diversify into new markets, and land formerly used to grow sugar beet can be converted to grow a mix of biofuel crops, and the processing can be done in Ireland at former storage facilities, with some conversion of course. The newly-formed government is going to encourage 'micro-generation' and allow the ability to sell surplus energy to the National Grid (November 2007). REPS4 (www.teagasc.ie) will pay the farmer to plant biomass on their land too, so this helps local people to diversify and still have an income while converting their land, preferably from marginal land rather than productive.

We take energy for granted in our part of the world - flick a switch and we get power to run our numerous appliances. Turn on the central heating when we're cold, and have a bath when we feel like it. We are increasing our demand every year, and putting more of a strain on the National Grid. In Ireland there are 19 power stations (oil, gas, peat, hydro) connected by a network of power lines to our homes. Along the way, much of the energy is lost to the air and ground. This is actually not the most effective method of power generation - local is better, as less is lost in transit. But, this is a long-term conversion process. For example, a 55-turbine offshire windfarm being planned off the coast of County Louth won't begin construction till 2009, although plans are well underway. Meanwhile we need to understand how we can reduce the demand we place on the energy industry, and reduce our household bills in the process.

Energy in the home fits into a few general categories:-

Space heating (and cooling), water heating, lighting, major appliances, entertainment (TV, audio, games consoles) and waste energy. To reduce the energy we consume, we must eliminate as much as possible of this waste energy. A recent invention - the Smart Meter - is being piloted by the government to enable consumers to analyse their electricity usage and hopefully reduce their demand. Hopefully this won't increase the Standing Charge!

No-cost benefits can be made simply by turning things off rather than onto standby, hanging laundry out on the washing line (or indoor airer) rather than using a tumble drier, and having showers rather than baths.

Use daylight more wisely - open curtains in the morning to get the benefit of free solar heating through your windows, and close them when it gets dark to keep the heat in.
 
When you get something out of the fridge (or freezer) close the door immediately - open it to put it back. Defrost your fridge/freezer to prevent the build-up of ice.

Cook larger portions of casseroles, chilli and curry, and freeze some to reheat when you haven't the time (or inclination) to prepare a meal (it actually seems to enrich the flavour while in the freezer). When you come to use the frozen meal, remember to take it out of the freezer the night before rather than using the microwave to defrost it. Reheating in the microwave is the most energy-effiecient method though - even your teenage son (or daughter) can manage that!.

As there is extra demand for electricity between 5pm and 7pm, try to avoid using washing machines and dishwashers between these hours to reduce the strain on the current national grid.

The most effective way of reducing waste energy is through insulation.

Fit thermostats on your radiators, paint them a dark colour (they'll be more effective) and put foil behind them to prevent them heating only the wall.

Learn to use your central heating system effectively. It's surprising how complex they can be these days, with thermostats in rooms, on water tanks, and separate heating 'zones' - they're not what you call 'user-friendly'. If you're renting a property, get your landlord to explain the controls.

Once you've insulated as much as possible, then it's time to think of where you can make those extra savings, to both your own energy bills as well as reducing those carbon dioxide emissions we hear so much about recently.

The government has grants available for some renewable sources of space and water heating, so make the most of them while they are available! Wood-pellet stoves and boilers can replace your open fireplace and oil-fired central heating boiler, and save up to 50% of the annual fuel cost at the same time. Installing a solar panel on a south facing roof can provide about 60-70% of your annual hot water requirements forever. This technology is well proven in other European countries.

If you're building a new home, furnish with A+ rated appliances. If you already have appliances in your current home, delay buying new ones until you have a good reason to replace them - a new one will save you money eventually, but the cost in energy in terms of the raw materials extraction, manufacturing, transport and packaging costs far exceed what you will use for your current appliance until it 'dies'. Keep local tradesmen in work by letting them repair it.

Do you have a spare room in your home? Maybe your children have moved away temporarily or permanently. The 'rent-a-room' scheme allows the space provider to claim tax relief, as well as the new inhabitant. It also means that the single person doesn't need a whole residence to furnish and heat all on their own - saving a huge amount of energy and materials in the long run.

Use fresh flowers and pot-pourri from your garden to scent your rooms rather than plug-in and spray chemicals. Compost them when they're finished.

Electrical gadgets may save both time and energy, but use precious raw materials and energy. Try to eliminate one or two in order to reduce your drawings on the Earth's natural resources. As an example, mobile phones don't need to be replaced every year - look after them. When they stop working, then recycle them (charities can make money in the process).

Patio heaters are becoming more and more popular in Ireland with the introduction of the ban on smoking in the workplace, but if you think about it logically, what on Earth are they doing? Simply heating the atmosphere directly, no insulation - the heat lasts a short time (minutes) but the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere lasts about 10 years! Burning wood rather than coal, peat or gas at least uses renewable sources, but my personal opinion is - put a coat on or go indoors :>))

There are numerous and an ever-increasing number of appliances on offer now. Many do not have energy ratings or even display their average energy consumption.
Television sets range from the 'old-fashioned' CRT (cathode ray tube) through LCD (liquid crystal display) to plasma. Most, if not all, come with a standby facility and remote controls, and then there are the digital receivers and DVD players/recorders, and 5:1 surround sound systems. Trying to work out how much power you are using is not going to be easy. If you're thinking of buying a better setup then finding out the options is like entering a minefield, and if you get it wrong you really can't be blamed.

As a very rough guide, CRT and LCD sets on average consume 3.4 Watts per screen inch. Different manufacturers can have widely varying power usage.

Plasma screens on average consume 9.4 Watts per screen inch (2005 figures) - most of this is emitted as heat rather than light! As plasma screens are usually much bigger than LCD screens then this creates a great deal more waste energy, and should be avoided.

If you have any of these options, leaving them on standby still keeps power running through the whole set - it just turns off the screen itself, so can still be using two thirds of the 'fully on' status. TURN THEM OFF if you're not watching the TV. There's a new 'energy saving adapter plug' that's just become available in the UK (so won't be far behind over here I imagine) that can turn off the power at the mains using a remote control!

With the Radio Channels on digital TV, it may seem acceptable to have this on as 'background noise' while doing the housework. Well, this also consumes as much as the visible channels, so somewhere between 100W and 400W depending on your TV. It is buch better to have a separate radio, although the old-style analogue radio consumes considerably less than digital radios, using on average 2 Watts compared with 8 Watts, but still a huge saving over a TV.

Most of us have at least one PC in the house. They save energy as we buy things online now, rather than going out in the car, and do our shopping around for best prices here too. So that's good. On average, a 15 inch monitor (LCD) uses 25W when on (19" = 40W), and only 1W when in 'powersave' mode, 0W when it's turned off! Make sure your display settings make use of this. As the monitor size increases, so does the energy consumption. Of course, if you can, turn off your PC too - every little helps!