My Mum the Eco-warrior

A small part of my job involves training employees (primarily at manufacturing sites) on energy awareness. As a part of that we tend to roll out the same old stuff about what people should be doing in the home to save energy and become more efficient, but it can become a little preachy and same / same.

What I have discovered after my recent move is that what I should be doing is bringing all of those people that I lecture out of the classroom and into my Mums house to have a look around! Perhaps we could charge some kind of fee! My mother does her bit for the environment in a way that other people just say they do or think they should. For example she has:

• Double glazing throughout the whole house (apparently referred to insulated glazing units in the US? - you learn something new every day);
• Recently taken advantage of government grants to install cavity wall insulation throughout the whole house (and had to install additional ventilation as a result!)
• Ripped out her old loft insulation and installed newer thicker insulation;
• Added an extra door to the front of her porch to reduce cold air ingress into the house;
• Installed compact fluorescent energy saver bulbs across the entire house;

As well as these home improvements she:

• Has bought a new more efficient 1 litre car which apparently has a combined efficiency of 61.4 mpg;
• Is making full use and regular use of her new bus pass;
• Switches off lights and equipment religiously and rarely leaves anything on standby (apart from the satellite box which I mean to have words about);
• There is no curbside collection of recyclables where she lives, so she saves them all up and takes them a half mile to the nearest recycling point;
• Has a combi boiler which means she has to run some cold water before the hot water comes through. And get this - she saves the cold water in a big container to use elsewhere in the garden or house!

Just yesterday I was told "dont do the washing up, I'll do it all tomorrow so that I only have to run the cold water through once". How could I say no to that?

So heres to my mother, an example to us all....

(She'll be embarassed now)