Your good ideas

The winner for February are marked with a lightbulb below.

Jay Scales, Wakefield
Make at least 1 day a week a 'best before' day - we check the fridge and freezer, and have to make a meal from things which are about to go out of date - so far has led to a couple of weird never-to-be-repeated dishes, and a couple of new favourites (sausage and apple casserole was one!)

Ruta Ruginyte, London Stratford
Clean your toilet with Coco Cola, saving you money and your hands from chemicals

Ruth Townend, London
Liberate your hot water bottle from the bedroom! Mine's been touring the house, keeping me warm while I work, read and eat my lunch. It means I don't need to heat the entire house just to keep myself from freezing up when sitting still.

Lindsay Seels, North Weald
Use all the ingredients left in your cupboard/fridge/freezer before you go shopping again. It’s amazing what fantastic cuisine idea’s you can come up with leftover. Its fun, challenging and saves money.

Emily Owen, London
Reuse old magazines by donating them to doctors or dentists, or taking to local primary schools to use for cutting out pictures.

Liz Murray, Canvey Island
Cooking double and freezing half for another night saves electricity on the cooker, and makes the freezer run more efficiently as it is not empty.

Rebecca Hicks, West Molesey
Try cooking a large meal in the oven and then seperate it out for a meal and lunch ideas to save using the oven several times e.g. a chicken can make so many meals.

Karen Meacock, Leicester
Unwanted jumpers too full of holes for the charity shop?. Unravel them and use the wool to knit a square. Get your friends to do the same and sew into a blanket which you can donate to charities helping families left homeless due to wars and natural disasters.

Bethan Roberts, Knebworth
Have a look in the 'reduced' section of your supermarket. Needless to say, the food is reduced which helps the finances, but it also helps reduce waste, as the items usually go out of date the next day, so it they would be thrown away.

Leanne Dempsey, Southampton
Instead of using an electric blanket at night, just cuddle up to someone to keep warm!

Elaine Powell, Didcot
We like to make bird feeders and water holders for the birds from smoothie cartons we use each week. These are hard to recycle in the recycling boxes so we prolong the use by hanging them in the garden and cutting holes in the sides.

Jennifer FitzGerald, Wednesbury
Use "rubbish", old clothes and anything else you can think of with your children to create innovative art and craft projects, teaching them about environment, rubbish, "being green" and stimulating their imagination and creative sides (also dont forget team work, planning and toher necessary social skills). If you don't have children of your own consider donating your recyclable materials to local schools to save on rubbish and save the school costs on resources and materials.

Ami Bruce, glasgow
I use the water when I empty my dryer to water my house plants instead of dumping it down the drain!

Arlette D'Souza, London
Lots of people do DIY around their homes. We recently did our bathroom and finished the project with lots of bits and bobs, in particular several tins of unused paint. Dreading the thought of wasting the paint by throwing it in the skip or squeezing it into the already heaving garage, I was delighted to hear about Community Repaint, a charity that collects spare paint and gives it to various community schemes, voluntary organisations or individuals in real need. So do your bit for the environment and recycle your unused paint through Community Repaint and help your local community in the process!

Kerry waters, Barrow-in-Furness
Educate our young children to conserve energy by switching lights off, closing doors behind them and putting on an extra layer of clothing before complaining of the cold. Hopefully by the time their young adults this behaviour will be second nature to them

Clair Lewis, Portsmouth
Have a clothes swaping party with your friends. At the end of the evening donate any unwanted items to a local charity shop or donation bin.

Lora McGinlay, Glasgow
Join your local freecycle group (www.freecycle.org) and offer your unwanted items to others instead of putting them in the landfill. You'd be amazed what other's can use!

Solange Thomas, London
I cut in half the plastic tubes of products such as moisturiser, foundation, antiseptic cream, toothpaste etc when the tubes are almost empty. You'll be amazed how much you can scoop out from the contents inside. It really makes the products stretch that much further.

Sue Fuller, Alton
Always think reusable not disposable! Buy various size plastic containers for storing packed lunch items so that you don't need to use plastic bags and tin foil - the containers are great for storing and re-using left over food too. Use handkerchiefs instead of tissues and washable muslin face cloths instead of cotton wool. You'll cut down the amount you throw away and you'll save money too!

Helen Crevel, Wellingborough
Feed people! Lots of us can't afford to eat out at the moment but it's really nice to have dinner sorted for you. Invite your friends round for dinner - my favourite to do are DIY pizza - make dough, provide toppings and everyone has a laugh making their own! Oh, and cake is always fun to make and give to people :)

Ann Dawson, Doncaster
I have a compost bin where I put all my food waste in and also my shredded papers and all junk mail..and use it afterwards to grow my own vegetables

Andrea Lary
I take a few coins extra when I'm shopping and buy a re-usuable bag for the next customer (if they don't have one) so that hopefully they will recycle more!

Sue Lemmon, Great Yarmouth
Turn the heating down and snuggle up together on the sofa under a fleecy blanket.

Maya Russell, Wokingham
If you live in a hard water area and your skin is dry and you can't afford or have no room for a water softening system, put two tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda in your bath water. Your skin will become gorgeously soft.

helen battle, boston
When you've read your magazines,pass them around to friends and family and when they've finished with them take them to the old peoples home for them to enjoy

Julie Trotter, Cleethorpes
Recycle clothes by either giving them away or using them with a different outfit. Clothes parties are great where you swap clothes amongst friends. Great for picking up that belt or that bag that you've always envied!

Pearl Davison, Portsmouth
To cut down on heating bills keep a cosy blanket nearby and reach for that instead of the heater switch if you start to feel the chill.

Leanne Dempsey, Southampton
Instead of having your lights on all evening use scented candles - it makes your home smell nice and saves on electricity

sam lucas, london
Dont bin old batteries, have a collection draw at home, then when this gets full take it along to a recycling center. it saves the batteries ending up in land fill

Lesley Davis, Hastings
Put all your unwanted clothes,house hold items etc to one side then when the boot sales start in the spring go along selling all your unwanted gear. Not only is it a good way to recycle your goods but you can make a few £ to.

Linda Sweet, Bradpole
Buy books from charity shops and when you have finished with them return them to the charity shop so that they can sell them on again.

Cindy George, London
Always make sure you have a pair of comfortable shoes stashed away at work or wherever. Then you're always ready to do some walking, whatever else the day brings!

Eng Chong, Coventry
Swap second-hand clothes with friends. Saves you having to buy more, but you are still fashionable and get/pass on the pleasure of lovely clothes.

Ruth Slater, Ormskirk
Give unwanted books to charity shops and while you are pick up some replacement books. You can learn so much of the world from a book. Reading produces so much pleasure without consuming the vast quanties of electricity other forms of entertainment such as computers, games consuls or TV's need.

Lisa Day, wellingborough
Some charities such as Rotary clubs accept rags and clothes too damaged to wear (dirty,with holes ect) as they can gain money from them.

Nancy Townsend, Stevenage
Walk more. It's free and good exercise as well. You don't always need to get the car out.

helen warrener, sunderland
If you are getting married and want only green presents rather than people having to find them and then the chance of receiving duplicate gifts ask for eco friendly web site vouchers and then you will be able to order just what you need so then theres no waste

Ruth French, colne
To save money on wrapping papper at christmas and birthdays, use old newspaper and magazines. these can be taped into larger sheets ( 4 across by 4 up) and make a new bright feel to those presents, also you can save the little bits left over and make curls and bows to sit on top instead of buying those expensive ones from the shops also, try to get people to open their persents carefully, i know if u have small children this wont work but adults can, as you then can use that wrapping papper again, also another one is if u have those present bags given to you every year and they just get thrown away, don't! you can remove the string tag replace it with your own and ta da a new present at half the price

Diana Storrie, Ayr
After your bath, bath the dog. Saves water, saves energy.

ruth french, colne
If you have old netting curtians that are no use any more, don't throw them away. cut them into squares bout 2 inches by 2 inches, fill them with popurri and dired herbs, gather all edges together and tie with ribbon or elastic bands, hang in your wardrobe or place in drawers and make them smell sweet

ruth french, colne
placemats can be expensive so why not make your own, collect old sheets of newspapper, magazines and general papper waste. tear into strips about 1 cm wide place 11 down next to each other weave the other strips across the 11, stick them together if needed fold all the loose ends of the strips into the weave and cover with plastic creates funky new placemats

ruth french, colne
during winter keep your curtains closed this increases the amount of warmth inside your house reducing heating bills also make draft exculders by stuffing them full of little bits of wool or old ratty t shirts keeps those cold drafts out another thing is pile blankets onto the beds in winter this keeps you warm also reduces your heating bill

ruth french, colne
if when you have finished with the soap there is little bits of it left melt them all gently together in a pan and remold them, makes your soap last longer and smells so good when you do it

Bernard McDermott, Glasgow
Pass on every periodical you read to someone else, reduces landfill and deforestation, saves money, to be spent on other good causes.

RJ Mansfield, eastbourne
Keep paying your dual fuel to get the discount available but DO NOT use your gas central heating at all - you can even do without hot water [cold chave with a quality razor and shaving oil, or grow a beard!]. Yes, you can - even through winter! That way you also accumulate a reasonable sum in credit with the Gas Co. - which you claim as a refund for your holiday, etc. [Think of it as a piggy bank.]

Gill Corbitt, Middlesbrough
Turn off the microwave when not using...the clock uses as much energy in a year as cooking!

ruth french, colne
if you are a collector f knitted scarfs like me and don't wear them, don't worry if you sew them together with a little bit of plain wool they make a most warm blanket and they look so colourful also with little lacy scarfs.............. plain shopping bags can be made beautiful if you just sew on the sarcf and mix and match the ones next to each other evryone will be asking where you bought your bag

Lorraine Smith, Tampa, Florida-USA
Never leave any travel size shampoos, conditioners, hand creams and shower caps that are gratis from hotels and motels. Gather them daily during your stay and upon your return, start a community drive for these items to be provided to the homeless in your community.

Julie Booth, Godalming
Register with your local Freecycle group, and instead of dumping stuff you don't want in the local council dump, offer it for free to other people (who need it) to collect, eg old furniture, books etc.

lindsey roberts, littlehampton
only go food shopping when you are full and not hungry, otherwise you end up buying to much food that will end up being wasted

Rachel Stelmach, Tregaron
Drive smart - Learn how to use your gears to slow down and avoid using the brakes, every time you use the brakes, you're wasting fuel - think of it like that. It helps if you don't drive right up the arse of the car in front.

Gareth Earls, Bodmin
Have lots of dinner parties. Not only does it bring you closer to your friends and family but it also means that only one kitchen is using up energy cooking that evenings meal.

Sarah Laycock, Fleet
All those soap suds left over from the bath are great for preventing greenfly on your outdoor plants in the summer. So get your watering cans out, scoop out that bath water and get watering. Call it bath recycling!

Chris Collins, Hartlepool
I grow a pot of cut and come again lettuce varieties ready to use for fresh salad to take to work each day in summer. in winter I take leftovers soup, made from sundays leftover meat and veg. This saves money, packaging and shopping!

Emma Clarke, Coventry
Preserve the rainforests and save paper - To prevent piles of unwanted mail being posted through your letterbox, contact the Mailing Preference Service, Freepost 22, London W1E 7EZ or go to www.mpsonline.com and request that they remove you from their mailing lists.

ruth french, colne
if u have stale cake bitlz them into crumbs and mix with fruit and trecale and rebake lovely pudding

katrina cork, sheffield
grow your own veg. not only does it taste better when its fresh out of the garden, but it gives you a sense of well being growing your own..... keeps you fit too!!!!

Chantal Botha, Bilston
Some charity shops take clothes even if they're no good to resell - this is called rag - they sell this on to make money so don't throw your clothes away no matter how bad - sort out the good from bad and ring round to find a charity shop that will take it & most importantly when you hand it in make sure you tell the volunteer which is which!

Dave Johnston, Greasby
start a brand new campaign to either car share or public transport to get to work with an added incentive of much less added pollution

Mark Richmond, Darlington
Save bubble wrap and packaging from parcels and pass on to your local charity shop to reuse - saves waste and helps them at same time.

Yvonne Munroe, Oldbury
More people should be encouraged to grow their own veg/have allotments. Maybe glossy magazines should give away plant seeds instead of make up and perfume samples.

joanne Pye, Peterborough
when you have no use for an item dont throw it away, simply register with freecycle or a recycling website or even sell it on ebay or at a car-boot sale to make a few pennies, I had a metal bunk bed that i no longer needed and offered it free on freecycle, A lady contacted me because her daughters bed had broken. it is now on its second cycle of life and is not in a landfill site

cheryl pasquier, tn35 5dh
Teach your kids that recycling is cool - buying second hand clothes from a charity shop then customising them, making homemade gifts and cards for family birthdays, growing your own fruit and vegetables or baking your own cakes - it's healthier, fun, cheaper and more ecological. Buying the latest stuff in the shops isn't the only way to be cool !!

Lindsey Clegg, Cleckheaton
grow your own spinach and lettuce on a window sill - no more expensive packaged salad thats been on a roung the world air trip

lesley hamilton, hebburn
when you have finished reading you magazines recycle them by taking them to waiting rooms in hospitals, dentists and opticians etc

Julie Taylor, Walsall
Go through the whole house with a fine toothcomb and weed out everything you dont use, havent use, got two of, that doesnt make you happy, duplicates, put into a bag and take out the house at the earliest opportunity. This all then goes back into circulation and stops people from having to buy new all the time. All those attics that are full is criminal! we dont need all this stuff!

Susan Boland, Thornbury
I was fed up with piles of washing which was mainly from my teenage daughter who would wear something once and then expect it to be washed. I put her in charge of all washing for a week. Funny my washing pile is a lot smaller now.

Sandra Millar, Edinburgh
You can recycle practically everything, think before you bin!!

Glenys McGrath, Rhos On Sea
cook more than one meal in the oven at once. Freeze the other one.

Jennifer Turnbull, Jarrow
Use items from your store cupboard to clean your house. White vinegar and baking soda can be use for many things, mix a paste of both these items, spread over your oven, leave overnight and then it will be easy to wash off the next day. No harmful chemicals being flushed into the environment. mix equal parts white vinegar and water in a spray bottle to clean windows, polish with crumpled newspaper, you'll be amazed at how they shine and no streaking. Put a few drops of essential oil onto a piece of cotton wool and place in your vacuum bag, it will act as an air freshener. clean your sinks and taps with white vinegar and baking soda.

Ann-Marie Chandler, Ross-on-Wye
Use finished toilet rolls (filled with homemade compost) for sowing seeds. They breakdown easily in soil!

Hannah McNamee, Belfast
The idea of living ethically in todays world is something that would cause most to bury their heads in the sand. Although a nice picture, the sacrifice is too much for most to take. We need courage to sacrifice short term gains for long term goals. Courage to sacrifice private benefit for community benefit. Courage to stand up for our values and finally courage to stand up to the lure of the almighty pound.

Maxine Fuller, Dudley
I now grow all my own veg, which saves money and saves on all that packaging from the supermarket, which in turn helps the planet.

Claire Higgins, Blaenavon,
Reduce - Ask yourself if you really need something 3 times before you buy it. Reuse - Shredded paper maker great free pet bedding and then can be mixed with your compost heap. Recycle - swap your books you have read with friends.

elaine finnerty, leamington spa
teach your children from a young age to recycle as they are the future of our planet

Audrey Tebbs, Boston
Save your used ground coffee beans to use as slug and snail deterrent around youe salad and vegetable crops

Georgina Sudron, Hartlepool
my daughter keeps most of my old clothes and uses them again on the sewing machine to make cushions i think its a fantastic idea at least i can see how useful they have been and its kind to the environment i wouldn't want to throw my old clothes out

Beth Squire, Gloucestershire
Try and beat the throw away culture we've developed. Cut out everything from your shopping that says 'disposable'. A cloth and warm soapy water is just as good (if not better) than throw away cleaning wipes. Investing in a few long lasting tupperware containers (or even washing and saving the ones that you get given with your chinese take away) beats storing food in bags or clingfilm that will be thrown away after. Try digging out those hankies you have lying in your drawer instead of using tissues. You could even try reading the news online instead of buying a newspaper everyday. All this will save you lots of money too!

Judith Green, Swindon
Low meat or no meat plus whole food protein, such as lentils and beans, all in their most natural state. Nutritious, cheap, healthy and kind to our planet.

Sarah Whittington, Gravesend
Get your children involved in recycling make it fun with creating & making things with the rubbish before recycling,The younger they are the better.

Barbara Smith, Tamworth
Don't be embarrassed to offer old baby clothes to people at your local school/ baby clinic / mother and toddler etc. You'd be amazed how grateful people are to save a little money.

Juliet Kavanagh, London
wind up lanterns and mobile phone chargers

Lisa Ellison, Wellington
Most wshing machines have a "quick wash", why not use it more often as alot of you clothes properly just need refreshing, not a 2 hour wash. In doing this you will not only save water but also save engergy and MONEY on your electric.

Jillian Beggs, Southampton
Rather than buy more new toys for your children, arrange a toy swapping party with your friends. For a small donation to charity they get new toys from people they know and your old toys are recycled.

Lois Davies, Cardiff
If you work in a draughty office as I do, don't plug the fan heater in under the desk. Pop a hot water bottle on your chair. mmmmmmmmmmmmm lovely !

Laura Stone, Cleckheaton
Bake a birthday cake for your friends. They will remember it and there's no waste from an unwanted present.

Hayley Seymour, Spalding
before you go shopping plan the next week ahead. plan your menu for ever day until you will be shopping again. only buy what you really need.that way you have no waste and not a cupboard full of things you will never need. i buy online to i can make sure i have all i need and no hidden extras then it also saves a road journey as the delivery driver will do a few in one round.

Susannah Leggatt, Leicester
It might sound daft, but I make my own greetings cards, I tend to find rubbish, like plastic bags, give them a good wash and turn them into flowers mainly, to add to my cards.

Michelle Watson, Stanley
Join your local Freecycle group, in yahoo groups, find homes for your unwanted items, saving a trip to the tip, saving someone else money and packaging and save yourself money - its amazing what some folk give away

Deborah Powell, Abbotsford
It's not really an idea, it's an online resource. www.OutThere4U.com is a free listing events & activities directories for communities worldwide. It's all inclusive because it covers the arts right through to sports... and you can even list your garage sale too!! Our aim is to reduce the amount of glossy tourism type magazines and get everyone online and green!! Hopefully this fits into your criteria... and if we win the bag of goodies we will donate it to a local event organizer. Sincerely Deborah Powell

Yvette Branczyk, Alameda, CA. USA
What about saving water? and money on your water bill! What I do is very simple, I just recycle the water I use. Soapy water will be used a second time to wash the floors and clean the bathroom. Water used to wash vegetable and fruits will also be used to water the plants and flowers in the garden. I just need a container not too big as I cannot lift too many liters. My sister even does better... she does not flush the toilet every time she uses it, she flushes it maybe once a day. I cannot do the same as I live with my son, as that will be very embarrassing. But if you live alone, just flush the toilet if you have guests coming. You could also save water by controlling the time you spend under the shower...I cannot do it as I love to stay a little longer than necessary. Everybody has a weakness! But my sister does it! What about saving on the electricity bills? That is very easy to do, just switch off the light when you leave a room, and also switch off all your electronic gadjets that you have in your home, your computer, printer, radio etc...during the night when you are not using them. For this last suggestion, I am not sure it will save electricity, I will need a specialist for advice. But please do not switch off the alarm o'clock if you need to go to work! To save some money on your gas bill, do put the thermostat at its lowest during the night and simply use an extra blanket. And for my last advice, if you are retired and have time, check your bank statements for extra charges , and write to complain for insufficient fund charges or whatever they are charging you with. If you write and complain they will automatiquely reduce or cancel your charges as the banks don't want to have a bad reputation in these days... Believe me it works, I just got 155 dollars from Citi Bank for not letting me know that they have a special no maintenance fee for people over 65 years old. And I am presently writing to European banks to ask why they are taking 2, 3 or 4 days to make a transfer between banks, delay which have resulted in insufficient funds fees from the recipient bank.

Erica Price, Oldbury
Reuse old greetings card for children's art projects

Lynne Watkins, Bristol
Sew your own reusable shopping bags, using material from old curtains etc. Children's prints make especially attractive bags, which make for conversations at the checkouts.

Sarah Woodhams, Ashford, Kent
Instead of buying new clothes for each season, accessorize and 'diy' them.

Veronica Gabanski, Huddersfield
Stop buying tea bags and switch to loose tea. It's cheaper by far (50% cheaper with one top brand), tastes much better and you're paying for tea and not the bags as well. What's more, there's no wasted teabags cluttering up landfill sites as you can pop the used tea in with the compost. Don't want the messy leaves in your cup or teapot? Get yourself a tea infuser to capture the leaves. Very cheap to buy and you can get handy one-cup spoon versions or a larger spring-open mesh ball for when you've got friends and family wanting a cuppa.

Linda Eitelberg, Lismore
If you're worried about waste, don't buy it. that's my motto. No plastic bags - I take my backpack or beach - bag to do my shopping. If I buy apples or carrots or potatoes or such things in stores, I don't put them in individual plastic bags for all the fruits, I put them in my shopping trolley and then in my backpack. If something has too much packaging, I don't buy it. I buy something with less packaging. I tend to go to the stores where they have jars of say nuts or flour or so, and put them in paper bags that I re-use. Why put something in a plastic bag, that gets put in another plastic bag, just to put it in another one?