Saturday 18th February
10.00am to 4.00pm

Location

Carnegie Hall
Northcote Ave
Isleworth
TW7 7JQ
Tel: 020 8892 4916 or 020 8814 2225

Description

Go to the showroom to buy good quality furniture at affordable prices.  To take advantage of the best prices take proof of benefits with you.  The showroom is open from 10am to 4pm.

Traditionally, pancakes are eaten to use up the butter and eggs before Lent begins. Shrove Tuesday is a time to indulge and an opportunity to use whatever you have got in the kitchen. We don’t just mean the chocolate or fruit you have, but vegetables and meat too.

Start off with our basic pancake recipe (it makes between 6 and 10 pancakes)

• 1 medium egg (beaten)
• 125g (4oz) of plain flour – for a lump free pancake sieve the flour
• 300ml (half pint) of milk
• 1 pinch of baking powder

1. Mix together the ingredients above with a whisk and make sure it is lump free
2. Heat up a frying pan and pour in a little vegetable oil (do not use olive oil as this will make the pancakes taste of olive oil)
3. When the oil has warmed up, use a kitchen towel to spread the oil around the pan – this also makes sure that the pan is coated with a minimal amount of oil
4. Pour in enough batter to cover the base of the pan and quickly rotate the pan, to make sure the batter spreads around the pan
5. Cook until the edge of the pancakes come away from the pan – do not be tempted to stir or flip until the batter slightly changes colour and the edges stop sticking to the pan
6. Using a spatula, loosen the pancake and flip it over (don’t worry if you can’t flip it like the TV chefs, it’s better to eat it from the pan than the floor!)
7. Cook until the second side of the pancake is golden brown
8. Fold and serve hot

If you want to eat at the same time as the people you’re feeding, place the unfolded pancakes between sheets of greaseproof paper onto a plate placed on top of a pan of simmering hot water and cover with a clean tea towel to keep them warm until you are ready to eat them.

How could you eat yours?

You can go traditional, serving the pancakes hot, with lemon juice and sugar, but if you’re feeling more adventurous, try these combinations:

Savoury

• Wrap up your chilli with cheese
• Pieces of ham or chicken with chopped up vegetables and cheese
• Pepper, onion and mushroom with pesto
• Leftover roasted meat with branston pickle
• Pork and apple
• Cut up salmon fillet, with broccoli and added sweet chilli sauce
• Mixed vegetables with crème fraiche
• Leeks with goat’s cheese

Sweet fillings

• Slices of banana with chocolate spread
• Mashed banana and peanut butter
• Apple and orange slices with yoghurt
• Honey and crème fraiche
• Fun-sized chocolate bars or Creme Eggs, placed inside a folded pancake, then micro-waved for 30 seconds

There are lots of other ideas out there, just search the internet and magazines for ideas. Don’t forget to ask your friends and family too.

Top tips for leftover pancakes

• Fill up them up with your favourite sandwich filling take it for twist on lunch
• Spread chocolate spread or jam on them, fold them into cigar shapes and add them to your lunchboxes
• Save the plain pancakes and use them instead of a wrap for a Mexican dinner or use them instead of the cannelloni in a spinach and ricotta cannelloni baked dish
• Or freeze them for future treat. Place them between sheets of greaseproof paper and place into freezer bags and freeze. To reuse reheat from frozen with the pancakes stacked and covered with foil in a preheated oven at Gas Mark 1 on a high shelf for 10 – 15 minutes.

Keeping your lemons for longer

If you bought lemons for pancake day but didn’t use them here are a few ideas to make sure you don’t have to throw them away.

• To get most of the juice from your lemon – roll it hard up and down on the worktop or put it in the microwave on high for 10 seconds
• A slightly-squeezed lemon can be rejuvenated by placing it in just-boiled water for a few minutes
• Freeze leftover lemon juice in ice cube trays to use when a recipes calls for a squeeze of lemon
• Grate the zest and freeze for a later date
• Freeze slices of lemon – perfect to add to drinks on a hot day or for a party

Sunday 12th February
09.00am to 3.00pm

Location

The Vision Warehouse 15 
Kendal Avenue 
Acton
W3 0AF

Description

Residents of West London have been generously donating their unwanted Christmas presents to a giant ‘give and take’ in Acton, and last weekend anyone who wanted could come along and take what they wanted.

This community exchange event has been organised by green charity Healthy Planet to remind us that it is better to reuse and recycle than to send useful items to landfill – as well as to give cash-strapped Londoners a chance to get things they may not otherwise be able to afford.

So far they have given a huge amount away – including over 15,000 books, 80 televisions, beds, musical instruments, cameras, games consoles, toys, clothes and loads more – even an unused rowing machine from someone with good intentions, but no time!.

There is one weekend to go: a special half-term weekend of ‘give and take’ that is happening on 11 and 12 February at the Vision Warehouse, in Acton. The ‘giving’ will be from 9am to 12pm, our volunteers will then sort and organise in time for the ‘taking’ to commence at 1pm and last until 3pm.

People are being encouraged to stick around in between for all sorts of activities for the kids! Free stuff for children and fun activities are available for all. CBBC star, Priyanka Patel, from TV show “Sadie J” will be there for the afternoon of the 11th and children’s author Nick Halliday will be signing copies of his latest book “The Lonely Tree”.

Saturday 11th February
09.00am to 3.00pm

Location

The Vision Warehouse 15 
Kendal Avenue 
Acton
W3 0AF

Description

Residents of West London have been generously donating their unwanted Christmas presents to a giant ‘give and take’ in Acton, and last weekend anyone who wanted could come along and take what they wanted.

This community exchange event has been organised by green charity Healthy Planet to remind us that it is better to reuse and recycle than to send useful items to landfill – as well as to give cash-strapped Londoners a chance to get things they may not otherwise be able to afford.

So far they have given a huge amount away – including over 15,000 books, 80 televisions, beds, musical instruments, cameras, games consoles, toys, clothes and loads more – even an unused rowing machine from someone with good intentions, but no time!.

There is one weekend to go: a special half-term weekend of ‘give and take’ that is happening on 11 and 12 February at the Vision Warehouse, in Acton. The ‘giving’ will be from 9am to 12pm, our volunteers will then sort and organise in time for the ‘taking’ to commence at 1pm and last until 3pm.

People are being encouraged to stick around in between for all sorts of activities for the kids! Free stuff for children and fun activities are available for all. CBBC star, Priyanka Patel, from TV show “Sadie J” will be there for the afternoon of the 11th and children’s author Nick Halliday will be signing copies of his latest book “The Lonely Tree”.

Think about a traditional Valentine’s present… maybe a card, box of chocolates, bouquet of flowers and pretty gift-wrapped item. Now think about how much of that gets throw away within minutes of you giving it to your loved one – the envelope, cellophane wrapping, chocolate box, chocolate wrappers, ribbon, wrapping paper – the list could go on! Then in a week, the uneaten chocolates and the dead flowers will also be thrown away.

It doesn’t have to be that way, you can spend your money on a gift that keeps going and doesn’t involve most of your money going in the bin. Here are a few ideas for alternative celebrations that will still say how much you care.

A different card

• Use the alphabet magnets on the fridge to say your valentine’s message
• Get a personalised card with pictures on that can be framed as a permanent reminder for you both
• Choose a postcard (you could give a holiday for a present)
• Send a e-valentine’s day card, text or email
• If you’ve found the perfect card, make sure it gets recycled if it ever becomes unwanted

It doesn’t have to be flowers

• Buy a house plant instead, they’ll stay alive for ages and are a great reminder of you over and over again.
• Don’t just buy strawberries, buy strawberry plants – so in the summer you can have lots and lots of fresh strawberries whenever you want. If you don’t like strawberries, choose a different fruit plant or buy vegetables instead.
• If you do want to buy flowers, ask for them to be wrapped in paper which can be recycled. Then, when the flowers die, put them in your compost bin.
• Buy a recycled vase for your flowers, there’s lots of them out there, so browse a search engine for a unique gift.

Super chocolate

• Why buy a box of chocolate when you can buy big bars of chocolate and get more weight of chocolate for your money? And less to throw away afterwards, too.
• Use up any leftover chocolate (if there is such a thing) to make chocolate brownies.
• There might be a box of chocolates out there which is completely recyclable. If you find one, make sure it is put in the recycling bin.

Gifts from the heart

• Spend the day together
• Give an experience voucher – a spa day or driving experience to look forward to can really brighten up your day
• Buy your loved one a membership to something they love (membership to DVD rentals) or a course that they want to go on (i.e. sewing course)
• Adopt an animal – horses, tigers, polar bears can all be adopted without having to be kept at home
• Buy some pre-loved jewellery – second hand jewellery can have a lot of character and charm and be in great condition. You can buy it from specialist stores or charity shops and spend hours guessing the story behind the item.
• Pledge to do something special or everyday to give your Valentine a break – vacuum the house once a week, clean the bathroom or mow the lawn
• Repair or fix any items that your other half loves – you could replace their watch battery, or get a new heel or sole put on those comfortable shoes they always wear

And finally if you’re staying in for Valentine’s Day

• Rent or borrow a DVD instead of buying one
• Borrow some board games using Ecomodo
• If you are making a meal, visit Love Food Hate Waste recipes for some ideas using up items you already have in the house
• If you have any leftover wine, pour into ice cube trays freeze, to be used later when making stews and sauces
• Recycle any empty wine bottles

Let there be Love this Valentine’s Day – over and over and over again…

It’s easy to love our dairy products a little bit more. Here’s our easy to follow guide to help your dairy products last longer and get used in lovely recipes, instead of finding a new home in your bin.

Step 1

Dairy products love the fridge and the freezer. First of all make sure that your fridge thermostat is set below 5°c and that your freezer thermostat is below -18°c. This can make a difference to how long your food can last.

Step 2

Get your portions sorted out. You’d be surprised at how little cheese is actually in a portion!

Step 3

Wrap it up well in the fridge. High fat foods including cheese, cream and blocks of margarine will dry out if they’re not tightly wrapped. This is why the corners of your cheese go hard and change colour if the cling film isn’t covering the whole block. Store your cheese, margarine or cheese in an airtight container – you don’t have to buy one, use an old margarine tub or takeaway container.

Step 4

Freeze it. Dairy products may seem like a strange thing to freeze, but some of them freeze quickly and easily.

Step 5

Whip up a tasty treat. Or follow the recipes below to create a lovely meal using up whatever is left in the fridge.

Saturday 4th February
10.00am to 4.00pm

Location

Carnegie Hall
Northcote Ave
Isleworth
TW7 7JQ
Tel: 020 8892 4916 or 020 8814 2225

Description

Go to the showroom to buy good quality furniture at affordable prices.  To take advantage of the best prices take proof of benefits with you.  The showroom is open from 10am to 4pm.

Thursday 1 February
5.30pm to 7pm 

Location

Northfields Community Centre
Northcroft Road
Ealing
W13 9SS

Description

Bring yourself and your children to this relaxed and friendly event to find out more about using washable nappies. Have a cup of tea or coffee, relax and chat to others about their experiences of using washable nappies including choosing the right nappy and where to buy nappies.

If you are a Richmond or Hounslow resident you may be eligible to claim back up to £50 toward the cost of the washable nappies or laundering services you buy.

Friday 27th January 2011
7.15pm to 9.00pm

Location

Langton’s Bookshop
44 – 45 Church Street
Twickenham
TW1 3NT

Description

Bring yourself and your children to this relaxed and friendly event to find out more about using washable nappies. Have a cup of tea or coffee, relax and chat to others about their experiences of using washable nappies including choosing the right nappy and where to buy nappies.

If you are a Richmond or Hounslow resident you may be eligible to claim back up to £50 toward the cost of the washable nappies or laundering services you buy.

Wednesday 25 January 2012
7.30pm to 9.00pm

Location

The Leaf and Bean
Duke Street
Richmond
TW9 1DH

Description

Come along and find out all there is to know about cloth nappies! Saffys Nappies will be on hand to offer personalised advice to help you find the right cloth nappies for your family. All are welcome! The Leaf and Bean offer hot drinks and home made cake at very reasonable prices. Have a cup of tea or coffee, relax and chat to others about their experiences of using washable nappies. Remember Richmond council offer £50 cash back to residents towards the purchase of your cloth nappies(per child) and Hounslow provide vouchers of £54 to help pay for your cloth nappies.

So what are you eating for dinner tonight? A traditional menu for your Burns night celebration is:
Starter: Cock-a-leekie (chicken and leek) soup
Main course: Haggis served with neeps (boiled and mashed turnips and swede) and tatties (boiled and mashed potato) all served with gravy
Dessert: Cranachan (a layered dessert of cream, whiskey (optional) honey, raspberries and oats)

How can you love food hate waste at your Burns Night gathering?

First of all let’s get our portions right.

• Weigh 80g of each vegetable (after you’ve peeled or cut bits off) for each adult attending your supper
• It’s also 80g of raspberries for each adult

Hopefully you won’t have any leftovers unless you’ve planned it that way! 

Lovely leftovers

Here are some ideas to get good use of what could be leftover.

Cock–a–leekie soup

• Take some for lunch at work
• Portion off and freeze for a quick and easy supper or lunch on another day

Haggis

• Put it on your eggs at breakfast
• Add to lasagne or bolognaise
• Turn it into filo parcels and freeze for quick and easy party food

Tatties

• Chop up and fry to make hash browns
• Make spanish potato tortilla
• Use to top a Shepherd’s pie

Whipped cream

• Freeze and use for another celebration
• Add to a smoothie, in this recipe for banana milkshake add the cream instead of some of the milk
• Create a mocha pot, swap the double cream in this recipe for whipped cream

Raspberries

• Blitz with icing sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice, to make raspberry coulis, which can be frozen. If you put it in an ice cube tray you’ll get handy portions to add to a dessert in the future.
• Mix the raspberries and whipped cream and top with chocolate sprinkles for dessert tomorrow
• Use the raspberries and whipped cream with some milk to make a milkshake or create a fruit smoothie, simply switch the fruit in this recipe for anything else you need to use up

Vision Warehouse 15, on Kendal Avenue in Acton will be the site of these unique community events where people can drop off any unwanted stuff and those who are feeling the pinch after Christmas can pick up household items they may need. What’s more, they’ll be helping the environment. By re-using things instead of throwing them away, residents will be helping to save landfill space, reduce fly tipping and save valuable resources.

From the 12 to 22 January from 8am until 12 midday (9am to 3pm weekends) residents and businesses alike can bring along any unwanted items that are still in good enough condition for others to want and use including books, furniture, gadgets and other household items. This includes both working and broken electrical items, thanks to DHL Envirosolutions, who will take away all the broken electrical equipment to be recycled.

Then from 27 to 29 January from 9am until 3pm, after a team of volunteers have sorted through the donated stuff, anyone can come along and take items they want, for free.

Green charity Healthy Planet is running the events to raise awareness of environmental issues and reduce the amount of unwanted goods going to landfill. The events are being run in partnership with Furnish, a west London re-use charity, who will also have some lines of furniture for sale at a discount and the West London Waste Authority.

Shaylesh Patel, founder of Healthy Planet said:

“Stuff for Free encourages re-use and reduces landfill so you’ll be helping the environment and helping yourself. This is an exciting development and the largest scale one in the country. Redistributing was the most difficult and the forgotten R in reduce-reuse-repair-recycle. It comes first out of what should be known as the environmental 5Rs. It reduces resource use on new stuff and encourages re-use before the item needs to go for Recycling.

“It’s a logical next step from our highly successful www.booksforfree.org.uk idea that is operating in over 20 centres around the country. By working with key partners to host events such as these we can all improve both the global environment – by reducing landfill – and the local environment, by using empty units such as the Vision event-spaces for the community”.

Full details – including directions to the venue – can be found at: www.stuffforfree.org.uk. Stuff for free leaflet

Cory Environmental Ltd, E.ON Energy from Waste leading a consortium with Tata Chemicals Europe Limited with significant sub-contractor Grundon Waste Management Limited, SITA UK Ltd and Viridor Waste Management Ltd will now be invited to develop detailed solutions as the next stage in the competitive dialogue process that is being employed.

The contract involves treating up to 300,000 tonnes of residual waste per year generated by a population of 1.4 million people, and covers all aspects of treatment including any necessary transport, the operation of transfer stations, and contracts for outputs such as energy, refuse-derived fuel, recyclates etc.

Bids were invited from “single entity” companies, consortia, or joint ventures. The WLWA has offered its three waste transfer stations at Brentford, South Ruislip and Park Royal as part of the procurement but also welcomed proposals involving sites within bidders’ control or which they intend to acquire.

The next stage of the tender process will be the submission of detailed solutions by the short listed bidders in spring 2012. Two final bidders will then be selected to submit final tenders in autumn 2012. The preferred bidder will be selected in spring 2013. The new services will start in April 2015, but WLWA is exploring with bidders the opportunity for an earlier start to begin diversion from landfill as soon as possible.

West London already recycles or composts almost 40% of its household waste, more than any other sub region of London. The new contract will allow continued flexibility to increase recycling up to at least 50% by 2020 and WLWA will focus even more on waste minimisation schemes in the future.

With Christmas only a day away it’s time to think about how to store those dinner leftovers to get the most from them on boxing day, and the day after and the week after that!

All you need is 6 things to help you store your leftovers ready for you to make other delicious meals next week.

Airtight containers

No need for cling film and foil – it’s time to start using and re-using your plastic containers. You can buy them, or rescue them from other uses. Use empty ice cream tubs, margarine tubs, plastic takeaway boxes; they all work well and won’t cost you anything extra – after all, you already bought them.

Bag clips

A cheap and easy way to keep food inside its wrapping in both the cupboard and freezer. Use them to stop pasta escaping in the cupboard when the bag is knocked over or to re-close the frozen carrots bag in the freezer. Saves you time cleaning the cupboard shelves and finding random peas in the bottom of the freezer drawers! A free alternative is to use pegs or paperclips.

Ice cube trays

There are so many more uses for these than just making ice!

• Pour in leftover wine (if you have any) and freeze. Use the wine cubes to flavour sauces or gravy.
• Chop up fresh herbs, put them in the tray, cover in water and freeze. Use in soups, sauces or risotto.
• Blend fruit and put in the tray. Frozen fruit cubes can be added to smoothies or milkshakes to add flavour and help make them cold, just blend the cubes into the rest of the ingredients or add them like ice cubes.

Once these have frozen, you can remove them from the ice cube tray and store in bags or airtight containers so you can freeze more.

‘Half of one’ container

Leaving half an onion in the fridge always makes everything smell. This lovely, funny shaped container is ideal for half an onion or half a grapefruit. Keeps it fresh for longer and keeps the rest of your fridge free from smells.

Blender

Use your blender to get some of your leftovers ready for storing. Blend your herbs or bananas before putting them in the ice cube trays. Blend your leftover vegetables in to soup then store in an airtight container.

Freezer

You can’t refreeze something you’ve defrosted unless you cook it first. Lots of things can be frozen though. On the 10th day of Christmas our true love gave us freezing tips, so check these out

It’s time to think ahead to just after Christmas. You’ve eaten all the turkey, you’ve unwrapped all the presents and now you’re wondering what to do with the 3 scarves, 2 matching ties, 2 copies of the latest Harry Potter DVD and the slippers you really don’t like from Great Aunt Maureen.

Some of the items you don’t want will be wanted by someone else and you could be looking at gifts that others received with envy (but they don’t want them). It’s time to think about a great swapping event.

Organising a swapping event is actually quite easy:

1. Find a willing group of people. Your family and friends will do, or maybe a local group you’re a member of, such as a Mum’s group or a church.
2. Get some volunteers to help run this event.
3. Choose a location, a date and time.
4. Promote your event.
5. Attend, swap your extra or unwanted items for things you really wanted.

There are other things you need to do behind the scenes, such as organising refreshments and working out how you make sure no one person takes lots of lots of items, but essentially these steps are all you need. If you would like some help or guidance running an event, just get in touch.

Alternatively, keep your eyes peeled for any swapping events that might be taking place in your area (check local papers, noticeboards or the internet) – then just take your unwanted stuff along and come back with something far more suitable!

Your freezer is one of the best tools you have to save yourself money and the average freezer contains enough food to feed its owners for 11 days.

So what can we use our freezers for?:

• Keep frozen food frozen (yes, we’re starting with the obvious one)
• Freezing any food that is going to hit its’ use-by date before we can eat it
• Storing the second, third and fourth portions of anything we can’t eat straight away
• Freezing meals we’ve made ourselves

Here are our Christmas tips to help you get the most from your freezer and save you money by not throwing away any of the lovely food you bought for Christmas.

Squeezing more in

You may be surprised how much you can get in your freezer, even if it has a small cubic capacity.

• Freeze meat in smaller portions – if you buy 11 drumsticks on offer but know you’ll only eat 4 in each meal, pack them into cling film or freezer bags in packs of 3 or 4 so you only have to defrost what you will eat
• Take items out of the boxes it came in and put into minimal packaging, cut out any cooking instructions you need and make sure you label the items so you can find them again

Quick and easy to use

You don’t always have to take items out of the freezer hours or days before you want to use them.

• If you cut meat up in to smaller pieces before freezing it won’t take as long to defrost and can be used in quick stir-fry meals.
• You can freeze cooked food, so cook meat and freeze it so you can just take it out the freezer, defrost, re-heat and add straight to pasta or salad.
• When you freeze fresh vegetables, freeze them on a flat tray, then once they’re frozen put them in a container of your choice. If you do this, you should be able to choose how much you defrost instead of a huge clump of them.
• Label everything you freeze. 1 in 3 people say they can’t identify things in their freezer and you don’t want to defrost the bolognese to discover that it’s actually shepherd’s pie…

Freeze me

You might be surprised at what you can freeze.

Milk – you can freeze milk in plastic bottle: use a little milk from the bottle first then put the bottle in the freezer. When frozen, the milk expands so the bottle puffs out (it also turns yellow, but don’t worry). To defrost, put the milk in the fridge the day before you want to start using it and it turns white again as it defrosts.

Potatoes – Parboil them(cook for less time than you would normally until they’re starting to go soft, but aren’t cooked in the middle), cool them, then freeze on a baking tray and put in a container of your choice. When you want to use them, thaw them out and then roast them. This may not work with all types of potato. Give it a try and let us know how you get on.

Bread – put it in the freezer and you can defrost quickly and easily. Slices of bread can be toasted straight from the freezer. Rolls and baguettes should be put in the oven on a low temperature for a short time and when you take them out, they’re lovely and warm and soft.

Cheese – simply grate and freeze, then add straight to a sauce. Hard cheeses like parmesan can be grated from frozen.

Cream – whip cream, then freeze. Whipping stops it becoming grainy when you thaw it.

Cake – freeze a whole cake by double wrapping it in cling film, then wrapping it in foil. It will keep for a month. To defrost, simply take out the freezer. You can also freeze cake in slices, putting greaseproof paper between the slices, so you can remove one at a time.

They’re cute, fluffy and coming to a venue near you. The current designs of washable nappies don’t involve lots of folding, safety pins or soaking in buckets. You don’t even have to use them for every nappy change and can use them only when you’re at home or during the day, if that’s what you want to do.

You’ll need between 8 and 10 washable nappies if you use them part-time, so why not give a different gift this year and give the chance to try washable nappies.

For a mother’s perspective, this blog will answer many of your questions…

To find out if you can claim a subsidy or voucher to help pay for washable nappies visit Real Nappies for London or our washable nappies page.

You know your fridge and freezer will be completely full on Christmas Eve and there’ll still be a couple of things you need to fit in. Now is the time to start eating up whatever you can from the fridge and freezer to give you as much space as possible to store that big Christmas shop.

This week

All it takes is 6 simple steps:

1. Download our Meal planner and print a few copies
2. Work out who will be home each night this week
3. Look in your fridge to see what needs eating up before it goes out of date
4. Check your freezer for items which only have one item left in the packet or those things that you’re not sure what they are: these are taking up space you can use for your Christmas items
5. Put together a plan of meals for the rest of this week… for inspiration visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com
6. Put your plan on the fridge and explain to the people you’re feeding this week that they will be eating these meals

After Christmas Day

Use your meal planner for after Christmas too. No one wants to eat turkey sandwiches for 5 days, so use the plan to create a varied menu – using up whatever you have left.

Again, it’s 6 simple steps:

1. Work out who will be home and need feeding
2. Look at what you’ve got left and which items will go out of date in the next few days and what you’ve already cooked but will go mouldy or taste bad if you leave it in the fridge
3. See what you can freeze (cooked food can be frozen, there’s lots of help and advice in cookery books and on the internet)
4. Put together a plan of meals, visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for more inspiration
5. Look at what you’ve not been able to plan for and think about other ways it could be used. Could you cook a dish using your leftovers and then freeze the meal for re-heating later? Are you going to any parties or to lunch somewhere where you can take along a contribution to the food there?
6. Put your plan on the fridge and don’t buy more food until most of your leftovers have been eaten!

Have you ever noticed that the amount of packaging and wrapping around toys is more than twice the size of the toy? If you look at the presents you get, there’s more wrapping to throw away than you get to keep. So this year, let’s try to do something different!

Presents without packaging

Yes, this is possible and it doesn’t take as much time as you think. Not everything comes with plastic bags, a cardboard box or colourful ribbon. Here are some presents you can get without any packaging and they still say how much you care:

• A gift card or voucher and gift cards can also be used again. So once you’ve spent the vouchers you receive this year keep the card and put money on it for someone else next year.
• Give membership or a subscription. Find something you know will interest the person you want to give a present to and make an enquiry. The National Trust is just one organisation that will give gift memberships.
• Take someone on a day out. Make a colourful card or voucher for you own gift, you could give your parents a home cooked meal or promise your nephew a day out in a theme park this summer. It’s a personal gift and gives them something to look forward to.

For more ideas check out our gifts with less packaging page

Re-use packaging

We have a big pile of padded envelopes here, we’ve got them from around various items sent to us over the year and there’s also some cardboard boxes. You can also do this at home, by keeping envelopes and boxes you can save yourself money and time. Simply wrap your presents and fit them into the items you’ve saved. You can even go to the Post Office website and print off the postage you need – even more time saved.

When you reuse envelopes make sure you clearly address them and cover up all old addresses to make sure your present gets to the right place.

Make your own gift wrapping

Wrapping paper and gift bags don’t have to come brand new from a shop, you can make your own or reuse ones from last year, even if you don’t think you are very creative. Here are three simple things you can do:

• Use newspaper or brown paper, to jazz it up use colourful string or fabric ribbon. You could paint the paper or make patterns using potato shapes (if you don’t remember how, look it up on the internet). To finish it off, add a gift tag made from an old Christmas card.
• Save gift bags and reuse them. No one will remember the silver gift bag that Aunt Sally gave you a bottle of wine in on your birthday, so use it again!
• Put your presents in other types of packaging. You could buy a big pick and mix, then put it in a glass jar and tie a ribbon round the jar.

For more ideas for alternatives to wrapping paper follow these links:

36 Green Gift Wrapping ideas

Reader’s Digest home-made wrapping ideas

Ways to save money at Christmas

Wrapping without waste from The Telegraph

Six pairs of shoes isn’t enough, I hear every female friend of mine shout out! Regardless of how many pairs of shoes you own, have you thought about getting them repaired rather than buying a new pair?

Not every pair of shoes can be repaired, but if you’ve worn through the heel or sole, you could get that part of the shoe repaired.

A new heel. Some high heeled shoes come with a replacement heel tip, when the spike wears through the first heel simply take the shoe and heel to a repair shop. Find your nearest shop using Yell.com or your local Thomson Directory.

Time for a bit of sole. Once you’ve worn down the grips on your sole it might be possible to get your shoes re-soled. Instead of slipping and sliding around you could keep your footing in the icy weather.

The cost of getting your shoes repaired will vary. Think about the benefits of repair instead of replacement:

• You’ve already worn these shoes for hours to get them comfortable and they stopped giving you blisters months ago, repairing the heel allows you to keep those shoes for longer.
• If you spent lots of money on the shoes and you really love them, repair them so you can wear them even more!
• The colour of the shoes matches your favourite suit or party dress, can you buy a new pair now so you can still wear those clothes or will you need to spend more money buying a new outfit too?

Buy recycled shoes

Yes, you can buy recycled shoes. An internet search provided us with a lot of options for you to explore and make your fashionable choice.

Recycle your old shoes

If your shoes can’t be repaired, then please make sure you recycle them. Find your nearest shoe recycling bank on your local council website, or donate through the Variety Club shoe recycling appeal.

Would you prefer one big expensive present or lots of presents that cost less? The obvious answer is everything! Buying pre-loved (aka second hand or vintage) can get you everything you want.

Buying a pre-loved item is not about saving money, although reducing the amount you spend at Christmas is a bonus! Buying pre-loved can actually give you a choice of different and interesting presents that you may not be able to buy in the places you normally shop.

Why buy pre-loved?

• You could buy something that is no longer made or published. Try looking for a book you remember from childhood and want to give your child or niece/nephew, but it isn’t in print any more.
• Buy something with a different style. Call it retro or kitsch or just something you love because of its unique style.
• You want something with a story behind it. Imagine where the brooch you could buy has been and who might have owned it 20 years ago!
• A unique gift. Avoid getting three of the same book and two Pirates of the Caribbean DVDs and give something different.
• An affordable gift. Whilst saving money is a bonus, there are items you can buy from a charity shop a lot cheaper than a brand new one, including books and plates.
• Get more for your money. If want to buy something for dressing up or for use in crafty activities, you could get more by buying things others didn’t want to keep.

Places to check out pre-loved items

• Your local charity shop (or any charity shop you pass by)
• Freegle
• Freecycle
• The Oxfam second hand store
• The Preloved website
• Car boot sales (see the adverts in your local papers)
• Church fetes
• Nearly new sales at your local National Childbirth Trust
• At Swishes – if there isn’t one near you we could help you organise one, just contact us.
• Auction Houses (see your local yellow pages or Thomson Directory)

Those 4 words (Merry Christmas to you) arrived on my phone and then in my inbox, as a colourful and animated e-card arrived to wish me season’s greetings.

Receiving a Christmas card is great, but if you want to get everyone a personalised card, avoid the post office queues or get your cards on Christmas Eve then an e-card might be for you.

What can e-cards do for you:

• Buy them from your favourite charity, so your money goes to them.
• E-cards don’t need paper or stamps, if you’re worried about forests being cut down, reduce the need for paper by sending electronic greetings this year.
• Save some time. You can get cards and send them from one place – no need to go to the post office or post box.
• Stop you missing the last posting date. E-cards can be sent to email addresses across the world, so if you miss the posting date for Australia or America, your friends and family can still receive a message from you in time for Christmas.

You’ll find there’s a lot more paper hanging around your home at Christmas, this article has some great ideas including using Christmas cards you receive this year to make gift tags for next year!

There are lots of exciting and unique gifts make from eco-friendly materials. Not something you can buy everywhere, they are a thoughtful and sometimes fun present for the person who seems to have everything!

• A pen made from crisp packets. Looks like an ordinary pen, but contains crisp packets, car parts and carpets, you never would have guessed!
• Pencils made from CD cases. No longer used for holding your favourite Bon Jovi CD’s, instead CD cases and hangers are turned into colourful pencils.
• And a pencil case made from old tyres to keep them all in.

There are lots of products on-line, type ‘recycled pens’ or ‘tyre pencil cases’ or something similar in to an internet search engine and see what comes up!

They were both purple but completely different styles! Don’t you hate it when you lose one glove? It’s like socks in the washing machine, but now there is something you can do – you can show glove love.

Does it really matter if your gloves don’t exactly match? By wearing mismatched gloves, you are showing style and taking part in a growing trend.

Share glove love with a friend.

Tuesday 13 December
9.30am to 11.00am

Location

South Isleworth Children’s Centre
Worple Road
Isleworth
TW7 7AP

Description

The ‘Nappy Guru’ for South West London will be at ‘Babyzone’ at South Isleworth Children’s Centre on Tuesday 13th December to talk to mums and mums to be about cloth nappies and their benefits. She will have real nappies there for you to have a look at and feel of. The session runs from 9.30-11am and is for under 1′s only.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree how lovely are your branches! Mismatched carols aside, there are going to be lots of Christmas trees decorated in West London this year, with its 600,000 households. There will also be a lot of trees that will not be wanted in January. You can make your Christmas tree even greener this year by choosing one that you don’t need to get rid of after Christmas.

Your Christmas tree choices

A real tree in a pot

A totally re-useable tree that also smells like Christmas. If you buy a tree in a pot you should be able to take the tree in to your garden after Christmas and next year take it back into the house.

Make this work for you:

• When you buy your tree, check the root ball is tightly packed in soil and the roots aren’t sticking out in all directions. If they are the tree is unlikely to grow very well. 
• Your tree is not going to survive one Christmas if you don’t water it! Your home will be lovely and warm, so the tree will need water to help it survive. Put the pot into another container such as a bucket without holes in the bottom and then water the tree. If the tray or other container has holes then your floor will get wet. You can make the bucket look Christmassy by wrapping it with foil or wrapping paper or tinsel. If your tree starts dropping needles, you have not watered it enough.
• Try to avoid putting your tree next to radiators or other direct sources of heat as they will help dry it out.
• A live tree should only spend 10 days in your home. When you put it outside after Christmas put it in a sheltered location to help it get used to the cold again.
• Your tree will grow each year. You may need to re-plant it in a bigger pot this year, to avoid having to do that next year or the year after. When you choose the pot, make sure that you can lift it when it’s full of compost, otherwise your tree will stay in your garden and you’ll have to get another Christmas tree next year.
• Will it fit in your garden? If your garden is small you may not want to keep a tree for the next few years.

An artificial tree to use year after year

It may be made of plastic but you can use it again and again with it dropping needles in your home that you’ll keep finding for another year! There are a wide variety of artificial trees available. Green ones, silver ones, fibre optics ones, tall ones, short ones and pre-decorated ones. There’s one for every home and family type, so choose one that you’ll want to look at year after year.

Make this work for you:

• These trees will last longer if you pack them up carefully and store them somewhere dry. Keep the original box, the plastic bags wrapping each section of the tree and any instructions about dismantling tall trees. After you’ve packed it all up after Christmas, put the box in a loft space, large cupboard or under the bed. Try to avoid damp spaces, but if that’s not possible don’t put the cardboard box on the floor and make sure it’s wrapped in plastic to keep it dry.
• Choose a tree that you love. If you’re not sure now, then next year it’s not going to grow on you. A simple green tree can be decorated in any colours with anything you want.

Even greener tree decorations

Whatever tree you have, you can decorate it with decorations that re-use items you might have recycled or thrown away yourself at home, or with items made from items other people didn’t want.

Our favourites are:

Junk mail Christmas tree

Christmas stars made from junk mail and glossy magazines

Shapes made from old CD’s and DVD’s (These are examples of what you can buy, check out other retailers too)

For more information about Christmas trees look at our reuse guide

Monday 5th December 2011
10.00am to 12.00 noon

Location

The Toy Library
Crane Park Primary School
Norman Avenue
Hanworth
TW13 5LN

Description

Bring yourself and your children to this relaxed and friendly event to find out more about using washable nappies. Have a cup of tea or coffee, relax and chat to others about their experiences of using washable nappies including choosing the right nappy and where to buy nappies.

If you are a Richmond or Hounslow resident you may be eligible to claim back up to £55 toward the cost of the washable nappies or laundering services you buy.

Saturday 3rd December
10.00 to 12.00

Location

1a Fortescue Avenue
Twickenham
Middlesex
TW2 5LS

Description

Go to the showroom to buy good quality furniture at affordable prices. To take advantage of the best prices take proof of benefits with you. The showroom is open from 10am to 12noon.

You can still make a pledge to save yourself up to £680 by reducing the amount of food thrown away

Christmas shoppers in Harrow pick up bargain tips to save up to £680 a year by getting more from their food shop

Cllr Bahfouz vs an Ealing journalist in flat bread ready steady cook competition

Two Brent residents show off their skills and love of food

Shoppers and commuters outside Wembley Central watch leftovers turned into exciting meals

Shoppers watch cooking with leftovers outside Morrisons in Acton

Thursday 1 December 2011
10.00 – 12.00 noon

Location

Civic Centre
Lampton Road
Hounslow
TW3 4DN

Description

Bring yourself and your children to this relaxed and friendly event to find out more about using washable nappies. Have a cup of tea or coffee, relax and chat to others about their experiences of using washable nappies including choosing the right nappy and where to buy nappies.

If you are a Hounslow resident you may be eligible for a voucher to put toward the cost of the washable nappies you buy. Find out more at this event.