How to spend your Green Leap Day

If you haven’t already, it is time to hassle your boss. What you want is the day off on February 29th - to take part in the Green Leap Day initiative.

Launched by the National Trust, the idea is that employees get to roam free; in return, they are supposed to “green” their lifestyles and think about their carbon footprint.

Here are some ideas to help you fulfill your part of the bargain.

Let me know if you have any plans for the Green Leap Day and I’ll print a selection in next week’s Eco Worrier column, in Body&Soul.

Go for a bike ride. To find a cycle route in your local area, click here. But first, give your bike an MOT – blow up the tyres, oil the chain, give it a clean and check the breaks.

Order a couple of energy-saving light bulbs at Light Bulbs Direct

Make a soup. A thick, nourishing soup, such as this slow-roasted root vegetable soup – a Delia recipe that I’ve tried before. Make lots of it, then it will serve as several meals (minimal work; minimal energy) and you can freeze some in a Tupperware for emergency meals.

Do a shop for green household products. By that I mean, recycled loo paper; green cleaning products (I like Method and Ecover); rechargeable batteries and other boring necessities.

Cancel junk mail. Register with the Mail Preference Service here.

Sprout some seeds. A genius way of growing a superfood stuffed full of health-giving enzymes. You need neither a garden nor a windowsill, just a tiny patch of worktop in the kitchen; a jam jar and an old pair of (clean) tights. Soak a handful of dry beans (lentils, chickpeas, alfalfa…) overnight in tepid water in the jam jar and fix a patch of tights material over the jar with an elastic band. In the morning, drain the water and leave the seeds to germinate, rinsing them twice daily to prevent them going mouldy. It should take about three days

Darn some socks. It’s tempting to hurl holey pairs in the bin and buy another packet of five for a tenner from M&S. But it’s strangely satisfying to mend the holes and keep wearing the same pair. The trick is to do it sooner rather than later - when the holes get too big to mend. So sort through your sock drawer; find some threadbare volunteers and settle down in front of a film. To learn the basics of darning, see here.

See if your local BTCV group (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) needs your help. Find your nearest BTCV office, by clicking on this map.

Register as an organ donor. Click here

Make a veg bed plan It’s a bit early to be sowing seeds, unless you have a greenhouse, but it is at this time of year, that it’s worth sitting down and working out what you would like to grow and where you will put it. Think about what you like eating; what is expensive in the shops; how much sunlight your garden gets; what kind of soil you have. Even if you only have a tiny patch or room for a few containers, the earlier you start planning the better. I have found this RHS website and this veg-growing blog to be invaluable

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Comments

http://www.thesomnambulist.org/doku.php/all/14042008_hf

has an article campaigning for a holiday on leap day 2012. Perhaps an idea to support?