Top 5 Eco-Friendly/Energy Saving Gifts for Christmas

Using less energy and thus emitting less CO2 is very important. I know I always find myself lecturing my family and friends about it or reminding them that they can recycle that letter and envelope or that old TV. So I thought what better gifts could I get that would really show my personality and help them save energy and money. So here are my top 5:

5. Sun Jar Solar Light

This is a good gift for anyone in my opinion because it is pretty and everyone could find a use for it. It is a solar light that is a nice yellow orange colour. I imagine it would look very pleasant inside or outside.

This can be bought from many online retailers such as big names, such as Amazon and Play.com, or Home4Eco, for £16.99+:

http://www.play.com/Gadgets/Gadgets/4-/1147936/Sun-Jar/Product.html?_%24ja=tsid:11518%7Ccat:1147936%7Cprd:1147936

http://www.home4eco.com/gift-ideas/sun-jar.html

4. Mobile Phone Enviroplug ~ £9.99+

This plug works with mobile phones and some other devices. It turns off once the mobile phone has finished charging. Useful when charging a phone overnight.

This can be bought from many online retailers from £9.99:

http://www.nigelsecostore.com/acatalog/Mobile_Energy_Saving_Adapter.html

3. Radiator Booster ~ £24.95+

As seen on Dragon's Den, this device increases the efficiency of one radiator - saving money. I personally have this in mind for a parent as their bedroom is above a garage and is often cold. Therefore, I thought this might help to warm their bedroom up faster and keep it warm.

This can be bought from many websites from £24.95:

http://www.nigelsecostore.com/acatalog/Radiator_Booster.html

2. Efergy Elite Energy Meter ~ £39.99+

An energy meter shows information about energy consumption and where it is being used. Please note that energy monitors need to be clipped to an energy meter to tell the consumption. In addition, this particular model has an in-depth memory so it can show you how much energy was used last week or last month - very useful for comparisons and for seeing if you are using less energy each month.

The function of this device will help households to understand their own consumption and where they could lessen it. So, might not be suitable for all recipients but possibly family and close friends.

This device can be bought from Eco-friendly product websites such as Green Stamp from £39.99:

http://www.greenstamp.co.uk/product_info.php/cPath/33_72/products_id/65

1. USB Rechargeable AA Batteries ~ £8.50+

I think this is amazing! As a household, we do go through lots of batteries - especially households with young children as EVERYTHING needs batteries! This is definitely better than buying new batteries every time - think of the price paid, the packaging (OK, most of it is cardboard which can be recycled but recycling uses energy too!), the recycling of them after - or the dump they end up in for those who are too lazy to recycle! Yuk!

They work like normal AA batteries and when they run out, you plug them into a USB port to charge them up and then away you go.

I will be buying at least two of these even if they aren't presents because I love the idea of them! Goodbye to storing dead batteries for ages to recycle them and to nasty leaky batteries!

These can be bought in the UK from many online retailers including big brand names, such as Argos and Play.com, as well as Eco product sites such as Nigel's Eco Store and Home 4 Eco. Prices from 8.50.

http://www.home4eco.com/energy-saving/usb-rechargeable-batteries.html#

http://www.nigelsecostore.com/acatalog/aa-rechargable-usb-batteries.html

Get Some of Your Money Back from Online Purchases: Quidco

I have been using the brilliant site called Quidco (http://www.quidco.com/user/1081615/) for over 6 months now which I would definitely recommend. It is a cashback site that gives you cashback from the purchases you make online. How can it do this you ask? Well, basically, sites like Quidco get a commission for referring someone to the website that you purchased from. Cashback sites like Quidco pass on this commission to you.

For example, if you wanted to buy something (e.g. XBox) from Argos that cost £200. You would sign into the Quidco site and search for Argos, where you would find that they offer 1.5% cashback on all items. This would give you £3 cashback which may seem small but it adds up quickly - especially if you shop online a lot.

From the Quidco website, you click on the link 'Get cashback' that sends you to the Argos website - this is very important as this is how your purchase is tracked and your cashback awarded. It is 100% safe and won't get your payment details. It just registers the referral and hours later you will get an email confirmation of the amount you spent. So once on the site, you choose and purchase your item and pay.

I first registered on Quidco when I was searching for my new phone. I looked up the cashback rates on Quidco and got £30 cashback which I had paid into my bank. There are lots of good deals on mobile phones so it is definitely worth it for that. Since then, I have forgotten to use it numerous times on numerous purchases, unfortunately. But my cashback is still adding up from all the times that I do remember - £2 here and there add up after time!

To be honest, if you are going to purchase your item online anyway - you might as well get a little bit of cashback from it, at no additional effort to yourself! And Quidco is the #1 UK Cashback site and as a user myself, I would definitely recommend it. So have a look: http://www.quidco.com/user/1081615/

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http://www.quidco.com/user/1081615/

Update on my book

The book is steadily progressing. I have the story completed. I just need the photos to go with the story.

I have been searching every folder on every computer in this house to find photos of my cats for this book. I still can't find some of the ones I was looking for but then I have found ones I had forgotten about which I may use instead of other ones.

I also decided I do want the photos to be edited so that they appear to be illustrations. I tried editing them using lots of features in Adobe Photoshop Elements. I found 'watercolour' was the best for my desired effect. But then I remembered about the editing features on Photobucket - with one called 'Cartoonize'. With luck, I remembered my password from years ago and uploaded a photo to try it out on. The default finish was a bit too strange for me but it is possible to change that so that the colours were a bit more normal. Now, it is definitely the look I wanted and so I am uploading loads of photos of my cats to edit!

So, it is all going well but I need to try to get it finished soon to allow enough time for printing and postage of the books. I just know this is going to be a great Christmas present though!

One of the photos I have edited of my cat Rosie (now passed away) sleeping in the sunshine: