BATTERIES

Millions of batteries are used every year in Ireland and the range of appliances and equipment requiring them is increasing all the time. Many batteries contain hazardous materials, including cadmium and mercury and can cause pollution in disposal.

Here are some useful dos and don’ts on batteries:

Do:
Use mains power wherever possible. Remember that manufacturing batteries can take up to 50 times more energy than the batteries can provide. Mains electricity is many times cheaper than batteries.
Do:
Switch to using rechargeable batteries. A battery charger can make a useful Christmas gift.
Do:
Look for batteries that are free of mercury and cadmium.
Do:
Dispose of batteries carefully. Carndonagh recycling centre is about the closest place but Letterkenny Council take them at their Blaney Rd site as well.
Don’t:
Use old batteries with new ones. The new batteries try to recharge the old ones, cutting their useful life.

ENTERTAINING AT CHRISTMAS

Are you one of those people that have lots of people around the house at this time of year? Taking a bit of time out to think about the waste at Christmas can help you combat the ever-increasing mountain of rubbish that is produced.

Avoid disposable paper plates and plastic cutlery.

Buy snacks and beverages in bulk, which produces less package waste. Better still, make your own.

When preparing meals, buy organic produce if you can get hold of it, which reduces your exposure to toxic pesticides, and supports sustainable non-polluting agriculture.

We do not really have the facilities in Inishowen to do our grocery shopping on line but hopefully someone will catch on soon as this method of shopping can eliminate the pollution from car travel and save you the bother of having to push and shove at the checkouts as hysteria sets in.

We can order a lot of goods online though, especially smaller items that don’t cost too much to post such as DVD’s

Recycling all drinks containers - glass, cans, paper and plastic bottles will help in the battle against bulging waste sites.Any unwanted gifts can be given to the local charity shop.

Unfortunately our local shop doesn’t take in toys anymore but no doubt there will always be someone who would take them off of your hands. The reason for the shop not taking the goods, I have been told is because some people seem to think that a young kid will want to play with a toy that is broken and has pieces missing. It looks like toys were dumped in front of the shops because the old owners couldn’t be bothered to take them to the recycling centre.

Electrical items are the same; the shop cannot take in these because of safety issues. If these sorts of things are given to you it might be an idea get the receipts to go with them. That way they could be taken back to the shops and exchanged for something else that you do need. Other gifts such as clothes and furniture is always welcome at the charity shops though

ALL WRAPPED UP

How are you getting on with the Christmas wrapping? If you are anything like me it will be left until the last minute. It doesn’t have to be stressful though because you can forget about covering the presents in shiny wrapping paper. You can use the excuse that you are helping the environment by coming up with some imaginative alternatives.

IT’S A GIFT
Buy sturdier gift bags/boxes that can be reused or reuse old ones you have received. An even better idea is to make your own gift box out of recycled corrugated cardboard. Most shops throw out heaps of the stuff.

Make your own gift tags by cutting out a shape of your choosing (star, simple flower, heart) from last year's Christmas or birthday cards and punching a hole through it.

Avoid wrapping larger presents. There is no need to cover a large item with loads of paper. If you have a bike for the kids there is no point covering it up because it will still look like a bike!
Start a tradition of Christmas stockings for each person. Little gifts can be put in the stocking without being wrapped. The stockings can be used year after year.

If you are sending presents abroad, make a large pot of popcorn and use instead of bubble wrap.
Use string, ribbon or scraps of wool for wrapping gifts instead of tape. Sticky tape does not biodegrade and can be only used once, whereas string or wool can be used again and again. So can the paper, as it hasn’t been messed up with sticky-tape marks.

CHRISTMAS NO-NO'S

IDEAS FOR RECYCLING AND PINCHING THOSE PENNIIES
(That ended up in the bin!)

Save money on washing powder, go to the shops and buy new clothes every week.

An old pair of underpants can make a very attractive tea cosy. It would make a good conversation piece about recycling too.

Old jars can be used to fill empty shelves.

Replace bulbs in the house with broken ones, you will save loads of money.

Instead of buying expensive grease, use earwax to stop hinges squeaking. (My two lads thought that this idea was very amusing and insisted that I printed it!)

Save lots of money buying expensive oven cleaners, eat out in restaurants every night.

Save toast and turn it back to bread, simply scrape with a knife and wash under the tap.

Put up wallpaper with blu-tak, that way you can take it with you when you move house.

Sawdust from the wood yard makes ideal fake snow and is also an indispensable ingredient in the kitchen. Use it to thicken soup, add it to cereals, cakes and biscuits and it makes a great substitute for Parmesan cheese. It can bulk up a cheap cut of meat too. And it’s free!

If you have children, don’t let them bring any friends into the house. Walking in and out of rooms will wear out your carpets and lino a lot quicker. And replacing the floor covering will be expensive.

When you are buying vegetables make sure they are dry. If not then dry them with your sleeve. You don’t want to be paying for water.

(After reading this one again we quite like the idea and we have decided to take it out of the bin. We do know someone who goes into the grocery shops armed with a small knife. She uses this to cut off the big stalks from the broccoli and to trim leeks before they are weighed. She also has a cloth to brush off the peat that is put on carrots to make them look fresher. She hasn’t started peeling bananas before going to the checkout yet, but it’s only a matter of time!)

TOP TIP

Lets finish things off by making a homemade fly swatter. Simply use a coat hanger and a cereal box. Straighten the hanger and fasten it to the box together with a piece of sellotape and hey presto! Your very own, home made fly swatter, ideal for keeping the flies off what’s left the turkey when it’s still on the kitchen table in January!

NOELINE PHOTO'S

Noeline with some of her beloved orphans

This hand peddled wheelchair was bought in Ghana from the money sent over.

Noeline Haylett is greeted in the new school she funded,by the education staff in Ho Ghana.

WATCH THE WALLET

I had a bit of a scare last week. I went into my local supermarket to get a few bits and bobs. It wasn’t until the following morning when I looked in my pocket that I realised that my wallet was missing. I searched high and low thinking that there was no way that I could loose such an important item. The car got a total clear out under the seats and I checked the pockets at least twenty times to make sure that it wasn’t in the jacket. Its not until something like this happens that you realise just how many important things that are kept in a wallet. I had my driver’s licence, cash cards, cash, credit cards, telephone numbers and even a condensed copy of my family tree. The thought of having to cancel all of the credit cards and reordering a drivers licence put me in a bit of a tizzy. So close to Christmas as well, my life seemed to be turned upside down. The wallet thankfully turned up but the incident made me realise just how important the contents of a wallet are and how they need to be kept very close to you especially at this time of the year when consumerism reaches fever pitch.

GIVE TIME THIS CHRISTMAS

Christmas doesn’t have to be a time of mad consumerism. There is a strong movement this year for people to give time to people instead of presents. It makes sense really. Its probably far easier and more rewarding to spend an hour with someone than it is to traipse around the packed shops looking for things that you assume that people will like for a present. There are other types of gifts that you could give that will save your nerves from being eroded by the crowds. Buy memberships in an environmental organization or donate to a favourite charity in the recipient's name. Another good way to rise above the regular is to; give waste-free presents like leisure activities, theatre tickets, beauty salon vouchers, book tokens, or traditional gifts like my mum does home-madecakes, Christmas puds, mince pies and even home-made chocs! You could also offer your services free of charge. We all have things that we are good at, so offer those - paint a room (or a picture), help to tidy up the garden for the winter, knit, sew -find something that you enjoy doing and it will be a pleasure to do the work.

If you still feel the need to go out and do a bit of last minute shopping then use these ideas as a guide.

Check Energy Star Labels when purchasing electrical appliances and computers.

Look for goods that are made of natural components, such as organically grown cotton, or wood, and hemp.

If you are buying for a baby then avoid toys and teethers made from vinyl plastic containing PVC components, which is a health hazard and pollutes the environment.

Spread the word about environmentally friendly products Buy goods for people that help them think about the environment.


Buy products that are recyclable or have recycled content.

CHRISTMAS TIPS

The amount of ribbon used every Christmas could tie a bow around our planet. The amount of packaging recycled at Christmas is greater than any other time of the year.

Design your own gift-wrap by using old paper bags, brown paper, comic books, cellophane, tissue paper, Sunday Supplements, magazines, posters etc. Add decorations such as old buttons, drawings, bows, stamped patterns, pictures cut from magazines, a small posy of dried flowers or other natural things such as wheat, seedpods or pinecones. If you do use shop bought wrapping paper, buy the kind with recycled content. I was told a tip recently that suggested that we cook up popcorn to use as a protective filler for fragile packages when they are sent through the post instead of polystyrene. It would be all right for local deliveries but might the presents might get confiscated at customs in some countries!

SANTA-THE FACTS!!

SANTA…. THE FACTS (ACCORDING TO MISGUIDED SCIENTISTS)

Most years I am asked by at least one child how Santa manages to get all of the presents delivered on time. Every year I come out with more and more fanciful ideas to the solution. Well this year I have done some research. If I’m asked, I can bombard any unsuspecting child with a few statistics that will get their brains ticking over.

Lets start by taking a look at Santa’s mode of transport, -his trusty reindeer. No known species of reindeer can fly. But there are roughly 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified. While most of these are insects and germs, this does not rule out flying reindeer -although only Santa (and maybe a few people who have plenty of Christmas spirit have ever seen one)!

Lets get down to the facts… There are two billion children (small people under the age of 18) in the world. But since Santa doesn't (appear to) handle most non-Christian children, this reduces the workload to about 15 per cent of the total (roughly 378 million according to the Global Population Count). At a rate of say, 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each. Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west. That's 822.6 visits per second. For each eligible household, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, put presents under the tree, eat any snacks, kiss mother when available, get back up the chimney, hop in the sleigh and move on. Assuming each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth, we're now talking about 0.78 miles per household - a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting stops to let Santa and the reindeer do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours.

This means Santa's sleigh moves at 650 miles per second, or 3,000 times the speed of sound. The fastest person-made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe moves at a poky 27.4 miles a second (a conventional reindeer, by the way, can run 15 miles per hour at a strong gallop). Assuming each child gets nothing more that a medium-sized Lego set (two pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting overweight Santa. Conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting flying reindeer could pull 10 times the normal amount, Santa would need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload (not counting the sleigh) to 353,430 tons, or four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth II. 353,000 tons travelling at 650 miles a second creates enormous air resistance, which would heat the reindeer to incandescence in the same fashion as spacecraft or meteors entering the earth's atmosphere.

The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 quintillion joules of energy per second. In short, they will burst into flames almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them and creating deafening sonic booms. The entire team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces of 17,500.06 gravities. A 250-pound Santa (a wee bit underestimated) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force. An eminent scientist who collated some of the fascinating facts about Santa concluded "If Santa DID deliver presents on any Christmas Eve, he's dead now."


So what do scientists know –ask any child and they will tell you that Santa is magic!

Check out some Christmas No No's

.

Have a look at the Wiki site too

.

Fun games for kids

A FEW CHRISTMAS STATISTICS

It is estimated that over Christmas as much as 100 square km of wrapping paper will end up in UK and Irish rubbish bins, enough to cover an area larger than Guernsey. Use string to tie up your parcels so that the paper can be reused.

Around 125,000 tonnes of plastic packaging are thrown away over Christmas. When buying gifts, try to avoid items that are excessively packaged.

An extra 500 million aluminium and steel drink cans will also be used over the festive period - vent your festive frustration by crushing your tins before placing them in the recycling banks.

Around 5,000 tonnes of aluminium foil gets thrown away in the UK and Ireland each Christmas. Try reusing the foil or make some decorations to hang on the tree for next year!

Check out some Christmas No No's
.
Have a look at the Wiki site too
.
Fun games for kids

FESTIVE TIPS

After Christmas parties, sort out all those items that can be recycled - drinks cans, bottles, packaging - and take them to the nearest recycling point.

If somebody gives you a present that you don't really want or your children receive a toy that is soon thrown into a box in the attic - rather than throw it away, pass it on to the play area at local health centres, hospital, play school or charity shop.

More than 80,000 tonnes of old clothes are thrown away over Christmas - if you get a whole new wardrobe, donate your unwanted clothes to charity shops.

FESTIVE LIGHTBULBS

Old light bulbs that have blown make great decorations for the tree. Paint either a snowperson or a Santa head on an upturned bulb. You can decorate them with all sorts of old coloured cloth and cotton wool, these can be stuck on with PVA glue or even some sealant left over after you have finished the globe. Tie string to the metal bit and hang on the tree. Make sure children are aware that bulbs can shatter if handled roughly, much the same way that glass baubles can

MAKE A CHRISTMAS SNOW GLOBE

The Christmas decorations are out in force now. If you have a few hours to spare over the next few days you could get the family together and make some interesting decorations out of recycled bits and bobs that are floating around the house. Young children usually come away from school at this time of year with a little something to add to the tree, usually made from a dissected egg box or toilet roll tube and cotton wool, and very good they are too. I would like to suggest a couple of ideas that also rely on things that have been used.

CHRISTMAS SNOW GLOBE
You can get snow globes from the shops for next to nothing, but to make one yourself will be far more satisfying.

What you will need:
- Glass jar with tight fitting lid (Any type of jar will do)
- Distilled water, or boil some water and use it when it's cool (Adult supervision needed)
- Glycerine (this helps to slow down the snow fall and is available in most chemists)
- White or silver glitter (avoid the ultra-fine glitters, they tend to float rather than fall!)
- Clear silicone sealant (a tube of aquarium sealant or the stuff you get from the DIY shop)
- Small waterproof ornament or figures
- Plastic jar lid, to fit inside the jar as a base to elevate the ornament within the jar, if needed
- Another plastic jar lid, or wooden circle plaque, just a bit larger than the diameter of your jar, to use as a stand (optional)
- Acrylic paint for the base of the ornament in your choice of colour
- Coiled Christmas rope
- Craft glue to attach the decorative rope

How to Make Your Own Snow Globe:
Check to make sure that the ornament you have chosen will fit within the diameter of your jar.
Make a trial run. Invert your globe jar and remove the glass part, leaving only the lid. Place the plastic base in the centre of the lid, then position the ornament on top of this. Place the jar over the ornament and check the fit. If the ornament is high enough to view clearly, use silicone or aquarium sealant to glue the ornament firmly to the lid. If you need to raise it up a bit put it on the other upturned lid and then stick that to the original lid. Use another small jar to test the snowfall. Fill the test jar with distilled water, or boiled water that has cooled, then add a teaspoon of glitter. Put the lid on and shake it to see if you like the effect. If the snow is too sparse, add a little more glitter. Add a few drops of glycerine and test it again. The glycerine should slow the rate of the snowfall quite nicely.

Working over a sink, pour the water and glitter into the globe jar, filling it to the very top. Invert the ornament assembly into the water and screw the lid into place. Some water will be displaced and spill over the top of the jar. Wipe the jar dry and shake it up! You can use the sealant to glue the jar to a wooden base or another plastic lid, if you like, for extra stability.
Paint the base and the jar lid in your choice of colour. Once the paint is dry, use craft glue to add your choice of Christmas coiled rope, a circle of Christmas lace, or whatever you wish to add as embellishments.

Check out some Christmas No No's

.

Check out the Wiki site too

.

Fun Games for kids

.