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Here’s a simple idea – only boil the water you need

It’s the brilliant pledge that our MD, Mike Edwards, has made for Climate Week. It is his contribution to the Great Green Climate Challenge which has been set by DIY Doctor, Be Energy Smart, and Green Reviews.

To make it easy he has stuck a piece of bright tape on his kettle and marked where 1 mug and 2 mugs of water come to, making it easy to only boil the water he needs! His pledge could save as much as 34 Kg of CO2 in a year!

What’s even better is, if you make a pledge for the Great Green Climate Challenge you will be entered into a draw to win a solar-powered DAB radio by Roberts. If you make two pledges you have two chances and so on…

For more details about the Tea Time Challenge click through to the DoNation site.

Do Nation is a great way of giving without costing you anything, but saving the earth. Here is a video showing you how.

So join us by going to the Great Green Climate challenge page on the DoNation website, and see what great ideas they have for you to reduce your carbon footprint.

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Today is the first day of Climate Week!

Didn’t know about Climate Week? Well let us fill you in. The idea is to get as many people as possible to do something ‘green’ during the week. The ‘ready made’ challenges are a piece of cake – honestly anyone could fit them into their lives, with no trouble at all.That’s the point really, to show people how making even a very small change in their lives can impact the planet.

You can check out our donation page on the DoNation site to see the sort of things you can pledge. We have a modestly titled page called the ‘Great Green Climate Challenge’, and if you want to be more ambitious you can do more of their tasks, or even come up with your own ideas.

The Great Green Climate challenge has been set by Be Energy Smart, DIY Doctor and Green Reviews – three online companies who have banded together to set you a challenge and offer you a prize!

We thought we would get more done if it was a bit of a challenge, and so for every climate week pledge you make we enter you into a draw to win a Roberts Solar DAB Radio! How great is that? You can pledge as many different ‘Do Something’ tasks as you like – the more you pledge the more chance you have of winning.

Our office has pledged ‘Fantastic Unplastic’. We have set ourselves an office task of shunning the ‘throw-away’ plastic bags. So we are pledging to only use our sustainable, and if we may say so, attractive selection of reusable shopping bags.

Our Managing Director, Mike Edwards, has pledged ‘tea time’ and if that sounds just too easy – then it is. That’s kind of the point.

So please do go to the page and get pledging  – its only for a week, and then there’s that shiny new radio!

Go to the Great Green Climate Challenge on the DoNation website

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We are looking for DIY Disasters for a new section on the DIY Doctor website. If you send us details of your Home Improvement mishaps, then they could feature you on our site and if you are willing we can even share them with our media partner who might put your story on the TV.

If this is the sort of thing that has happened to you, then please do get in touch, and we will share your misfortunes with the world!

Send us a link to a video showing us your DIY challenge and we will reply with advice, if you let us we will then publish the question/problem and the answer we give on DIY Doctor.

Don’t worry if you are too shy to share your tricky problems you can request that your link is not published if you prefer.

Send us a link to you DIY disaster video to office@diydoctor.org.uk.

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Mike Edwards From DIY Doctor is pledging the kettle challenge – to only boil the water he needs.
Simple, but effective as he likes his coffee!

DIY Doctor, Be Energy Smart and Green Reviews have teamed up to make a difference for Climate Week.

What is Climate Week?
It is an initiative that inspires us all to make a difference to the climate by making changes in our lives, these changes can be a simple as avoiding using carrier bags, or as energetic as cycling to work. The idea is that you pick the things you can fit easily into your life, in the hope that these ideas will stick with you throughout the year and then inspire you to make more green changes.

When is Climate Week?
Climate Week runs from the 4th – 10th March 2013. Why not go to the website and set up your profile, you can then pledge donations – which are in actions rather than money.

What can I do?
It is all going on at the DoNation website. Go to the page set up by Be Energy Smart to make a pledge – BeEnergySmart: The Great Green Climate Challenge. You will see the pledges already collected, and the ones we have pledged to do. Click on the ‘do something’ button and you will be given a list of choices.

There are loads of ideas for different pledges, including:

• Filling up your kettle only as much as you need to – and get that cuppa quicker!
• Cycling to work – get healthier and save carbon!
• Feed the Earth – making compost for the garden
• Smart Drive – accelerating and braking smoothly to save fuel.
• Sharing things with neighbours and friends – a great pledge for DIY enthusiasts!

You are bound to find something that suits you, maybe something you keep meaning to do, or something so simple you hadn’t even thought about it before.

If you want to be more ambitious you can make up your own challenge – let your imagination run wild!

A reward for your efforts
Be Energy Smart, DIY Doctor and Green Reviews have teamed up to offer you a great green giveaway. If you make Climate Week pledges, we will enter you into a draw to win a fantastic Roberts SolarDAB radio. All you have to do is pledge to do something to reduce your carbon footprint between now and the 10th March.

The winner will be able to listen to high-quality music in truly sustainable style, with the world’s first solar powered DAB radio. Each pledge you make gives you another chance to win, so pick as many as you can!

Who is involved?
Members of DIY Doctor, Green Reviews and Be Energy Smart teams will be make their own pledges too. They will be using their blogs and Twitter to keep you updated with how they are doing, throughout the week.

Be Energy Smart is a brilliant independent energy-saving advice website. They have loads of information about Eco Friendly products and you should check out their simple free assessment tool to find out exactly which energy-saving improvements could save money in your home. www.beenergysmart.co.uk

Green Reviews is a fab one-stop-shop for reviews of just about any green product you can think of, from washing machines to solar panels. www.greenreviews.co.uk

You already know that DIY Doctor is the UK’s best-loved DIY advice website, with friendly, down-to-earth advice to help you through any Home Improvement and DIY tasks. www.diydoctor.org.uk

The competition will close at midnight on the 10th March, and we’ll be notifying the winner on the following day. Good luck!

Why not tweet your pledge, to let us know how you’re doing? @DIYDoctor

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There has been a real upsurge of interest in traditional crafts recently from the relatively sedentary knitting and crocheting to more hefty stone carving and woodturning.

We applaud anyone who gets involved in these activities, because we believe that making and mending things yourself is much more intellectually challenging, and emotionally rewarding, than just buying something off the shelf.

There has been a trend also of giving these homemade craft items as gifts at festive times of the year, and it is lovely to receive an individually made piece of work from a loved one isn’t it? However there are some Guerrilla crafters who go beyond sharing their skills just with those they know, and who have put their craft work out in the public domain.

Forget Street Art – Street Craft is the new trend
We have noticed a growing trend in Yarnbombing, the practice of leaving knitted or crochet items in public places. The one pictured above is a great example of the type of thing, especially with the ‘smile’ sentiment attached. That seems to be the reason these wool graffiti artists do what they do, to raise a smile and bring yarn crafts into the public eye.

If you spot yarn bombing or any other street art and craft that you want to share please do so either via twitter @diydoctor or send pictures to office@diydoctor.org.uk you can even send us links to videos if you catch someone in the act – or indeed if this is something you do…

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