Leaving it.........

As a normal person in a relationship I often see how long it will take my husband to do something when I just leave it - like the hoovering(during the week I hoover downstairs every day) or putting away the clothes. Its my own personal little experiment.
Nine times out of ten I end up getting annoyed and just doing it myself. My husbands answer to this is "if you don't tell me I don't know it needs doing".

So rough translation he needs an incentive to get him to do things.............you do half the housework etc and I am not so tired and won't fall asleep 30 minutes after the kids have gone to bed. That works fine, once he knew this he does now do the hoovering and help out more.

The same can be said of energy saving. There are so many people who want to save energy, who understand why we need to save energy and take the necessary steps - some of them small (walking to work twice a week, doing a car pool for taking the kids to school, low energy lightbulbs) and some of them larger (pv panels, solar panels, new boiler) BUT there are other people who need an incentive.

I feel the Americans are going about this the right way with the "granite counter" approach to home energy efficiency. They are making energy efficiency in homes a desirable and saleable item. Its an incentive that earns you money, will help sell your home and sssh save energy! Without an incentive alot of people will just leave saving energy to others but unless the majority of the world jump on board the saving energy bandwagon its going to be increasingly difficult to save energy.

Its never too early

I have a fairly busy life, no busier than any other working mothers life but with 3 kids and work and then all the other little bits that come into it - housework, taking care of the dogs, washing, school/playschool run, organising childcare etc it can get pretty hectic. Thats why I am devoted to my diary - everything that needs to be done gets put down and ticked off once its done (allows me to feel smug when I've done everything).

Today I have managed to get all the christmas presents either ordered online or bought. I have my list of who is getting what and its a nice feeling especially as I hate the shops in December. But is it too soon?

I don't think it is, it pays to be organised nowadays and it will free up time that I would have spent battling my way through other panicing shoppers in December, queuing up for the till, getting rammed by pushchairs and stretching my arms dragging bags and annoyed kids round the shops.

There are other things that can never be done too early - teaching your children about how to save energy, just little simple things like turning off the tv completely instead of leaving it on standby, switching off the lights when you leave a room and insulating your house to a good standard - the people who got the grants and got cavity wall/loft insulation in spring and summer 2010 will now be starting to feel the benefit they won't get such large bills over the next quarter and will be able to save energy and money.

So in the spirit of starting early - I wish everyone a very merry christmas and a happy new year :),