Creating Comfort

Week 1: Friday to Sunday

Cosy Friday

Locked down for 4 weeks and with the evenings lengthening keeping warm and cosy is important for our physical and mental well-being, but how can we do this while we care for our planet as well?

How we heat our homes can be a big slice of the CO2 we each generate. Most of us will have gas boilers, so our behaviour can have a direct impact on the amount of fossil fuel that we burn.

Here are some simple things you can do to help

Understand:

Spend some time getting to understand your heating controls and make sure they're set-up best for you. The Energy Saving Trust have some advice on this here.

Heavy curtains and decorative draught excluders can make a nbig difference and of course putting on some extra layers, thick socks amd cosy slippers can all help as well!

Optimise:

To heat the room effectively radiators need good air flow around them, which means that they shouldn't be blocked by furniture or other clutter. You can also put reflective insulation behind the radiators to reduce heat lost into the walls. For tips like this large and small see the Energy Saving Trust again.

Switch:

Most energy providers offer "100% renewable" tariffs, but some providers are totally committed to renewable electricity and do much more to invest in renewables. These newer, smaller companies are often cheaper too, Octopus, Bulb and Good Energy are three such examples. Switching is now really easy, you can compare prices and make the switch happen here.

Transition:

Those tips are worth doing, but aren't going to change the fact that heating our homes generally still requires fossil fuels. We need to transition homes away from gas boilers and towards much lower carbon heating, like heat pumps. These work like fridges in reverse and use electricity to provide heat 2-3 times more efficiently than normal electric heaters. The Government's green homes grant makes now a very good time to invest in an installation if it works for your home. Find out more here.

Saturday's Scramble

Too tired to cook a big meal? Do you think of scrambled egg on toast?

How about trying a plant based version just as full of protein and nutrients. Friends often ask me "I want to try more plant based food but I'd miss x or y". They ask me what I make and this is one of my easy go to recipes.

Scrambled Tofu is yummy and easy to make.

Scrambled Tofu on toast serves 2-4 people and makes a good standalone light lunch, or you can make it a big brunch with baked beans, plant based sausages and fried tomatoes all served with a glass of fresh orange juice.

Ingredients:

2 tsp of olive oil
Soft tofu silken
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
Mushrooms or spinach or other vegetable that doesn't take long to cook.
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp soya sauce
Black Pepper and salt to taste
2 slices of bread
Black himalyalan salt!

Method:

Finely chop the onion, garlic, mushroom.

Add to a deep saucepan with the preheated 2 tsp of olive oil.

Sitr and soften for a few minutes until cooked.

Cut open the tofu packet and drain offall the water.

Tip the tofu into the saucepan and break up with a mixing spoon.

Add a teaspoon of turmeric to get a yellow shade that you like.

Add in 2 tsp of soya sauce and mix in

Add some black pepper (to taste) and a touch of salt if desired.

Let that simmer away with a lid on while you put the toast on.

If that's inspired you here are some other ideas for replacing eggs in your diet

https://veganoutreach.org/

Sunday Summary

We hope that we ave helped you to be inspired to create comfort and joy through simple ideas.

Upcycling, sharing and repurposing can all bring us together.

Challenging our own behaviour and taking time to understand the impact of our daily activities such as heating and eating can help us to save money and lead healthier happier lives.