Paint what you do, it's the way that you do it... (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Paint what you do, it's the way that you do it...

12:43pm Monday 23rd April 2007

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Green or Obscene? What is my eco-friendly score for this Easter fortnight:

Miles driven: -654 (holiday trips in a 1.9 litre Polo but it's a diesel and I try to use it only on long journeys)
Miles being driven: -185
Miles on train: +88 (the weekly commute)
Miles by bus: +2
Miles by bike: +5 (warming up for summer)
Miles walked: +68 (stomping round the Lakes)
Total: -676 (running total -535)

Don't get me started on patio heaters! If air heaters in shops weren't bad enough, outside heaters are such a waste - all that gas just to heat the sky to pander to the vogue for al fresco wining and dining in just a shirt. Unfortunately I see this contribution to global warming only getting worse with the ban on smoking in enclosed places.

It's been a bad green week for me on the transport front. I am attempting to cut down on my driving and increase the use of my own leg power and public transport. You will see how I succeed in the running totals over the coming months. The holiday trips put me in severe negative territory, so I better try claw that back.

Being a single occupant of a three-bed home isn't the greenest way of using space but I'm redecorating so that I can rent out one room and ease some of the guilt. At least being on my own I can rule the roost with a puritanical zeal - heating down to a minimum and recyclables scrupulously collected and sorted.

I'm stripping wallpaper in the hallway, stairway and landing at the moment, the areas that need it most, before painting with an eco-friendlier paint. I'm searching for a good solvent-free matt so if anyone has any recommendations, I'd like to hear them. Luckily the plaster underneath is in good condition so (my girlfriend tells me) it should be smooth progress.

And I've taken advantage of the offer at Morrisons for low-energy light bulbs - less than a pound each and another pound off if you buy three packs of two. Spotting a bargain like that I rather over-indulged and bought seven twin-packs! I will now be able to switch all my lights except for those fiddly small Edison screw ones in the lounge.

In the garden, I recently sowed some wildflower and native grass seeds on part of the lawn and an old flower and am now waiting for those of them the sparrows and doves didn't eat to germinate. My tulips and a clematis is in flower and I'm anticipating a glorious display for the summer that should provide as much interest for the birds and insects as for me.

The birds are busy displaying and finding nest sites and I heard my first willow warbler last week. The lapwings are curlews are back on the moors around and their evocative calls and display flights show that spring is well underway.