Green Gran

[Citrine]

Daily Mail 3rd July 2008

Fuel and food prices may be rocketing, but pensioner Gay Cossins doesn't have a worry in the world. The grandmother has protected herself from the soaring cost of living by making her lifestyle as eco-friendly as possible.

Following a radical overhaul of her four-bedroom home, she pays just £26 a year for gas and £60 for electricity - 7p and 16p a day respectively.

And a well-tended garden means her weekly shopping bill is just £10 (or £1.42 a day) because she grows her own fruit and vegetables.

The 64-year-old achieved her low-cost lifestyle by installing a £1,850 log burner for heating and cooking, and spending £700 on sheep's wool to insulate her loft.

The outlay is saving her £2,000 a year on energy bills, which has allowed her to spend £1,800 on a 14ft swimming pool in her garden - filled by rainwater and treated with environmentally-friendly chemicals, of course.

Growing her own fruit and vegetables puts cheap, healthy food on the table and collecting wild flowers and weeds enables her to create her own beauty products and medicines.

Miss Cossins, who moved into her terrace house in Steyning, West Sussex, last year, said: 'I've made sure my house has a virtually zero carbon output. I spend virtually nothing at all. It's great.

'I was brought up following the war so we had to be creative during the rationing years. That's basically what I'm doing now - using the skills my mother brought me up with.'

She added: 'The log burner I installed in the living room heats the entire house and I even cook on it. 'And I've used sheep's wool to insulate the loft space and polystyrene flooring to cover the cold concrete.

'I grow all my own veg and make all my own hot drinks and desserts. I have no need for the likes of Tesco. I pick lavender to go with honey and ice-cream, and make coffee out of dandelions. It's a bit of an acquired taste but it's quite lovely.

'I've got nettles and elderflowers which I use to make a tincture. It's an excellent remedy for the common cold. I even make face-packs out of squashed strawberries and egg yolks. It's extremely vitalising and so cheap.

'And I use olive oil and sugar as a body scrub. It's a natural exfoliant.' One of her biggest savings comes from from scrounging wood for her log burner from building sites.

'I'm a bit of a magpie. If I see wood thrown away I take it,' she said. 'When it rots it emits the same amount of carbon as when you burn it, so you might as well get the use out of it.'

The twice-divorced former special needs teacher added: 'Waste not, want not was a motto I grew up with. I like to set an example to my grandchildren Emmeline and Estelle, who are five and eight. They already recycle their bath water. They're good little girls.'

The Daily Mail's Cost of Living Index has revealed a 19.8 per cent increase in the price of essential food items in the past year, adding £1,000 to annual grocery bills.

Household energy bills have jumped by around £130 a year to more than £1,000 and experts have warned of a further £400 increase to come.

The Centre for Alternative Technology, which offers free advice on making homes more environmentally friendly, said Miss Cossins' achievement was 'quite amazing'.

Spokesman Alex Randall said: 'Anything people can do is welcome and will probably save them money as well as reduce their impact on the planet.

'As energy prices increase, I think we will start to see people being much smarter with their consumption.

'There are simple measures, such as using energy carefully by not leaving appliances on stand-by and switching to low-energy lightbulbs, which can take 15 to 20 per cent off bills each year.'

Her top tips
Install a log burner and collect free wood from building sites
Buy top quality loft insulation
Insulate floors with polystyrene blocks
Grow your own fruit and vegetables
Collect wild flowers and weeds which can be made into medicines and beauty products
Adopt the motto: Waste not, want not
Pass on energy-saving tips to friends and family

http://www.stairway-of-life.com/forum/index.php

[wendy]

Good for her.

[New to all this]

Wow!!

[seahorse]

amazing example to set to the girls

[saint-spoon]

perhaps government grants shoul be available for lambs wool, or maybe they'll spend the money more wisely at John Lewis.

[Richard]

She looks well on it !

(Also in the Daily Express, but can't find link)

[shell lady]

She looks great and I love that pool!!

[bluebell]

SHE's 64?!!!

She looks fantastic, whatever it is she uses (olive oil?) I'm having some. She looks like a woman in her 40's.

I admire her drive and motivation - wish there were more like her.

(Still can't believe her age!) I look like a 70 year old compared to her.

[chucky egg]

What an amazing woman!
Those grandchildren have got a wonderful example to learn from.
Well done her!
right...where's my axe.......

[Sunny B]

Crikey!! She does look fab - probably not having to worry about the bills!
And I didn't know you could have eco-friendly chemicals for your pool, anyone know what they might be? I'd like a pop-up pool for the children, they are so cheap now, but don't want to use chlorine.

[Gwenoakes]

If anyone has a wood burning stove, or open fire try contacting your local building supplies merchant as they very often have off cuts of wood and old pallets that they would love to get rid of.
Very frugal lady I think.

[RoomandKitchen]

'And I use olive oil and sugar as a body scrub. It's a natural exfoliant.'

I do this and it has really helped with my Excema (sp?) also much cheaper than anything you can buy. It leaves your skin so soft

Remember to rinse the bath after !