HOME IMPROVEMENT Keeping chickens and bees will mean you’ll have your own eggs and floral honey on tap. Lay a Little Egg tea towel, £9; mini jug, £13; egg cup, £8; mug, £12, all Sophie Allport Get the kids involved and teach them all about the benefits of being more self-sufficient at home. Children’s gardening gift set with apron, seed paper, wildflower mix and mini pots, £32, Denys & Fielding
Garden Trading’s 3.5L compost bucket in Clay finish, £20, is a practical and stylish buy for the kitchen worktop
A couple of hens or more will provide fresh eggs daily. Hobby hen house (for up to six medium-sized laying hens), £365, Flyte So Fancy
GET A TASTE OF THE GOOD LIFE
Bring elements of self-sufficiency into your home and garden to help conserve resources while saving money at the same time
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n an age where we know how important it is to live more sustainably, taking care to choose and buy products for the home that help to conserve energy and water, there are always further steps that can be taken. For most of us it’s not practical to go the whole way with a smallholding, but there are different elements that can be introduced in order to help you become more self-reliant. If you can produce some of your own food, electricity and even water, you will not only be helping the planet by conserving its valuable resources but you can also save money, too.
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INSTALL SOLAR PANELS
Generate your own electricity by installing solar panels on the roof. With prices starting at around £4,800, the most popular are panel systems but you can also find solar tiles, which cost twice as much. You shouldn’t need planning permission to install either, but check with your local council before you go ahead, just in case. A roof area of 10-20 sq m can provide up to 45 per cent of a property’s electricity needs. It should be south-facing, unshaded and at a pitch angle of 30º or 40º according to the Energy Saving Trust. Solar panels generate power even on cloudy days, and you’ll need to use their energy during the day, so get things like your washing done during this time. In the evening, you’ll be back to using energy from your supplier so you’ll still need to pay bills, but they should be a lot lower.
