{"id":437,"date":"2011-12-04T12:53:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-04T12:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gsu.eventmedialabs.com\/?p=437"},"modified":"2015-07-13T00:29:21","modified_gmt":"2015-07-12T23:29:21","slug":"recycled-bathroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greensideup.ie\/recycled-bathroom\/","title":{"rendered":"Recycled bathroom \u2013 an environmental or economic decision?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>A friend asked me recently whether we recycled everything because we were on a budget or because we really cared about the environment.<\/p>\n The question could have offended given that I\u2019ve been writing to MPs since I was 17, but it was genuinely asked and set me thinking\u2026. If you\u2019re watching your budget then doesn’t it makes sense to be environmentally conscious? Surely they go hand in hand in that the less materially motivated we are, the better it is for our planet.<\/p>\n I remember as a teenager being devastated when my parents brought home a new mahogany toilet seat – why? Because it came from trees that had grown for centuries in our precious rainforests. What an earth was wrong with sitting on a pine seat for goodness sake, both sustainable and cheaper?<\/p>\n <\/a>After leaving home and moving into rental accommodation, then becoming a home owner myself, reusing old furniture and second-hand white goods seemed obvious. Yes it was budget driven but why buy new when so much \u2018stuff\u2019 was being discarded. Did I need brand new everything? Other than a new mattress, no not really, not when I could buy clean, no longer loved second-hand goods that needed new homes.<\/p>\n It’s always puzzled me why so many people have never grasped the fact that apart from being morally obliged, it makes financial sense to be ‘green’ – why would you pay a bin man to take your glass bottles away and bury them in the dump (or worse, leave them in ditches on the side of the road) when they can be recycled for free in a bottle bank?<\/p>\n When we started renovating our old farmhouse we were more than happy to use other people’s ‘rubbish’ to fit and furnish it. We visited salvage yards, auctions and small ads. In fact once neighbours heard that we were willing to use old things, they would phone to see if we wanted their leftover insulation, piping, or other building supplies that were left over from their own new house builds (yes please!!)<\/p>\n <\/a>One of the things I love about our old house is the way it’s evolved, the character it\u2019s taken on and the history and stories that surround everything init. Because we’ve undertaken all the work ourselves, and on a (almost non-existent) budget, it has developed gradually. Our bathroom is a case in point.<\/p>\n I mentioned in a earlier post that we spent \u00a0months and months without a hot water supply,<\/a> so when Mr G finally started work on our bathroom it was with great excitement from the whole family. During the Celtic tiger years people were spending thousands fitting out bathrooms. We spent less than \u20ac500 on the entire room, including paint, wood, bath, shower, loo, sink, flooring and lights. So how did we manage that?<\/p>\n <\/a>Starting with the floor, we used old slates that were given to us, surplus to their requirements. Cleaned, scrubbed up, cemented down and varnished they make hard wearing and waterproof flooring. Because they’re ‘heathers’ they have lovely purpley shades running through them and that gave us the colour theme for the rest of the room.<\/p>\n The old Victorian claw legged bath and taps were a freebie. Mr G was rewiring a house in Kilkenny where they were refitting their old bathroom with a brand new one –“you can have it if you can move it”<\/em> came the reply when he asked what was going to happen to the old bath. So with help from the plumber it was carried down the stairs, left out on the front lawn and we brought it home (not easy, cast iron baths are bloomin heavy!). Again, scrubbed, sanded and painted the bath was transformed and we were delighted.<\/p>\n