recycledbaby.co.uk

Clean, green energy is the holy grail for power suppliers at the moment and while the Bloom Box isn’t perfect, it certainly looks like a better bet.

It’s being financed by the guy who financed the Segue, eBay and Google and it uses wafers made of baked sand and painted with green and black inks to generate power (don’t ask me, I don’t work for NASA).  The inventor  did work for NASA and was trying to find ways to generate oxygen for the population of Mars project! When that plan was ditched, he wondered if he could use the technology in a different way and so the Bloom Box was born.

The idea of a home energy “server” that can power your home is exciting because it reduces the amount of electricity “lost” through transmission as well as meaning energy companies don’t need to spend as much on huge power stations (remember China is building LOADS of coal fuelled power stations). Although it still uses carbon based fuel, the amounts are reduced meaning what we have will last much longer.

Google have already bought into the idea and bought four of the big wahoonies to power their servers and talks are underway with giants like Coca Cola.

One thing we can be certain of though. Your bloom box won’t come labelled “Bloom” it will say Npower or Eon. We aren’t going to get rid of the power companies just yet!  

You can read more for it here and against it here.

I found this website today and if it takes off it could be the start of something really great for parents.

www.babysfirstplanet.com

At the moment we are all looking for recycled stuff on eBay and Freecycle but this site is trying to combine everything in one place along with help and advice.

It looks to be run by passionate people. Lets hope it takes off.

My friend told me before Ellis arrived that I should impose limits on people visiting after the baby arrives. Her rules were:

you are welcome if you bring food

you are welcome if you clean when you get here

you are welcome so long as you don’t mind if I tell you I’m going to bed

you are welcome if you offer to take the baby for a walk

If any of the above will offend you – don’t come.

It turns out she is not as daft as she sounds. The thing is, babies bring visitors to your door and there have to be rules.

One of the things I’ve noticed is that Oh my God babies bring out the consumer in everyone. It’s amazing how much stuff you get when you bring your first baby home. I’m not sure if this lasts throughout your little one’s life but it’s pretty overwhelming. There has been a continual stream of visitors all wanting to meet the new man. They all bring gifts, kind words and some even bring food. We’ve had a stack of clothes for him and lots of other stuff, a footprint making kit, photoframes, blankets and if you are looking for a stuffed toy then look no further. I appear to have a world surplus of blue teddies in my baby’s room. It’s lovely that everyone cares so much. I was particularly impressed with my other half’s work – they sent a lovely basket of flowers that were growing and alive! Well until I forget to water it and it dies. In the meantime it’s giving back oxygen and humidifying the place.