Welcome to the Green Lever, a site about saving resources and reusing materials. The projects covered are those we use in our daily lives and the 'alternative' energy articles are real case studies from our own house or those of friends. You can find a full introduction to this blog here
LATEST ARTICLE
Home-made Ecological Paint for Interior Walls Part 1 Making Wheat Paste
Ecological paint, like a good organic food recipe is made up of just the basic necessary ingredients, it is simple and seemingly, very easy to make. It has substance aka filler, the ability to stick on the wall, i.e. glue ...read more
NATURAL BUILDING MATERIALS
Re-roofing a Tiny House Including Carpentry
The tempest of 1999 destroyed a great raft of tiles, which came off like falling dominoes, all the way along the front of the main house...read more
Renovating our House - Sourcing and Using Ecological Materials
You may be eating organic food, exercising, managing your weight and stress levels but you can still, in effect, be being poisoned in your own home...read more
Sourcing and Using Lime/Hemp & Lime/Linen Mortars
Like all organic matter linen and hemp react to their environment so although there are some indications as to the quantities used to make up plaster, there are no actual...read more
Using Natural Earth and Mineral Pigments in the Home and Garden
The Alchemy of Artists' Materials - whether painting a leaf motif or a window frame, it's so much more fun than opening a tin of paint...read more
Mixing and Using Lime Mortar
I’ve used lime mortar a lot in our present house firstly because it is obviously appropriate to a 300 year building, as it is sympathetic to the original build of stone
laid on a bed of clay mortar...read more
Home-made Ecological Paint for Interior Walls Part 1 Making Wheat Paste
Ecological paint, like a good organic food recipe is made up of just the basic necessary ingredients, it is simple ...read more
REPURPOSED MATERIALS
A Few Guidelines for Collecting Pallets
I thought it might be helpful if I shared my five rules to make it easier for you to obtain the basic material...read more
Pallets - The Low-down - Where, What and How.
So you've been round to your local big chain supermarket and they've told you all their pallets are reusable...read more
How to Dismantle Pallets for free Carpentry Wood
The first thing to do with your pallet when you’ve got it out of the car is look underneath it and see if the nails attaching the planks are visible...read more
Dead Bicycles - A Valuable Resource
It has become increasing clear that we live not only in a throw-away society but one in which an ever increasing obsolescence is factored into manufactured goods.
..read more
Windows for Free Part 1 How we glazed our house.
There is a massive resource out there just waiting for you and you'll be helping the Planet at the same time...read more
Windows for Free Part 2 Replacing a Double-glazed unit.
We luckily recuperated a pair of these double-glazed units some ten years ago and I made a frame for and fitted one of them into our sitting room...read more
GREENHOUSES
The 5 Euro/Dollar/Pound Greenhouse
Home-made low cost greenhouse designed to use free untreated pallet wood. How to build a viable, safe, year-round food production system...read more
Home-made, Big Cheap Glass Greenhouse from Old Windows Pt 1 - Design
The idea for the greenhouse was to have something that was both decorative and practical...read more
Home-made, Big Cheap Glass Greenhouse from Old Windows Pt 2 - Construction
Although it is a large sized greenhouse and in itself quite an imposing feature, it actually fits very well into its surrounding landscape...read more
Home-made Big Cheap Glass Greenhouse from Old Windows - Pt 3 The Roof
This shows details of the design and construction of the roof plus pictorial evidence of how the design stands up to extreme weather conditions...read more
DIY verandah-style greenhouse, sunspace, draught lobby
I love this greenhouse, it seems so right in the surrounding rural scene and it's made from an interesting eclectic mix of recuperated materials...read more
HOME-MADE TOOLS & EQUIPMENT
A Simple Home-made Honing Guide for Plane Irons and Chisels. Part 1
Maybe a shudder runs down your spine at the thought of school geometry but there is an elegance in being able to
reproduce angles very accurately and with...read moreA Simple Home-made Honing Guide for Plane Irons and Chisels. Part 2
This method is to enable the beginner at sharpening to get a feel for the correct sharpening angle by using a home-made low-cost guide...read more
A Simple Home-made Honing Guide for Knives
This method is to enable the beginner at sharpening to get a feel for the correct angle by using a home-made low-cost guide...read more
Accessory for my Simple Home-made Honing Guide for Knives
For the smaller blade on my Swiss Army Knife,it is harder to keep the straight edge against the flat face of the blade so... read more
How to save time when cutting pallet wood. The Plankmaker's Holdfast.
As I was about to start building a new hen house and had 30 pallet planks I needed to cut lengthwise..read more
Hand-powered Sander - Precision Picture Frames
From time to time I need to cut mitred corners for picture frames. This is something I find impossible to do free hand...read more
Home-made Guillotine from Scrap Metal
Fruit crates are in constant supply in our home and we've used a lot of them in our projects, for storage and chicken nests...read more
DIY Sack Truck Hand Trolley for 1 Dollar/Euro/Pound
DIY Sack Truck Hand Trolley for 1 Dollar/Euro/Pound
A medium duty sack truck (here with 40kg/88lbs on board) from repurposed materials, pallet wood, old (lawn mower) wheels, screws and... read more
Tailgate gas strut fail? Pallet wood car repair solution - 2 Methods
Goods are made from a series of mass-produced 'outsourced' components,...the durability of some is less than the working life
of the whole....read more
Crosscut Saw Table - designed & made from recuperated materials
The home-made crosscut saw table has proven a valuable addition to the workshop. A robust hand power tool into a precision cutting tool at little cost...read more
Pallet Wood Dress Form & Display Dummy. Part 1
Sue is making costumes for Climb the Ivy Films in Scotland, with no possibility for fittings. Our pallet wood dress form can be adjusted for men women and children...read more
Pallet Wood Dress Form & Display Dummy Part 2
Stretching a tee shirt over the form and/or padding it out with fabric the finished mannequin also makes a great display stand for yard sales, craft fairs or
for photographing items for sale on etsy or ebay...read more
How to make a hands-free quick-action drilling clamp
This simple wooden clamp is fast and effective and cost me nothing to make!...read more
How to Make a Low Cost Router Table
I have several jobs lined up over the next few months which will involve the use of a router. These include making several wooden doors. Much of the planking I will be using will need to have moulded edges so...read more
FURNITURE
Portable Untreated Pallet Wood Picnic Table & Seat Set for $2
The idea behind this project was to make a portable, elegant picnic set
from pallet wood comprising two stools and a picnic table. The design can be made from just one untreated pallet. ...read more
MACHINERY & THE TEST OF TIME
The Triumph of the Cream Separator and la Vache Normande Heritage Breed
Looking at a machine which revolutionised the small dairy farm and is going strong today. Joining our friends on their organic farm to make cream and butter..read more
HEN HOUSES/CHICKEN COOPS
Pallet Wood Hen House/Chicken Coop & Prototype Tiny Tiny House - Part 1 Construction
We designed and have already built one of these coops not just as accommodation for the hens but as a prototype we could build here in the workshops... read more
Pallet Wood Hen House/Chicken Coop etc.,. Part 2 Dismantling & Foundations
Leaving the dear old home, the old coop started life as the quail run...The foundations of the old house will be recycled for the new...read more
Pallet Wood Hen House/Chicken Coop etc.,. Part 3 Erecting
This simple idea also means that the project can be handled by a person working on their own..read more
Pallet Wood Hen House/Chicken Coop etc.,. Part 4 Erecting cont.. & Finishing
It's bigger and roomier than their old one, never again will I design or make a hen house which doesn't have space for us to stand upright!... read more
Hen House/Chicken Coop Mark 2 Pallet Wood Roofing
In the past, I have used tongue & groove as a roof covering, prior to the final waterproof layer because it makes a homogeneous, light-weight..read more
OFF-THE-GRID ENERGY CHOICES
How to Make a Simple Fuelless Cooker or Hay-box
Here's a quick and easy way to use less fuel, less water and still have a tasty and nutritious meal from a cardboard box...read more
How to Make a Wooden Fuelless Cooker or Hay-box
A more robust model which you can keep to hand in the kitchen or to take in a car to provide hot, nourishing food on a journey...read more
Choosing and Using Woodburning Cookers
When we first arrived here the Spartan heating was a massive granite fireplace, the chimney of which, 1.70m by 0.70m was...read more
Heat Pumps - Case Study. Lake & River Water
Anne-Marie and Jean-Louis have always used heat pumps as their principal source of energy...read more
Wood Chip Boiler Biomass Heater - Case Study. Organic Dairy Farm
A project that actually lies at the heart of what future energy conversion may be all about...read more
Home-made low-cost stove night storage heater from strawcrete and stone
For some time we have been toying with the idea of changing the heating system in our sitting room
...read more
Home-made strawcrete and stone storage heater Part 2 - building the wall
Discussing our previous experience with storage heaters and why we wanted to make our own with ecological materials. And with the strawcrete pad now dry, the stone work begins...read more
Home-made strawcrete and stone storage heater Part 3 - building the wall cont..
Building the wall and firing up!...read more
How to Sweep the Chimney - Tips and Strategies
When wood or coal is burned in a fire, smoke is given off, in this are particles of unburned material, tars and water, which are slightly sticky and will adhere to...read more
Better Heat Distribution from Wood Heat 'How To'
For most of the year, the heat output from the cooker is adequate to
keep the kitchen 'comfortable'..read more
TRELLIS STRUCTURES
Pallet Wood Garden Gazebo Part 1 - Posts & Framework
We want to spend as much leisure time in the garden as possible. Much as we love our poultry we do draw the line with sharing our meals with them...read more
Pallet Wood Garden Gazebo Part 2 - Trellis and Door
The perimeter of the garden gazebo now being complete, the next stage was to make it chicken proof, starting with the door...read more
ECO-SEWAGE MANAGEMENT
Setting up a Dry Toilet System - Facts and Figures
What is interesting about this bill is that the actual water used has gone from 45 cubic metres to 13 cubic metres, so the water consumed now costs us over two thirds less than before... read more
Pallet Wood Compost Bin and Dry Toilet Project Part 1
I opted for a completed bin size of 800mm x 800mm x 800mm, the wood used was recuperated from pallets.DIY Dry Toilet System for 8 Euros $11. Part 2 The Cabin
A practical design if you want to use this design for somewhere such as; your allotment, social garden, a field or even set up a business making them for others.... read more
DIY Dry Toilet System for 8 Euros $11. Part 3 The Seats
The toilet seat is for the ‘two bucket’ system. One side is for collecting liquid and the other is for solids...read more
DIY Dry Toilet System Part 3 The Seats continued
Continuing the above project...read more
Composting Urine Using a Straw Bale. Dry toilets for all climates.
A great way to process dry toilet liquid for around 6 Euros or 5 Dollars worth of materials... read moreHumanure - Two Years of Living with our Dry Toilet
Humanure is like death and taxes it's something we all know about but as the elephant in the room, are most loath to mention it...read moreECO-LAUNDRY
Make a Pallet Wood Creel or Overhead Drying Rack
Cheap and cheerful engineering in the practical use of recycled, untreated pallet and fruit crate wood - for drying clothes, herbs, flowers...read more
How to Convert your Washing Machine to Pedal Power 1 - The Basic Model
The electronic fault that arose in our automatic washing machine rendered it useless. I knew that the machine was watertight and...read more
How to Convert your Washing Machine to Pedal Power 2 - Modifications
We’ve exhibited this machine on many occasions and the most frequent comment from spectators has been ‘let’s see you spin dry now!’...read more
INSECT HOUSES
Home-made Insect Hotel from Repurposed Materials
The Bee Cosy for cosy bees is an elegant green gift for you to make using 99% recuperated materials...read more
Fun to make and fascinating to watch, these insect hotels can make all the difference to the successful pollination of your fruit and vegetable...read more 
Home-made Repurposed Wood, Luxury Insect Hotel
Home-made Insect Hotels from Repurposed Materials The Gite & The Chalet
Made from repurposed materials, untreated pallet wood, fruit crate wood and general garden debris. To decorate them, we use natural...read more
An Insect Hotel as a Utility Box Cover - Design & Construction
The electricity company brought power to the property but sited the ubiquitous supply box right in front of the house. Not surprisingly, she is unhappy...read more
An Insect Hotel as a Utility Box Cover - Roofing & Furnishing
The roof was constructed in a similar fashion to that of a house. The pitch was 45°. The gable ends supported the ridge purlins/laths...read more
An Insect Hotel as a Utility Box Cover - Installing
Having made the insect hotel, its roof and metal posts in 'kit' form as it were,it was time to transport it and put it in place...read more
WILD BIRDS
Home-made Wild Bird Feeder from Repurposed Materials
This is something to make for your own garden but also we have made and given away many as presents...read more
Home-made Bird Box for Blue Tits, Chickadees..Repurposed Materials
Two designs, one requiring a minimum of tools and in particular to obviate the need for a hole saw or large bit...read more
Home-made Bird Box for Robins, Wrens, Northern Flickers, Repurposed Materials
In Europe these boxes are expected to attract mainly robins, wrens and wagtails. In the USA there are over 50 species...read more
How to Make a Dove Feeding Table from recuperated wood
Our neighbour has a pair of collared doves nesting in her garden and their size prevents them from feeding at the existing bird table so she asked me if I could make a larger one to accommodate them...read more
ASTRONOMY & OPTICS
Binocular Collimation Quick and Easy Method without Prism Adjustment
I was initially put off from correcting an optical fault in an old pair
of Porro prism binoculars because all I had seen or read online involved
prism adjustment...read more
How
to make a robust, lockable solar filter for your telescope from
repurposed materials and purchased AstroSolar film. This will allow you
to enter the amazing world of solar astronomy...read more
Home-Made Locking Solar Filter
How
to make a robust, lockable solar filter for your telescope from
repurposed materials and purchased AstroSolar film. This will allow you
to enter the amazing world of solar astronomy...read more
PLANTERS AND CONTAINERS
Make Your Own Indoor Trellis Planter Part 1 -The Base
Many people complain that pallet wood isn't a suitable material for use in anything but rough and ready...read more
Make Your Own Indoor Trellis Planter-Part 2 -The Trellis
The trellis back to the planter provides a structure up which climbing plants could grow and provide us with more space for growing food...read more
ARTS & CRAFTS
Home-made Greetings Cards, Gift Tags & Decorations from Repurposed Wood
Make and give something original and individual. Includes the recipe for ecological glue...read more
Pallet Wood & Old Window Glass for Box Assemblage Art
This like many of our projects is a joint adventure in which Sue and I pool our resources, this time to create an assemblage box for a gift...read more
Make Your Own Ecological Greetings Cards
By using this method, which combines stencil, hand-painted additions, collage and découpage you can easily produce multiple cards but each design will be individual
and thus unique...read more
Alien in a box
Our
lovely old ash tree fell in a storm, revealing, in the wreckage, a
rather surprising item and an unusual gift idea. We also had great fun
making the film ....read more
ALTERNATIVES FROM OTHERS
Inspiration from our local area
We are leaving our children with some really difficult environmental problems, so it's great to see innovative and original ideas like the following...read more
