Green Granny knows best (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

Green Granny knows best

7:00am Saturday 24th July 2010

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They say age brings wisdom, so perhaps it's Granny who knows best when it comes to being green. Oxfam's Green Granny shares her top tips on everything from making and mending to household management ahead of the publication of her new book Make, Mend, Bake, Save and Shine.

She likes to "reuse, refuse and recycle", has a wardrobe that is impeccable although its two decades old, walks to the supermarket to do her weekly shop and never, ever, lets any food go to waste.

While it's long been said that Granny always knows best, for Barbara Walmsley, Oxfam's 'Green Granny', nothing could be more true.

The 73-year-old grandmother of 11 grew up under Second World War rationing and has lived her whole life "using everything [she] possibly can" - making her a perfect font of knowledge for people looking for top tips on cutting costs and living a greener lifestyle.

The former schoolteacher was chosen by Oxfam to be the face of its 'Green Granny' campaign two years ago and her green tips quickly became a global internet sensation. Now, along with Oxfam, she's written a new book, Make, Mend, Bake, Save And Shine, to further help people reduce their carbon footprint by making things last as long as they can.

Filled with tips on everything from mending clothes to shopping for seasonal bargains, the book is aimed at helping people make a difference, explains the white-haired gran from her home in Cookham, Berkshire.

"People in the developing countries are not looking to wait to see what impact climate change is having on their lives: it's here and now, with floods, evacuations and famine, so the message is that the more we can reduce our carbon footprint our end, the more we can help."

Walmsley's message isn't a new one. Loads of books already exist on the subject - most far more laden with factoids than her own - but it's Walmsley herself that sells the ideas. Her tone is light and friendly, her demeanor warm and chatty - making her green tips more of a recommendation than a scolding.

It's perhaps due to this accessibility that the Oxfam 'Green Granny' videos she stars in from her very own kitchen have been such an internet sensation. Despite doing "perfectly normal" things like going room to room turning off lights, or teaching viewers how to mend a sweater, the videos have had nearly 260,000 hits worldwide.

And Walmsley, who has volunteered with Oxfam since she was 16, regularly gets fan mail as a result.

Despite such success, however, the Green Granny has come under fire for not being "green enough".

Critics claim that she should encourage more "ambitious" goals than sock darning or recycling.

But every little helps, Walmsley stresses.

"Turning off the tap when you scrub your teeth might seem like nothing much. But if a family of four continued to scrub their teeth under running water every day, in one year they'd waste enough water to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool," she retorts.

"Lots and lots of little things done by lots and lots of people can add up to something great and big, and that's how you need to think."

Walmsley was born in Newhaven and later evacuated to Gloucestershire with her family during the war. Her experiences growing up in tough economic conditions taught her to preserve as much as she could and led to her ethos of "living economically and ecologically soundly".

"When you're brought up to be very careful with everything, then you don't usually lose that," she explains.

"You grow up your whole life picking up the rubber bands the postman drops, scraping out bowls, using the very last bit of any leftovers and so on, living carefully as you go."

Such a way of life has been lost on the younger generations because of the ease of consumption that exists today, she says, which is one of the main reasons why her "top tips" are now such a necessity.

"We didn't have much money at home, as my father died when I was five and my mother had to support me, my older sister and my granny on a small income as a dressmaker," explains Walmsley.

"That taught me to respect money - I never see something and just think I'll buy it, I always check prices. We had to be self-sufficient to survive, as my mother was on a widower's pension and worked all hours of the day for very little pay."

Her mother's dressmaking tips have come in handy not just to Walmsley, but to her family and viewers as well. Walmsley religiously lives by her own tips, buying her grandchildren presents at charity shops, mending holey sweaters and cleaning kitchen worktops with pastes made of bicarbonate of soda and water.

The mother of six was awarded an MBE nine years ago for her charity work and has raised more than £178,000 for Oxfam by fasting every year in November for the past 24 years.

This year, her 'silver anniversary', she hopes to raise the stakes a bit more - and plans on wearing a silver wig to make her "look special and noticeable".

She also started Oxfam's bridal exchange from her back bedroom, which now has 13 shops across the UK.

Being green isn't really a matter of following rules, she says, so much as a way of life.

"People always want to know what my 'top tips' are, but the most important one is to think," she says.

"Think before you turn the tap on - how much water do you really need? Think before you buy something - how much do you really need it? That's really the trick to green living."

Green Granny's top ideas: :: "Cut out meat for just one meal a week and try a vegetarian dish instead - you could save £500 a year."

:: "A quarter of all trips in the car are to destinations less than two miles away. Try walking the children to school, or doing the shopping by foot, instead."

:: "The average family throws away £650 worth of food each year. Use those leftovers in stews or try www.notbeansagain.com for recipe ideas."

:: "Save a stale loaf of bread by running it quickly under the tap, then baking it, to give it a fresh new taste."

:: "Don't chuck out old clothes. Try customising them, such as adding colourful braids to skirt hemlines for a 'gypsy' feel, or have a clothes swap with friends instead."

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