By Chantal Robertson, Life Group leader, Jubilee Church Wirral

God commissions us to be custodians of the planet and of His people.

That means trying to have more of positive than negative impact on the world and people. You may well have seen labels such as: Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, RSPCA etc on food in the local supermarket, but what about decorating?

In the summer, we were able to move to our own house (first time for me 😀).

I know that a lot of new builds have a lot of eco improvements built in, and so they should. I just love old houses, but with high ceilings and solid (rather than cavity) walls, they’re often not the most  environmentally efficient! However, a lot can still be done.

There are smart meters, closing doors on rooms and switching lights off, thicker curtains, wearing an extra jumper, snuggling under a quilt 😉

We’ve been decorating, and, with this, came the discovery of an Aladdin’s cave – ReciproCity Wirral 😀😀😀

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this place!

It’s such a simple idea 💡 They pick up tins of part used paint from Bidston tip, check it and then sell it cheap – just the right amount for a feature wall, for example, at an amazing price of a couple of pounds (depending how full the pot is!)

They also have end-of-line and donated-from-DIY-chains kitchen cupboards, doors, taps and so on. They also make up their own paints. The staff are super friendly and helpful too 😀 Can’t recommend them enough.

We’ve made use of WIRE also – a great place to find basic second hand furniture of all kinds and some gems, they always seem to have lots of beds and dining chairs/tables. They sometimes have white goods too. A separate company can deliver (cash on delivery and only an extra £5 to take it upstairs – SUPER worth it for the two wardrobes we got!)

I also explored an antique shop nearby, which has mostly beautiful fireplaces (see my genuine cute 1870 ‘Daisy’ design cream fireplace) and found a beautiful reproduction cast iron fireplace, surround and mirror on Facebook Marketplace – a stunning feature, I think ❤️

My default, whenever I’m looking for things, is ALWAYS second hand, whether that’s charity shops or online, such as Freecycle, eBay, Facebook Marketplace etc or a second hand option on a shopping website.

These are some of my habits, but what are yours? Any gems you’ve discovered?

Chantal Robertson with her husband Rick