The great thing about becoming a vintage clothes convert is that it fits quite nicely within the three Rs model of reducing, reusing, and recycling. Even though many vintage clothes are made from unsustainable materials, at least keeping these clothes in the supply and demand loop reduces the demand for manufacturers to supply a new stock of unsustainable clothes — and keeps that groovy 1970s polyester shirt out of the landfill a while longer.

Raid your older relatives’ wardrobes. There may be all sorts of gems there that no longer fit their owners but that you can remodel or alter to fit you.

As with any fashion, what vintage clothes are in demand changes with the seasons and the other designs around on the high street. Most shoppers like to mix and match their vintage buys with current fashion items.

Good clothes bought today will last long enough to be the vintage buys of the future. If you buy fewer, better-quality items instead of many cheaper items you’ll be helping to reduce the amount of clothing produced in the long run.

A quick search of the Internet shows you that there is a growing number of vintage clothes retailers on the Net. The only trouble is working out which ones are selling authentic used clothes and which ones are selling clothes made to look like vintage clothes.

Try charity shops and markets, and online auction sites. Enter ‘vintage fashion‘ on a search engine and you’ll find dozens of shops — some of which may be in your area.

When you go looking for vintage clothes take along any you’d like to get rid of. You may be able to sell them to the same shop you buy from or arrange a trade-in.

Disposing of Clothing

Most clothes no longer in fashion end up in the household waste and go from there to landfill sites. Despite the proliferation of charity shops, only around a fifth of old clothes are donated to charity — either directly to the shops or through one of the increasing numbers of clothes banks springing up alongside glass and paper recycling facilities. Many items that go to clothes banks are bought by private companies that give the designated charity a donation and sell the clothes on to developing countries.

You may feel pleased that clothes you’ve finished with get a second life in another country where people can’t afford to follow fashion, but often these clothes are unsuitable for the climate or culture of the country they end up in. Plus, by sending these cast-offs abroad the textile industries of those countries can be seriously undercut and destroyed — forcing local manufacturers to close down.

In the meantime, the clothes that don’t get to other countries or recycled through charity shops are degrading in landfill sites. Some — like tights and other items made with high proportions of nylon — can take hundreds of years to break down and disappear, and toxic chemicals that were used in the production can leach out into the soil and nearby water sources. The UK is also running out of space for landfill.

You have power too by choosing carefully what not to spend your money on - by boycotting goods, services, and products you believe are doing harm to the planet or to the people involved in the manufacturing and production processes. If enough consumers boycott a product, the firm selling it may be forced to change its practices to benefit the planet and the people involved in the production.

Although the managers of your bank, building society, pension fund, or investment fund invest and handle your money for you, you have the choice of simply letting them get on with it and taking no interest in where your money is invested or you can be quite clear about the types of investments you want your money used for. If you take the first approach your money may be invested in firms that harm the environment or treat producers unfairly; if you take the second approach you can make sure that it is invested in companies that protect the environment or their workers. The choice is yours. Think carefully about what you do and do not want your money used for and take ethical financial advice.

By all means, take the time to review your banking, savings, and investment accounts. Do an audit to find out what exactly your money is currently invested in and how ethical those funds and companies are. And if they’re not green enough to suit you, move your money to a place or product that is.

Considering Ethical Accounts

One way to use your money ethically is to keep it in green accounts. You can talk to your branch about a green account as you would about any other savings or current account. Ask about their codes of business ethics and social and environmental policies.

Keep in mind that some banks may offer the odd ethically sound account but ignore green and ethical issues in the rest of their business dealings. You want to know that your bank is behaving ethically as well as using your money ethically.

Some banks and building societies are waking up to the fact that their savers are concerned about the planet and the good of the people, creatures, and plants living on it. If your own bank or building society can’t give you a green version of the kind of account you’re looking for, whether that’s a cash account where you can take money out of an ATM (Automated Telling Machine) or an ISA (Individual Savings Account), move your money to one that can. Make it clear that you are moving your money because you want a green account.

Building societies are mutual organisations run for the good of the members rather than for the benefit of shareholders, so your building society is less likely than banks are to invest in firms that trade in arms or in countries run by oppressive regimes.

Apart from the high street names, you can try the places in the following list for green accounts:

The Co-operative Bank has been describing itself as green or ethical for many years. It’s part of the co-operative movement in the UK which includes the Co-op shops, insurance, and funeral services.

Smile is the Internet banking arm of the Co-operative Bank and if you open particular accounts with Smile it makes a donation to charity.

Triodos Bank describes itself as one of Europe’s leading ethical banks and guarantees that your money will be used to finance only businesses and charities that benefit people and the environment. For example, opening a Wildlife Saver Account helps protect some of the UK’s wildlife habitats.

In the UK, Triodos has links with The Soil Association and Friends of the Earth among other green organisations.

The Ecology Building Society uses money invested in it to fund mortgages on energy-efficient homes, green renovation and green enterprises that have low impact on the environment. Its own headquarters is built from straw bales with photovoltaic panels and a turf roof - all earth- friendly, energy-conserving materials.

Because they’re listed here doesn’t mean that I’m recommending these institutions; I’m just offering them as places that can give you an idea of how green banking works.

It’s also worth thinking about some of the Islamic accounts available through the Islamic Bank of Britain, or high street banks like Lloyds TSB. There’s more on how these work in the upcoming section ‘Taking the interest out of banking‘.

Ethical or green banking is growing in popularity and so more accounts will come on stream. As with any other kind of accounts, shop around to get the one that best suits both your banking needs and your ethical concerns.

Because green ethics are not always black and white choices and implementation of green investing varies with each banking institution, you may find that you need to prioritise what matters most to you about a green account. After investigating your options, for example, you may realise you want to work with a particular institution because even if it doesn’t measure up on every front, it is committed to change and gives you an opportunity to have a voice in those coming changes.

Summer cooling is accomplished by blowing chill night air through the storage rocks to cool them. Then, during the day, fans blow the house air through the cooled rocks, where it gives off its heat.

The collector area itself was assembled on site and built right into the roof, which was designed at the optimal 45° tilt for winter sun exposure. The collector’s absorber plate is steel, painted black and finned to disrupt the air as it flows behind the plate, improving heat transfer. A single glass layer covers the collector, and a 3/4-horsepower blower is the force behind the moving air.

Ceiling beams are really air ducts, carrying air between collectors on roof and vertical rock storage insulated within masonry wall at right. Storage provides a minimum of 2 days’ heat carryover during winter storms. Heat-recovery device in fireplace provides added heat; gas furnace is main auxiliary heater.

Built-in air collector occupies most of the south roof slope of this conventional two-story, saltbox-type home. House itself is heavily insulated, with double-glazed windows arranged mostly on south side for passive heating assistance. Designer and solar consultant: Herb Wade.

Solar Heating System, Bold Solution to a Solar Design Dilemma

The homeowner/architect of this house tackled a tough design problem when he bought a plot of land on a steep, west-facing hillside, covered thickly with mature trees, on which to build a solar home. His solution was a narrow, towerlike house, rising four levels up from the slope for a broad expanse of south-facing wall space. Then he tilted the south wall to form a 460-squarefoot collector area, cantilevered out from the house at a 60° angle to face the winter sun. The trees to the south of the house still cause some shading problems; the owners intend to top a few of the closest trees to improve the collectors‘ solar exposure.

The collectors are air-type, made of inexpensive corrugated aluminum roofing painted flat black and covered with double glazing formed by glass patio door seconds. Beneath the house lies the rock storage bin, poured in place along with the foundation and filled with 50 tons of fist-size river rock.

Thermostats and fans regulate the delivery of air from collectors to storage and from storage to house. In summer, the night- cooled rock storage is used to cool the house air.

The house’s open interior, combined with the natural heat stratification produced by its height and many levels, helps the active solar system by allowing natural circulation of heat inside. The different levels are designated for activities to match their comfort level: an action-oriented family room is on the lowest level; the living room, with its woodstove, is on the next; above that, are the kitchen and dining room; and on the top and warmest floor are the bedrooms.

House’s air collectors face south, though site’s orientation is west due to steep-sloping hill. Collectors jut from south wall at appropriate tilt angle for solar collection. Above collector area, clerestories admit sun- light to top-floor study area. Trees at left were preserved for beauty but must be trimmed, topped to prevent shading of collectors. Architect: William Bishoprick.

Collector-to-house heating: hot air rises directly from top of collectors into house through duct leading into bathroom on house’s top floor. Manually operated damper shuts off duct when heat is needed in storage or when collectors are cold.

The biggest impact any bank or building society makes is through its lending policy. If it doesn’t have an ethical lending policy it may lend to businesses that trade arms, harm the environment, and exploit workers.

Even if you don’t have any savings and simply need a bank to have your salary paid into and to pay your bills from, be sure you’re happy with that bank’s lending policies. If not, move your account and tell your bank why. If you have savings, choose a bank or building society that won’t lend them to any organisations you disapprove of.

An example of an ethical lending organisation is Shared Interest, a co-operative lending society that aims to reduce poverty in the world by providing fair and just financial services. It pools your investment with money from other savers to facilitate fair-trade practices in which producers are paid a fair amount for their labour and products.

Shared Interest works with fair-trade businesses all over the world, both producers and buyers, providing credit so that producers get paid in advance and can therefore afford to produce their goods and make a better living for themselves and their families.

Taking the interest out of banking

Whether or not you’re Muslim you may find that the ethics of Islamic banking suit your needs. Basically the charging and paying out of interest on accounts and investments is forbidden. You make money on your savings because they’re put to work in real transactions. Your money is used to buy a real stake in a company and as that company makes money you get a share of the profits. The companies invested in have to conform to Islamic beliefs, so you’re assured that you won’t invest in firms that produce tobacco, alcohol, or pornography, for example.

If you borrow to buy a home, the bank buys the home for you, and you pay rent to the bank each month plus a bit extra to buy a share of the property. Gradually you own more and more of the home until it’s all yours.

You can’t get an overdraft on a current account or receive interest through an Islamic bank.

Islamic financial products are mainly available through the Islamic Bank of Britain but other high street banks are getting in on the act with their own versions. Lloyds TSB has an Islamic current account and Islamic mortgage in England and Wales, and is launching an Islamic student account. HSBC bank offers Islamic home insurance policies and there are more Islamic accounts coming on stream from other banks. Shop around as with any other account to find the one that suits you best.

Banking on an alternative

Banks and building societies aren’t the only places for your money. Credit unions are financial co-operatives owned and controlled by their members. They offer savings and great-value loans plus they are local, more likely to follow ethical guidelines, and know what their members want.

Members of each credit union have some sort of common bond which determines who can join it. They may work for the same company, live in the same area, or belong to the same club, church, or trade union. Members save at least a certain amount regularly and once you have more than the threshold in the credit union, you can apply for a loan. Credit unions usually offer a cheaper rate than a bank loan and there are no hidden charges or penalties for repaying the loan early.

The idea of credit unions is people helping other people. If someone’s in debt, the credit union may be able to give him or her a loan to help that person get out of debt. Credit unions can help when banks can’t or won’t. You may find that you can borrow from your credit union to adapt your home to be more green.

There are almost 400 credit unions in the UK with around 400,000 members in total, holding about S380 million in savings with another S350 million out on loan.

If you hold company shares directly, ask those companies about their business ethics and find out if they produce a social or environmental report.

You can invest in ethical index funds on an ethical exchange, and by buying shares and investing in companies with strong corporate social responsibility, you can encourage and support them. Another way to make businesses greener is to buy shares in companies that need to change so that you can attempt to have your voice heard and influence the company’s behaviour through shareholder meetings and your voting rights.

The FTSE4Good is a stock market index listing firms that have particularly ethical trading policies. Some investment funds track that index — so if the value of the shares in the index as a whole goes up your investment is worth more. Ethex is an ethical stock exchange where investors can buy and sell shares in ethical companies such as Fairtrade companies, explained in the upcoming ‘Looking at lending practices’ section.

The value of your investments can go up or down — there are no guarantees. Even if a company’s shares have done well in the past that doesn’t mean its share values will continue to go up in future. You’re taking a gamble so don’t gamble with money you can’t afford to lose. That goes for any stock market investment — ethical or not. And ethical investments don’t always give you as good a return as non-ethical ones. Shares in companies that manufacture drugs, tobacco, and arms often perform better. You may have to pay for your green principles.

If you want to invest in ethical companies through the stock market take advice from a stockbroker who understands the ethical markets. There’s information on how to get in touch with one in the upcoming section ‘Finding Green Financial Advice’.

Investing in insurance

You can even find ethical insurance policies if you look hard enough. Talk to your current insurance provider, and shop around by calling other companies, enlisting the services of an insurance broker, or contacting the Ethical Investment Research Service (EIRIS).

An ethical insurance firm may fund environmental or animal welfare projects. One example for pet lovers is Animal Friends Insurance, a not-for-profit organisation that uses any money it makes to help animals in need around the world. Examples of some of the projects it has helped are The Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust, the Born Free foundation, and The Philippine Dog Rescue, as well as various projects in the UK.

Choosing an Ethical Institution

When it comes to investing your money you have to decide which financial institutions and products match up to your own standards on what’s green or ethical. You may want to save through a mainstream high street organisation and be more interested in the countries it invests in than whether or not it deals with firms that use child labour, or you may prefer a lender that doesn’t deal with firms that pollute or damage the environment. You may want to shun the big banks and building societies in favour of the kinds of organisations that offer special investments to people with particular faiths and beliefs or that invest at a local level. Shop around, ask what each organisation’s ethical or green policy is, and consider all the alternatives before coming to your decision.

Most financial institutions offer a few ethical or green investments, pensions, life insurance, and savings, and some also offer green mortgages, which are explained in ‘Borrowing for Green Homes‘. As demand for green and ethical products grows, more and more are becoming available.

These investments are called SRIs (Socially Responsible Investments) or Ethical Investments.

Pay attention to where the money you put into any investment fund goes and how it’s being used. For example, if you invest in an ethical unit trust, your money is pooled with that of other investors and used to buy shares in companies that have a good track record of looking after their employees and the environment. As in a standard unit trust, you make money as the values of the shares grow.

You can choose to invest in light green or dark green funds. The greener the fund, the stricter the rules governing what that fund can be invested in and the more green the companies invested in — for example, a fund where the only rule is that it won’t invest in firms involved in animal testing isn’t as green as one which won’t invest in firms involved in animal testing or companies that produce harmful pesticides.

The Ethical Investment Research Service (EIRIS) is a charity that provides independent research into the behaviour of thousands of different companies. You can check with it to see how green companies are before you decide whether or not you want your money invested in their operations.

Greening your pension

The most likely way for most people to invest is through their pension funds. Some of these have ethical policies and some don’t, but trustees for UK company pension funds have to tell you whether yours has such a policy and if so what it is. Ask for a copy of the Statement of Investment Principles relating to your fund and find out what the ethical, social, or environmental considerations are.

You can have an influence on how your pension fund invests your money and can transfer your pension contributions to one of the socially responsible funds.

If you don’t belong to a company pension scheme and are setting up your own stakeholder pension or personal pension plan, shop around for a fund that meets your ethical principles, but be warned that there aren’t as many to choose from as with regular pension funds. Try the big pension providers and take advice from an independent financial adviser who specialises in ethical investments.

Get good financial advice before making any decision about where to put your money.

In addition to the concern many people show over the esthetics of solar systems, a frequent question is, “Are solar heaters troublesome?” Answers vary. Some owners of systems shown here have reported trouble-free operation, similar to that with a conventional heater. Others have had problems ranging from leakage of rainwater into the collectors to inaccurate sizing of rocks for storage to breakdowns of blowers and sensitive electronic controls. (Similar problems, in addition to incidents of corrosion and freezing, have been reported with active liquid systems.)

One homeowner/builder had to shovel all the stones out of his storage bin and replace them with larger stones. Another found it difficult to get prompt service from the manufacturers, even in an emergency (luckily, he was an engineer and could do some of his own servicing). Still others found that their manufacturers provided quick and helpful service and an equitable price adjustment.

These experiences are not un‑common among owners of new solar homes. They reflect the still-experimental nature of much of the present-day solar technology.

Deeply bermed mountain home bears 2/3 of its air-type collector vertically on south wall; 1/3 of collector is at 45° slant on roof. Vertical portion of collector gains extra winter insolation through reflection from snow on ground. Household water is preheated by passing through heat exchanger in duct leading from collectors to rock storage immediately behind and beneath collector.

Roofline of traditional Cape Cod-style house accommodates solar heating system well: air-type collectors on south roof tile a steep 45° to face winter sun. Heat storage bin-insulated plywood filled with 1/2-inch stones—is in crawl space beneath house. In summer, evaporative cooler is used during off-peak night hours to cool rock storage; storage cools house during day.

Contemporary house has heat-conserving design to ease burden on air-type solar heating system. Garage and berms buffer north and west walls; entries have double-door airlocks to retain heat when outer doors are opened. Windows are double glazed; south ones are deeply recessed for summer shade, west ones have reflective glass to minimize summer heat gain. Direct collector-to‑house cycle of solar system is used on sunny winter days for heat, and on hot summer days for ventilation through collectors to outside air. Cooling plenums in west wall assist with ventilation.

Colonial-style duplex is heated by one active air system. Two halves of building share collector area, but in agreement with local building officials, each family has its own auxiliary heater, set of ductwork, and half of divided rock storage, so return air from each family does not flow into common storage area.

Few high street lenders are geared specifically to deal with green projects but many are willing to lend money to buy, build, or renovate a property as you like. Be patient and shop around. Talk to your own lender and if there are objections and obstacles try to negotiate. Lenders are always concerned about the degree of risk they’re taking and whether they’ll get their money back if you can’t keep up the repayments. Talk to a mortgage broker about where to try for a loan if you draw a blank.

You may be able to negotiate a staged loan so that the lender agrees to give you a certain amount of money in total but releases proportions of the total when various stages of the work are complete.

Applying for a green mortgage

Another option is a loan from a lender that offers green mortgages — loans specifically geared for green buildings. A green mortgage is a loan given on a home built or renovated in such a way that it reduces the negative impact it and its occupants have on the environment. Usually a green mortgage is granted only for a home that’s green itself.

Your green mortgage may cost you more than an ordinary mortgage in terms of interest charged.

In some cases when you take on a green mortgage the lender does an audit of the energy efficiency of your home to monitor your household emissions and energy usage. You can benefit from the knowledge that you are causing less damage to the environment, and you can save money on your electricity and gas bills!

You may be able to remortgage your home through a green mortgage if you can convince the lender that your home is green enough or that you will make it green enough.

Getting loans for green conversions

If you need to borrow more money to top up any grant, try borrowing from your bank or building society. The three financial institutions which offer green mortgages (mentioned in the preceding section) may be able to lend for your home improvement, but you may be also able to convince some of the high street lenders to lend for that purpose even though they don’t specifically offer green loans.

Renovating old properties to green properties

Renovating old properties such as barns, lighthouses, or other derelict buildings to make homes is very green. You are using existing sites and in most cases some existing building materials. Lenders of green mortgages — the Ecology Building Society in particular — are very keen on projects that get derelict properties back into use. They see it as a form of recycling. Talk to your own bank or building society about the possibility of a loan for this kind of work and if they turn you down, try the main green lenders.

Doing Without Cash

Money may make the world go round but it isn’t always necessary. You can make things happen without cash and as a result become involved in community-based projects that are more sustainable, ethically sound, and greener than relying on money.

Trading in LETS (Local Exchange Trading Systems or Schemes)

LETS are local networks in which people exchange all kinds of goods and services with one another. No money changes hands. LETS are based in local communities and use alternative currencies to the pound. For example, if your skill is in furniture making and you make a table for someone, you get a certain number points in whatever your scheme’s currency is called. You can then use some of those points to pay someone to do some babysitting for you. Schemes like this encourage less buying of new products and more sharing so they make less impact on the environment.

Sharing in time banks

TimeBank is a scheme whereby local people volunteer to share their time and skills. Instead of giving money, use your skills to do something for someone else and deposit your time in the bank. You can then make a withdrawal from the time bank when you need someone to spend time doing something for you. A timekeeper adds up the time spent and matches people up to help as they need it — and no payments change hands.

Everyone’s time is equal: one hour of time earns one time credit to spend when needed regardless of what you spend that hour doing.

You can get more information from TimeBank UK, the national charity that links and supports time banks across the country by providing inspiration, guidance, and practical help. TimeBank appeals to people who know that their time and skills are in demand but just don’t know what to do about it or where to start.

The solar system includes a full 1200 square feet of collector area, equipped with a drain-down system to prevent freezing, since the climate is very cold in winter. Water mixed with corrosion inhibitors is the heat-transfer fluid; it feeds directly into the 16,000- gallon storage tank which occupies two-fifths of the house’s full basement (poured in place along with the foundation, then lined with insulation and waterproofed).

When heat is needed in the house, storage water is pumped through baseboard radiators in each room (the house has north and south temperature zones, each served by its own pump and circulation loop). Domestic water is preheated by circulation through a coil immersed in the big storage tank.

The solar space heating is so comprehensive that almost no backup is required. An ordinary 80-gallon electric water heater switches on when necessary to warm the storage water on its way to the radiators. But even in the record cold of the 1976-77 winter, the house was 92 percent solar heated.

North side of house, seen from street, gives no indication of comprehensive solar system that provides 90-100% of its heat. House’s traditional designwell-insulated wood-frame structure with vinyl clapboard-like siding, dormers in roof, and ample north window space (albeit double glazed)—shows active solar’s ability to adapt to accustomed life styles.

From garden, house’s solar collectors are seen to occupy almost whole expanse of south roof, sloping at a 50° angle to meet winter sun. Absorber plates are aluminum tube-in-plate, painted flat black. Glazing is single sheet of acrylic. Collectors were assembled on site to fit roof precisely; those in upper row are slightly smaller than lower ones.

The system has a collector-to house cycle (unusual for a liquid system) which, when the storage is cold but the day is sunny, permits hot liquid from the collectors to circulate through a fan-coil device that blows the heat directly into the house. The liquid then returns to the collectors, bypassing the storage tank. Household water is preheated in a coil immersed in the storage tank.

To avoid winter daytime overheating from direct gain through the south windows, a fan and duct were installed in an interior living room wall. They draw heat from the south rooms and disperse it to the north ones.

Hot summers are usually accompanied by cooling breezes off the ocean, but additional ventilation is provided by two rows of north-facing clerestory windows backing the two rear collector mountings. These can be opened to vent excess heat from the house ceilings.

Aloft like sails, three ranks of liquid-type collectors top this beachside house; they stand apart on flat roof so as not to shade one another from low winter sun. Collector mountings are integrated with house structure for strength to withstand winds and storms. House is turned 10° west of south for ocean view, but still has good solar exposure. Broad planes of south window glass admit sun for daytime passive heating in winter; deep overhangs shade them in summer.

Pleasant south living room gives no marked suggestion of solar design, but subtle features give it away: room is awash with light from expansive south windows; unobstructed view from living room up through study to master bedroom on upper level indicates open plan of house interior, designed to encourage free circulation of passively and actively gathered solar heat. Vents of heat- recovery device in fireplace are visible below mantel.