Tuesday 22 November 2011

Power showers use twice as much water and electricity as baths.

Power showers use twice as much energy and water as baths, despite the commonly-held perception that showers are better for the environment, new research has found.

Power showers use twice as much water and electricity as baths
Power showers use booster pumps to increase the water flow 
The average power shower costs families about £918 a year in water and electricity, according to a study by Unilever UK, the maker of Domestos and Dove products. This is nearly twice as much energy and water as a bath uses. The cost of running a power shower is also more than double the cost of a normal shower, which sets a family back an average of £416 a year in water and electricity, the research found.
Power showers use booster pumps to increase the water flow and are therefore more electricity-intensive than normal showers.
Unilever monitored 2,600 showers taken by 100 families over 10 days. The company used sensors to detect water use. The £918 figure is based on an average water flow of 17 litres per minute and typical annual charges for water, sewage and energy.
The company found that an eight-minute non-power shower with an average water flow rate used about 62 litres of hot water per shower and cost about 30p.
The average four-person family would use 90,000 litres per year, at a collective cost for electricity and water of £416.
Dr Hilde Hendrickx, a behavioural psychologist at Unilever, said that the study would help it “understand how we can change people’s behaviour to reduce the amount of energy and water they use during showering”.
The survey unearthed some strange habits.
It found that 12-year-old boys spent longest in the shower, averaging 9  minutes and 41 seconds. Girls were in and out in just 6 minutes and 34 seconds until they hit their teens, when this rose to 9 minutes and 21 seconds.
The average teenage girls used water worth £123 over a year, Unilever said. Although women shower in 7 minutes 39 seconds on average during the week, on Saturdays they took 8 minutes 55 seconds. Men spent 8 minutes 5 seconds showering during the week.
The survey found that women were effective multi-taskers when they were in the shower.
Women were more likely than men to be shaving their legs and cleaning their teeth while showering.

Monday 21 November 2011

Men spend more time getting ready than women, research shows

Men spend more time getting ready to go out than women, according to research.

A man in an undershirt grooming his hair in bathroom mirror
On average men spend 81 minutes a day on personal grooming.
On average men spend 81 minutes a day on personal grooming, including cleansing, toning and moisturising, shaving, styling hair and choosing clothes, the study found.
Women have their beauty regime down to a fine art and get hair, clothes and make-up done in just 75 minutes.
The research, carried out for Travelodge, found that on an average morning men spend 23 minutes in the shower, compared to 22 minutes for women.
Men then take 18 minutes on their shaving regime, compared to 14 minutes for women despite them having to trim legs, armpits and bikini line.
Men take a minute longer - 10 minutes - on cleansing, toning and moisturising.
Choosing an outfit is also a time-consuming operation for men who want to look their best - taking 13 minutes compared to 10 minutes for women.
The study also found that the average British person does not have a clue regarding the true value of their toiletry bag.
When quizzed, the average adult estimated their wash bag with contents to be worth £52.23 when in reality the bag of essentials is worth nearly three times more at £156.69.
A spokeswoman for Travelodge said they had seen a rise in the number of toiletry bags being left behind in their 487 hotels.
In the last 12 months, hotel staff have spent hundreds of hours uniting 10,000 wash bags with their owners.
In one case a customer paid more than £100 for a courier to pick up her toiletry bag, which she had left behind in a London hotel - the designer wash bag had nearly £1,000 worth of toiletry items.

Sunday 20 November 2011

The cheap secret behind the £5 million hands: almond oil

The woman behind a pair of hands that have been insured for £5 million has revealed the secret of her success – almond oil.

Her hands are so crucial to Miss Howorth's fortune that she has had them insured at Lloyds of London for £5 million.
The cheap secret behind the £5 million hands: almond oil 
They are the hands that have been admired in adverts from America to Australia – and insured for £5 million.
Gemma Howorth's flawless hands, with their smooth, blemish-free skin, long, elegant, straight fingers and deep nail beds, have doubled for those of supermodels like Kate Moss and Lily Cole in photoshoots.
Her hands are so crucial to Miss Howorth's fortune that she has had them insured at Lloyds of London for £5 million.
They can earn her £200 for two hours, £800 for an average day's work and £2,500 a day for the most lucrative assignments.
In perhaps the ultimate accolade, they have also starred in adverts for Fairy Liquid, still renowned for its former jingle: "Now hands that do dishes can feel soft as your face."
And the secret of such perfection? A £1.50 pot of almond oil from Boots.
Miss Howorth, of Chelsea, west London, said her hands have featured in more than 250 television adverts and on countless billboards. She estimates that her hands – if not her face – have been seen by millions worldwide.
"I even saw them in a television advert while on holiday in Cambodia," she said.
Looking after her hands is a full-time job involving precautions leave onlookers thinking she is "a lunatic."
Miss Howorth, 27, said: "I sunbathe with gloves on. I forgot the gloves once, and even with high-factor sun cream, I noticed tiny wrinkles developing on my hands.
"After ten years in this job, it's an ingrained habit to think before I do things. Even opening the fridge door could break a nail. Rummaging in your handbag is potentially lethal. You have to open it carefully, so you don't get a paper cut."
She also admits that her hands do not do dishes (even though they do advertise washing up liquid.) That job is reserved for her husband Marcus Watts, 45, who runs Greenforce, an overseas volunteering company.
Miss Howorth said: "I can't remember the last time I washed anything without wearing gloves. It's really bad for your hands. I have a dishwasher, a cleaner and a husband."
She also has insurance – and reveals the £5 million valuation of her hands and her almond oil secret in Stella, The Sunday Telegraph's magazine although she does not discuss the premium.
She said: "I could claim on the insurance if I get a paper cut, depending on how bad it is. If I cut my hand I might not work for two weeks, and that could be thousands of pounds lost.
"There are clauses for things like broken wrists, and if one of my fingers gets chopped off, I get a very big payout."
She added: "The insurance doesn't cover me for skiing, so I ski in steel gloves. They have a bit of steel in the back, to stop you breaking your wrists."
But her ultimate protection for her hands is rather more prosaic.
Despite manufacturers sending countless expensive beauty creams she always prefers her trusty almond oil. She uses her "secret weapon" to moisturise her hands at least 30 times a day.
She said: "I have tested hundreds of products, and I always go back to my almond oil. It is the cheapest and best. Some other products don't seem to sink into the skin, but almond oil does.
"It really nourishes, and you don't need separate hand creams and cuticle oils: almond oil gives you the lot.
"And you can get it behind the pharmacy counter at Boots for about £1.50 for a 50ml pot."
Miss Howorth, who also runs Body London, the UK's only body-part model agency, tells all her 140 models to use almond oil. Many are now converts.
Sunna Jarman, of Chiswick, west London, provided the legs that went with Sharon Stone's face in posters for the film The Muse. The 37-year-old mother of two often finds herself on leg modelling assignments with 17 year-olds. She puts the enduring youthfulness of her legs down to daily gym sessions, good genes that have helped her avoid cellulite, and almond oil.
"It's just fantastic. I never buy normal moisturisers. Maybe it's just me, but I find they are just no good. I don't think you need to spend money on expensive things like that."

Saturday 19 November 2011

Police comandeer golf buggies to catch burglar on course

Police officers commandeered golf buggies in vain attempt to catch a burglar who fled onto a course.

Police comandeer golf buggies to catch burglar on course
An elderly woman was attacked by the man, who had forced his way into her house in Hightown, Merseyside.
The would-be thief fled empty-handed after a 62-year-old neighbour, who was also hurt, rang 999 and bravely intervened.
The assailant fled down Blundell Road on to sand dunes and then the West Lancs golf club to make his escape as officers and the force helicopter converged on the scene.
And to the surprise of golfers on the links course, which straddles the Sefton coast, police took command of electric golf buggies as they tried in vain to apprehend their suspect.
Detective inspector Jon Smith said: "This was a cowardly and callous attack on two vulnerable elderly women, which has left them very shaken and traumatised.
"We are absolutely determined to find this man, but we need the community's help to bring him to justice. I would like to reassure residents that incidents like this are thankfully very rare."
It is understood both victims were taken to hospital for treatment following the assault on Tuesday lunchtime.
Both were later released. Police said the raider was of slim-to-medium build, with a bald head and wearing a grey fleece jacket.
The suspect is said to be aged between 20 and 40.

Friday 18 November 2011

Guinness World Records Day: 300,000 people take part

From the wacky to the impressive, thousands of people around the world sought their place in the Guinness World Records.

This was no bog standard race but the world's fastest toilet against the world's quickest mobility scooter and the world's smallest roadworthy car.
This was no bog standard race but the world's fastest toilet against the world's quickest mobility scooter and the world's smallest roadworthy car.  
Among the attempts to set new global records were 57 people in Canary Wharf, London, who piled into a large pair of bright pink underpants to break the record for the most people in a pair of pants.
Essex played host to the largest Cream Tea Party, attracting 334 people while Dubliners managed to return the record for the most people dressed as leprechauns to Ireland from the US when 262 donned costumes.
Canary Wharf also held a world record race between the fastest toilet, the smallest roadworthy car and the fastest mobility scooter.
In the Netherlands, 1,541 took part in a mass Macarena dance while in Florida, 91 year-old Bernice Mary Bates was named the oldest yoga teacher.
Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records editor, said: "This year, it seems to be about bringing records back home to the people who are most passionate about enjoying their culture and national identity."

Thursday 17 November 2011

China school run most dangerous in the world

Pupils in a remote village in China are forced to scramble down sheer cliffs and cross freezing rivers just to reach their school.

Every term, village officials and teachers come to Pili village in north western China to collect the 80 school children that live there.
The pupils are escorted on a perilous 125-mile journey through the mountains of the remote Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, where some paths along sheer rock faces are only inches wide.
To reach the school, the children must also wade through four freezing rivers, cross a 650ft chain bridge and four single-plank bridges.
It takes the children two days to complete the journey.