Are you finding green living a bit of a challenge? We all love a good holiday abroad in the sun ( I know, it’s seems a distant memory for now), and a cheeky take away, but all those carbon emissions add up. We decided to have a look for some simple changes we could make to help the environment.
Most of us recycle where we can and make more conscious choices in our day to day living, but are there other simple changes could we make that are easy to adopt and have the feel good factor? We did some digging and found some great ideas:
Laundry
Up to 90% of the energy associated with washing clothes is generated during heating up the water. Try lowering the temperature on your next wash load to reduce your bills and emissions.
Speedy Gonzalez
Sorry to be a kill joy, but if you drive at the designated speed limit you will save money on fuel – simples.
Re-Use
When you buy a new bag or shoes etc have you ever wondered what the little square beady packet is for? Well it is silica and is used to keep moisture out of your parcel, these can be re-used in wardrobes / drawers / cars (just don’t let kids or pets be too inquisitive as they shouldn’t be eaten).
Instead of rinsing and recycling old glass jars and bottles, jump on the houseplant trend and create your own terrarium – if you keep hold of the chop sticks from take-aways you can use them to help place the plant inside the bottle.
Meal Prep
Becoming a meal prep pro is definitely the way forward. Writing out a menu for your weekly meals before hitting the supermarket is a great way to reduce your waste and buy ingredients that work across multiple dinners. Whilst you are checking out new menu ideas, try adding more plant based meals, a large percentage of personal carbon footprint comes from our diets.
Go Paperless
Sounds obvious, right? Most of us no longer print documents off at home, but with more of us now working from home, are we slipping back into old habits. Try using mark ups on Word documents instead of hand writing comments and instead of writing out shopping lists or to do lists, try using one of the many apps that are available, they even send reminders.
Un-Plugged
Switching off devices and appliances at the mains will save you money on your bills and reduce your carbon emissions – just think how many times have you left your laptop/phone/tablet charging in the last week alone!
Old Clothes
Next time you have a clear out, before you decide what is good to take to the charity shop, don’t just throw away the stained old trusty t-shirt, if it is cotton it can be re-used as a cleaning cloth, just cut them up into a useable size.