I’ve been meaning to start writing some “political” articles for a while, and thought I’d start by sharing some ideas for little changes you can make that are good for your environment and often good for your health and your wallet too. Where I live in England we only have 2 real choices for government: a party that believes in individual liberty and capitalism in an almost totally unrestricted sense, which leads inevitably to significant wealth disparity; and a party that believes to varying degrees in some policies to redistribute wealth and a fairer society but also seems to find itself wanting to over-reach and interfere in areas of peoples lives that government need not and should not meddle in. Sometimes it is genuinely difficult to find a balance, but very often both parties miss easy wins. My suggestions are for those kinds of “easy wins” and whilst not all of them are suitable for everyone, I hope everyone can find something useful
Energy efficiency at home
If you can use less energy you help the environment and save money. Often these tips require an initial investment, but they do pay for themselves quickly
Switch to offset gas and renewable electricity
You can change your energy supplier to one that is “green” by generating electricity with renewables and providing carbon-offset gas. There are several green suppliers and they are often cheaper than the big 6. It is not unusual for them to be amongst the cheapest energy supplies and switching is easy. I recommend using Money Saving Expert’s Cheap Energy Club.
Insulate old windows
Seal draughts
Get LED bulbs
Dehumidify damp instead of turning the temp up
Enable autosleep on consumer devices
Declag your central heating
Close the curtains when it’s cold
Use lids on pans
Insulate around your bath
Install smarter heating controls and TRVs
Install adblockers to reduce wasting energy on transfering and processing ads
Clean your oven
درست کریں / replace / fit extractor fans in bathrooms and kitchens
Put any extra fridges / freezers somewhere cold (cellar, shed, garage?)
Fuel savings
If you can use less petrol and diesel you can reduce carbon emissions, save money, and reduce other environmental pollution too
Keep tyres well inflated
Find a job closer to home or work from home
Remove unnecessary junk (weight) from your car
Put premium fuel in car once or twice a year
Buy “from concentrate” drinks
Cook local season foods
Water savings
Collecting, treating and pumping water all takes energy. If you can use less of it you’ll save energy, اور (assuming you have a water meter) you’ll save money too.
Use a dishwasher
Get waterbutts
install watersaving taps and showers
Insulate hot and cold pipes
Wee in the shower
Use a powerhose to clean your car
Don’t rinse dishes before putting them in a dishwasher
Reducing plastic use
Unless you’ve been living in a cave you’ve heard about the plastic pollution in our oceans thanks to the work of the Blue Planet 2 team. You can do your bit.
Use a milkman
Use a soda stream
Order from places that use cardboard not plastic packaging
Buy fruit and veg loose
Use loose leaf tea or non-plastic tea-bags instead of regular (plastic based) teabags
Use reusable nappies/wipes
Buy foods in glass and metal containers rather than plastic
Rent movies online or stream instead of buying boxsets
Switch to reusable straws and coffee cups
Use biodegradable dish cloths
Instead of a plastic-based dish scourer which gets thrown away after a few weeks, use cotton cloths for wiping surfaces, and use coconut husk based scourers for washing stubborn pots. Both are biodegradable and the cotton cloth can be washed in a washing machine and reused.
Reducing other waste and chemical use
Plastics and Carbon aren’t the only things that poison the environment, there are other chemicals to avoid too — and the benefits often include your own health.
Use rechargeable batteries
Avoid palm oil
Switch shampoo and soaps to ones that don’t contain mineral oils
Give old clothes/toys/books/DVDs etc to charity instead of the bin
Recycle worn out clothes
Hang up dishcloths
Use friendly toilet roll and kitchen roll. Or use a bidet
Use biodegradable pet litter
Aim for longer-lasting clothes
Helping the Local Wildlife
Mental health gets a lot more focus today than in the past, but we’re not there yet. A healthy local environment is good for your physical and mental health, and of course is good for the environment too
Compost at home
Join a litter picking group
Put scrap food on a bird table
Dig a pond
Put up boxes for birds/bats/hedgehogs
Plant things that produce edible fruits
Use biological pest controls on the garden
Buy local honey
Other tips (that didn’t fit anywhere else)
Eat less beef, swap to chicken
Look for furniture in antique/second hand shops
Use peat free compost
Finally — some lazy “false tips” to beware of
Walk, don’t drive
Whilst this is reasonable for short distances, most of us don’t live withing working distance of work. I mostly drive for work, and to go to the shops. Whilst there is a mini supermarket nearby it is much more expensive than the larger stores, and even if it was large, I wouldn’t be able to carry a months worth of shopping home by hand. We need to be able to stop harming the environment without telling people they have to lower their quality of life
Eat less meat and dairy
Comparisons between animal products and plant products are usually exaggerated by people with an agenda. Whilst like-for-like veg products are lower carbon than animal products, there is a lot more to it. Most meat sold in the UK is relatively local on a global scale, whilst many veg products come with a large dose of “air miles”. Better advice for meat lovers is to eat less red meat and have more white meat instead. Such a swap is also better for health.
Don’t shower every day (and other OTT water conservation tips)
This is terrible advice, given by people who have forgotten just how much modern hygiene has contributed to better health. It is good to conserve water where possible, but there is no less water on earth today than there was 4 billion years ago. We’re not “running out of” water. Supplying clean water does take a lot of energy, which is the main environmental justification for trying to use it sensibly. We don’t tell people to heat their homes to 12 degrees in winter to save energy, because we recognise doing so would be detrimental to health. We ought to apply the same reasoned approach to water conservation.
Dry clothes on a drying rack
A drying rack will evaporate the water into your home. This will lead to damp, which has the potential to encourage fungal spores which cause health issues. It could also eventually cause damage to your home which will require energy and materials to repair. The feeling of damp also tends to make us feel cold with the natural response being to turn the thermostat up a notch. You could open a window, but then you’re just pumping your heated air in the house out of the window! When the weather is suitable then the use of an outdoor drying rack is good advice, but in winter the use of a modern condensing tumble-dryer is a better choice than a clothes horse inside.
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