365 Days to make a difference

[Guy]

Sticky where we can post all those little pointers to the little things we can all do to be greener or have less of an impact on the environment! I'll update this daily but feel free to jump in with your own suggestions!

[Guy]

1. Take the weekend and fix any leaky taps or pipes that you might have around. Here's a video for those who are DIY challenged!

How To Fix A Dripping Tap (Bib Or Pillar) (DIY & Home: Plumbing)

[Guy]

2. Next time you're shopping take a look at where the food was produced. Make a special effort to buy food that was locally grown. This not only helps your local farmers, if you buy organic it will be better for you as well.

The current estimate is that food travels on average 1500 miles to get to our plates so buying locally grown will also cut down on the transport and so the greenhouse emissions!

[Guy]

3. Save on electricity. Now this will not only reduce your Carbon footprint it'll also save you money (between 6% - 25% of your monthly bill in some cases).

Most if not all modern applicances will still use electricity even when they are in the pwoer saving or sleep state. So say goodbye to the little red and blue lights and flick the switch at the wall when you're not using it.

02.09.01 - Eliminating "standby" electricity loss from home appliances could save up to 25 percent on electrical bills, study shows

If you've got something you need everyday, coffee machines etc you can always use a timer to switch it on in the morning and off once you've left for the day.

[Guy]

4. Buy a water filter. If you're like me and you can't stand the taste of the water that comes out of your tap, especially if you're in a city, then do yourself a favour and buy a water filter.

Not only will you drink more water, with all the many health benefits including weight loss, but you'll drink less soft drinks and juices. This means less bottles, less resources used in the production and transport of the soft drinks and juices. So good all round!

[Guy]

5. Turn off your clothes dryer! Use a good old fashioned clothesline, the clothes will smell and feel better, you won't need to add anything to make them soft and you'll save a heap of electricity!

[Guy]

6. Leave the car at home. I'm lucky enough to live fairly close (7km) to work. So I can walk or cycle to work as I have a gym downstairs. Cars produce between 250 and 450 grams of carbon per km travelled on average.

Walking or cycling gives you a 100% saving on carbon emissions and also saves you money on petrol!

[Guy]

7. Wash with cold water. In the machine that is. Not only do you reduce the risk of shrinking your clothes cold water uses less electricity!

[Guy]

8. As Easter is just around the corner I thought I'd offer some Easter tips!

If you're not going to be making your own eggs or just can't live without chocolate then make sure you buy the eggs with as little packaging as possible, avoiding the plastic packaging in favor of the foil wrapping as this can be recycled!

[Guy]

9. Shower less! Now I'm not suggesting you don't shower at all in the name of becoming greener, although if you stop showering all together you might well start turning green!

Take a clock into the shower and time your shower, try to shower for one minute less the next day. With showers using between 9 and 25 liters a minute the savings will add up!