If you keep meaning to make eco-friendly changes in your life but never quite get round to it, this is the guide for you.
Below you’ll find 10 quick and simple changes you can make straight away. You’ll be amazed by the reduction you can make on your carbon footprint by following them. Be inspired by the simplicity of each one, and how you can do your bit to save the planet. Remember, these are the quick and easy wins, but with our help you can achieve so much more. Our work involves both businesses and individuals. Work with us to make your established business more sustainable, or to launch your green start-up. We also run individual sessions for households to reduce their carbon footprint. Together we can be the change we want to see in the world.
1. BAG IT UP
THE FACTS: The UK is making excellent progress on reducing the number of single-use plastic bags. Retailers have reported a 49% drop, but in 2019 – 2020 there were still 564 million in use, and that’s just from the reporting provided by 194 retailers. The true figure is even more unacceptably high.
MAKE THE CHANGE: By now hopefully you’ve got re-useable bags for your weekly shop, so now it’s time to take it one step further. Kit the handbags, rucksacks or sports bags you use with a few foldaway bags in each one.
Stock up on loose vegetable cloth bags so you don’t need to use plastic bags to pack fresh produce. Stick a fold-up bag in your coat pocket, your car, stash a few at work and in any other location you regularly visit.
Make it ridiculously easy to reach for a re-useable bag in every scenario, so you don’t get caught without one and end up falling back on buying a plastic alternative. Let’s decimate that 564 million bag total and make them extinct.
2. DRIVE DOWN YOUR FOOD MILES
THE FACTS: Did you know that 95% of our fruit is imported, and around 50% of our vegetables. Food makes up for 30% of the goods being transported by lorry in the UK. As you can imagine, the impact of our food choices on the environment is huge.
MAKE THE CHANGE: Many of us are used to the convenience of supermarket shopping and don’t think much about changing it up. However, if you want to be more eco-friendly, it’s time to switch your shopping.
Where you can, buy your produce locally from suppliers in your local area. For example, find out which butcher is using locally sourced meat. Buy fruits and vegetables when they are in season in the UK from a farm shop or local greengrocer.
In Norwich, where we are based, there are an abundance of local suppliers and zero-waste shops. Take the time to find them and shop there. Not only will this help you reduce your carbon footprint, but shopping like this also boosts the local economy.
3. TRAVEL ETHICALLY
THE FACTS: Did you know that one short-haul flight can account for 10% of your yearly carbon emissions? Needless to say, the environmental consequences of a long-haul flight are far worse. Then there’s the day-to-day journeys you make. It all adds up.
MAKE THE CHANGE: It might be easy to jump in a car and go but think twice before you do. Each journey begins with a choice and that choice is whether to walk, cycle, use public transport or drive. There will be plenty of journeys that are easily done without the need to burn fossil fuels. Be the person who leaves earlier and makes the effort to travel sustainably.
See if you can become part of a car sharing scheme at work or your local area. A few people travelling together in one vehicle is far more environmentally friendly than each driving separately. You can also split fuel costs to save money.
If you are travelling abroad, consider the options. Can you get there by train or boat instead of going via air? If that’s not possible due to time or cost, then you can offset the carbon you use in a variety of different ways. We work with Ecologi.com who offer three simple plans to offset your carbon footprint by planting trees. There are plenty of other options out there as well.
4. SAVE YOUR ENERGY
THE FACTS: An average UK household produces 20.2 tonnes of carbon emissions each year. Researchers found that gas contributes 12.3% and electricity makes up 10.4%. So, the choices you make on energy are critical to your carbon footprint.
MAKE THE CHANGE: If you still use fossil fuel energy providers then it’s time to switch to renewable energy. There are plenty of great renewable energy providers out there and it’s incredibly simple to sign up with them. As for the cost, remember that fossil fuel is finite and it’s running out, plus green energy providers can often help you save money on your bills.
If you want to get a good deal and find an ethical supplier, head over to a site like www.moneysavingexpert.com where you can see what deals are out there and make an easy switch.
5. FANCY A CUPPA
THE FACTS: Think you are doing your bit by popping your disposable coffee cup in the recycling bin? Think again. The UK’s House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee found that only 1 in 400 cups are recycled and the rest are sent to landfill. The annual carbon footprint? 152,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Not to mention that it takes 0.58 litres of water to make the cup in the first place.
MAKE THE CHANGE: Owning one reusable cup isn’t enough. Much like your bags, you need to make it incredibly easy to always have your cup to hand. Make sure you have a few different cups in different locations. Using collapsible cups will save space in your bag, plus they’re easy to transport.
If you are meeting a friend for coffee and you’re not sure if they have their own reusable cup, take a spare. It’s an act of kindness and generosity towards your friend and towards the planet. Plus, it’ll spark a conversation where you can share your advice for helping them reduce their carbon footprint.
Remember, some companies will give you money off if you bring your own cup, so it can mean a saving in your pocket too.
6. EAT MORE SUSTAINABLY
THE FACTS: A shocking 14.5% of all human-generated greenhouse gas emissions is down to animal agriculture, roughly the same as the transportation sector. Industrial farming is a disaster for the environment and yet the predictions are that global meat consumption is set to grow. According to experts, UK households will need to cut their meat consumption by half if we are to meet our climate targets.
MAKE THE CHANGE: Changing your diet to be 100% plant based is the quickest way to make a big difference, but we appreciate that’s not a suitable solution for everyone. So, instead, start with incremental change.
Start by adding a couple of meat-free days into every week and see how that goes. When you are going to eat meat or fish, buy them from local producers so you can track your farm-to-fork miles. Now that plant-based eating has become more popular, there are lots of substitute products you can use to create a meat-free version of your favourite dishes.
A few years ago, Sir Paul McCartney and his family launched Meat Free Mondays because they believed in the power of collective change to help make a huge difference. By following their lead and committing yourself to certain meat-free days, you can get in the habit of eating more sustainably.
7. DO IT BY DEGREES
THE FACTS: We’ve already outlined the impact of your energy choices on the environment. But did you know that UK homes could save £1.4 billion per year if everyone turned down their thermostat by 1 degree?
MAKE THE CHANGE: Get it right now, walk over to the thermostat in your house and turn it down by 1 degree. In doing that simple job, you’ve just saved yourself money and helped the environment. Energy costs are high and it’s crazy to waste money for the sake of 1 degree. Better yet, you know that what you’ve done is helping the planet too.
When we talk to people about living more sustainably, the issue of cost is sometimes raised as an obstacle. We get that not everyone can afford to go organic or buy multiple reusable items. But when you make a saving like this, you put pennies back in your pocket to fund more sustainable changes. That’s a win-win.
8. BECOME A BORROWER OR A FIXER
THE FACTS: The UK produces 26 million tonnes of waste each year, a landfill catastrophe which will have serious consequences. Too often people will bin items and buy new ones when there are other options. We’re just so used to a fast fix to our day-to-day problems that we’re mindlessly creating waste that could be saved if we took more time and care.
MAKE THE CHANGE: There are skilled people in every neighbourhood who are perfectly capable of mending and fixing broken items for a small fee. Take the time to check with them before you sling out something that might be saveable. If you really don’t want to bother yourself, put the item on a listings site for free so that somebody else can take the chance to salvage it.
Before you buy new, also check whether you could borrow the item from somebody else. There are community initiatives popping up all over the place where local people pool their resources and lend their tools and items out to others. Be a good neighbour and offer your items to borrow too, it’ll really help others out.
Consider this. If you only need a pressure washer a handful of times a year, why not let others get the benefit of it too? Sharing is good for the soul as well as the planet.
9. DON’T PAPER OVER IT
THE FACTS: A huge 40% of the world’s commercially cut timber is used to make paper. The cost of production includes an unforgiveable misuse of water and widespread deforestation. Worse still, much of the paper we use in our day-to-day lives is completely unnecessary, and not everyone is great at recycling their share.
MAKE THE CHANGE: Start with your household bills and bank statements. Make sure that you have opted paperless billing on every one of them. When you are at the supermarket, do not print your receipt unless you need it for proof of purchase or some other valuable reason.
Next opt out of junk mail wherever you can. Keep a collection of stuff that comes through your door and, where possible, contact the company and ask them not to send things to you on paper.
Be extra careful about what you print. It’s so inexpensive for us to use printers that we don’t think hard enough about what we are using them for. Before you print anything, check if there’s another way to get the information or be sure to select only the pages you need.
At home, avoid using paper towels to clean your counters and stick to cloth alternatives that you can wash and reuse. When the festive season begins, consider other ways to wrap your presents that don’t result in a bag full of torn Christmas paper after all the gifts have been handed out. Be imaginative and inventive, you can have some fun with it too!
10. BE A WASTE REDUCTION SUPERHERO!
THE FACTS: Every single product you buy has an environmental footprint and could end up in landfill. We need to make wasting our resources unacceptable in all aspects of our life. Right now, 8 million tonnes of plastic is being dumped in the ocean and drastically impacting marine life. From fast-fashion to food waste to single-use plastic, the human race is destroying the environment and things need to change fast.
MAKE THE CHANGE: Let’s start with clothes. Take the time to make do and mend when your clothes are damaged, and if you are buying something, try to shop second hand or from sustainable brands. The longer life we can give our textiles, the better – and there’s a huge market of second-hand clothes and soft furnishings out there.
Secondly, stop throwing food away. Be more careful about how much you buy and plan when you will consume it. Visit zero-waste shops that allow you to buy only what you need, sign up to food boxes that help you cut down on waste and use your leftovers to create another meal. Freeze, preserve, pickle, store and save everything you can. Compost everything else.
Upcycle items that you might ordinarily throw out. Make candle holders from jam jars, repaint and wallpaper old, unloved furniture and be creative. Go onto Pinterest, YouTube and TikTok to get inspiration from other up-cyclers. Also, donate your unloved items to individuals and organisations who can make good use of them.
THE POWER IS IN OUR HANDS
We hope you’ve found inspiration in this guide and some practical advice that’ll get you started on your sustainability journey.
Imagine the impact if you managed to achieve just a handful of these suggestions, let alone all of them.
We may all ask ourselves from time-to-time, ‘What difference do I really make? Surely the problem is too big for me to make an impact?’. But remember that if each one of us took responsibility, the impact of our collective action would be world changing.
There’s never been a more important time to use people power in the fight to save our planet. It’s not going to be easy, but we can achieve great things if we go forward together.
Keep this guide handy, share it with the people in your life, take the chance to talk about sustainability when you can. Knowledge is power and every person we educate can help further the cause.
If you want to discuss how to go even further and implement more sustainability solutions into your business or home, please get in touch.
Our expert team have spent years honing their knowledge to help empower you and anyone else who’s ready to make a difference.
Let’s be the change we want to see in our world.
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