When was the last time you yelled ‘close the door behind you!‘ (were you born in a barn??) or ‘who left the lights on?!‘ Why do you think you do that? These are habits we’ve applied over the years, without even realising it’s because they save energy. You see, you’re already being more eco-friendly than you realise.
Energy Saving habits
We often hear the standard pieces of energy saving advice, without really stopping to think about what difference they’ll make. For instance, we’re now advised to wash our clothes on 30 degrees. As most of the energy used in a washing machine is for heating the water, you’ll be using around 38% less energy than washing at 40 degrees. If you also make sure you only put the machine on when you have a full load – or even just try washing your clothes less – you can see there’s a lot of potential money to be saved. If you’re already applying these habits – then that’s being more eco-friendly!
Turning the temperature down on your thermostat is another piece of advice you may have already listened to. Not only will you be reducing your impact on the planet by reducing your energy consumption, you could also be saving yourself over £100 per year, just by tweaking your thermostat down by 1 degree. This is a change you’ll barely even notice. Couple that with turning off radiators in rooms you’re not using, you really are on to a noticeable saving.
The Bamboo option
Have you bought yourself a bamboo toothbrush or dishwasher brush? Bamboo is a much more sustainable option than plastic for so many reasons. Although most bamboo is shipped over from China it is a really quick growing plant, that doesn’t require any pesticides. Compare this to a plastic toothbrush. All plastic is derived from fossil fuels and, as we know, plastic takes decades to breakdown. The scary statistic is that every plastic toothbrush you’ve ever owned, still exists somewhere. Whether it ends up in landfill or in our oceans, items made from plastic ultimately breakdown in to microplastics. These sadly are now everywhere so any swap away from a plastic item is a big win!
Reusables
Do you own a water bottle or an insulated flask for your coffee? These are hugely eco-friendly! Not only does this mean you’re avoiding plastic bottles, or single use coffee cups, you will be saving yourself a huge amount of money. Keep up the good work, you are being more eco-friendly! You may also save glass jars, cardboard boxes or even mail bags to be reused at some point. Using any items more than once reduces your impact on the planet.
We know single use plastic is awful, however, anything single use isn’t ideal. Swapping to paper bags instead of plastic bags is viewed as a win, but paper bags are sourced from trees and generally rip after the first couple of uses. Stronger tote bags are definitely an improvement – just make sure you look after them so you can reuse them 100s of times! Ultimately, the longer you can use something for, the better for the planet and for your bank balance!