Like Kermit the Frog, you could sit back and say that “it’s not easy being green” and just do nothing about it. After all, you might say, what difference can I make by myself? If nobody else bothers, why should I?
But the fact is that millions of people ARE bothering, and
if more people did so, then a real difference would be made. And all the small
things you can do will produce a huge cumulative effect, as well as saving you
money along the way.
For a start, you could have a good look around you and
examine absolutely everything that consumes energy or resources. Start with
your house or apartment; start right now with the room you are sitting in as
you read this. How many lights are you
burning? How many do you need? What kind of bulb is in the light you are using
now? If it is not a low-energy bulb, why
on earth not?
When you last watched TV, did you leave it on standby or
turn it off at the mains? When you last
boiled the kettle for a cup of coffee, did you boil the whole kettle just for
one cup? I take it you got the milk out of the refrigerator, but what setting
is it on? Do you really need it that
high? And how full is it? It’s wasteful
to cool just air if you don’t store a lot of food. Maybe a smaller fridge would suit you better.
What about your hot water supply? Are you using the most
economical settings or are you heating water that you don’t need and will only
cool down again? Did you shower or have
a bath today? Would it make a heap of
difference if you didn’t shower every morning?
By the way, a power shower is hugely wasteful of both water and energy;
what’s wrong with a normal shower unit?
What about your toilet cistern? You could save water by placing a house brick
in it so that it takes less water to fill it.
Remember not to leave taps running when cleaning your teeth.
To make your central heating more efficient, make sure that
the heat doesn’t escape through open doors and windows. If you have an open fireplace that you are
not using, insert a chimney balloon; this is a simple device that you shove up
the chimney and inflate so that you heat your room and not the air above your
house.
And, of course, recycle everything you possibly can. You can
compost even small amounts of waste food in an enclosed digester “powered” by
worms. This will produce not only
excellent compost for your garden but liquid feed for your house plants. There
is no reason why glass, metal, plastic or card should go to incinerators or
landfill; it can all be recycled.
Other resolutions can include the purchases you make. With
motor fuel increasing in price, the incentive is there to avoid buying a gas
guzzler and instead go for something that consumes less fuel and thus pumps
fewer pollutants into the atmosphere. And when you have the car, why not
resolve to use it less? Do you really need to take all those short journeys by
car? Why not walk or cycle instead, or use public transport? Also, did you know
that the way you drive your car can make a huge difference to your fuel
consumption? Exceeding the speed limits is not illegal but expensive.
When shopping for food, don’t buy more food than you are
actually going to consume. A huge amount of the food we buy, often as a result
of taking up special offers, goes to waste. Also, avoid buying food that is out
of season; it has either been grown under artificial conditions that consume
energy unnecessarily or it has been transported across the world, causing
greenhouse gases to be released in the process.
And don’t expect the foodstore to provide the bags in which
you will take it all home. Many stores now offer a “bag for life”, for example;
buy the bags you need and use them time after time. Better still, order your
groceries from home and get the store to deliver them. The road miles covered
by their delivery van will be far fewer than would have been travelled by all
the people whose food is being delivered at the same time.
When it comes to making vacation plans, think very hard
about the environmental consequences of jetting off to the sun. Atmospheric
pollution, leading to global warming, is far worse when delivered high in the
atmosphere than at ground level, and therefore the fewer flights we take, the
better. You can have an enjoyable and relaxing break much closer to home than
you might imagine.
Going completely green is not always easy, but it is amazing
what you can do on a small scale that will save you money and make a real
difference to saving the planet as well.
© John Welford
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