So, I'm snowed in, well actually not snowed in per se, but unable to get to my holiday destination due to road closure. Thankfully everyone was helpful and I'm able to get a booking to leave in the morning instead. So, I thought I'd do a post I've been thinking of for some time, the 10 easy changes I made to live a more eco friendly life!
1. Switched from regular dishwashing liquid and detergents to eco friendly ones. Most supermarkets stock them, I personally enjoy ecover
2. Switched all light bulbs in the house to environmentally friendly ones
3. Committed to understanding that cheap clothing = not only modern day slave labor, but also process' that hurt the environment. Therefore I not only save money but stop contributing to slave labor and unethical process'.
4. Began buying Fairtrade tea & coffee, eventually moved on to purchasing all fairtrade products available including many fruits and clothing
5. Stopped leaving things plugged in and on stand by. If it's plugged in, it means I am watching or listening to it, if I'm not it's unplugged!
6. Switched to purchasing organic food. Began with meat & dairy in the year 2000, moved onto fruit and veg (2001), now including all grains (2003) and officially needed to stop buying organic meat and dairy in 2008.
7. As hinted above, became a vegan. Now, I should say, that I began by going back to being a vegetarian, the vegan bit was a natural progression. Reasons were partly due to the environmental impact of livestock, partly due to health reasons (toxins, pesticides, cancer rates) and a big factor was the ethics. I suddenly realized how very hypocritical it was for me to cry hearing a story of horses being transported across Europe for slaughtering, when I was in fact eating animals myself (and no, I wasn't eating horses). I do believe that people can make choices to eat meat more ethically. I believe in Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall's campaign to educate people into eating free range organic meats instead of factory bread animals who have no space to move, live in horrific conditions etc. You can read more about their campaign here
8. I invested in good, sturdy reusable bags to pack my groceries in and they are still going strong eight years and three countries later. My bags do not promote those same shops that want us to think they are doing something, when in actual fact they remain with their unethical practices. Most of the bags I have are fairtrade or made directly from artists in developing countries who get a fair pay for their work.
9. I started purchasing 90% of my gifts for people from charities and foundations offering good gifts. I get most of my things from World Vision, Toybox and Oxfam
10. I stopped buying paper towels, wet wipes, baby wipes and anything else disposable (don't get me started on the disposable nappy/diaper industry!) Instead I invested about £10 = $20 in purchasing good fairtrade cloth and knit some dish clothes and then also purchased mini flannels. These have lasted me 5 years and must have saved me at least $500 by now!
11. Only wash clothes when they really need it (jeans for instance as well as towels and PJ's can be used many times before needing washing) the exception is more personal items like underwear. I also reduced the temperature in the washing machine to 30 degrees and hang clothes to dry as much as possible.
My next two tasks are to start using the mooncup & moonrabbits (gulp!) and start growing my own fruit and veggies in an allotment
I leave you with this article
Please consider signing this petition so that animals used for meat are kept in ethical living conditions
p.s. yes I know I gave 11, I just can't help myself :)
7 comments:
You gave me a few new ideas. Thanks for stepping on my toes! (I just don't think I can do the rabbits. Sorry.)
Good for you! I need to try to do a few more of these things myself.
lol I didn't think I could do it for a long time either T, now I feel there's more reasons for me to do it then not. I'll let you know how it goes!
That's great Wendy! I've learned we can all do so much!
Great tips, hope you have a good time when you eventually manage to get away, have you noticed how the UK comes to a stand still with just a small sprinkling of snow, how on earth they would cope if they had as much as some other countries.
re the allotment, I don't have any specific book reccomendations apart from maybe 'The Vegetable and Herb Expert' which is a good 'encyclopedia' of veg, growing techniques, pests and diseases etc, and 'Grow your Own Veg' by Carol Klein which is a much more personal view on it.( it also happens to be on sale for a fiver at WHSmiths at the moment). Other than that, I get all the info I could possibly need from http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/grapevine/ :)
You inspire me, I think the UK is far more advanced in it's eco awareness than us here in the US. Keep these tips coming!
Sharon T
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