My latest find at the local library is '1001 Ways To Save The Planet' by Bernadette Vallely, an environmentalist based in England.
Sharing is very green, so I thought I'd share a few of my favourite tips from her book.
Tip #1 If you must use your dishwasher, like me, make sure it's always a full load and select a temperature at least 10 degrees C lower than recommended and wash large dishes by hand.
Tip #2 Use cloth napkins. Paper napkins are a wasteful and expensive use of trees and energy. If you must buy paper towel for the kitchen, pick recycled paper.
Tip#3 Turn off the TV at the wall, not just on the remote. All five in this house are guilty of this unnecessary and lazy habit, leaving the tv to use a quarter of its power all night long. A little sticker reminder is going on to our remotes as a reminder to reduce our waste of energy, our electricity bill and help the planet.
Tip#4 Use loose tea for your cuppa! Millions of tonnes of chemically bleached pulp are mixed with wet strength resins to make tea bags. Its an easy change to make when there are so many fantastic loose leaf tea varieties available.
Tip#5 This tip is a big ask, especially for families with young children:- boycott battery operated presents!
The energy spent making a battery is fifty times greater than the energy you will ever get from it - a waste of resources on non-essential goods. My experience with battery operated toys has been that they are very popular for the first batteries life, but then live the remainder of their sad life in a toy box, to maybe make a brief appearance six months later during a school holiday break when I've been looking for ways to help entertain the kids and have happily purchased more batteries. Interestingly enough though, my kids have also always shown equal enthusiasm for other less damaging to the planet toys, balls and bats.
And there you have it. That's my five favourite tips from Bernadette Vallely's book of 1000 tips. Relatively easy changes to make in our household, hopefully in yours too. As I've heard many times now, one small drop in the ocean can create one very large ripple effect.
Any green tips you have feel free to share and help spread the word.
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