We haven’t been to the gym all week, the washing basket is full and series two of The Newsroom has just come out on DVD, for goodness sake. We don’t have time to look after the planet. Right? Wrong! Here’s how:
- Be ice to the world
Next time you get a scoop or two of your favourite ice cream, opt for a cone over a cup. Cutting down on packaging means cutting down on landfill, which is clearly good news. Also, they taste good. Really good.
- Bag it
Thankfully, totes are totally in right now. Head to notonthehighstreet.com for some seriously cool ones. Or, if you’re a crafty person, make your own. Keep one with you at all times and resist the plastic villains at the tills.
- Watch the throne
Save the world while sitting on the loo. Switch to recycled toilet paper and feel smug while spending a penny. It may be a little rougher than the luxurious three ply, but it’s softer on the environment. “It’s like switching from whole milk to skimmed,” says one convert. “After a while, the beloved original seems over-the-top.”
- Insure the future
Switch to an ethical insurance company. For car insurance that gives something back, visit Elephant, which offers low premiums and makes a donation to the Born Free Foundation for every policy taken out, or Covea, which promises to invest ethically. You could also consider switching to Tridos, a bank that only lends customers’ money to people and organisations working to make the world a better place. Triodos actively seeks out and promotes sustainable, entrepreneurial businesses driven by values and ideas – businesses like Ecotricity.
- Cup back on waste
We coffee lovers throw away more than 2.5 billion cups a year. While some are recycled, the vast majority ends up in landfill sites. Bad news. Instead, invest in a travel mug of your very own. If you can make the coffee yourself too, you will save a whole lot of pennies.
- Go organic in the garden
Choose a mix of plants to provide homes and food for many wildlife species. By encouraging beneficial insects such as ladybirds into your garden, or perhaps more realistically, your plant pot on the windowsill of your flat, avoid using chemical pesticides. Use peat-free alternatives to avoid depletion of our precious peat bogs (Google it). Plant trees to help soak up harmful carbon dioxide if your blessed with a plot of land to call your own.