As some of you know, I'm a biology student, and ecology at that, meaning I'm a bit of a eco-queen. Lately I've been trying to make an effort to be kinder to the planet through everyday changes. I don't have the self control with food to go vegitarian, let alone vegan so I try and find other ways I can contribute to making myself more environmentally friendly. Here I'm going to go through my favourite ways that anyone can help may the world a bit more green...
1. Recycling - I know it sounds obvious but it's shocking how many people don't bother, with British households failing to recycle 16 MILLION plastic bottles a day in 2016 with data suggesting this could reach 29 BILLION by the end of 20201
2. Receipts - only get one if you need it! Or if you get one without asking, see the previous point! Similarly for junk mail, but be sure to remove celophane first as this is unfortunately not recyclable (cry).
3. Who needs tuppaware? - If you're like me and enjoy a good takeaway curry, you probably end up with lots of tubs, these make great lunch boxes so keep them! And if your takeaway comes in the pie tin style containers, these can be rinsed and recycled!
4. Think seasonal - When you're in the supermarket, think about if your veggies are in season. You may feel super healthy and natural eating your avocado, but if it's been flown in from Chile, Central America of Sub-saharan Africa2, that's not all that great for the planet.
5. Razors - So this is one I've come across in the past day or so. They're called safety razors, cost around £25 and last for years. A quick google search will show you people rave about them, as a cheaper and more effective solution to disposable razors which can't be recycled (cry), whilst the blades used in safety razors can be recycled (yay)!
6. Drinking Straws - Everyone has seen the videos of turtles with straws stuck in their noses. Around 8.5 billion straws are thrown away in the UK each year, contributing to over 150 million tonnes of plastic in the seas3. There are even companies developing reusable plastic straws for on the go! Check out https://thelastplasticstraw.org/about-us/last-straw/
7. Water Bottle - linking to the stats in point 1, reusable water bottles could save so much plastic waste! All tap water in the UK is safe to drink4 so why pay £3 for some good old H2O?
8. Power Down - when you leave a room, turn the light off. If your house will be empty for a week or so, turn the wifi off. Boiling pasta, put a lid on it! It will still boil but use half the energy so just turn it down.
9. Let's talk about Tea - now I am a big fan of tea, so found it disappointing to hear that something I'd thought was biodegradable (teabags) contain plastic! Thankfully, Wendy at Moral Fibres has compiled a useful list of which to favour in the war on excess plastic http://moralfibres.co.uk/is-there-plastic-in-your-tea/.
10. Food Waste - this is a massive stress of mine, I HATE food waste. People think I'm crazy when I say I weigh pasta, but for the 10 seconds it takes to weigh it into the pan whilst the kettle the boiling really is nothing. Don't buy more food than you're going to have time to eat, and keep an eye on what you have. Meat is generally safest frozen or cooked right away. Dried carbs (pasta, rice, noodles) will often be fine way past their best before date so use your common sense before binning them. This will all save you money, and reduce the growing issue of food waste.
So there are my current favourites for subtle changes to make yourself greener. I'm hoping to test out the safety razor for myself, and maybe a bamboo toothbrush in my efforts to become more sustainable so will probably do a follow up post in a few months. Some of this may sound a bit mad but even by doing one of these you'll be making a massive difference!!
All the best!
Bea
References (cos I'm in report writing mode and don't want to make unsupported statements)
1https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/15/british-households-fail-to-recycle-a-staggering-16m-plastic-bottles-a-day
2http://www.freshplaza.com/article/156557/OVERVIEW-GLOBAL-AVOCADO-MARKET
3https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/straws-and-cotton-buds-could-be-banned-under-fresh-government-drive-to-cut-plastic-waste-a3817751.html
4https://www.water.org.uk/consumers/water-and-health/faqs
