20 ways to go green at home

Filed in Blog by on January 31, 2018 3 Comments
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20 ways to go green at homeMore than ever, people are starting to take a long hard look at how their daily lives impact the environment. The issues surrounding plastic and recycling seem to be constantly in the news.

If you’ve been trying to lead a greener life at home, but can’t seem to find new ways to decrease how much you impact the environment, you’re in luck. We’re going to detail 20 ways in which you can go green at home and help lower your carbon footprint.

  1. Compost – By composting your leftovers, peelings and other biodegradable items you can make use of what would normally be thrown out.
  2. Hybrid car – If you’re in the market for a new car, make it a hybrid one to take advantage of both fuel types.
  3. Shop green – There are local, environmentally friendly shops popping up, allowing you to find eco-friendly beauty products and organic produce.
  4. Buy recycling bins – You can make household recycling more efficient and ensure you do your utmost to recycle everything by purchasing a separate bin for your kitchen.
  5. Share magazines – If you buy magazines regularly, try sharing them with friends to ensure they don’t end up going straight in the bin after one read.
  6. Paperless billing – If your bills come pouring through the letterbox, why not switch to paperless billing and reduce the amount of wasted paper produced?
  7. Reusable mug – If you buy coffee from your local coffee shop, try taking a reusable mug. Some chains even offer a discount for using your own travel mug.
  8. E-tickets – Are you a keen gig goer? You can now use your phone to access e-tickets for events, saving on the cost of having to print them at home.
  9. Repair leaks – Leaky taps in your kitchen and bathroom counts for wasted water, so get them fixed as soon as you spot them – this could also save money on water bills.
  10. Solar panels – Many homes in the UK could benefit from solar panels, allowing homes to generate their own electricity.
  11. Digital news – Forget about your newspaper subscription, you can get all the same news online, you can even get digital copies of newspapers by signing up, reducing the amount of paper in production.
  12. Adjustable heating – Keep your heating on a timer, or invest in smart technology so you can turn your heating on and off with a swipe of your phone, this way you use less energy.
  13. Turn electricals off – Don’t leave your screens and other electrical items switched on or in power saver mode when you aren’t using them – it’s a trickle of energy waste.
  14. Public transport – Shun your car in favour of public transport to alleviate the atmosphere of pollution.
  15. Upgrade your appliances – Older electrical appliances become less efficient over time, but by upgrading you can get appliances with a better energy rating for your home.
  16. Rechargeable batteries – Throwing batteries away is harmful for the environment, so make the switch to rechargable to make them last longer.
  17. Change light bulbs – Energy efficient light bulbs will be better for the environment and can help lower your energy bills.
  18. Shower more – By showering instead of taking a bath, you not only save on the amount of water used, but you also reduce the amount of energy required to heat it.
  19. Non-toxic cleaning – While most cleaning products out on the market are better than they used to be, using non-toxic ones will be better for the environment when they are fed back into water supplies.
  20. Plan meals – Plan what you’re going to cook and when, reducing the amount of food you have to throw out.

You might already be doing some of these things, but there is always more you can do to help the environment through your daily habits. The early you adopt these green habits, the more you’ll be doing and the better suited you’ll be if government policy begins to dictate these things through legislation.

Powerday are leading providers of recycling and waste management services for London. Using their decades of experience, they’ve been investing in ways to get more energy from waste while eliminating the amount of waste which goes to landfill.

 

About the Author ()

I am a long time supporter of the Green and Sustainable lifestyle. After being caught in the Boscastle floods in 2004, our family begun a journey to respect and promote the importance of Earth's fragile ecosystem, that focussed on reducing waste. Inspired by the beauty and resourcefulness of this wonderful planet, I have published numerous magazine articles on green issues and the author of four books.

Comments (3)

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  1. Jane says:

    Buy Recycling Bins: There are lots of undersink cupboard options nowadays. One of the simplest is a couple or more of rectangular bins that slide out side by side. That way you can change your mind about what goes in them as you work out what sorts of waste you make. Or just swapping the bins around so that your biggest bin is for recycling and the smallest for residual waste – that way you can save the life of that horrendously expensive designer bin (if you have one)! I wish we saw more practical solutions in the press.

  2. Alicia says:

    Hi, just found your site when looking for info on plu plastics and thought I would look at some more up to date posts. As much as I like the idea of this post in not sure I agree with some of it. The items where you are saying about buying or upgrading, surely all of those should be when what you have stops working? Yes, a new whatever may use less energy but surely it is wasteful and still not doing the planet any good to get rid of items that still function? That may have been your meaning but it definitely doesnt come across like that for some of them.
    Generally though loving your mantra and how much research goes into your articles

    • Mrs Green says:

      Hey Alicia, thanks for taking time to comment. I agree totally that buying new should only be done as a last resort. As it happens, this was a guest post, not written by me and I think you’ll find if you read through articles by me I tend to favour the ‘greenest’ way is not to buy anything new at all! It’s good to bring all aspects and opinions to these conversations, however, and I thank you for sharing your thoughts 🙂

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