We all would like to live a little greener, and we all like lists. Here are 10 easy ways to reduce your impact today and be a little more environmentally friendly tomorrow: 1. Buy a reusable coffee/tea mug. Reusable mugs are cheap, much nicer to drink out of, better for the planet. Treat yourself.
2. Put a brick in your toilet cistern. It's kind of mad that we use clean water to flush our toilets so lets try reduce the madness a few litres at a time.
3. Unplug electronics at night. Turn your computer off (don't just close it), unplug the wifi, turn as much off as you can. Most electricity is created by burning fossil fuels. The more you use the more pollution you are creating.
4. Buy reusable bulk produce bags and avoid using the plastic bags provided. We're all human so if you forget them use the paper mushroom bags from the grocery area instead.
5. Get a map of where you live. Draw a 5km circle around your house. Try to use public transport/walk/cycle/run to places in this area instead of using the car.
6. Avoid shopping at supermarkets. Due to their size they waste a lot of food. Stop supporting them with your money and shop at farmers markets and smaller, local grocery stores.
7. Buy local food where possible. Food that has travelled thousands of miles to get to you has a bigger impact on the planet than food from down the road (most of the time). You don't have to give up on things like bananas or coffee, that isn't available locally, but just choose the local apple over the New Zealand one (unless you live in New Zealand).
8. Take your own containers to the takeout store. I put off asking my local restaurant if I could do this for ages as I thought I was being difficult. When I finally asked them it was no problem at all.
9. Buy organic food. Non-organic food is sprayed with chemical pesticides. Those chemicals damage the ecosystem not to mention your health. If we support organic food we can help reduce this damage.
10. Don't do all the things on this list at once. Start small, maybe try one thing today and then if it goes well try another. We aren't going to change completely overnight but we can wake up with a slightly smaller footprint than when we went to bed.
Do you have anything to add? Share your suggestions in the comments below