Weekly Tip #20: Take a hike

It bothers me sometimes that too many of our pastimes involve copious consumption of resources. There's a whole range of (almost) zero impact hobbies such as walking, bird/nature watching, running, gardening (if you propagate your own plants), even (dare I say it) trainspotting. If there's more I haven't thought of, add them in the comments.

Weekly Tip #19: Get an organic veg box

Organic veg (and meat!) box schemes have come a long way in the last year or so. We've just swapped to a scheme where we get doorstep delivery (rather than to a volunteer pick up point which can be a real pain) and internet orders the night before. Look around and find a scheme that suits you.

Weekly Tip #18: Don't Go Window Shopping...

About ten years ago, I was in the habit of walking into the local town centre every Saturday, 'window' shopping, having lunch, walking home and depositing the bulging carrier bags from my 'window' shopping on the floor. Now, I rarely go into the town centre for no reason - I buy less stuff I don't want, using fewer resources, creating less waste and I don't miss it.

If you look, you will buy...

Weekly Tip #17: Buy holes, not drills

Slightly obscure title*, but it refers to the fact that when you buy a drill, what you are actually after is the holes it will produce, not the drill itself.

So, instead of buying a DVD, rent it instead or watch it on pay-per-view. Likewise with music and iTunes (or equivalent) or the radio**. Join a carclub rather than buying a car, use a nappy service rather than buying nappies and join your local library. All of these examples will give you the end result to desire without all the physical gubbins to go with it.


* I vaguely remember having a Ken Dodd annual as a kid where the Diddymen were selling holes in the ground. Surreal thing to throw at a young child's developing mind.

** Ever since I was given a DAB radio and got into BBC 6Music, I've stopped buying so much music in any form as that channel seems to fit my tastes down to a tee.

Weekly Tip #16: Say "Bog Off" to BOGOFs

To avoid waste, never take the freebie in a Buy One Get One Free if the product is perishable. You won't feel as obliged to use it in time as it is free so it is more likely to end up in the bin.

Weekly Tip #14: Unplugging

Everyone knows that you should switch off your electrical equipment at the plug, but if your gadget has a battery (eg laptop, PDA or phone), you should disconnect it completely or the battery charge will leak out slowly through the earth connection.

Weekly Tip #13: Grow Your Own

Now spring has sprung - why not plant some food plants in your allotment, garden, yard or windowbox. Zero food miles, organic and tasty (your own food always tastes better).

Weekly Tip #12: Reject bags for life!

... a small rucksack is much more practical!

Weekly Tip #11: Nematodes

Slugs will soon be decimating your garden if you don't act to stop'em. Don't use the horrible toxic blue pellets, use nematodes instead - we use Nemaslug and it works great.

Weekly Tip #10: Go for quality, not quantity

In these days of semi-disposable furniture and fashion, choose quality, timeless purchases over cheap and cheerful everytime.

Weekly Tip #9: Target a Grot Spot

Inspired by spending Sunday morning hauling rubbish out of the river that runs past our house - why not get some friends and neighbours together to tackle a grot spot near you? You'll be surprised about the amount of rubbish you can collect in an hour or to, and you'll improve the area for people and wildlife alike.

Weekly Tip #8: Set up your sockets

Have a look at how your electrical sockets and multi-socket adapters are set up. You can often arrange them so you can minimise energy use by only switching on those that you need, for example:

- put your computer on a different socket from your peripherals, so you don't need to fire up the whole lot just to update your status on Facebook.

- likewise if your TV is on a different socket from your DVD player, digibox, video etc, you don't have to burn energy unnecessarily everytime you want to watch a terrestrial TV programme.

Weekly Tip #7: Start the rot

If you don't already, start composting using either a local authority style compost bin, or for larger gardens, a two-bay system built from pallets. Proper composting cuts waste to landfill, climate damaging methane emissions and recycles nutrients back into your soil. See my heaps here.

Weekly Tip #6: Buy secondhand

Whether it's records, books or clothes that rocks your world, there are some excellent secondhand and charity shops around. Buying second hand is guilt-free - I consume dozens of second hand books every year.

My tip is to visit shops in the poshest area of your town and you'll benefit from (and mitigate the impacts of) someone else's conspicuous consumption.

Weekly Tip #5: Take Your Tops Off

Slightly late this week due to the ridiculous amount of traveling I've done since Friday under sometimes very difficult circumstances*. Anyway, something I have learnt in the meantime:

If your local authority collects plastic bottles for recycling, the difference between this being environmentally and economically worthwhile or not can be made by whether or not you take the tops off the bottles. If you don't the wagons have to shift much more air than plastic. So get 'em off!


* For example: what do you do if your minibus driver gets a call to say that his pregnant wife has fallen, broken her hip, and before they can fix that, they need to deliver the baby by caeserian four weeks early. And you're in a vicious storm several hundred miles away?

(mother & baby OK, by the way)

Weekly Tip #4: Support your local deli

It will always be more enjoyable than shopping in a big shed and the carbon footprint of the food tends to be lower as its transportation from farm gate to the shop is usually more direct.

Weekly Tip #3: Buy a bike

...or dust down that old one at the back of the shed. You will cut your car use and fit exercise into your daily routine.

Get lights, a pannier, a decent lock and puncture repair kit. A cycle clip will allow you to cycle in civvies. Ask your local council if they do free cycle route maps.

Weekly Tip #2: Bottle It Yourself

You might have seen the BBC headlines today proclaiming that bottled water has a carbon footprint 600 times that of tap water. Yes, six hundred times. Well the answer is simple: carry a bottle of tap water with you - buy one at a camping store.

When in a restaurant, no matter how posh, don't be afraid to ask for tap water. After all, if you're spending £25 on a £8 bottle of wine, they can hardly complain!

Weekly Tip #1: The Power of Cold

The first of a series of weekly eco-living tips which you might find more useful than reading my rants against media numpties:

Use cold mornings to spot poorly insulated areas on your roof (ie where there is no frost). It is also a good time of year to search and destroy draughts ('cos you can feel 'em coming!).

Another tip next Monday!