Practical Environment & Energy Savings

MarkC0165

I am trying to find a list of practical ways in which individuals can save the environment, energy and probably money as well. Many sites list good ideas, but these are often lost within the other text which is there.
Is this something which we could get going on MSE?
Thoughts and locations of savings welcome!
Mark:rolleyes:

JamesM_2

Do you mean something that can be done by a group on MSE rather than by individual effort at home/work?

MarkC0165

I was thinking about things which you can do as an individual as well as things which you might be able to do at work.
It strikes me that on two fronts, the environment and also rising energy costs, that we all can benefit from turning off tvs etc
Mark

JamesM_2

It's quite a broad question then, there's already many threads discussing different aspects of all these things.

Personally, the thing I'm doing which I think helps the most is not eating meat, it saves money and the environment and it's healthy, not to mention being ethical.

Unfortunately many people will not even consider this approach despite trying to be green in many other ways.

carolbee

If we are talking about practical things, I would like to see Community allotments, I am going to see if we have any here locally over the next few days. Wouldnt it be great if we could do a 'MSE allotment' together if some of us lived near to each other

I would also like to find out about food co-operatives locally.

As I replace items in the home I plan to 'buy better' and the same with grocery shopping, this week I changed from Tesco washing powder to Ecover and so on with

Is this what you mean?

Whoosher

At work, one of my objectives for this year is to run a Go MAD (Go Make A Difference) campaign. It's aimed at getting people to think about the little things they can do, either at home or work, that collectively add up to something big.

I want to make people realise that there's more to being 'green' than just recycling. Some ideas I came up with to kick things off are:

• Say no to carrier bags - bring your own or use a shopping bag like your granny did
• Don't buy plastic bottles of water - use tap water or buy a filter jug & keep it topped up in the fridge
• Make the switch to low energy lightbulbs
• Bring your own mug/glass into work instead of using the plastic ones out of the vending machine
• Pick up one piece of litter every day
• And lastly, one of my favourites - if you have to throw it away, squash it small so it takes up less room in the landfill!!

PS: I pinched the idea for Go Mad from the book published by the Ecologist magazine - 365 daily ways to save the planet...:D

Quasar

I highly recommend "Saving The Planet Without Costing The Earth (500 simple steps to a greener lifestyle)", by Donnachadh McCarthy. It's full of excellent advice on generating the least possible waste, conserving energy etc. Lots of useful information.

Hellfire

i'm also looking for ways of reducing waste and being more energy efficient. and save money of course. it's good that mse now has this forum as i'm sure lots of ideas will be floated here, and this will become an important resource to all of us greens.

Ken68

Apart from the tips I read on this board, I am actively questioning everything to do with money and moneys worth, and the time element.
Even if I don't actually change to doing something cheaper at the time at least it's there on the back burner.

MarkC0165

Thanks for the suggestions so far, it is the practical things that Whoosher mentions that I am trying to get more and more of.

I shall check out the book references and see what I can find.

In the meantime, I would welcome any other savings which people want to pass on - the one I will pass on just now, is to switch off florescent light bulbs when you leave a room. This wastes less energy than leaving them on, as many people seem to think is still the case.

Lets have your saving tips
Mark

se999

Can I recommend 'Save Cash & Save the Planet', it's published by Friends of the Earth - but normally a lot cheaper elsewhere.

It really is full of practical ideas and does accept that not everything is practical for everyone.

My saving tips are:

Use stairs instead of lifts, saves energy & makes you fitter.

Make shopping lists so that you don't have to do extra trips in the car to pick up the things you've forgot.

For short trips walk instead, especially in the summer it also gives you a chance to meet your neighbours busy gardening.

Before going shopping for clothes, double check your wardrobe, it's surprising what's hiding there!

Same goes for lots of shopping, it's surprising what we hide in the cupboard under the sink, or in the garage etc., When we tidied & then did a routine of checking before buying it saved us money and stopped us buying useless duplicates. Defininately fulfilling the 'reduce' idea.