Go Green

Apart from the normal things such as recycling as much as we can (we are lucky as we get a full recycling collection from our council), this is how we try to stay as green as possible. 

* Use our food waste. Feed salad, fruit or vegetables to our rabbits, keep some waste for our own compost and put the rest in the weekly food waste collection.

* Turn off all our appliances and unplug them when not in use. Saves electricity and money. Win - win.

* Grow plants in the garden. It contributes to the health of the planet and looks pretty too! I'm attempting to grow my own vegetables aswell to reduce the carbon footprint and cost.

* In the meantime I use fresh, local produce. I try not to buy too much packaged produce and use the market in Cardiff city centre to buy meat, fruit and veg as much as possible.

* Minimise use of plastic bags. There is a five pence charge in Wales if you need a plastic bag in a shop. Personally, I agree with the charge as it has reduced the amount of carrier bags that are being used and therefore reduces their manufacturing.  I rarely buy a plastic bag now and carry around some pretty bags that fold away to carry my shopping home in.

* Eat less meat. It was reported last year that the world would need to reduce meat consumption by 50% in order to reduce the effect of climate change fertilisers used to feed animals for consumption are amongst the most potent and damaging to the environment. PETA claims that 46% of water waste in the USA comes from animal farming and production. I am trying to reduce the amount of meat we eat as a family. A vegetarian diet has proven beneficial to fibromyalgia sufferers, but I am also shocked at some of the statistics regarding meat and dairy production and also practises relating to animal welfare.

* Clothes swapping.  I am lucky enoug to have a friend who is pretty much the same sizes as me and we often swap clothes instead of throwing them out. Not only does this save money and revamp our wardrobes, but also cuts down on manufacturing.  Any clothes we do want to get rid of however, we take to a charity shop.

* Using less water. Now this is one I struggle with! I love long, hot showers but 8-9 minutes is around about 12% of water usage. It has been shown that taking cold showers is better for the environment (heating water is the major energy usage in households) and has health benefits such as improved circulation, increased metabolism, depression relief and boosting the immune system. All sounds good, but unfortunately not appealing to me in the least.  Instead I am aiming to reduce the time I spend on the shower, saving energy and water. I have started this week setting a five minute timer to hurry me up!

* I'm also looking to scour the web (by that I probably mean Pinterest) to find some natural household cleaner recipes (recipes??).  I've decided to try and get as many possible chemicals out of the house as possible :) 

Now I know that I'm just one person in this huge world, but I'd like to think that I make a little bit of difference.

Amy-Louise

xx